Top News:
Brian Steinberg / Variety:
Vox Media is buying Hot Pod to make it The Verge's first paid subscription product; Ashley Carman will replace Nick Quah, who launched the podcasting newsletter — Vox Media is acquiring Hot Pod, the independent news outlet focused on the podcasting industry, as part of a bid to expand offerings from its technology site, The Verge.
Discussion:
@markstenberg3, Axios, New York Magazine, @bristei, @jamescridland, @nwquah, Hot Pod News, @nwquah, @ashleyrcarman, @reckless, @caleweissman, @ashleyrcarman and @xpangler
Amanda Meade / The Guardian:
At a Senate hearing, Sky News Australia CEO says it “self-censored” 18 videos about COVID-19 to avoid a permanent YouTube ban, denies broadcasting Covid misinfo — CEO Paul Whittaker also tells media diversity inquiry Sky News Australia does not deny climate change, and accepts it is happening
Discussion:
New York Times, Sydney Morning Herald, @ketanj0, @michaelemann, @wendy_harmer, SBS News, @lesstonehouse, @jayrosen_nyu, @nytmedia, @turnbullmalcolm, @pt, @jftaveira1993, @mikecarlton01, @markdistef, Sky News Australia, Brisbane Times, @murpharoo, @davidfolkenflik, @zerowastechef, @natecochrane, @mrkrudd, The Hill, @rmac18, @rasmus_kleis, @jayrosen_nyu, @edmundlee, @dana1981, @damiencave, @mikecarlton01, @summersanne, @stephenjonesmp, @danawollman, @leohickman, Mumbrella and Crikey
Ben Smith / New York Times:
As Gawker reboots, with its former features editor Leah Finnegan at the helm, it promises to no longer seek out articles that are “sanctimonious” or “cruel” — “I'm not interested in ruining people's lives,” says its top editor, Leah Finnegan, who once insulted a baby in a headline.
Tom Ley / Defector:
One year in, Defector has 40K+ paying subscribers, 23 full-time employees, and about $3.2M in revenue, roughly 95% of which comes from subscribers — This week marks one year since the lights here at Defector flickered on and we began publishing blogs. The question that you were probably asking during …
Discussion:
@justinnxt, @realbengilbert, @davidcrespo, @choire, @lisatozzi, @tristandross, @choire, @toley88, @mattdpearce and @ryanlcooper
New York Times:
Comscore data shows North American theaters sold about $2.2B in tickets so far in 2021, compared with $7.8B for the same period in 2019 — With box office numbers way down in the pandemic and streaming numbers hard to come by, the film industry is often unable to determine whether a movie is a hit or a miss.
Discussion:
@nytimesbusiness, @hamrahrama, @johannadc, @ennisnyt and @goldman
RELATED:
Wall Street Journal:
How Disney entered into a major legal battle with Scarlett Johansson, as CEO Bob Chapek mostly stayed out of the dispute and left talent relations to underlings
Discussion:
@rishad, @scottkirsner, @discussingfilm, @ryanmcdevitt, @catherine_lucey, @wsj, @kbandersen, @getfandom, @wattsnd, @edmundlee, @venkatananth, @felixsalmon, @jtoonkel, The Playlist, @benmullin, @donlday, @jbflint, @oliverdarcy and @jbflint
Jim Waterson / The Guardian:
Fran Unsworth, BBC veteran and director of news since 2018, will leave amid worsening relations with the government and internal fights over a staff reorg — Exit likely to set off competitive and politicised recruitment process to find replacement at corporation
Discussion:
Variety, The Guardian, The Independent, @jimwaterson, Press Gazette, @dafydd_62, @shivanidave, BBC, @ian_fraser, @sophiasgaler, BBC, Guido Fawkes, @stewartcadman, @cden128, @dannyshawnews, @nick_miles_, @jimwaterson and City A.M.
Drew Holden / @drewholden360:
[Thread] Rolling Stone's story claiming ivermectin overdoses clogged Oklahoma hospitals was poorly sourced and wrong, but Insider, Maddow, and more picked it up — 🧵THREAD🧵 We've got to talk about the Rolling Stone invermectin article. Turns out the story about rural hospitals so flooded with ODs that they couldn't treat other patients was made up, entirely invented. A lot of people took the bait, and I've got the screenshots.⤵️
Discussion:
@ddale8, @jholmsted, @ddale8, Mediaite, @msignorile, @ddale8, @redsteeze, @ddale8, @mediaite, @kayleighmcenany, @ddale8, @claytravis, @ggreenwald, National Review, @charlesarthur, @saifedean, @chrismasterjohn, @davidvdegraw, @marybethpf, @dylanmatt, @vprasadmdmph, @primalpoly, @jjcouey, @vprasadmdmph, @timrunshismouth, @evacide, @ggreenwald and @jimmy_dore
Lorenzo Reyes / USA Today:
Gannett launches USA Today Sports+, a digital subscription product with reporting, interactive features, and sports betting content, in seven markets — Gannett Co., the parent company of USA TODAY, announced the launch of USA TODAY Sports+, a new, premium digital subscription product …
Discussion:
Editor and Publisher, @chrismsutcliffe, @gannett and @usatodaysports
Kate Kaye / Digiday:
Salon turns off comments after finding less than 0.5% of its ~10M MAUs used them, and says its newsletter open rate rose from 16% to 32% over the last 6 months — It was especially notable when one post this week on Salon, the site named after the practice of gathering for intellectual discussion, had no comments.
Discussion:
Salon and @katekayereports
ProPublica:
WhatsApp data helped prosecutors build a case against whistleblower May Edwards that cited hundreds of “encrypted” messages between her and a BuzzFeed reporter — When Mark Zuckerberg unveiled a new “privacy-focused vision” for Facebook in March 2019, he cited the company's global messaging service, WhatsApp, as a model.
Discussion:
Insider, @janelytv, @tomgara, @danielschuman, @propublica and 9to5Mac, more at Techmeme »
Vincent Ni / The Guardian:
Next Digital, the publisher of Hong Kong's Apple Daily, files for liquidation, after its board of directors resigned to help facilitate the process — Apple Daily publisher Next Digital hopes move will allow payments to be made to creditors and former staff
William Turvill / Press Gazette:
A look at BDG's Bustle UK, which launched in 2018, now has a staff of eight, and is on track to record its first annual profit as BDG considers UK expansion — For US publishers, launching media brands in the UK is not always straightforward. — Editorially, it can be a challenge …
Discussion:
@pressgazette, @pressgazette and @pressgazette
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