Top News:
Marc Tracy / New York Times:
In 2020, NYT hit 7.5M subscribers, added 2.3M digital-only subs, generating $598.3M in revenue, up 30% YoY; ad rev fell 26% YoY to $392.4M; profit hit $250.6M — In its fourth-quarter earnings report, The New York Times Company said 2020 was its biggest year for adding subscribers.
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, CNN, @sarafischer, @benyt, @nyguild, The Media Nut, The Wrap, @will_bunch, @arimelber, @raju, @nickkristof, @mccanner, @rexparker, @bgrueskin, @jane__bradley, @jamieclimate, @carlzimmer, RAIN News, @johntv, @heidilegg, @kerrymflynn, @liamstack, @joshsternberg, @marcatracy, @statesdj, @greenfield64, The Hill and bookforum.com
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Sarah Scire / Nieman Lab:
NYT is working on a subscription product for Wirecutter, a standalone product for audio app Audm, and says podcasts generated $36M in 2020, up from $29M in 2019 — The New York Times is working on building a subscription product for its consumer reviews site Wirecutter …
New York Times:
CNN President Jeff Zucker says he expects to leave at the end of 2021, when his contract ends — The executive shaped the look and feel of CNN since coming aboard in 2013. The network hit record ratings in recent months, during which Mr. Zucker had tensions with his newly installed boss.
Discussion:
CNN, Los Angeles Times, NBC News, Variety, Washington Post, @benyt, Insider, Vanity Fair, Hollywood Reporter, Mediaite, @vivian, Sportico.com, Poynter, @jayrosen_nyu, TV Technology, @m_delamerced, TVNewser, Bloomberg, @m_delamerced, @jeffjarvis, Newser, nexttv.com, @brianstelter, @bydavidgardner, @zeeshanaleem, @chaneyj, @brianstelter, @ourand_sbj, @ericgarland, The Hill, The Week and Wall Street Journal
New York Times:
Election tech company Smartmatic files $2.7B defamation lawsuit against the Fox Corporation, Fox News, and hosts Lou Dobbs, Maria Bartiromo, and Jeanine Pirro — Smartmatic accused Rupert Murdoch's network of promoting a false narrative about the 2020 election that damaged the company.
Salvador Rodriguez / CNBC:
Snap beats with Q4 revenue of $911M, up 62% YoY, vs $857.4M est., DAUs were up 22% YoY to 265M; stock down 7%+ after hours on weak Q1 forecast — - Snap's stock fell in after-hours trading on Thursday after the company reported its fourth-quarter earnings despite beating Wall Street's expectations on earnings, revenue and user growth.
Andrew Marantz / New Yorker:
The case of John Sullivan, who's participated in and recorded riots, including the Capitol assault, raises questions on how to delineate journalists from others — John Sullivan claims that he was at the Capitol insurrection as a neutral journalist. Others say he was a riot chaser who urged the mob to “burn this shit down.”
Discussion:
Columbia Journalism Review, @mdvancleave, @mathewi, @michaelluo, @ryanjreilly and @utahmads
Sarah Scire / Nieman Lab:
Q&A with The Information's Jessica Lessin on the outlet's incubator for outlets, whether paywalls limit information access, the site's social media policy, more — “Frankly, the really hard part is the journalism. Everything else can be learned and shared.” — Jessica Lessin is all in on paywalls.
Discussion:
@mradamtaylor and @niemanlab
Zack Budryk / The Hill:
Toronto Star and other Torstar-owned papers left front pages blank Thursday as they launched a campaign for new laws regulating Google and Facebook — The Toronto Star left its front page blank Thursday to call for further regulation of tech giants such as Google and Facebook, saying they have too much control over news content.
Manori Ravindran / Variety:
Vice Media diversity report: 56% of staff are women, up 5.8% YoY; 42% of US staff are BIPOC, up 3.9% YoY; among execs, 43% are BIPOC, up from 20% last year — The boys club that was once synonymous with Vice is quietly disbanding. — A seismic shift in the work culture and make-up of Vice Media Group …
Discussion:
@kerrymflynn and The Wrap
News Corp:
News Corp reported Q2 net income of $261M on revenue of $2.41B; WSJ subs were up 19% YoY to 3.22M, and NY Post reported its first profit in modern times — FISCAL 2021 SECOND QUARTER KEY FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS • Revenues were $2.41 billion, a 3% decline compared to $2.48 billion in the prior year …
Discussion:
@joepompeo
Julie Hart / American Press Institute:
New Hampshire's the Laconia Daily Sun is training its letter writers in conflict mediation skills to help reduce animosity in opinion page submissions — Editor's Note: The American Press Institute is exploring how news organizations are reimagining opinion journalism to support constructive conversations in their communities.
Kathryn Hopkins / WWD:
Time launches $2.99/month paywall that kicks in after four free articles, starting in US and Canada; Sports Illustrated introduced $5.99/month metered paywall — Time's will start at $2.99, while Sports Illustrated's digital-only subscription is priced at $5.99.
Discussion:
@justin_b_smith
Pranav Dixit / BuzzFeed News:
India's IT ministry orders Twitter to block the recently restored accounts of critics and The Caravan magazine, threatens Twitter staff with jail time or fines — India's government has threatened to punish employees at Twitter with fines and jail terms of up to seven years for restoring hundreds …
Discussion:
Big Technology, @caseynewton, @pranavdixit, @pranavdixit, @karunanundy, Engadget, Techdirt, @bborrman, @benyt, @arty_burton, @caseynewton, Platformer, @nicdawes, @akumarilife, @aditi_khorana, @arfilaamba, @pranavdixit, @pranavdixit, @davidakaye, @pranavdixit, @nixxin, @rasmus_kleis, @nixxin and @lwajert, more at Techmeme »
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Vidya Krishnan / The Atlantic:
The latest attacks on the media in India, part of a pattern of legal cases and intimidation, make clear that freedom of the press is endangered in Modi's India
Discussion:
@baxiabhishek, The India Cable, @adriennelaf, @jamescrabtree, @aaranrpatel, @shailja_s, @bhumikatharoor, @prashantrao, @nktpnd and New York Times
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