Mediagazer: Q&A with Maria Salazar Ferro, director of CPJ's Emergencies team, on its work to help journalists leave Afghanistan, and on its support of those who remain (Committee to Protect Journalists)

10:45 PM ET, August 29, 2021

Top News:

Profile of Robert Allbritton, son of a Houston TV mogul and now among the top media investors of the century after Axel Springer agreed to buy Politico for ~$1B — From “son of” to mogul in his own right: Robert Allbritton just became the unlikeliest winner of the new media sweepstakes.

Discussion: @benyt, @hotlinejosh, @greenhousenyt, @joshsternberg, @ron_fournier, @laurenshirsch, @jessicalessin and @john_hudson

CNBC:
Axel Springer agrees to acquire Politico, the remaining 50% share in Politico Europe, and Protocol; sources say the deal is worth around $1B

Charlotte Klein / Vanity Fair:

How Western news outlets are grappling with how to continue their Afghanistan coverage, amid a chaotic US withdrawal and the departure of many staffers — The chaotic withdrawal and ongoing security threats, along with the departure of many Western and Afghan journalists …

Discussion: @jimlaurie_asia, @juliaioffe, @miriamelder, @miriamelder, @miriamelder, @wolfe321, @fawfulfan and @lizzieblove

Committee to Protect Journalists:

Q&A with Maria Salazar Ferro, director of CPJ's Emergencies team, on its work to help journalists leave Afghanistan, and on its support of those who remain — Since Afghanistan fell under the control of the Taliban, CPJ has been deeply concerned for the safety of hundreds of local journalists and media workers.

Discussion: @pressfreedom, @pressfreedom, @jahootsen, @pressfreedom and @pressfreedom

Pulitzer Prize Office:
Pulitzer Prize Board issues special citation to honor people in Afghanistan who create and support journalism, along with a $100K emergency relief grant

Discussion: @danieljjonesus, @giacomonyt, @robertmmahoney, @joelcpj, @risj_oxford, @pulitzerprizes, @pressfreedom, @kathleencarrll and @sbg1

Joshua Benton / Nieman Lab:

A look at the numbers behind Apple's reduced 15% commission for its Apple News partners, and how the changes could benefit NYT — For the vast majority of news outlets, Apple's cut of a subscription sold on an iPhone will now drop from 30% to 15%. Will that change any publishers' minds?

Discussion: Apple, @adriana_lacy, @colincornaby, Reclaim The Net, @jacknicas, @matthewstoller, TechCrunch, The Verge, @niemanlab, @mikeorren, @drbarnard, @evleaks, @jbenton, @jbenton, David Heinemeier Hansson, @jason_kint and New York Times, more at Techmeme »

Alex Sherman / CNBC:

Penske Media calls SPACs “an investor fad” as sources say it rejected eight SPAC approaches; Bustle is still pursuing a SPAC deal and Vox is considering one — - There's disagreement among digital media founders about whether or not to pursue SPACs as the market has soured.

Discussion: @sherman4949 and @sherman4949

Philip Bump / Washington Post:

By constantly engaging with Peter Doocy during press briefings, Biden and Psaki are trying to fight right-wing misinformation while getting airtime on Fox News — In a sense, Peter Doocy's arrival in the White House press briefing room has been to his employer's detriment.

Discussion: @dangillmor, @djrothkopf, The Hill, @johnjharwood and @johnjharwood

Ryan Broderick / Garbage Day:

Digital media, as a business, is broken because outlets are being SPAC'd into vague network blobs publishing the same content, not because people no longer read — Thanks for reading Garbage Day! If you subscribe, you'll get Discord access and bonus content every Thursday. And it's pretty cheap! $5 a month!

Discussion: @hkesvani, @kyurieff, contextisking.com, @pdglenn, @broderick, @derektmead, @shockleysmith, @caseynewton, @stokel, @jahhills, @markgongloff, @markgongloff and @mediaevan

Wall Street Journal:

Sources: ESPN has held talks to license its brand to sports betting companies including Caesars Entertainment and DraftKings, seeking $3B+ over several years — Sports-media giant has held talks to license its brand to sportsbooks including Caesars Entertainment and DraftKings

Discussion: @mattcareygc, @astraffon, @haralabob, @tzm_tmt, @aquinas82nd, @thekendallbaker, @stoolpresidente, @stoolpresidente, @frazierapproves, @jbarro, @nycsouthpaw, @jeremylittau, @benmullin, The Wrap, SportsHandle, MediaPost, Reuters and Front Office Sports

