Mediagazer: Vice to lay off 10% of staff, or ~250 people, across the company as part of restructuring effort; weekly “Vice” show on HBO also ending (Natalie Jarvey/Hollywood Reporter)

3:45 PM ET, February 1, 2019

Top News:

Vice to lay off 10% of staff, or ~250 people, across the company as part of restructuring effort; weekly “Vice” show on HBO also ending — The cuts, which will impact around 250 people, are part of new CEO Nancy Dubuc's strategic plan to tighten spending and achieve profitability.

Michael M. Grynbaum / New York Times:

In interview with Trump, NYT journalists and publisher try explaining the global effect of “fake news” claims but his focus shifted to his personal grievances — President Trump takes credit for popularizing the term “fake news.” — But the consequences? Not his concern.

Discussion: New York Times, New York Times, Washington Post, @riegerreport, @brianstelter, @marybschneider, CNBC, The Daily Beast, @jdawsey1, @scottbix, @craigunger, @jimrutenberg, @frankbruni, Mediaite, @maxboot and Contemptor

Chuck Strouse / Miami New Times:

Memo: McClatchy is offering a voluntary early retirement program to about 450 employees, says it will be a one-time opportunity — This morning, Craig Forman, CEO of McClatchy Company, emailed all staff to say about 10 percent of the newspaper chain's employees would be offered voluntary buyouts.

Discussion: @lindseywasson, @sulliview, @cliomiso, @parkermolloy, @charlesapple, @jeffdomingues, @stevejanoski and @romenesko

Daniel Funke / Poynter:

Snopes pulls out of Facebook partnership, says Facebook's closed, manual fact-checking entry system is too labor intensive and fails to benefit the whole web — Snopes is no longer debunking misinformation in partnership with Facebook. In a statement published Friday …

Discussion: Snopes.com, CNBC, @tmclaughlin3, Mashable, @tarletong, @bendwalsh, Snopes.com and @dpfunke, more at Techmeme »

Taylor Soper / GeekWire:

Amazon's “other” revenue, which is mostly composed of its advertising services, hit $3.4B in Q4, up 95% YoY and reaching $10.1B for all of 2018 — Amazon's advertising business is showing no signs of letting up. — Amazon reports record profits of $3B, crushes Wall Street expectations for holiday quarter

Discussion: Amazon.com, Inc. - IR, RAIN News, On my Om, Marketing Land, Light Reading, @xpangler, San Francisco Chronicle and Business Insider, more at Techmeme »

Paul Farhi / Washington Post:

The Pentagon hasn't done an on-camera press briefing since May; formerly daily State Department briefings averaged six per month in last three months of 2018 — With President Trump sending more troops to the southern border, pulling some out of Syria and causing uncertainty among allies in NATO …

Hannah Murphy / Financial Times:

Facebook says it was able to uncover the Iranian network thanks to information from Twitter and that the two have been sharing notes sooner than previously — Facebook and Twitter have removed thousands of fake accounts originating from Iran, some dating back as far as 2010, after collaborating to combat disinformation.

Discussion: Engadget

Tony Romm / Washington Post:
Twitter says it removed thousands of malicious accounts that originated in Iran, Russia, and Venezuela for spreading disinformation about the 2018 midterms

Discussion: New York Times, Twitter, @wiczipedia, @justinhendrix, @josh_emerson, @yoyoel, @policy, Blog Network, @wiczipedia, @dcherring, NBC News, Twitter, PCMag India, Adweek, Recode, Ad Age, Reuters and The Week, more at Techmeme »

Facebook:
Facebook says it removed 262 Pages, 356 accounts, three groups, and 162 Instagram accounts tied to Iran for engaging in coordinated inauthentic behavior

Discussion: Adweek, CNN, @donara_barojan, @donie, Al Jazeera, @jank0, @martyswant, @martyswant, SiliconANGLE, Mashable, Gizmodo, Fortune, Ad Age, DFRLab, The Guardian, VentureBeat, Engadget, The Verge, The Wrap, CyberScoop, The Hill, TechCrunch and Business Insider

Colin Lecher / The Verge:

What to expect as oral arguments begin Friday in Mozilla's lawsuit to stop FCC's repeal of net neutrality rules — The FCC will make its case against the rules — Oral arguments will begin tomorrow for one of the most important cases in internet law history.

Discussion: Ars Technica, Free Press, Gizmodo, NPR, 9to5Mac and Washington Post, more at Techmeme »

Ken Doctor / Nieman Lab:

For M&A possibilities among legacy newspaper companies and even digital startups, the next recession looms large and everything is on the table — In an industry where expense reduction is the prime strategy, much more consolidation is likely on the way. Little regulation prevents it, and the financials all favor it.

Discussion: @darrendcarroll, @timhanlon and @newsbyschmidt

Bloomberg:

Sources: Sinclair and the MLB, among others, bid for Fox's regional sports networks minus the YES network, with offers much lower than the anticipated $20B — - Bids value assets at well below the $22 billion estimated — Latest round attracts offers from Sinclair, Apollo and MLB

Discussion: Awful Announcing

Daniel Sanchez / Digital Music News:

A ranking of music streaming services by royalty payouts: Napster leads the way with $.019/stream, and YouTube trails with $.00069/stream — Late last month, Digital Music News updated its list of what streaming music services pay. — Thanks to information from third-party websites and actual artists …

Discussion: @euforcreators

Mark Di Stefano / BuzzFeed:

Nina Burleigh, author of the Melania Trump article for which The Telegraph apologized, is demanding the newspaper retract its apology, claiming defamation — US journalist Nina Burleigh claims The Daily Telegraph's apology has turned her into an “international poster girl for fake news”.

