Mediagazer: Q&A with Manasseh Azure Awuni, EIC of The Fourth Estate, on launching the Ghanaian nonprofit investigative journalism project, Ghana's media landscape, and more (Patrick Egwu/Reuters Institute)

10:30 PM ET, November 26, 2023

Top News:

Dominic Ponsford / Press Gazette:

An interview with Bloomberg's Chief Digital Officer about reaching 500K subs five years after launching a paywall, ad business, engaging with Gen Z, and more — Press Gazette caught up with Bloomberg Media chief digital officer Julia Beizer in New York. — Bloomberg Media's chief digital …

Discussion: @pressgazette, @pressgazette, @pressgazette, @palewire and Talking Biz News

Alexandra Bruell / Wall Street Journal:

A look at The Gleaner, a local Kentucky newspaper, now a ghost newsroom with no full-time staff, as the loss of local papers grew to 2.5/week on average in 2023 — Rise of ‘ghost newsrooms’ spawns effort by local news startups to fill the void — The Gleaner, the local newspaper in Henderson …

Discussion: @tomokcinstagram@threads.net, @wsj, @jeff.domingues@threads.net, @scottadamssays, @dakotastandard, @ryanlencl, Local News Initiative, @stevenwaldman, @phuggsports, New York Times, John C Abell on LinkedIn, Dan Barkin on LinkedIn, Editor and Publisher, RTDNA and Medill

Carmel Dagan / Variety:

Marty Krofft, a TV producer and co-creator of popular kids TV shows like H.R. Pufnstuf and Land of the Lost, died on November 25 at age 86 — Marty Krofft, who with his brother Sid produced memorable kids shows “H.R. Pufnstuf” and “Land of the Lost” — as well as the 2009 feature based on the latter — has died.

Jane Martinson / The Guardian:

The UK government's potential scrutiny of Abu Dhabi's role in the Telegraph purchase is welcome after its failure to do so with the Independent — Intervention over a UAE-backed bid is welcome, but it's unlikely to signal a new era of media-ownership transparency

Discussion: @jimpearson17@threads.net, Bloomberg and Financial Times

The Guardian:

Sources: the UK culture minister's probe into Abu Dhabi-backed bid for The Telegraph could be stifled by the Foreign Office, which aims to boost UAE relations — Foreign Office could stifle possible inquiry into bid from Abu Dhabi-backed fund RedBird IMI in absence of cabinet secretary

Discussion: Telegraph, Financial Times and The Guardian

Patrick Egwu / Reuters Institute:

Q&A with Manasseh Azure Awuni, EIC of The Fourth Estate, on launching the Ghanaian nonprofit investigative journalism project, Ghana's media landscape, and more — Manasseh Azure Awuni, editor-in-chief of The Fourth Estate, speaks about the challenges faced by the profession in his native Ghana and beyond

Discussion: @mfbernier and @risj_oxford

Yona Tr Golding / Columbia Journalism Review:

Q&A with Paul Caruana Galizia, son of murdered journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia of Malta, on writing about her death, choosing his own media career, and more — Writing was a compulsion for investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. Known for her candid and witty prose …

Discussion: CNN, @mcco12@threads.net, @occupyjusticema and @amanpour

New York Times:

Internal docs: X may lose ~$75M in ad revenue by 2023 end as Amazon, Microsoft, and other major brands halted or consider halting ads; X says it may lose $11M — Internal documents show companies like Airbnb, Coca-Cola and Microsoft have halted ads, or are at risk of doing so …

Discussion: The Information, New York Post, @carnage4life@mas.to, @jason_kint, The Hill, Newser, @fmhilton@mastodon.sdf.org, @nash076, @chronotope, @profcarroll, @rmac18, @blowryontv, @rmac18, @profgalloway@threads.net, @karaswisher@threads.net, @drewharwell@threads.net and Reuters

Robert D. McFadden / New York Times:

Charles Peters, the founding editor of The Washington Monthly, a small political journal that challenged liberal and conservative orthodoxies, dies at 96 — His political journal challenged liberal and conservative orthodoxies for decades. — Charles Peters, the founding editor of The Washington Monthly …

Discussion: @stacypalmer, @andreicherny, @stevecollinssj, @johndex, @monthly, @stevecollinssj, @peterbakernyt, @heerjeet, @mikegrunwald, @jayrosen_nyu, @hookjan, @nickkristof, @shawnwestfall, Washington Post, @ezraklein@threads.net and Washington Monthly

Yashraj Sharma / Wired:

Ahead of elections in India in December and 2024, political parties are courting social media influencers to reach rural voters while dodging media interviews — Major political parties in India are courting social media influencers to reach rural voters, paying for reach and dodging tough questions.

Discussion: @yashjournals, @wired, MIT Technology Review and Financial Times, more at Techmeme »

Bloomberg:

RT and Sputnik have created mirror sites, like swentr.com, which have a fraction of the originals' traffic but allow them to bypass EU sanctions — - Mirror websites help Russia evade sanctions that block RT.com — EU measures fail to stop Kremlin disinformation campaigns

Discussion: Lutz Güllner on LinkedIn and Felix Kartte on LinkedIn

Philip Reeves / NPR:

A snapshot from the Media Hub in Riga, Latvia, which offers refuge to exiled Russian and Belarusian journalists, like Kirill Martynov of Novaya Gazeta Europe — Russian independent news media is still functioning from Riga, Latvia. The exile presents challenges to newsgathering and press freedom.

Discussion: @niemanlab and @kincaid323

Columbia Journalism Review:

An analysis of The New York Times and The Washington Post from September 1, 2022, until Election Day showed both favored political horse-race news, not policy — Researchers examine the self-serving fiction of ‘objective’ political news — Seven years ago, in the wake of the 2016 presidential election …