Mediagazer: The BBC names Chris Mason its political editor, replacing Laura Kuenssberg; Mason will take up the job at the end of May (Jim Waterson/The Guardian)

10:50 AM ET, April 13, 2022

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Jim Waterson / The Guardian:

The BBC names Chris Mason its political editor, replacing Laura Kuenssberg; Mason will take up the job at the end of May — Mason, a 20-year veteran at the BBC seen as a safe pair of hands, had originally declined to apply for job — Chris Mason has been named as the BBC's new political editor …

Alex Sherman / CNBC:

Sources: CNN+ has fewer than 10K daily users; CNN, the cable channel, had an average of 773K total viewers a day in 2021 — - Fewer than 10,000 people are using CNN+ on a daily basis two weeks into its existence, sources said. — The paltry audience casts doubt on the future …

Sara Fischer / Axios:
Sources: CNN planned to invest ~$1B in CNN+ over four years and projected 2M US subs in year one, but will likely cut back dramatically after spending ~$300M

Sara Guaglione / Digiday:

The Recount, a three-year-old news startup founded by John Battelle and John Heilemann, launches a three-hour, daily live news show on Twitch — The Recount, a three-year-old news organization founded by journalists John Battelle and John Heilemann, is debuting a three-hour-long …

Sarah Scire / Nieman Lab:

After a two-year pause, the News Leaders Association is sharing its newsroom diversity survey this week; 303 outlets participated, missing the goal of 2,500 — Meredith Clark, who has led the News Leaders Association's diversity survey in recent years, has resigned from the project.

Gabriella Paiella / GQ:

Q&A with Adrian Chiles, who has built a following for his pleasant takes in The Guardian, on his fandom, getting column ideas from “sheer desperation”, and more — An interview with the internet's most delightful columnist about man bags, his writing process, and meeting his fiancée.

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Tiffany Hsu / New York Times:

A look at the slew of challenges facing Substack, including a writer exodus, content moderation, subscription fatigue, and rivals like Ghost — The publishing platform's founders want Substack to be an “alternate universe on the internet.” But it faces copycat rivals, an exodus by writers and a need to move beyond newsletters.

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Financial Times:

UK's Future says e-commerce revenue grew 36% YoY to £216M in 2021, representing more than a third of its revenue; readers buy 43.5K items per day on average — FTSE 250 group has successfully battled pressure on print media by pushing products to readers

Discussion: @damianburns and @astaniscia86

J. Clara Chan / The Hollywood Reporter:

Sources: Spotify's head of studios and video Courtney Holt will move to an “advisory role” in May; the company will divide his duties across multiple executives — The executive, who first joined the audio giant in 2017, will stay on as an adviser for a year.

Discussion: Variety, @mootron, @janicemin, The Ankler, Deadline, Engadget, @karaswisher, @theinsneider, The Ankler, Billboard and The Wrap, more at Techmeme »

Bron Maher / Press Gazette:

Analysis: the number of UK newspaper editorials calling for more action on climate change quadrupled between 2018 and 2021, rising from 40 to 163 — The number of UK newspaper editorials calling for more action to prevent climate change quadrupled in the three years to 2021, according to analysis by climate science site Carbon Brief.

Alex Weprin / Hollywood Reporter:

National Geographic launches a $10.99/month or $109/year subscription that includes a Nat Geo digital membership, print issues, and Disney+ — National Geographic Premium with Disney+ includes print issues of Nat Geo Kids, and the ‘Year in Pictures’ special issue, digital access …

Discussion: The Streamable, LostRemote, @alexweprin and @alexweprin

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