Mediagazer: Twitter hires Maggie McLean Suniewick, formerly president of distribution and business development for NBCUniversal's digital properties, as VP of partnerships (Kurt Wagner/Bloomberg)

12:50 AM ET, July 1, 2022

Top News:

Steven Nelson / New York Post:

A group of 68 journalists sent a letter to White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre seeking more event access and an end to opaque screening of reporters — A group of 66 journalists sent a rare protest letter to White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre Thursday asking …

Discussion: @erikwemple, Mediaite, @marisa_iati, @froomkin, The Daily Wire, @jeffmordock, @esaagar, @scottbix, @alexthomp, @stevennelson10, @mzhemingway and @stevennelson10

Peter Kafka / Vox:

Netflix faces higher subscription churn rates than in the past, apparently leading to a strategy of releasing Stranger Things and Ozark seasons in two chunks — One chart that tells you a lot about the state of the streaming service. — Netflix spends around $17 billion a year on new TV shows and movies.

Discussion: @masasoncap, Forbes, The Streamable and Variety

New York Times:

Netflix execs say they plan no big programming changes; analysts for two banks say a cheaper ad-supported tier may cannibalize the higher-paying subscriber base — Long Hollywood's leading innovator, the streaming service is staying the course, despite serious challenges to its business and questions about its content.

Discussion: @benmullin, The Streamable, @benmullin, @brooksbarnesnyt and @kennethturan

Wall Street Journal:

Sources: Group Black, which invests in and develops Black-owned media, is in talks to buy a stake in BDG Media and is exploring an acquisition of Vice Media — Group Black is in talks to buy stake in Bustle parent and has been eyeing a deal for Vice Media — Group Black, a company that aims …

Discussion: @juwanthewriter, @jbflint and PRWeek

Sewell Chan / The Texas Tribune:

Study: since 2005, Texas has lost 211 out of its 634 newspapers and about eight newspaper journalists per 10K residents; 27 of 254 counties have no newspaper — Of Texas' 254 counties, 27 no longer have a newspaper. Loss of local news coverage has been associated with higher levels of mistrust, misinformation and malfeasance.

Discussion: Washington Post, The Hill, @dansewell, @psskow, @pohl_jason, @coreyhutchins, @report4america, @leighmunsil, @lindashapley, @pattmlatimes, @caseyseiler, @ron_fournier, @adamdavidson, @shashib, @lydiadepillis and @sewellchan

Erik Wemple / Washington Post:

News outlets should stop publishing puff pieces about Supreme Court justices written by lawyers with ties to the court; a look back shows their bad predictions — Lisa Blatt, an attorney who has argued more than 40 cases before the Supreme Court, wrote an opinion piece for Politico Magazine …

Discussion: @bgrueskin, @erikwemple, Mediaite, @donmoyn, @bgrueskin, @davidminpdx, @taniel, @gadyepstein, @dceiver, @cwarzel, @gadyepstein, @soledadobrien, @xor, @ronhogan, @lschmeiser, @rachellarris, @dangillmor, @nberlat, @keitholbermann and @gadyepstein

Daniel Kreps / Rolling Stone:

Universal Music Group acquires Frank Zappa's estate, including his catalog, film archive, publishing rights, name and likeness, and unreleased material — Deal between Zappa Family Trust and UMG includes publishing and the rights to the legendary rocker's name and likeness

Discussion: Variety, @jackshafer, Digital Music News, Reuters, Bloomberg, @ethanwsj, @budhavara, Billboard and Music Business Worldwide

Sarah Scire / Nieman Lab:

The New York Times adds free access to The Athletic for all-access digital and home delivery subscribers and plans to implement a more flexible Athletic paywall — Good news for sports fans who subscribe to The New York Times's all-access digital bundle (or get home delivery) …

Sara Fischer / Axios:

Roughly 65 Wired workers threaten to strike on July 12 and July 13, Amazon's Prime Days, seeking more pay and the inclusion of product reviewers in their union — The union representing roughly 65 editorial workers at Wired, the tech publisher owned by Condé Nast …

Discussion: @wiredunion, @fsp_nwu, @sarafischer, @knibbs, @stevenlevy, @lordravenscraft, Talking Biz News and @lilyhnewman

Kurt Wagner / Bloomberg:

Twitter hires Maggie McLean Suniewick, formerly president of distribution and business development for NBCUniversal's digital properties, as VP of partnerships — Twitter Inc. has hired Maggie McLean Suniewick from NBCUniversal Media to be the company's new vice president of partnerships …

Discussion: @nedsegal, Adweek, @jaysullivan, @kurtwagner8, @maggiesuniewick, Variety and Hollywood Reporter

Matthew Bremner / Bloomberg:

Profile of Uzbek political blogger Bobomurod Abdullayev, who was detained and tortured for writing a pseudonymous blog criticizing the autocratic regime — Bobomurod Abdullayev was a decent enough sports reporter, but he was a really good politics blogger. Household-name good. Getting-things-done good.

Glenn Kessler / Washington Post:

Duke Reporters' Lab says fact-checking projects globally grew from 168 in 2016 to 391 in 2021; Meta says it spent $100M to underwrite fact-checking operations — OSLO — Members of fact-checking organizations from around the globe met last week for their first in-person conference in three years …

Discussion: @jordylancaster, @maxblumenthal, @washingtonpost, @pcunliffejones and @neontaster

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Who's Hiring in Media?