Anna Gutierrez / The Reporters Committee …:

A coalition of 28 media organizations has filed a court brief supporting a lawsuit that challenges fees for court records accessed via PACER — The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and 27 media organizations support the rights of the public and the press to have affordable access to court records.

Archived Page Info:

This is a snapshot of Mediagazer at 3:45 PM ET, February 1, 2019.

View the current page or another snapshot:

Who's Hiring in Media?

Consumer Tech Reporter, CA — Bloomberg

Associate Editor, Remote US — TechCrunch

Curation Editor (Contract), NY — Apple News

Business Editor, CA — TheWrap

Executive Ed. - Tech & Electronics, AZ — AspenCore

Economy & Industry Reporter, TX — Texas Tribune

ESPN FC Associate Editor, CA/CT — ESPN

Political Enterprise Editor, DC — Guardian US

Housing & Real Estate Reporter, ME — BDN

Associate Reporter - Yahoo Finance — Yahoo

Senior Editor, Remote — Raw Story

News Reporter, MA — Berkshire Eagle

Freelance Contributor, FL — Miami New Times

Senior Reporter, CA — Pensions & Investments

Managing Editor - State, CT — CTInsider

Sr. VP & Chief Content Officer, OR — OPB

Writer - Streaming (Temporary), GA — CNN

Data Graphics Reporter, CA — SF Standard

Data Reporter, TX — Houston Business Journal

Town Reporter, CT — The Day

Weekend Audience Editor, VA — Politico

Managing Editor, FL — HRDC

Business Reporter, WA — Seattle Times

Associate Editor, NY — Beer Marketer's Insights

Freelance Reporter, NC — PBS Charlotte

Crypto/Markets Reporter - Europe — The Block

Education & Family Reporter, OR — Lookout Local

Red Sox Reporter, MA — Boston Globe

Cockburn Editor, DC — The Spectator

Investigative Reporter, NC — Charlotte Observer

Writer - Women's Soccer, Remote US — The Athletic

Senior IP Correspondent, London — MLex

Computational Journalist, NY — ProPublica

Add your company here

See Also:

Mediagazer: site main

Mediagazer River: reverse chronological Mediagazer

Mediagazer Mobile: for phones

Mediagazer Leaderboard: Mediagazer's top sources

Subscribe:

Mediagazer RSS feed

Mediagazer on X

Mediagazer on Mastodon

More News:

Saeima Press Service:
Bellingcat has been nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in a joint letter from the foreign affairs committees of the parliaments of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia

Jim Waterson / The Guardian:
Online women's magazine The Pool, which launched in 2015, is set to enter administration Friday, leaving 24 journalists facing redundancy and freelancers unpaid

Discussion: @louiseridley, Bookseller News, Press Gazette, @catesevilla, @saramayspary, @stuheritage, @luce29, @eugenecostello, @claremackint0sh, @iamtobioredein, @scfgallagher, @thestephmerritt, @greg_jenner, @nikeshshukla, @sianysianysiany, @claire_phipps and @eve_rebecca

Edmund Lee / New York Times:
A look at the legal grounds for Locast's existence and its role in the relationship between broadcasters and cable, satellite companies

Discussion: @edmundlee, @ronlieber, Fast Company, @mathewi, The Verge and Broadcasting & Cable

Owen Bowcott / The Guardian:
US district court rules that Syria is liable for the killing of Sunday Times correspondent Marie Colvin, awards $300M+ in damages

Discussion: Press Gazette, Press Gazette, @abarnardnyt, @williams_paige, @rorypecktrust, @thewarjournal, @tinabrownlm, @robinlustig, @nickkristof, @naderalihashemi, @hayley_barlow, Committee to Protect …, New York Times, Women in the World, Financial Times and Press Association

Earlier Picks:

Jim Waterson / The Guardian:
Evgeny Lebedev has sold ~20% of Lebedev Holdings, which has a ~90% stake in the Evening Standard, to a company in the Caymans; a Saudi investor may be the buyer

Discussion: @janemartinson, Press Gazette, @adambienkov, @professorshaw, @michaelpmdavis, Financial Times and Jon Slattery

Anthony Ha / TechCrunch:
Hulu to launch banner ads, which will appear after viewers pause video, in Q2 2019; hopes all non-disruptive ads will comprise 50% of ad revenue within 3 years

Discussion: Digiday, Hulu, The Verge, AdExchanger, Mashable, /Film, 9to5Mac, Gizmodo, Fast Company, Engadget and Adweek

Alex Sherman / CNBC:
Sources: CBS board wants company to grow, first through a merger with Viacom, possibly followed by Discovery acquisition; CBS hoping to find CEO by end of March

Discussion: Realscreen, Hollywood Reporter, CNN, Decider, Los Angeles Times, Bloomberg and Variety

James Walker / Press Gazette:
NewsGuard, whose trustworthiness ratings are available on Chrome and Edge, improves its rating of the Daily Mail from red to green to indicate its accuracy

Discussion: Nieman Lab, @niemanlab and @markdistef

From Techmeme:

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
A closer look at the iPhone 17 “Air”, which lays the foundation for major design changes in future devices, including possible portless and foldable iPhones

Kate Rooney / CNBC:
Garry Tan says ~80% of YC's W25 batch is AI focused, and the cohort is growing significantly faster than past ones, with actual revenue, thanks to “vibe coding”

Bloomberg:
Baidu releases Ernie X1, an AI model that articulates its reasoning similarly to DeepSeek R1, and upgrades its flagship foundation model to Ernie 4.5, both free

Sister Sites:

Techmeme
Top news and commentary for technology's leaders, from all around the web

memeorandum
What US political commentators are discussing online right now

WeSmirch
The top celebrity news from all around the web on a single page