Mediagazer: A look at the slew of challenges facing Substack, including a writer exodus, hands-off content moderation, subscription fatigue, and copycat rivals like Ghost (Tiffany Hsu/New York Times)

8:35 PM ET, April 14, 2022

Top News:

Quartz CEO Zach Seward says the outlet is dropping its paywall after three years to focus on “the right kind of subscription”; Quartz has ~25K subscribers — Co-founder Zach Seward says site will focus on ‘right kind of subscription’ as it tries to build traffic and influence

Discussion: Adweek, Quartz, Press Gazette, The Wrap, @qz, @fromedome, @kendallbaker, @qz, New York Times, @adampasick, @rafat, @bmorrissey, @adamscochran, @kiruti, @firstadopter, @abnormalreturns, Nieman Lab, @rafat, @matthewherper, @mcwm, @markstenberg3 and Talking Biz News

Axios:

Fox News says it didn't authorize a verified account on Truth Social, which for months has had unverified bot accounts for Fox Sports, TMZ, the NFL, and others — Just days after a verified account for Fox News appeared on former President Trump's social media app, Truth Social …

Discussion: New York Magazine, @jayrosen_nyu, @robertmaguire_, @pittgriffin, @devincow, Forbes, Mediaite, @grahamdavida, @danprimack and Insider

Kate Cox / The Counter:

The Counter, a nonprofit newsroom that investigated the forces shaping how and what Americans eat, will cease publication on May 20 after nearly seven years — I'm writing with news I hoped I'd never have to report. After nearly seven years publishing some of the most provocative …

Ashley Carman / Bloomberg:

A year after Facebook launched podcasts and other audio tools for creators, sources say Meta has shifted its focus to metaverse events and online shopping — Facebook's interest in podcasts is fading, barely a year after it began. — Last April, during a hot market for audio …

Discussion: Protocol, @mgsiegler, @mattnavarra, @ashleyrcarman, @lucas_shaw, @emilyrpeck and @evoterra

Stephen Battaglio / Los Angeles Times:

A look at Fox News Books, an effort to “transcend” the news; the marketing department develops the book ideas and matches them with on-air talent for promotion — Shannon Bream, an anchor on Fox News, doesn't get into the kinds of noise-making controversies that propel the careers …

Discussion: @shannonbream and @johnnydollar01

Sarah Scire / Nieman Lab:

The Texas Tribune plans to hire reporters outside of big Texas cities, including its first Report for America position, to broaden perspectives on state policy — Texas, as you might have heard, is quite big. Even a semi-recent transplant, the Texas Tribune's editor-in-chief Sewell Chan …

Discussion: @fahrenthold, @rebekahallen, @lerdody, @chriscookttu, @sewellchan, @davidmcswane, American Press Institute and @amzam

Dave Cantor / Poynter:

Vox Media signs ad partnerships with Gastropod and The Longform Podcast and is considering subscription audio, where paying listeners get bonus content — Digitally-focused media companies are consolidating brands. What benefits will be reaped from those actions remain to be seen.

Discussion: @poynter and @poynter

Mia Sato / The Verge:

YouTube Shorts now lets creators splice in 1- to 5-second clips from eligible long-form videos and Shorts; previously, creators could only add short audio clips — Creators can use clips from YouTube's billions of videos in their own content — Creators making YouTube Shorts will now be able …

Discussion: Mashable, TechCrunch, Engadget, @lavrusik and Tubefilter, more at Techmeme »

Rick Porter / Hollywood Reporter:

MLB renews its YouTube deal to stream 15 baseball games this season; the league has streaming deals with Apple TV+ for Friday games and Peacock for Monday games — The site will be home to 15 games in the 2022 season as MLB continues to cast a wide net with streamers.

