Mediagazer: Sources: Apple TV+ is in the early stages of developing a series about Gawker, with ex-Gawker staffers Max Read and Cord Jefferson working on scripts (Joe Pompeo/Vanity Fair)

12:45 PM ET, May 22, 2020

Top News:

Jack Shafer / Politico:

The layoffs and paywall at The Atlantic suggest Laurene Powell Jobs is happy to subsidize the enterprise but not interested in making it a gift to the masses — Billionaires who are brave enough to enter the publishing space don't mind losing money on it—they call it “investing”—until the day they do.

Discussion: Vox, Media Nation, Columbia Journalism Review, New York Times, @mitrakalita, @timherrera, @dylanbyers, @kbsmoke, @jfagone, @mathewi, @kerrymflynn, @lhfang and Dan Kennedy

Ben Smith / @benyt:
Memo: The Atlantic is laying off 68 people across divisions, or about 20% of its staff, after collapse of its events business, with the rest getting pay cuts

Discussion: @nickconfessore, Washington Post, @benthompson, @emmaogreen, @espiers, Adweek, @pkafka, @edmundlee, Folio, CNN, The Wrap, @dynamofire, Medialyte, @stetyjohn, @yeselson, @benthompson, @jason, @vwpickard, @kausmickey, @davidsirota, The Media Nut, @kgosztola, @davelevitan, @hshaban, @danpriceseattle, @tealtan, @susie_c, @lauren_kelley, @digiphile, @scottros, @clapifyoulikeme, @adrs, @elongreen, @halpernalex, @asmall_word, @kissane, @jimmydonofrio, @jimmydonofrio, @laurelwamsley, @samthielman, @libbycwatson, @aleksnotalex, @edmundlee, @edmundlee, @jackshafer, @jackshafer, @felixsalmon, @jackshafer, @benthompson, @jonathanmerritt, @chrisecrowley, @zachwahls, @anandwrites, @valerieinsinna, @pinboard, @_darrencohen, @mathewi, @mathewi, @hshaban, @hshaban, @kerrymflynn, @nycsouthpaw, @nycsouthpaw, @jeremymbarr, @jackmirkinson, @nycsouthpaw, @pkafka, @kerrymflynn, @gmbutts, @alex_shephard, @janinegibson, @nickriccardi, @joshsternberg, @joanne_stocker, @jackmirkinson, @raju, @pkafka, @pkafka, @mattgertz, Variety, The Hill and Deadline

Philip Bump / Washington Post:

Trump says Fox News “is doing nothing to help Republicans, and me, get re-elected”, drawing an explicit link between the network and electing Republicans — In his tweet, the president makes explicit the subtext at which he's hinted in the past, when offering complaints about how Fox had …

Discussion: @realdonaldtrump, Poynter, @glennkesslerwp, @renato_mariotti, @ccoleman, @realdonaldtrump, @pbump, @froomkin, Media Matters for America and The Week

Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:

Sources: Audible is in talks to acquire celebrity podcasts and considers selling original shows individually; Amazon Music is also preparing to add podcasts — Under growing pressure from Spotify, the e-commerce giant is looking to spend big in podcast land

Discussion: @ahmed, @sarthakgh, @csymrl, @lucas_shaw, @richlightshed and @lucas_shaw, more at Techmeme »

Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple is seeking an executive to lead its original podcasts effort and is acquiring podcasts that would tie into shows on its TV+ service

Discussion: Simon Owens's Tech …, @sportsrapport, @lucas_shaw, @nwquah, @nwquah, @mikerugnetta, @apollozac, @kerrymflynn, iDownloadBlog.com, 9to5Mac, MacRumors, AppleInsider and Fortune, more at Techmeme »

Joe Pompeo / Vanity Fair:

Sources: Apple TV+ is in the early stages of developing a series about Gawker, with ex-Gawker staffers Max Read and Cord Jefferson working on scripts — Former Gawker staffers, led by Max Read and Cord Jefferson, are now developing scripts about the site's glory days skewering the powerful.

