Mediagazer: MPA five-year study of 135 magazines: since 2014, mobile rose from 21% to 37% of total magazine audience, print and desktop readership dropped from 61% to 44% (Rob Williams/MediaPost)

1:15 PM ET, December 7, 2019

Top News:

Michael Bloomberg says reporters at his company concerned about a ban on investigating him need to accept that their paychecks come with some restrictions — NEW YORK (AP) — Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg says employees at his news organization need to accept restrictions …

Discussion: @oliverdarcy, @yashar, @arifleischer, @jaketapper, @taniel, @ewarren, @brithume, @kfury, @progressive_va, @bahmankalbasi, @ryxcommar, @jonbernhardt, @kvox, @dloesch, @negarmortazavi, @timmurtaugh, @karlbode, @samro, Talking Biz News and Sean Hannity

Media Matters for America:

Study of 2,000 tweets by major media outlets about Trump in July: of 653 tweets referencing a false statement, 50% disputed the claim, up from 35% in January — Major news outlets are doing a better job of rebutting President Donald Trump's falsehoods on Twitter than they were earlier …

Discussion: Nieman Lab, @mattgertz and MediaPost

Ken Doctor / Nieman Lab:

By the end of summer 2020, five big newspaper chains could roll up into two, run by investment companies with little attachment to the newspaper business — Is an end in sight? — The first half of 2020 “will be the final dance of the newspaper industry,” one of my savviest financial sources told …

wellcome.ac.uk:

Charity-funded online science and health magazine Mosaic is shutting down on December 10 after five years — Mosaic, Wellcome's digital platform dedicated to long-form journalism about science and health, will be closing next week. It will publish its final stories on 10 December.

Discussion: Press Gazette, @teh_woo, @jeffdelviscio, @beebrookshire, @lindanordling, @joanna_haugen and @laurahelmuth

Max Willens / Digiday:

WSJ had its biggest day of subscription sales ever Black Friday, Wired and Barron's on Cyber Monday; New York had its best four-day sales stretch that weekend — Cyber Monday and Black Friday have long been make-or-break days of the year for retailers. They have recently become important …

Dan Kennedy / Media Nation:

Internal memo: after the recent cuts, Gannett CEO Paul Bascobert expects more layoffs, and says “it will take a few months to work through this process” — Paul Bascobert, chief executive officer of Gannett Media Corp. (apparently number two to Mike Reed in the reconfigured …

Discussion: Poynter, @tmorris504, @mkebizjournal, @adamwren, @ashevegas, @ashevegas, @dankennedy_nu, New York Post and Dan Kennedy

Andrew Pantazi / @apantazi:
[Thread] Reporter starts Google Doc to track Gannett layoffs, says it's forcing people to sign NDAs to get severance, telling journalists not to tweet about it

Discussion: @beerguytk, @apantazi, @apantazi, @sammy_roth, @paythewriter and @brianheinemann

Kelsey Sutton / Adweek:

Survey of 2,000+ US users: 50% plan to subscribe to new OTT services, of which 64% intend to downgrade/cancel existing subs; say they spend ~$76/month on video — Key insights: — Half of those polled intend on subscribing to new OTT services—but many of them will downgrade or cancel existing video services to do so.

Discussion: Forbes, more at Techmeme »

Rob Williams / MediaPost:

MPA five-year study of 135 magazines: since 2014, mobile rose from 21% to 37% of total magazine audience, print and desktop readership dropped from 61% to 44% — Publishers that want to survive into the next decade need to optimize their strategies for mobile devices — and keep pivoting to video.

Discussion: MediaPost

Yomi Kazeem / Quartz:

NY-based Nigerian journalist Omoyele Sowore, who was charged with treason in Nigeria in Aug., rearrested by government agents a day after his release on bail — The ongoing court trial of Omoyele Sowore, a New-York based Nigerian journalist and prominent activist, has taken a worrying turn …

Discussion: Daily Post Nigeria, CNN, Bloomberg, The Nigerian Voice News and Democracy Now

Gene Maddaus / Variety:

Federal judge indicates he'll let a trial proceed in an antitrust complaint by three major Hollywood agencies against the Writers Guild of America — A federal judge indicated on Friday that he will rule in favor of the three major agencies in their antitrust lawsuit against the Writers Guild of America.

Discussion: Deadline, @blackamazon, @unknownenby, Los Angeles Times and The Wrap

Khari Johnson / VentureBeat:

Google Assistant now allows users to search for podcasts by topic, available in English worldwide — Google Assistant on smartphones, smart displays, and smart speakers is getting a series of upgrades today, like the ability to create notes and lists with third-party apps and search podcasts by topic.

Discussion: The Keyword and Fast Company

Gene Maddaus / Variety:

DOJ files a brief supporting Irving Azoff's lawsuit alleging price-fixing by a radio trade group, which could upend the system of music licensing for radio — The Department of Justice is taking sides in another hot-button antitrust battle, this time siding with Irving Azoff's upstart music licensing firm …

Discussion: Radio & Television … and Hollywood Reporter

Mark Di Stefano / BuzzFeed:

Conde Nast removes China's president and Thailand's king from the online version of UK GQ's 10 worst-dressed men list, says it could cause “unintended offence” — The magazine's parent company confirmed to BuzzFeed News they'd been removed over concerns of causing “unintended offence”.

Discussion: @jaspergregory, @gadyepstein, @annemcelvoy, @jerometaylor and Mediaite

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Jeremy Barr / Hollywood Reporter:
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The Pulitzer Prizes:
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Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs / New York Times:
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From Techmeme:

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Nvidia closed down 10% on Friday, falling the most since March 2020 and losing more than $200B of its market value, as investors pull back from AI bets

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