Top News:
Knight Foundation:
The Knight Foundation announces $20K grants to 25 newsrooms to upgrade digital publishing tools; the program has provided $1.5M to 75 newsrooms over three years — Twenty-five newsrooms will receive $20,000 grants to deploy an improved publishing solution, in third year of Knight initiative in partnership with News Revenue Hub
Discussion:
MediaPost, @planetdetroit, @sfpublicpress, @coachgharvey, @berkeleyside, @knightfdn and @knightfdn
The Guardian:
Guardian reports annual revenue for the year to April 2022 of £255.8M, up 13% YoY, and net operating inflow of £6.7M; digital revenue surpasses print, a first — Guardian Media Group (GMG) today announces outstanding financial results for the 12 months to 3 April 2022
Matthew Doig:
An LAT editor who worked on the story about drug use by a USC dean refutes the claims made in a book by an LAT reporter about editors trying to kill the story — An LA Times reporter's book claims corrupt editors — myself included — tried to protect USC from an embarrassing exposé.
Discussion:
@paperhaus, @davidakaye, @loebvernon, @hillelaron, Media Nation, @jbflint, @cristymsilva, @jm_mcgrath, @lfung, @dangillmor, @farhip, @a_cormier_, @froomkin, @gabekahn and @stephenrodrick
Charlotte Klein / Vanity Fair:
ProPublica, AP, Texas Tribune, and 40+ other news organizations have formed a media coalition to make records requests concerning the Uvalde shooting — While journalists have already exposed police failures, national and local outlets are also uniting in an effort for greater transparency.
Discussion:
@sewellchan, @charlottetklein, @marcduvoisin and WFAA-TV
Josh Dzieza / The Verge:
A look at GPT-3-powered fiction writing tools like Sudowrite, which proposes plot twists, rewrites in specific tones, suggests metaphors, and more — On a Tuesday in mid-March, Jennifer Lepp was precisely 80.41 percent finished writing Bring Your Beach Owl, the latest installment in her series …
Discussion:
@kristenradtke, @mslopatto, @thelincoln, @jamesjyu, @reckless, @joshdzieza, @sarahjeong, @starfire2258, @jjvincent, @knguyen, @kristenradtke, @knguyen, @superamit, @dcseifert, @arnicas and @dhm
Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
Crunchbase has raised a $50M Series D led by Alignment Growth and says it attracts 75M+ unique visitors annually and recently surpassed 60,000 paying customers — In both down times and boom times, businesses across industries are faced with the challenge of building sales pipelines and closing revenue.
Discussion:
@yoda, @prsarahevans, @srinivasdkrishn, @bayareawriter, @jason_rowley and @omersventures, more at Techmeme »
Ashley Wong / New York Times:
A profile of Hell Gate, a five-person news outlet in New York City owned by the writers; the site has launched paid subscriptions of $6.99 a month or $70 a year — After years of being put through the wringer of New York City media, five journalists created Hell Gate, the blog-style news site run on their terms.
Discussion:
@silvermanjacob, @natashalennard, @hellgateny, @mjchiusano, @edmundlee, @tvgrimreaper, @jaysonbuford, @kensingernathan, @macfathom, @molly__o, @jangelooff, @wongalum, @wongalum, @wongalum, @christrobbins, @christrobbins, @dannygroner, @johnknefel, @jawnita, @jakedobkin, @caseynewton, @bernstein, @maxrivlinnadler, @knibbs, @bfishbfish, @emmabgo and @mollyknefel
Haroon Siddique / The Guardian:
UK Justice Secretary Dominic Raab announces proposals for a three-stage test for courts in England and Wales to grant early dismissal requests for SLAPPs — Strategic lawsuits against public participation have been used by rich to try to stifle free speech
Discussion:
@haroon_siddique, @scottmstedman, @carolecadwalla, @catherine_mayer and @tomburgis
Jay Peters / The Verge:
YouTube hires Rene Ritchie, a tech YouTuber and former iMore editor-in-chief, as its Creator Liaison, replacing Matt Koval, who left YouTube in February 2022 — He's the company's second creator liaison — Rene Ritchie, the former editor-in-chief of Apple-focused site iMore who has been a full …
Discussion:
Tubefilter, @reneritchie, @thekenyeung, @backlon, @reneritchie, Daring Fireball, @youtubeliaison, @parkerortolani and @reneritchie
Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
Evening Standard editor Charlotte Ross departs suddenly; deputy editor Jack Lefley becomes the newspaper's fourth editor or acting editor in just over two years — Evening Standard acting editor Charlotte Ross has left the newspaper with immediate effect. — Her exit means the Evgeny …
Discussion:
@iromg, @frasernelson, @oscarwgrut, @shentonstage, @direthoughts, @jimwaterson, @journalistjill, @aljwhite, @jaheale and @peston
Brian Steinberg / Variety:
Memo: CNN CEO Chris Licht elevates Virginia Moseley to EVP of US-based editorial, in charge of newsgathering for TV and digital, and lays out other execs' roles — CNN's new chief expanded the news outlet's leadership team Wednesday, keeping some senior executives in place while adding new ones to the mix.
Discussion:
New York Times, The Wrap, Los Angeles Times, @iwmf, @raju, The Hollywood Reporter, @mdornic, @kriscoratti, @sarafischer, @lacaldwelldc, @edokeefe, Deadline and @philiprucker
Sara Fischer / Axios:
Piano: 43%+ of digital media subscribers become inactive a day after subscribing, up from 39% in 2021; “subscription sleepers” account for 30% of active churn — Over 43% of digital media subscribers become inactive the day after they subscribe, according to a new report, up from 39% in 2021.
Discussion:
Simon Owens's Media Newsletter, @samro and @dcnorg