Discussion: @joepompeo, @jbflint, @jwhitbrook, @waywardwinifred, @tcberman, @bzamayo, AppleInsider and 9to5Mac

Trevor Knoblich / ONA20:

The Online News Association will host its annual conference online, Oct. 1-16, and says the event won't be as expensive as its previous physical gatherings — Chief Knowledge Officer Trevor Knoblich details what to expect from our global journalism innovation festival

Discussion: Nieman Lab, American Press Institute, Online News Association, @elanazak, @laurencaguirre, @kelseyproud, @versharma, @robpegoraro, @meena_thiru, @shanbow and @ckrewson

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Larry King to launch his first-ever podcast The Millionth Question, a celebrity interview show, in mid-June under a multiyear contract worth at least $5M — TV interviewer's first podcast to be produced with son Chance King and Jeff Beacher's 4Forty4 Media — Larry King is gearing up to launch his first-ever podcast.

Lesley Goldberg / Hollywood Reporter:

ViacomCBS licenses Some Good News, John Krasinski's YouTube series that gained 2.56M subscribers in 2 months, to be shown on CBS All Access and linear networks — The feel-good web series will have a multiplatform showcase across all of the conglomerate's brands and platforms, though the actor …

Hadas Gold / CNN:

Sources: State Dept. is asking all US-based employees of CGTN to fill out detailed questionnaires with personal info, alarming American employees of the network — London (CNN Business)The State Department is asking all US-based employees of Chinese state TV network CGTN to fill …

Discussion: @jasonfarkas and @hadas_gold

Jonathan Symcox / BusinessCloud.co.uk:

Parent company of Joe.co.uk, the social news website for male millennials, enters administration, seeks a buyer, and says there are no plans for redundancies — Administrators seek buyer for Joe Media Limited but no redundancies planned at website with millions of monthly visitors

Discussion: @jimwaterson

Paul Bowers / Brutal South:

Digital subscriptions might keep a hungry reporter fed a few more years, but the path for local news outlets is unclear, as only a small number will sign up — We were watching Hoarders and a woman on the show felt like she was being persecuted by local code enforcement officers …

Discussion: @biblioracle, @biblioracle, @biblioracle, @biblioracle, @biblioracle, @biblioracle, @biblioracle, @biblioracle and @biblioracle

Reuters:

California to give guidelines on Monday for resuming movie and TV production in the state; Gov. Newsom says LA County would likely be excluded in first phase — LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - California on Monday will roll out guidelines for the resumption of production of Hollywood movies and TV shows …

Layla Ilchi / WWD:

Court documents: Kendall Jenner agreed to pay $90,000 to settle a suit over an Instagram post she made promoting Fyre Festival; docs say she was paid $275,000 — The model has settled the lawsuit over her Instagram post related to the failed 2017 music festival.

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, @mmasnick, Vanity Fair and Fox News

Archived Page Info:

This is a snapshot of Mediagazer at 12:45 PM ET, May 22, 2020.

View the current page or another snapshot:

Who's Hiring in Media?

