Mediagazer: Outlets like Quartz and LAT are fighting subscription fatigue by hiring retention experts, analyzing reader habits, and investing in new forms of content (Sara Guaglione/Digiday)

3:35 PM ET, August 31, 2021

Top News:

Sara Fischer / Axios:

Source: Facebook plans to downrank current events content and political posts in the News Feed, which could reduce traffic to some news publishers — Facebook plans to announce that it will de-emphasize political posts and current events content in the News Feed based on negative user feedback, Axios has learned.

Newmark J-School:

Sarah Bartlett, dean of the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY, to retire next June after nearly nine years in the role — - HOME- / - STUDENT- / - SARAH BARTLETT TO STEP DOWN AS NEWMARK J-SCHOOL DEAN — Sarah Bartlett, dean of the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism …

Joe Flint / Wall Street Journal:

Sources: Disney held unsuccessful mediation talks in June with alleged sexual assault victims of ex-ABC News exec Michael Corn, who was pushed out in April — Claims surfaced in lawsuit last week against former top producer Michael Corn, who denies the allegations; ABC is also a defendant

Discussion: Variety, deadline.com, @kimmasters, @nycsouthpaw, @julieroginsky, @brianstelter, @anthony, @asharma, @jbflint, New York Post, The Wrap and TVNewser

Lachlan Cartwright / The Daily Beast:
Sources describe a rift at GMA sparked by a lawsuit revealing Stephanopoulos knew about sexual assault allegations against Corn in '17 but still worked with him

Discussion: Vanity Fair, @markhyman, @madisonkittay, @halsparks and @lachcartwright

Pew Research Center:

Partisan divide in US media trust widened in the past 5 years, as the percentage of Republicans with trust in national media dropped from 70% in 2016 to 35% now — In just five years, the percentage of Republicans with at least some trust in national news organizations has been cut in half - dropping from 70% in 2016 to 35% this year.

Sara Guaglione / Digiday:

Outlets like Quartz and LAT are fighting subscription fatigue by hiring retention experts, analyzing reader habits, and investing in new forms of content — For all of last year's business challenges, publishers' focus on subscriber acquisition worked. — In 2020, subscription revenue …

Discussion: @risj_oxford

Ben Smith / New York Times:

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.

Micah Singleton / Billboard:

Apple acquires classical music streaming service Primephonic, giving users six free months of Apple Music, and will launch its own classical music app in 2022 — Apple has acquired Primephonic, the classical music streaming service, for an undisclosed amount, the company tells Billboard.

Emily Atkin / HEATED:

Activists launch a campaign to pressure NYT to stop creating and running fossil fuel ads, as NYT staff say the practice undermines its own climate reporting — As climate disasters devastate America, activists aren't the only ones wondering why the paper of record is still advertising fossil fuels.

Discussion: @niemanlab, @jgkoomey, @doctorvive, @jamieclimate, @gabefilippelli, @bmarchetich, @jksteinberger, @yearsofliving, @emorwee, @emorwee, @billmckibben, @benfranta, @emorwee, @emorwee, @kerrymflynn and Discontents

Jessica Toonkel / The Information:

Sources: Vice Media is raising $85M from existing investors since SPAC talks have ended; as part of the deal, co-founder Shane Smith is giving up voting control — Vice Media is raising over $85 million in fresh capital from existing investors, as talks to go public via a special purpose acquisition company …

Discussion: The Wrap, @joshsternberg, @zeeshanaleem, @kenli729, @rafat, @richlightshed, @jakesherman, @joeljohnson and @parismartineau

Anousha Sakoui / Los Angeles Times:

Hollywood production workers complain about burnout, with some working 18-hour days due to soaring demand for content from new streaming services — Last month, Ben Gottlieb, a 27-year-old set lighting technician, wanted to show his support for his union's campaign to improve working conditions …

Discussion: @mattdpearce, @colesamanda, @colesamanda, @colesamanda, @kikutowne, @rod3000, @colesamanda, @massawyrm, @juddapatow, @sarahadinasmith, @julieannemery, @andyrichter, @latimes, @clarkgregg and @laura_nelson

Karlene Lukovitz / MediaPost:

FreeWheel: premium video ad views in the US jumped 50% YoY in H1 2021, with connected TV accounting for 60% of those views and set-top box VOD generating 15% — Premium video ad views in the U.S. jumped 50% in this year's first half compared to first-half 2020 — and connected TV (CTV) …

Celeste Katz Marston / Nieman Reports:

A look at six rural news outlets trying to fill the information gaps in places sometimes dismissed in the national media as flyover country — These local newsrooms are helping audiences better understand the places sometimes dismissed as “flyover country”

Discussion: @niemanreports, @niemanreports and @celestekatznyc

Archived Page Info:

This is a snapshot of Mediagazer at 3:35 PM ET, August 31, 2021.

