Mediagazer: Spotify's Findaway acquisition will turn it into an audiobook producer, distributor, and retailer, while becoming the app for consuming all audio (Ashley Carman/The Verge)

9:25 PM ET, November 21, 2021

Top News:

Fox News contributors Jonah Goldberg and Stephen Hayes resign from the network in protest of Tucker Carlson's streaming special on the January 6 Capitol mob — Jonah Goldberg and Stephen Hayes, stars of a brand of conservatism that has fallen out of fashion, decide they've had enough.

Jennifer Meierhans / BBC:

Spotify removes the shuffle button from all album pages for premium users, so that tracks play in the order artists intended, after Adele requests the change — Adele has persuaded Spotify to take the shuffle button off all album pages so tracks play in the artist's own order.

Karen Hao / MIT Technology Review:

Investigation shows how Facebook and Google fund misinformation globally by paying millions of dollars in ad revenue to the operators of clickbait pages — A month after the fall of the democratic government. — In 2015, six of the 10 websites in Myanmar getting the most engagement …

Moiz Syed / Source:

Interview with Moiz Syed, formerly of The Intercept and ProPublica, on the lack of empathy among newsroom managers, the “straitjacket of objectivity”, and more — “Journalists are encouraged to hold the powerful accountable, but never to proclaim the larger moral lessons of their work.”

Sara Guaglione / Digiday:

A look at the product box programs offered by InStyle, The Cut, Eater, and Group Nine, as more publishers launch them as worthwhile revenue streams — InStyle and The Cut created their first product boxes for sale this month, as this line of business at Eater and Group Nine reaches their one-year anniversaries.

Discussion: @simonowens

Issie Lapowsky / Protocol:

A voter turnout group says Facebook served 36.8% of their conversion ads to iOS users after Apple's ATT change, down from 63.6% — Tatenda Musapatike is as familiar as anyone with the way Facebook's political ad system works. During the 2016 election and the 2018 midterms …

Discussion: @somospostpc, @carnage4life, @issielapowsky, @codinghorror, @protocol, @issielapowsky, @voterformation, @tatendacheryl, @issielapowsky, @saramorrison, @issielapowsky and @issielapowsky, more at Techmeme »

Renju Jose / Reuters:

Mining billionaire Andrew Forrest's Minderoo Foundation will help 18 Australian small news publishers negotiate collectively with Google and Facebook — Australian mining billionaire Andrew Forrest's philanthropic organisation will help 18 small news publishers in the country collectively negotiate …

Dustin Volz / Wall Street Journal:

The US DOJ says Iranian hackers breached a media company in fall 2020 and tested how to create false news content; sources say Lee Enterprises was targeted — Computer systems of Lee Enterprises, which owns dozens of daily papers, were targeted in disinformation campaign

Discussion: @dnvolz, @dnvolz, @dkiesow, @rossacrosswi, @dnvolz, @airspaceiowa, @roncharles, @justinhendrix, @andreasharsono, @justinhendrix, @dnvolz and @dnvolz

Zoe Tillman / BuzzFeed News:

Judge orders the NYT not to publish any Project Veritas “privileged materials”, despite precedent against prior restraint; the NYT seeks an immediate review — WASHINGTON — A judge in New York on Thursday took the rare step of temporarily blocking the New York Times …

Discussion: @joshgerstein, @jesselynradack, @michellemanafy, @eriqgardner, @mathewi, @ell_en, @ggreenwald, @erikwemple, @janemayernyer, @maxkennerly, @mmasnick, @pnjaban, @pressfreedom, @kylenabecker, @asfleischman, @ronwyden, @rcfp, @mlcalderone, @erikwemple, @freedomofpress, @katie_rcfp, @jason_kint, Reason, @digby56, @emilybazelon, @jadler1969, @alfonslopeztena, Vanity Fair, @nycjim, @lisatozzi, @adamgoldmannyt, @cliffordlevy, @tristansnell, @aricohn, @matthewschafer, @keitholbermann, @trevortimm, @freedomofpress, @pnjaban, @markmazzettinyt, @adamliptak, @seth_hettena, @freedomofpress, @jswatz, @karolcummins, @rcfp, @ggreenwald, @pnjaban, @edmundlee, The Hill, @davidfolkenflik, @bradmossesq, @mr_berman, @kenbensinger, @janemayernyer, @ejeancarroll, Committee to Protect …, Reuters, @jonathanwpeters, @erikwemple, Media Nation, @erikwemple, @trevortimm and Columbia Journalism Review

Jonathan Stempel / Reuters:
A New York appeals court judge rejects the NYT's request to unblock it from publishing or seeking Project Veritas documents; the next hearing is on November 23

Discussion: @williamturton, @iwanttotalk_now, @gaberusk, @mmasnick, @pnjaban, @mathewi, Associated Press and Washington Post

Aubrey Allegretti / The Guardian:

Former Daily Mail editor Paul Dacre pulls out of the race to chair media regulator Ofcom, despite UK ministers rerunning the process to give him a second chance — Former Daily Mail editor announces decision not to proceed with second bid and takes swipe at civil service

Peter Kafka / Vox:

James Andrew Miller's new book reveals that some HBO execs pushed for selling subscriptions directly to consumers in 2005, and some wanted to buy Netflix — An alternative media history, brought to us by a new oral history of HBO. — “The goal is to become HBO faster than HBO can become us.”