Eriq Gardner / Hollywood Reporter:

How Scarlett Johansson's lawsuit against Disney could change Hollywood dealmaking and entertainment contracts, which traditionally accepted some ambiguity — In the past, a little ambiguity in entertainment contracts wasn't necessarily a bad thing, but Disney's reaction to Scarlett Johansson …

Discussion: @gracerandolph, @entlawpartners, @mtfiii, @redpenoflex, @aliaaaloha and @scarlettjo4ever

Associated Press:

Belarusian Association of Journalists forced to close in a ruling by the country's supreme court on Friday amid a crackdown including jailing of ~30 journalists — KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Belarus has ordered the closure of the country's largest independent journalists' organization …

Discussion: Committee to Protect …, @pierrecrom, @pressfreedom, @tsihanouskaya, @pressfreedom, belsat.eu and European Federation …

Brett Arends / MarketWatch:

Bari Weiss says her Substack has 14K subs paying $5/month, effectively a yearly gross revenue of $800K+, and her previous job was “really ugly” in retrospect — If you're fed up with your employer and you want to quit your job, you probably don't want to do it the way Bari Weiss did it.

Discussion: @khanyisile, @mcbyrne, @andyswan, @exavierpope, @_shamgod, @sarthakgh, @carnage4life, @bethanyshondark, @lis_smith, @quidditch424, @carpethefish, @chrismattmann, @levinejonathan, @namansour26 and @mastertimblais

Michael Harriot / The Root:

Media coverage doesn't single out the behavior of white people as a group, but does so for other races, signaling the persistence of whiteness as a default — If there's nothing wrong with discussing Black voters, Hispanic neighborhoods and Native American culture, why is the media so afraid to mention whiteness?

Discussion: @readjack, @blitz_y, @chrismessina, @alexanderrusso, @bijanstephen, @carlamurphy, @anushayhossain, @hakeemjefferson, @karenattiah, @karenattiah, @ellenbarkin and @reghud

Archived Page Info:

This is a snapshot of Mediagazer at 10:45 PM ET, August 29, 2021.

View the current page or another snapshot:

Who's Hiring in Media?

Energy & Commodities Editor, Tokyo — Bloomberg

Politics Reporter, TX — Texas Tribune

Consumer Brands Reporter, GA — AJC

Deputy Editor - Health Care, VA — Politico

Product Editor, CA — CalMatters

Indigenous Affairs Editor, Sydney — Guardian US

China Markets Correspondent, Shanghai — Reuters

Bangor Reporter, ME — Bangor Daily News

Commerce Editor - Health, Remote US — Yahoo

Sports Editor, MI — Detroit News

Deputy Politics Editor, CA — Sacramento Bee

Alphaville Reporter, London — FT

See Also:

Mediagazer: site main

Mediagazer River: reverse chronological Mediagazer

Mediagazer Mobile: for phones

Mediagazer Leaderboard: Mediagazer's top sources

Subscribe:

Mediagazer RSS feed

Mediagazer on X

Mediagazer on Mastodon

More News:

Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism:
A look at the deteriorating situation for journalists in Pakistan, who are faced with physical threats and social media attacks by the government

Discussion: @risj_oxford and @asadatoor

Rick Edmonds / Poynter:
McClatchy is expanding Wednesday and Sunday print editions, hiring more journalists, and improving its e-editions at the Kansas City Star and three other papers

Discussion: @jayrosen_nyu, @tequiladankc, @tequiladankc, @froomkin, @jayrosen_nyu, @froomkin, @nicdawes, @kodacohen and Media Nation

Ashley Carman / The Verge:
Twitter starts rolling out Ticketed Spaces for some iOS users; hosts can charge between $1 and $999 for their ticketed rooms and set a room size cap

Discussion: @alex, TechCrunch, Tubefilter, Benzinga and Social Media Today

Hanaa' Tameez / Nieman Lab:
Canopy Atlanta, a nonprofit community news project, trains local fellows and pairs them with seasoned journalists to tell stories reflecting local concerns

Discussion: @niemanlab, @marianliou, @skamidi, @rosemfrench, @skamidi and @madbair

Earlier Picks:

Daniel Garcia / AAJA Voices:
Of 73 EICs at award-winning college newsrooms in spring 2021, less than 6% were Black, ~10% were Latinx, much less than the share of the colleges' population

Liena Zagare / Bklyner:
Liena Zagare, the editor and publisher of local news site Bklyner, announces the site will stop publishing on Sept. 10; archives will remain online