Discussion: The Streamable, The Verge, Awful Announcing, CNET, @lucas_shaw and @ericfishersbg

Reuters:

Sources: a consortium led by radio industry veteran Jeff Warshaw offers to acquire Cumulus Media for close to $1.2B including debt; the stock closes up 39.86% — A consortium led by U.S. radio station industry veteran Jeff Warshaw has offered to acquire Cumulus Media Inc (CMLS.O) …

Discussion: Radio & Television …, insideradio.com and insideradio.com

Bobby Ghosh / Bloomberg:

Q&A with Saad Mohseni, founder and CEO of Moby Group, which owns Afghanistan's TOLO TV, on hosting debates between Taliban factions, hiring more women, and more — This is one of a series of interviews by Bloomberg Opinion columnists on how to solve the world's most pressing policy challenges.

Discussion: @bopinion, @cpeterkessler, @kathygannon, @heatherbarr1, @dearzari, @astronoodlecat, @omsamad, @khalilnoori and @bbcyaldahakim

Josh Funk / Associated Press:

Hedge fund Cannell Capital announced this week it increased its stake in Lee Enterprises to 9.1%; Cannell's head says Lee needs new, digitally savvy leadership — OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Newspaper publisher Lee Enterprises is facing renewed pressure from a hedge fund to speed up its transition …

Discussion: @lvernonsparks, @2xaught7, @juwanthewriter and @suarez_cm

Archived Page Info:

This is a snapshot of Mediagazer at 8:35 PM ET, April 14, 2022.

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Who's Hiring in Media?

Accounting Specialist Editor, Remote US — Reuters

Senior Correspondent - Wealth, NY — WSJ

Asia Credit Reporter, Seoul — Bloomberg

Senior Editor, DC — National Geographic

Sr. Social Media Specialist, NC — espnW

Associate Editor - Aviation, TN — Firecrown

Assistant Editor - Digital, NC — SBJ

Video Producer - YouTube, NY — Morning Brew

Senior Managing Ed. - Daily Desk — The Athletic

Content Managing Editor — Freedom Forum

Editor, MA — Nieman Reports

Team Editor - Breaking News, ON — Toronto Star

Senior Reporter & Event Host, NY/CA — Newcomer

Associate Editor, Remote — Tech Policy Press

Retail Reporter, MN — Star Tribune

Senior Data Editor, DC — U.S. News

Managing Ed. - Berks County, PA — Spotlight PA

News Editor - UK, Remote — The Verge

Staff Writer, TX — Dallas Observer

Multimedia Journalist, PA — Observer-Reporter

Service Journalism Editor, CA — Sacramento Bee

Content Director, Remote — Campaigns & Elections

Sports Reporter, ME — Bangor Daily News

Los Angeles Issues Reporter, CA — CalMatters

Reporter - Middle East — Rest of World

Executive Editor, OR — Lookout Local

California Playbook Writer, CA — Politico

Senior Media Editor — Digiday

National Investigative Reporter, NY — HuffPost

Lexington County Reporter, SC — The State

Reporter - Offshore Wind — Canary Media

General Assignment Reporter, FL — County Record

Staff Reporter, CA — Daily Kos

Data Editor, NY — ProPublica

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More News:

Saritha Rai / Bloomberg:
India's ban on Chinese apps, including TikTok, has allowed homegrown short-video apps like Josh to thrive; Josh has 150M+ MAUs and a $5B valuation as of April

Discussion: Tubefilter and @saritharai

Timothy B. Lee / Ars Technica:
Wikipedia editors vote 232 to 94 to request that the Wikimedia Foundation stop accepting crypto donations; the foundation is not legally bound by the proposal

Discussion: @dystopiabreaker, @theresnotimefor, Engadget, Gizmodo, @smdiehl, @groby, @smdiehl, @molly0xfff, @dystopiabreaker, @molly0xfff, @lsanger, @binarybits, @gladstein, Micky, Slashdot, CNET, Protocol and The Register

Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
Source: CNN+ passed 100K subscribers in its first week; the most popular shows so far are Chris Wallace's daily interview show and Kate Bolduan's 5 Things