Discussion: @jasonhirschhorn, @ritholtz, @gadyepstein, @pkafka, @carlquintanilla, @kbandersen, @tsuvik, @jkosner and Baraja de oro

Ashley Carman / The Verge:

Spotify's Findaway acquisition will turn it into an audiobook producer, distributor, and retailer, while becoming the app for consuming all audio — This story is part of a group of stories called — Last week, Spotify announced plans to spend an undisclosed amount of money to acquire Findaway …

Discussion: @evan_greer, @simonowens, @ashleyrcarman, @adrs, @joshhunt, @alphachromeyayo and Podcast Movement

Archived Page Info:

This is a snapshot of Mediagazer at 9:25 PM ET, November 21, 2021.

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Who's Hiring in Media?

Commissioning Editor - Practical Law — Reuters

Energy Markets Reporter, London — WSJ

Oil Reporter, Singapore — Bloomberg

Newsperson - State Govt. & Politics, CA — AP

Business Reporter, SC — Post & Courier

State Government Reporter, WA — Seattle Times

Climate Crisis Columnist — Prospect UK

Multimedia Journalist, CA — Paramount

Community Engagement Mgr., DC — Freedom Forum

Staff Writer - Business, NY — WIRED

Editor, MA — Nieman Reports

Team Editor - Breaking News, ON — Toronto Star

Senior Reporter & Event Host, NY/CA — Newcomer

Climate & Weather Reporter, MN — Star Tribune

Senior Tech Editor, Remote US — The Verge

News Reporter, MA — Berkshire Eagle

Multimedia Journalist, PA — Observer-Reporter

Managing Editor, WA — Everett Herald

Private Credit Reporter, NY — Debtwire

Legislative Reporter, CA — Sacramento Bee

Reporter, PA — Tribune-Review

Visual Editor, Remote — Rest of World

Staff Writer, MI — Watershed Voice

California Playbook Writer, CA — Politico

Senior Media Editor — Digiday

National Investigative Reporter, NY — HuffPost

Business & Gaming Reporter, NV — Las Vegas Sun

Coastal Climate Reporter, SC — Island Packet

Environment & Energy Reporter, CT — CT Mirror

Coordinating Editor, OR — OPB

Staff Reporter, CA — Daily Kos

Data Editor, NY — ProPublica

Editor-in-Chief, AZ — Phoenix New Times

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More News:

Benjamin Mullin / Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Chernin Entertainment has hired bankers to explore its options, including a sale of a stake in the business or other equity partnership

Discussion: @benmullin, @phkeane, @benmullin, @claireatki and @benmullin

Matt Burgess / Wired UK:
DuckDuckGo launches App Tracking Protection for Android, a beta feature that blocks third-party trackers including from Google, Facebook, Amazon, and others

Discussion: The Verge and @mattburgess1

Marc Tracy / New York Times:
Gothamist, the news site of radio station WNYC, deleted four articles in October that used language from Wikipedia, Salon, and NYT without credit

Discussion: @jonscollins, @awinston, @jimog, @nypr_union, @nypr_union, @nypr_union, @marcatracy, @lexandrapinel, @nypr_union and @katie_robertson, Thanks:@ologhaiofmordor

New York Times:
Theranos trial testimony shows how media coverage of tech companies became more probing as reporters had to revise glowing articles they wrote about the startup

Discussion: Puck, @nytimesbusiness, Wall Street Journal, @anthony, @eringriffith, @parismarx, @baburkhwaja, CNN, @libshipwreck, CNBC, @patio11, @parismarx, @jathansadowski, @erinkwoo, Insider and The Grapevine

Ryan Broderick / Garbage Day:
Thinkarete Lifestyle, cited by Facebook as Q3's most widely viewed Page in the US, seems to be a barely active drop-shipping scheme with stolen content

Discussion: @waxpancake, @caseynewton, @broderick and @imbadatlife

Earlier Picks:

Brian Steinberg / Variety:
Omnicom forecasts $13.4B in CTV ad spend in 2021 vs. $9B+ in 2020, but says it's noticed “fundamental flaws” in measurement that open the door to ad fraud

Discussion: @bristei, @bristei and @aquinas82nd

Edmund Lee / New York Times:
Filing: shareholders vote December 2 on BuzzFeed's SPAC merger, with stock trading as soon as December 6; Q3 net loss was ~$3.6M on revenue of $90M, up 20% YoY

Discussion: @kerrymflynn, @edmundlee and Editor and Publisher

Max Willens / Digiday:
A look at the Philly Inquirer's Gameday Central, a live pre-game NFL show that attracts thousands of viewers and that the paper hopes to expand to other sports

Discussion: @evanbenn

Dade Hayes / Deadline:
Disney adds Disney+ and ESPN+ to Hulu + Live TV, and will raise its prices by $5 to $70/month with ads and $76/month without ads, starting on December 21

Discussion: @richlightshed, @davezatz, @annemariebridy, @xpangler, The Streamable, @xpangler, @tvgrimreaper, CNET, Awful Announcing, TechCrunch and Variety

Stephen Singer / Hartford Courant:
New York Daily News names Andrew Julien, the publisher and EIC of the Hartford Courant, as executive editor

Discussion: @kerrymflynn, @courantguild, @maxoregonian, @hartfordcourant, @notesfromhel and New York Daily News

From Techmeme:

Bloomberg:
MicroStrategy bought ~51,780 bitcoin for ~$4.6B between November 11 and November 17, its largest purchase since starting in 2020, and now holds $29B+ in bitcoin

Sarah E. Needleman / Wall Street Journal:
Roblox debuts new parental controls and gatekeeping features, like letting parents link accounts to a child's and banning text chat for under 13s outside games

Anna Irrera / Bloomberg:
Goldman Sachs says it is reaching out to potential partners about plans to spin out its digital-assets platform within 12 to 18 months

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