Top News:
Max Willens / Digiday:
How BuzzFeed is reorganizing and charting a path to a sustainable business, according to sources and a memo CEO Jonah Peretti sent to employees Tuesday night — The next version of BuzzFeed is being whittled into focus. — Over the past week, the venture-backed publisher has been gripped by a very public multi-day round of layoffs.
Discussion:
@mathewi, @parkermolloy, @bgrueskin, @jackmirkinson, @dansinker, @leighgiangreco, @caulfieldcm, @digiday, @mjs_dc, @tolly_t, @maggyvaneijk, @rossalynwarren, @jamesrbuk, @maxseddon and @danieldrepper
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Will Oremus / Slate:
The global layoffs at BuzzFeed, once a successful beacon in a shrinking industry, mark an end of innocence for the outlet and for staffers with big social reach
Madison Malone Kircher / New York Magazine:
Q&A with a Michigan college student who has made 692 quizzes for BuzzFeed as a hobby, becoming the 2nd-highest traffic driver for the site's quizzes worldwide
Discussion:
Observer, New York Magazine, @raewitte, Gizmodo, @choire, @willoremus, @reckless, @laurawags, @lrhogan, @mathewi, @4evrmalone, @4evrmalone, @mattdpearce, @auntbeckyrose, @sarahlkaufman, @nymag, @jakeswearingen, @austin_walker, @eleanorbate, @jeff__benjamin, @karaschlegl, @niemanlab, @conroyforreal, @robferdman, @kwameopam, Nieman Lab and Fluxblog
Joe Pompeo / Vanity Fair:
Axios made roughly $25M and nearly broke even in its second full year, and plans to launch a high-end subscription business in 2019 — The start-up, forged by former Politico all-pros, made $25 million in its second full year. What's next? Subscriptions, naturally.
Discussion:
@reedfrich, @patrickruffini, @dylanbyers, @rafat, @niubi and @vanityfair
Margaret Sullivan / Washington Post:
The media's both-sides, middle-lane approach to politics isn't good for the public, but it's great for politicians and pundits who bill themselves as centrists — One of supposed golden rules of journalism goes like this: “If everybody's mad at your coverage, you must be doing a good job.”
Discussion:
@patbagley, @ejdionne, @mlcalderone, @sulliview, @jayrosen_nyu and @jayrosen_nyu
Todd Spangler / Variety:
AT&T Q4: WarnerMedia revenue was up 5.9% YoY to $9.2B, but Entertainment Group revenue was down 4.8% YoY to $12B amid subscriber losses for DirecTV, DirecTV Now — AT&T posted healthy growth in wireless and WarnerMedia segments for the fourth quarter of 2018, but missed top-line revenue targets …
David Cohen / Adweek:
Reddit launches cost-per-click ads following a months-long beta with 50+ advertisers, saying it's Reddit's first foray into performance-driven ad bidding — They announced their new initiative on Wednesday — Reddit is making what it calls its first foray into performance-driven ad bidding …
Discussion:
MediaPost, Marketing Land, Ad Age, The Drum and AdExchanger
Lucinda Southern / Digiday:
Publishers are finding meaningful revenue from podcast advertising, a model that some publications, including The Economist, find more viable than video ads — Publishers are finding meaningful revenue from podcasts, a format that, in some cases, offers a more viable ad model than video.
Discussion:
@xenocryptsite, @pkafka, @mmasnick, @mccanner, @awealthofcs and @benmullin
Ben Sisario / New York Times:
Documenting the R. Kelly case: interviews with Jim DeRogatis, who has reported on the case for almost 20 years, and Dream Hampton, who made Surviving R. Kelly — CHICAGO — For the journalists who have dug the deepest on R. Kelly, these should be satisfying days.
Discussion:
Vox, @ennisnyt, @bellwak, @raceforward, @nytimes, @nytimesmusic and Daily Herald
Julia Alexander / The Verge:
Report: Apple told studios and networks to be ready for a launch of Apple's streaming service by mid-April, the same month investors see a Disney+ preview — Studios were reportedly told to be ready by mid-April — Little is known about Apple's standalone streaming service, aside from the mountain of original content that's coming.
Discussion:
Recode, Fast Company, The Information, The Wrap, Tubefilter, Multichannel News, @pkafka, PCMag India, @mcwm, @shiraovide, @shiraovide, @jtoonkel, /Film, TechCrunch and Observer, more at Techmeme »
Jon Lafayette / Broadcasting & Cable:
Conviva: streaming TV hours rose 89% YoY in 2018 with a 165% increase in Q4; connected TVs accounted for 56% of all streamed views in 2018, up from 47% in 2017 — Quality increases, but viewers are less patient — The amount of video being streamed showed strong growth in 2018 …
Discussion:
MediaPost
Daniel Funke / Poynter:
Fake news outlets switch domain names to get past Facebook's fact-checking system, publishing old stories under new names to regain reach on Facebook — One of the most frequently debunked fake news publishers on Facebook is still getting past the platform's fact-checking system — and it's doing it by using the simplest of tricks.
Discussion:
@sbenkelman
Jim Waterson / The Guardian:
Online women's magazine The Pool, which lost its co-founders last year, is fighting for survival as writers go unpaid — Company's director says it is ‘not over yet’ but staff say they are waiting for January wages — The online women's magazine The Pool, which was co-founded by Lauren Laverne …
Discussion:
Bookseller News, @sianysianysiany, @orbyn, @orbyn, @claire_phipps, @bellamackie, @orbyn and @eve_rebecca
Joy Press / Vanity Fair:
Interview with HBO execs and creators, including Chairman Richard Plepler and programming chief Casey Bloys, on the networks' original programming plans — At HBO's 2018 post-Emmys party in West Hollywood, Richard Plepler, the network's chairman and C.E.O., orbited the Pacific Design Center like a spinning top of schmooze.
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