Mediagazer: FT-backed Sifted, which covers European startups, raises £4M led by ScaleUp Capital, which will become the largest shareholder with a 25% stake (Andrew Kersley/Press Gazette)

1:55 PM ET, November 22, 2021

Top News:

Fox News contributors Jonah Goldberg and Stephen Hayes resign from the network in protest of Tucker Carlson's streaming special on the January 6 Capitol mob — Jonah Goldberg and Stephen Hayes, stars of a brand of conservatism that has fallen out of fashion, decide they've had enough.

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Rick Edmonds / Poynter:

Alden Global Capital announces an offer to acquire Lee Enterprises for about $140M or $24/share, a ~30% premium to its stock's November 19 closing price — The hedge fund has developed a reputation for slashing staff in newsrooms and other departments and selling off real estate at outlets it owns.

Jennifer Meierhans / BBC:

Spotify removes shuffle play as the default option on albums for premium users, so tracks play in the order artists intended, after Adele requests the change — Adele has persuaded Spotify to take the shuffle button off all album pages so tracks play in the artist's own order.

Anna Nicolaou / Financial Times:

Jessica Lessin says The Information has 225,000 “active users”, including paid subs and newsletter readers, as it prepares to launch a weekend lifestyle edition — Website aimed at Silicon Valley proves value of subscription model for journalism

Discussion: Talking Biz News, @mohamed, @aservais1, @clockwerks, @pressgazette, @annaknicolaou, @markdistef, @jakesherman and @rafat

Karen Hao / MIT Technology Review:

Investigation shows how Facebook and Google fund misinformation globally by paying millions of dollars in ad revenue to the operators of clickbait pages — A month after the fall of the democratic government. — In 2015, six of the 10 websites in Myanmar getting the most engagement …

Gizmodo:

Gizmodo plans to publish the Facebook Papers in batches, redacting sensitive information with help from NYU, UMass Amherst, Columbia, Marquette, and the ACLU — Independent experts from NYU, UMass Amherst, Columbia, Marquette, and the ACLU are partnering with Gizmodo to responsibly publish this historic leak.

Discussion: @lauraedelson2, @film_girl, @swodinsky and @andrewcouts, more at Techmeme »

Brian Steinberg / Variety:

Nielsen says it will overhaul its commercial ratings in 2022, with plans to measure audiences for individual ads — Nielsen has a new proposal for TV networks that have been threatening for months to find other means of measuring their audiences: Stick with the yardstick you already use.

Discussion: MediaPost, Ad Age, Radio & Television …, Hollywood Reporter, Adweek, Deadline, Advanced Television, @bristei, @bristei, @bristei, @bristei and @nina_metz

Andrew Kersley / Press Gazette:

FT-backed Sifted, which covers European startups, raises £4M led by ScaleUp Capital, which will become the largest shareholder with a 25% stake — Financial Times-backed website Sifted, which covers the world of European start-ups, has raised £4m of investment funding for a 25% stake.

Discussion: Talking Biz News and Sifted

Nicole LaPorte / Fast Company:

A look at Spotify's podcast investments, including its push into advertising and video, as it appears poised to dominate the industry — With 3.2 million podcasts on its platform and more monthly active users than Apple, Spotify is the new heavy in podcasting. It's just getting started.

more at Techmeme »

Ashley Carman / The Verge:
Spotify's Findaway acquisition will turn it into an audiobook producer, distributor, and retailer, while becoming the app for consuming all audio

Discussion: @evan_greer, @joshhunt, @alphachromeyayo, @simonowens, @ashleyrcarman and @adrs, more at Techmeme »

Sara Guaglione / Digiday:

A look at the product box programs offered by InStyle, The Cut, Eater, and Group Nine, as more publishers launch them as worthwhile revenue streams — InStyle and The Cut created their first product boxes for sale this month, as this line of business at Eater and Group Nine reaches their one-year anniversaries.

Discussion: @simonowens

Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:

Thirty journalists fired from the Kyiv Post earlier this month launch Kyiv Independent, promising to use reader donations before adding commercial activities — Thirty journalists who were abruptly fired from the Kyiv Post this month have started their own publication and promised to block …

Discussion: The Fix, @pressgazette, @olgatokariuk and @thefixmedia

Brian Welk / The Wrap:

Netflix acquires visual effects studio Scanline VFX, whose work includes Stranger Things 3; Scanline will continue to operate as a standalone VFX business — Netflix is acquiring the visual effects studio Scanline VFX, which has been behind special effects work for Netflix's recent series …

Discussion: The Guardian, Variety, Los Angeles Times, Deadline and Hollywood Reporter

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Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
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Jeff John Roberts / Decrypt:
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Discussion: TechCrunch, Fortune, @anthonyha and @jeffjohnroberts

Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
Paul Dacre is re-appointed EIC of DMG Media, an advisory role that won't involve day-to-day editing, less than three weeks after leaving the role

Discussion: Financial Times, The Guardian, @kevin_maguire, @andyoakes and @direthoughts

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Discussion: The Thndrhs Nifty and hi, tech.

Jim Morrill / The Assembly:
Profile of Asheville Watchdog, which produces investigative reporting in North Carolina with accomplished, volunteer journalists who “retired” to the mountains

Discussion: @theassemblync, @barry_yeoman, @jimmorrill, @john_drescher, @coreyhutchins, @colmorrisdavis and @carolleonnig

Earlier Picks:

Renju Jose / Reuters:
Mining billionaire Andrew Forrest's Minderoo Foundation will help 18 Australian small news publishers negotiate collectively with Google and Facebook

Moiz Syed / Source:
Interview with Moiz Syed, formerly of The Intercept and ProPublica, on the lack of empathy among newsroom managers, the “straitjacket of objectivity”, and more

Issie Lapowsky / Protocol:
A voter turnout group says Facebook served 36.8% of their conversion ads to iOS users after Apple's ATT change, down from 63.6%

Discussion: @somospostpc, @codinghorror, @carnage4life, @issielapowsky, @protocol, @issielapowsky, @voterformation, @tatendacheryl, @issielapowsky, @saramorrison, @issielapowsky and @issielapowsky

Peter Kafka / Vox:
James Andrew Miller's new book reveals that some HBO execs pushed for selling subscriptions directly to consumers in 2005, and some wanted to buy Netflix

Discussion: @jasonhirschhorn, @ritholtz, @gadyepstein, @carlquintanilla, @kbandersen, @tsuvik, @jkosner, Baraja de oro and @pkafka

Jonathan Stempel / Reuters:
A New York appeals court judge rejects the NYT's request to unblock it from publishing or seeking Project Veritas documents; the next hearing is on November 23

Discussion: @joshgerstein, @eriqgardner, @jesselynradack, @ggreenwald, @maxkennerly, @williamturton, @iwanttotalk_now, @gaberusk, @mmasnick, @pnjaban, @mathewi, @pressfreedom, @kylenabecker, @janemayernyer, Associated Press and Washington Post

From Techmeme:

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple is working on a smart doorbell system with advanced facial recognition that can wirelessly connect and unlock third-party smart locks

Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
Donald Trump announces that Sriram Krishnan, until recently a general partner at a16z, will serve as senior policy advisor for AI at the White House OSTP

Bloomberg:
Sources: SoftBank's Masayoshi Son has recently become singularly obsessed with how to build the next Nvidia and wants competitive AI chips ready to ship by 2026

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