Discussion: @lienazagare, @caipigliucci, @wperiyasamy, @losowsky, @lincolnrestler, @reelectnydia, @micahlasher, @walldo, @palewire, Crain's New York Business, @ericadamsfornyc, @jeffjarvis, @groushevaia, @dangillmor, @elizwgreen, @evgrieve, @sokane1, @shahanafrombk, @kyleconstable, @ndhapple, @scottbrodbeck, @harrysiegel, @benbrachfeld, @alykatzz, @rachelsilby, @koviebiakolo, @billyrichling, @loud_socialist, @agounardes, @noah_gardy, @rachelholliday, @walexandram, @mlevnews, @meganmcgibney, @andy_keatts, @supriyayelimeli, @goodiehey, @megmcgold, @radbrowndads, @sambojarski, @stevenvolynets, @nberke, @cwebcruzer, @jonahallon, @brooklyn11211, @keirarenee, @laurenveganyc, @sulliview, @salazarsenate, @eugeneresnick, @nickrizzo, @bradlander, @ayreport, @mr_berman, @kadiagoba, @jonathanrosenbr, @planetzainab, @cliffordlevy, @maggienyt, @mkkaishian, @nydiavelazquez, @michaelelsenroo, @leoniehaimson, @ckrewson and @benyt

Lindsey Ellefson / The Wrap:
Vice has another round of layoffs, and sources say the cuts affect Vice Digital and Refinery29 employees in North America, with fewer than 20 let go

Discussion: @viceunion, @maxwelltani, @__gabbymiller, @saraqdavid, @caseyjohnston, @meredithbalkus, @maxwillens, @film_girl, @kerrymflynn, @kerrymflynn, @_arianaromero, @gordonshumway, @joshhterry, @alex_abads, @themaxburns, @garywhitta, @garywhitta, bookforum.com, @brandyzadrozny, @baddestmamajama, @doctoryasmin, @kmiversen, @jesshopp, @ashleyalese, @meredithbalkus, @lacymb, @clearing_fog, @onionincunion, @conniewang, @byalexzaragoza, @thekimkavin, @claireefallon, @a_w_gordon, @a_w_gordon, @ryepastrami, @broderick, @kevincollier, @oliviamesser, @ohheyjenna, @parismartineau, @moorehn, @caseynewton, @aaschapiro, @peterslattery3, @byalexzaragoza, @the_rewm, @tatianatenreyro, @imgarysuarez, @gordonshumway, @thatwitchmia, @jorcru, @meredithbalkus, @meredithbalkus, @maxwillens, @maxwillens, @maxwillens, @ckrewson, @maxwillens, @ljmontello, @tvgrimreaper, @jordanchariton, @rynprry, @scottnover, @janusrose, @ungarino, @nkulw, @jannwolfe, @alexeheath, @panzer, @alex_norcia, @jscros, @samitsarkar, @andrewglazer, @andrewglazer, @sherman4949, @parkermolloy, @film_girl, @film_girl, @maxberger, @aaschapiro, @jessicaschulb, @grimkim, @film_girl, @aaschapiro, @sdkstl, @benyt, @thelincoln, @wagatwe, @maggieofthetown, @mcwm, @presgang, @danawollman, @carolinemoss, @parismartineau, @shanpalus, @blackamazon, @heyveronica, @grahamstarr, @lemonsand, @patbits, @mindyisser, @hannahsmothers_, @libbycwatson, @youngvulgarian, @jeremypgordon, @vincemancini, @karlbode, @annamerlan, @robzacny, @amil, @noahpasaran, @kerrymflynn and @ashleyfeinberg

Forbes:
Forbes is going public via SPAC at a valuation of $630M; the transaction is expected to close in late 2021 or early 2022

Discussion: Digiday, Talking Biz News, @rafat, @mike_federle, @jyarow, TechCrunch and @djohnson_cpa

From Techmeme:

Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Klarna has halted its planned IPO in the wake of Trump's tariffs turmoil; StubHub has also delayed its IPO plans

Emma Roth / The Verge:
Nintendo delays Switch 2 preorders that were set for April 9 due to concerns about Trump's tariffs but the June 5 launch date remains unchanged

Dominic Preston / The Verge:
Microsoft Copilot adds support for memory, personalization, web-based actions, podcast creation, camera and screen analysis, deep research, and more

Sister Sites:

Techmeme
Top news and commentary for technology's leaders, from all around the web

memeorandum
What US political commentators are discussing online right now

WeSmirch
The top celebrity news from all around the web on a single page