Discussion: @lucas_shaw, Junghoon's Direct Media …, The Addition, The Streamable, The Desk, @samro, AdExchanger, @ballmatthew, @barroldbonds, @davidclinchnews, @lucas_shaw, @lucas_shaw, @sarafischer, @ckrewson, @jeremylittau and Puck

Hanaa' Tameez / Nieman Lab:
A look at Archivero, launched by two Mexican journalists in March 2022 to reveal secret government info by requesting public records to have them declassified

Discussion: @risj_oxford, @sarahscire, @janebsinger, @hanaatameez and @niemanlab

Rick Edmonds / Poynter:
The News Media Alliance plans to absorb The Association of Magazine Media in a merger agreement, which NMA members will be asked to ratify at a May 6 meeting

Discussion: @poynter, @rafat, @poynter and @dicktofel

Earlier Picks:

The Washington Post Guild:
The Washington Post Guild report on diversity and retention finds that “The Washington Post operates with systems that create and perpetuate inequalities”

Discussion: @timothynoah1, Columbia Journalism Review, @taylorlorenz, @karenattiah, @kristenchick, @millie, @laurenmlumpkin, @clarajeffery, @scottnover, @byardduncan, @byardduncan, @byardduncan, @byardduncan, @byardduncan, @byardduncan, @byardduncan, @bendreyfuss, @fatimafarha_, @genepark, @cjr, @genepark, @genepark, @pererajh, @riogringa, @lillianbarkley, @jordanlray, @genepark, @nrnaik20, @justiceaudre, @kaylaepstein, @jfmclooney, @celenerz, @bernstein, @evystadium, @elysetoribio, @elvialimon, @anildash, @jaredbkeller, @forrestmilburn, @lessismoh, @leximcmenamin, @joshua_bote, @manishakrishnan, @adriana_lacy, @postguild, @jeffjarvis, @teddyamen, @abtran, @kemettler, @kemettler, @cristymsilva, @kaylaepstein, @samthielman, @kemettler, @espiers, @gerritd, @sophanho, @sophanho, @fenitn, @fenitn, @sarahkaplan48, @feliciasonmez, @marissa_jae, @jamiezega, @misssoniarao, @dataeditor, @sarahkaplan48, @emgusk, @dataeditor, Amy Explains and Today in Tabs, Thanks:@vtuss

The Markup:
The Markup names former Reuters EIC Stephen J. Adler as interim EIC, replacing founder Julia Angwin as she transitions into editor-at-large and board adviser

Discussion: @dangillmor, @nabihasyed, @stephenjadler, @juliaangwin and Talking Biz News

Amanda Meade / The Guardian:
Memo: News Corp Australasia's executive chairman says there is “no one News Corp view” about the upcoming election and editors can choose which party to endorse

Discussion: @grogsgamut, @mjrowland68, @bconn39, @mikecarlton01, @yathinkn and @terrytoo69

Lesley Goldberg / Hollywood Reporter:
Amazon will rebrand IMDb TV as Amazon Freevee starting on April 27 and plans to grow the ad-supported streaming service's slate of originals by 70% in 2022

Tiffany Hsu / New York Times:
A look at the slew of challenges facing Substack, including a writer exodus, hands-off content moderation, subscription fatigue, and copycat rivals like Ghost

From Techmeme:

Richard Lawler / The Verge:
Okta fixes a flaw present since July 23, 2024, that let users log in under specific circumstances with any password if the account's username had 52+ characters

David Pierce / The Verge:
Amazon's plan to rearchitect Alexa around LLMs could finally help Alexa understand what users actually want and reduce the awkward syntax needed to use Skills

Stephen Groves / Associated Press:
US House Speaker Mike Johnson says the GOP “probably will” try to repeal the CHIPS Act, but then walks it back, saying the GOP may “further streamline” the bill

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