Mediagazer: Interview with former NYT reporter Nina Bernstein on traditional news media's “tics and timidities” that impoverish reporting out of a fear of taking sides (Dan Froomkin/Press Watch)

1:45 AM ET, December 18, 2021

Top News:

NYT fires a Wirecutter editor for “repeatedly invoking the NYT's name in an unprofessional way” in messages she allegedly sent to a gun rights advocacy group — Erin Marquis, a staffer for the popular product-review site, had also lashed out at a gun-rights organization on Twitter.

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Documents and sources: WaPo execs weigh how to attract young readers and expand features content as the outlet faces a slump in readership and subscriber growth — News outlet's audience is down sharply, amid sector-wide declines; subscription growth has stagnated as readers look beyond politics

Randall Lane / Forbes:

Forbes says two of its editors testified about two old stories in front of a New York grand jury investigating Trump, after fighting subpoenas for months — Almost three months ago, I was subpoenaed by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. to appear before the grand jury investigating Donald Trump.

Discussion: @chasewithorn, The Hill, @randalllane, @dianesbaker1, Raw Story, Daily Herald, @randalllane, Axios and Talking Biz News

The Citizen Lab:

The phone of an exiled Egyptian TV news host was compromised in June using Cytrox's Predator spyware via a single-click link in a WhatsApp message — Key Findings — Two Egyptians—exiled politician Ayman Nour and the host of a popular news program (who wishes to remain anonymous) …

Discussion: @dr_ulrichsen, @evacide, Cyber Defence News …, @ngleicher, @laughing_mantis, @sarahleah1, TechCrunch, Futureprotech, NPR, ScreenRant, The Register, Gizmodo, Wired, Bloomberg, The Guardian and The Daily Beast, more at Techmeme »

The Streamable:

Disney fails to reach a deal with YouTube TV, removing 17+ channels including ABC, Disney, ESPN, Freeform, and FX; YouTube TV drops its price to $49.99/month — After a year of bitter disputes with its partners, YouTube TV just took a gut-punch from one of the entertainment world's biggest titans.

Discussion: Awful Announcing, Variety, The Wrap, Yahoo Sports, The Verge, Cord Cutters News, Futureprotech, 9to5Google, Deadline and Hollywood Reporter, more at Techmeme »

Dan Froomkin / Press Watch:

Interview with former NYT reporter Nina Bernstein on traditional news media's “tics and timidities” that impoverish reporting out of a fear of taking sides — Nina Bernstein was covering homelessness for the New York Times in 1999 when then-mayor Rudolph Giuliani announced …

Discussion: @jayrosen_nyu, @jamesgleick, @froomkin, @rauchway, @crusher92, @brianbeutler, @ninabernstein1, @froomkin, @froomkin, @shoq, @sewellchan and @joanespositochi

Daniel Tilles / Notes From Poland:

Polish parliament passes a bill that limits foreign ownership of media, affecting Discovery-owned TVN; the president hinted he may veto the bill — A bill to restrict foreign ownership of Polish media was unexpectedly passed by parliament today. The proposed law is seen to be aimed …

Discussion: Bloomberg, The Hollywood Reporter, Reuters, DW.COM, @notesfrompoland, Deadline, C21Media, Politico, @mooonlightbby, @globalfreemedia, @ecpmf and Variety

Gavin Bridge / Variety:

A record 1,923 original series were released across TV and streaming services in 2021, beating the previous high of 1,628 in 2019 — - 2021 saw a record number of original series across TV & streaming — Subscription streaming is now the platform with the largest number of original shows

Discussion: @sportstvratings, The Streamable and @variety

Gerry Smith / Bloomberg:

CNN plans to pull its original series off HBO Max and put them on its own streaming service, CNN+, which a source says has a planned March debut for $5.99/month — - News channel eyes $5.99 price and March launch date for CNN+ — CNN plans to pull its original series off HBO Max and put …

Discussion: @business, @gerryfsmith, The Streamable, @loudmouthjulia, @loudmouthjulia, @loudmouthjulia, Gizmodo, @loudmouthjulia, @jeremymclellan, @loudmouthjulia, TVNewser, @awallenstein, @pnjaban, @neoavatara and @juwanthewriter

Erik Larson / Bloomberg:

Judge lets Dominion proceed with its Fox lawsuit because Fox had “countervailing evidence of election fraud” and says “hyperbolic” rhetoric can be defamatory — - Fox had enough information to know claims false, judge says — Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson also targets of lawsuit

Discussion: @benyt, @timobrien, Hollywood Reporter, @obarcala, NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth, Raw Story, @svdate, @deanobeidallah, @obarcala, Washington Post, TVNewser, CNN and MediaPost

William Turvill / Press Gazette:

Sources: Google delayed the US launch of News Showcase, live in 14 countries, to at least Q1 2022 as pubs find the offers underwhelming and doubt its efficacy — Google is struggling to persuade some of America's largest publishers to sign up to its News Showcase aggregation scheme, an investigation by Press Gazette has found.

Discussion: @newsalliance, @simonowens, @davidclinchnews, @pressgazette, @simonowens and @tomnamako

Katie Kilkenny / Hollywood Reporter:

Vice Media and its employee union reach a three-year deal that sets minimum salaries of $63K and annual raises, institutes anti-harassment measures, and more — The new agreement, which consolidates four previously separate contracts, will offer salary floors of $63,000 by the end of the contract …

Discussion: Writers Guild of America …, @greenhousenyt, Deadline and bookforum.com

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