Top News:
Benjamin Mullin / Wall Street Journal:
Sources: the Athletic is in merger talks with Axios, with a long-term plan of adding other digital subscription-based publishers — Deal would be part of plan to create larger company with a portfolio of digital-media publishers — Sports-media outlet the Athletic is in merger talks …
Discussion:
@benmullin, TechCrunch, Awful Announcing, The Hill, Insider, Vox, @marc_normandin, Reuters, @jaseidler, @hkesvani, @daringantt, @jamessurowiecki, @kerrymflynn, @wblau, @jessicalessin, @sherman4949, @bobbybaird, @martinsfp, @jarroddicker, @jakesherman, @mathewi, @ckrewson, @jeffjarvis, @markdistef, @neontaster, @jimwaterson, @kerrymflynn and @rafat, more at Techmeme »
Colleen Long / Associated Press:
Dominion Voting Systems files a $1.6B defamation suit against Fox News for alleging it rigged the 2020 election — WASHINGTON (AP) — Dominion Voting Systems on Friday filed a $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News, arguing the cable news giant falsely claimed in an effort …
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Washington Post, Variety, Insider, Axios, NPR, TVNewser, Insider, Ad Age, The Hill, New York Times, CNN, Mediaite, Media Matters for America, The Wrap, Newser, Talking Points Memo, @thedailybeast, allsides.com, @davidfolkenflik, @joycewhitevance, @tribelaw, Forbes, @karaswisher, @mmfa, @svdate, @davidjollyfl, @dcherring, @nytimes, @jamesbazan, @keitholbermann, @shiraovide, The Week, Boing Boing and The Daily Beast
Washington Post:
At Biden's first press conference, no reporters asked about the pandemic; he was asked at least 10 times about the surge of migrants at the US-Mexico border — President Biden began his first White House news conference by practically inviting reporters to ask him about the major story of the past year.
Discussion:
Columbia Journalism Review, @sbg1, Press Watch, @sulliview, @froomkin, @mlcalderone, CNN, @laurie_garrett, @connieschultz, @froomkin, @dassakaye, @benlabolt, @brfreed, @danahoule, @sammy_roth, @froomkin, @arrianna_planey, @biannagolodryga, @d_holli, @elongreen, @jayrosen_nyu, @drericding, @jetjocko, @sullivanamy, @jamesfallows, @drvolts, Jezebel and New York Post
Tommy Christopher / Mediaite:
AP memo instructs reporters not to use the term “crisis” to describe the current situation at the border, asking to “avoid hyperbole” in general — In an internal memo, The Associated Press told reporters to avoid referring to the situation at the southern border …
Discussion:
@julito77, Washington Post, Latino Rebels and @julito77
Kevin Rector / Los Angeles Times:
An LA Times and a Spectrum News reporter were briefly detained while covering unrest in LA; police said reporters were subject to dispersal orders in the area — Los Angeles Times reporter James Queally was briefly detained by the Los Angeles Police Department as he was covering a protest in Echo Park on Thursday evening.
Discussion:
@alenetchek, @kevrector, @mollyhf, @kevrector, @latseema, The Wrap, LAist and KTLA
Reggie Ugwu / New York Times:
Google's hands-off moderation of its Podcasts app means it has dozens of podcasts by white supremacists that aren't on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Stitcher — The platform's tolerance of white supremacist, pro-Nazi and conspiracy theory content pushes the boundaries of the medium.
Discussion:
@bkcharvard and @waltmossberg
J. Clara Chan / The Wrap:
The Los Angeles Times and the San Diego Union-Tribune had a $50M drop in revenue in 2020, according to the president of the newspapers' parent company — The Los Angeles Times and the San Diego Union-Tribune lost “north of $50 million” in revenue in 2020, company leadership told staffers at an all-hands meeting on Thursday.
Discussion:
@mkarolian, @sharonwaxman, The Hill and The Wrap
Casey Newton / Platformer:
Interviews with 14 current and former Medium employees portray a dysfunctional company; sources say Medium has 700K paid subs, suggesting $35M+ in revenue — I. — Last week, a partnerships manager at Medium working with the White House found that there was a strange problem with the platform …
Discussion:
@silvermanjacob, Poynter, @ahmed, The Interpreter, @caseynewton, @felixsalmon, @jakebackpack, @jakebackpack, @mattyglesias, @barry, @janefriedman, @aleksnotalex, @jakebackpack, @caseynewton, @rklein90, @caseynewton, Adweek, @cwarzel, @gadyepstein, @jayrosen_nyu, @karaswisher, @hshaban, @caseynewton, @caseynewton, @felixsalmon, @craigmod, @mat, @clarajeffery, @anthony, @moorehn, @teddyschleifer, @teddyschleifer, @reckless, @katzish, @jamesrbuk, @sarahw, @mattyglesias, @nberlat, @aliciakennedy, @chaykak, @gamoid, @alexeheath, @emilybell, @annehelen, @kimzetter, @noahshachtman, @aaronhuertas, @katiedrumm, @caseynewton, @caseyjohnston, @caseynewton, @caseynewton, @ryanlawler, @bluechoochoo, @hunterw, @choire, @backlon, American Press Institute, Columbia Journalism Review, @anne_elizabeth and Insider, more at Techmeme »
RELATED:
Will Oremus / @willoremus:
[Thread] Will Oremus, who has covered platforms, online speech, and tech policy for OneZero, is accepting a buyout from Medium
Discussion:
@sarahnemerson, @blakereid, @revkin, @fmanjoo, @rfzeitlin, @jesselehrich, @thekenyeung, @scottnover, @sfiegerman, @silvermanjacob, @ericholthaus, @abbyohlheiser, @caseynewton, @willoremus, @willoremus, @willoremus, @sarahnemerson, @willoremus, @taylorlorenz, @mcmansionhell and @thelincoln
Steven Waldman / Inside Philanthropy:
Local outlets can make donations a persistent, ongoing revenue stream, alongside subscriptions and advertising, as Report for America host newsrooms have shown — Across philanthropy there's a growing recognition that local journalism has an important role to play in strengthening our communities …
Discussion:
@localmediarocks, @stevenwaldman, @jenniferpreston, @stevenwaldman, @raju, @mattderienzo, @groundtruth, @emilyroseman1 and @laurenmckown
Substack Blog:
Substack offers further clarity on its content moderation guidelines, detailing its stance on harassment, doxxing, hate, and more — In December, we published a statement about our philosophy on content moderation. In the time since, content moderation policies across all platforms have become only more consequential and debated.
Dan Kennedy / Media Nation:
Dozens of journalists at STAT join the Boston Newspaper Guild, which represents Boston Globe employees — Some pretty big news from the Boston Newspaper Guild: “Dozens” of journalists at Stat, the health- and life-sciences digital news organization that's part of Boston Globe Media Partners, are becoming part of the union.
Discussion:
Universal Hub
Jim Waterson / The Guardian:
Board member of UK's Society of Editors quits, saying she doesn't believe it will ever deliver a clear statement on its views on diversity in UK media — Eleanor Mills resigns over society's failure to rebut its denial of claims about bigotry in media — The organisation representing …
Discussion:
@eleanormills and Press Gazette
Miles Parks / NPR:
Misleading articles linking vaccines and death are among the most popular vaccine stories online as multiple outlets write about the same small number of deaths — The odds of dying after getting a COVID-19 vaccine are virtually nonexistent. — According to recent data from the Centers …
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