Deputy Ed. - Gen. Assignment Desk, DC — WaPo

EU Technology Reporter, Brussels — Bloomberg

Breaking News Reporter, NY — Guardian US

Harrisburg Reporter, PA — PCBC

Senior Editor - Styles, NY — NYT

Part-time Editor, Remote — Techmeme

Home & Travel Reporter, Ireland — Newsweek

Assistant Digital Editor, MA — Boston Globe

Senior Editor - Visuals (Temporary), DC — NPR

Copy Editor, Remote US — ProPublica

Markets Reporter, NY/CA — Sherwood Media

Staff Writer, MI — Watershed Voice

Food Reporter, CA — SF Standard

Staff Writer, NV — Las Vegas Weekly

Pharma Editor, Remote — Endpoints

Higher Ed. Reporter, Remote CA — EdSource

Politics Reporter, Brussels — Politico

Investigations & Enterprise Ed., WI — Cap Times

Social Strategy Editor, NY — WSJ

Senior Narrative Editor, CA — Cloud Chamber

Editor-in-Chief, NY (flexible) — The 74

Housing Reporter, OK — The Frontier

Writer/AI Content Reviewer, CA — Outlier

Writer/Editor, Remote — Mediaite

Multi Media Reporter, NC — Cardinal & Pine

Afternoon/Night Editor, NH — Keene Sentinel

Education Lab Editor, WA — Seattle Times

Senior Editor, Remote US — PCWorld

State Worker Reporter, CA — Sacramento Bee

Executive Editor, NM — Searchlight

News Assistant, NY — Quanta Magazine

Local Editor, NJ (Remote) — Patch

News Writer, CA — Hollywood Reporter

News Editor/Reporter, KS — Blade-Empire

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:

Eriq Gardner / Hollywood Reporter:
Virginia judge rules that Nunes' $435M defamation case against CNN has nothing to with Virginia, and transfers it to New York, a more convenient forum for CNN

Lex / Financial Times:
UK publisher Future says in the six months to end of March it had revenue of £144.3M, up 33% YoY, with e-commerce sales of £39.4M and profits up 77% to £39.9M

Discussion: Press Gazette, @whatthebit, @saschasegan and CityAM

Ben Norton / The Grayzone:
Richard Esposito, who covered police and security at NBC, The Intercept, and co-wrote a story that led to Reality Winner's jailing, is now NYPD's top spokesman

Discussion: @aaronjmate, @sonyasupposedly, @kgosztola, @kgosztola, @benjaminnorton, @charlescmann and @johnkiriakou

Oliver Darcy / @oliverdarcy:
[Thread] Washington Examiner says it will hire an HR rep and work on communication after a consultant reviewed workplace culture following claims of bullying

Discussion: @kfile, @newspolitics, @oliverdarcy, @oliverdarcy, @oliverdarcy and @oliverdarcy

Earlier Picks:

Etan Vlessing / Hollywood Reporter:
Lionsgate took $50.5M in charges due to COVID-19 in the quarter ending March 31, with revenue of $944M, loss of $44.9M, down from $155.2M in same quarter 2019

Discussion: The Wrap, The Wrap, LionsGate and Variety

Ashley Feinberg / Slate:
A close examination of Ben Smith's column about Ronan Farrow reveals weaknesses in Smith's indictment, including a fuzzy definition of “resistance journalism”

Alexandra Alter / New York Times:
Association of American Publishers: book sales fell 8%+ YoY in March, with ebooks down 5% and print books up 1%; digital audio grew 15% YoY

Discussion: @geraldposner, @audiobooks and @meggamonstah

Jessica Bursztynsky / CNBC:
Netflix says it will ask customers who have been inactive for a year or more if they want to keep their subscriptions, canceling accounts that take no action

Discussion: Netflix Media Center, Variety, iDownloadBlog.com, TechRadar.com, MediaNama, @tanayj, NME, @epro, @drbarnard, @sub8u, @xpangler, @aweissman, @newsynick, @pogue, @prashanth, @intrinsicinv, @jbursz, @joshconstine, @lucas_shaw, @loudmouthjulia, TechCrunch, Gizmodo, Business Insider and The A.V. Club

From Techmeme:

Foo Yun Chee / Reuters:
Sources: EU may accept Apple's proposal to open its NFC payments tech to rivals, and may close its antitrust probe in May, letting Apple avoid hefty fines

George Steer / Financial Times:
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

Foo Yun Chee / Reuters:
Pornhub, Stripchat, and XVideos will have to comply with additional obligations, such as submitting risk assessment reports, under the EU DSA starting next week

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