Commissioning Editor - Practical Law — Reuters

Energy Markets Reporter, London — WSJ

Oil Reporter, Singapore — Bloomberg

Newsperson - State Govt. & Politics, CA — AP

Business Reporter, SC — Post & Courier

State Government Reporter, WA — Seattle Times

Climate Crisis Columnist — Prospect UK

Multimedia Journalist, CA — Paramount

Community Engagement Mgr., DC — Freedom Forum

Staff Writer - Business, NY — WIRED

Editor, MA — Nieman Reports

Team Editor - Breaking News, ON — Toronto Star

Senior Reporter & Event Host, NY/CA — Newcomer

Climate & Weather Reporter, MN — Star Tribune

Senior Tech Editor, Remote US — The Verge

News Reporter, MA — Berkshire Eagle

Managing Editor, WA — Everett Herald

Private Credit Reporter, NY — Debtwire

Legislative Reporter, CA — Sacramento Bee

Reporter, PA — Tribune-Review

Visual Editor, Remote — Rest of World

Staff Writer, MI — Watershed Voice

California Playbook Writer, CA — Politico

Senior Media Editor — Digiday

National Investigative Reporter, NY — HuffPost

Business & Gaming Reporter, NV — Las Vegas Sun

Coastal Climate Reporter, SC — Island Packet

Environment & Energy Reporter, CT — CT Mirror

Coordinating Editor, OR — OPB

Staff Reporter, CA — Daily Kos

Editor-in-Chief, AZ — Phoenix New Times

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More News:

Richard Lawler / The Verge:
Comcast launches its Xfinity Stream app, with live channels, DVR content, and on-demand video, for Apple TV, after making a deal with Apple in October 2021

Discussion: The Streamable, MacRumors, @rjcc, Variety, 9to5Mac and Light Reading

Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch:
Wattpad launches a payout program for writers to earn up to $25K alongside an Engaged Readers metric, which counts those who spend over five minutes on a story

Discussion: @thegavgav7, @tamaralush, @nayiiiiin, Variety and Tubefilter

David Hellier / Bloomberg:
Sources: Amazon is nearing a three-year media rights deal for UEFA's flagship Champions League soccer competition, Europa League, and Europa Conference League

Discussion: The Guardian, @sbienkowski, Mirror, Front Office Sports and Benzinga

Alex Heath / The Verge:
Snap launches Snapchat+, offering exclusive, experimental, and pre-release Snapchat features for $3.99 per month, starting in nine countries

Discussion: NBC News, @alexeheath, Snap Newsroom, ScreenRant, @kiruti, @snapchat, @mattnavarra, Insider, Music Ally, Axios, Tubefilter, Doubt is Welcome, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Reuters, Adweek, Engadget, 9to5Mac and The Hill

Reuters:
Antonio de la Cruz, a reporter for Mexican newspaper Expreso, was shot dead in his home on Wednesday, the 12th journalist killed in the country in 2022

Discussion: Reporters Without Borders, American Press Institute, @stalingrad_poor, @kylie_madry and @jbwashing

Earlier Picks:

Joe Flint / Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Nexstar Media Group is close to a deal to acquire 75% of The CW Network; Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery would each retain 12.5% stakes

Discussion: Axios, The Desk, The Streamable, IndieWire, MediaPost, Benzinga, @nottheribbons, @tim_bays, Hollywood Reporter, @tvgrimreaper, Deadline, Next TV and The Wrap

Hanaa' Tameez / Nieman Lab:
The Tributary, which launched in December 2020 in Jacksonville, Florida, plans to become a worker-directed news nonprofit with shared decision making

Discussion: @niemanfdn, @deirdreconner, @niemanfdn, @apantazi, @vwpickard and @jenwsheehan

David Bauder / Associated Press:
Nielsen: during two daytime hearings last week, Fox averaged 727K viewers vs. 3.09M on MSNBC and 2.21M on CNN; Fox's audience fell when hearings started at 3pm

Discussion: Adweek, @larrysabato, @ap, Mediaite, Columbia Journalism Review and CNN

Benjamin Mullin / New York Times:
Substack lays off 13 of its 90 employees in an effort to conserve cash during a startup funding crunch; source: cuts hit HR, writer support, and other roles

Discussion: Defector, @defectormedia, Axios, Input, @jeremylittau, Creator Economy Tips, @parismartineau, @automaticzen, Breitbart, @mslopatto, @sarafischer, @josephpillidge, @leavittalone, @s_m_i, @stevekovach, @benmullin, The Verge, TechCrunch, The Wrap, Bloomberg and Variety

Adlan Jackson / New York Times:
A look at YouTube “media critics”, who use humor to dissect the output of more popular YouTubers, discuss the absurdities of social media influencers, and more

Discussion: Critical Party Studies, @niemanlab and @jeffjarvis

From Techmeme:

Tom Warren / The Verge:
Microsoft unveils the $349 Windows 365 Link, a mini PC for its Windows 365 cloud service running a “super hardened version of Windows”, shipping in April 2025

Emanuel Maiberg / 404 Media:
Niantic says it is using data generated by Pokémon Go players to create a large geospatial model, or LGM, that can navigate the physical world and power robots

Sara Fischer / Axios:
Meta is forming a new product group to build AI tools for the 200M businesses that use its apps, led by Clara Shih, who most recently was Salesforce AI's CEO

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