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Who's Hiring in Media?

Deputy Ed. - Gen. Assignment Desk, DC — WaPo

EU Technology Reporter, Brussels — Bloomberg

Breaking News Reporter, NY — Guardian US

Harrisburg Reporter, PA — PCBC

Senior Editor - Styles, NY — NYT

Part-time Editor, Remote — Techmeme

Home & Travel Reporter, Ireland — Newsweek

Assistant Digital Editor, MA — Boston Globe

Senior Editor - Visuals (Temporary), DC — NPR

Copy Editor, Remote US — ProPublica

Markets Reporter, NY/CA — Sherwood Media

Staff Writer, MI — Watershed Voice

Food Reporter, CA — SF Standard

Staff Writer, NV — Las Vegas Weekly

Pharma Editor, Remote — Endpoints

Higher Ed. Reporter, Remote CA — EdSource

Politics Reporter, Brussels — Politico

Investigations & Enterprise Ed., WI — Cap Times

Social Strategy Editor, NY — WSJ

Senior Narrative Editor, CA — Cloud Chamber

Editor-in-Chief, NY (flexible) — The 74

Housing Reporter, OK — The Frontier

Writer/AI Content Reviewer, CA — Outlier

Writer/Editor, Remote — Mediaite

Multi Media Reporter, NC — Cardinal & Pine

Afternoon/Night Editor, NH — Keene Sentinel

Education Lab Editor, WA — Seattle Times

Senior Editor, Remote US — PCWorld

State Worker Reporter, CA — Sacramento Bee

Executive Editor, NM — Searchlight

News Assistant, NY — Quanta Magazine

Local Editor, NJ (Remote) — Patch

News Writer, CA — Hollywood Reporter

News Editor/Reporter, KS — Blade-Empire

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More News:

Jay Cridlin / Tampa Bay Times:
Tampa Bay Times sells its printing plant to Alden's real estate subsidiary for $21M in a “real estate deal, not a newspaper deal”, eliminating ~75% of its debt

Discussion: Editor and Publisher

Garett Sloane / Ad Age:
LinkedIn is abandoning its Stories format at the end of September and has told advertisers to adjust their ad campaigns accordingly

Discussion: LinkedIn, more at Techmeme »

Naman Ramachandran / Variety:
HBO Max will launch in Spain and the Nordics in the fall, and in Portugal and Central and Eastern Europe in 2022

Discussion: The Streamable and Hollywood Reporter

Sara Fischer / Axios:
Sources: Amazon is developing a live audio feature, led by its Music division, with a focus on live music and potentially radio and podcasts

Discussion: New York Post, @sarafischer, @badnetworker, Hot Takes, @thekenyeung and @axios, more at Techmeme »

Dan Bilefsky / New York Times:
Profile of Tolo, Afghanistan's largest broadcaster famous for its hard-hitting news, as it plans to broadcast from Europe or the Middle East if it is shut down

Discussion: CNN, @nawiedjabarkhyl, @elaheizadi, @sfrantzman, @kenroth, @abramowitz, @vali_nasr, @kenroth, @nytimesmusic, @ksoltisanderson, @nytimes, @borealissaves, @danbilefsky, @raju, Insider and The Week

Earlier Picks:

Jim Waterson / The Guardian:
The Sun pays damages and apologizes to the England cricketer Ben Stokes and his mother for publishing details of a family tragedy in a 2019 front page story

Discussion: @royal_suitor, @minhtngo, @jimwaterson, @damonwake, @barneyronay and @davidkirkham3

Andrea Wenzel / Poynter:
Report details The Philadelphia Inquirer's work to be inclusive and antiracist after the paper published the infamous “Buildings Matter, Too” headline last year

Discussion: Political Currents, @michellemanafy and @mattyglesias

Eriq Gardner / Hollywood Reporter:
How Scarlett Johansson's lawsuit against Disney could change Hollywood dealmaking and entertainment contracts, which traditionally accepted some ambiguity

Discussion: @michellemanafy, @jasonhirschhorn and @gracerandolph

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

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

From Techmeme:

Raffaele Huang / Wall Street Journal:
Apple removes WhatsApp and Threads from its App Store in China, saying it was ordered to do so by China's cyberspace officials citing national security concerns

Ryan Morrison / Tom's Guide:
Microsoft researchers introduce VASA-1, an AI model that creates a realistic talking face video from a portrait photo and an audio file, in research preview

Dwarkesh Patel / Dwarkesh Podcast:
Q&A with Mark Zuckerberg on Llama 3, buying H100 GPUs for Reels, AGI, energy constraints, dangers of open source, the metaverse, Meta's custom silicon, and more

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