Mediagazer: Royal, which helps musicians create and sell NFTs, share royalties with fans, and more, raises a $55M Series A led by a16z, following a $16M seed in August (Jeff John Roberts/Decrypt)

2:35 PM ET, November 22, 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.

Discussion: The Dispatch, @benyt, NPR, @brianstelter, Washington Post, @nytdavidbrooks, @jonathanchait, Washington Post, @jayrosen_nyu, Mediaite, TVNewser, Los Angeles Times, The Week, Vanity Fair, @jeremymbarr, @billkristol, @liz_cheney, @deggans, CNN, @mattnegrin, @adamkinzinger, @davidafrench, @jrubinblogger, @julieroginsky, @ndrew_lawrence, @erickfernandez, @pftompkins, @cam_joseph, @froomkin, @walshfreedom, @itguy1959, @owillis, @jmartnyt, @thehowie, @davidfolkenflik, @tripper_grebe, @dandrezner, @dangillmor, @curtmills, @davidgura, @urbanachievr, The Wrap, @ggreenwald, @heerjeet, @gerrycallahan, @blackamazon, @davidafrench, @bradmossesq, The Racket News, @rachaelbl, @maxblumenthal, @shermichael_, @davidfolkenflik, @bryvkin, @anneapplebaum, @owillis, @rpsagainsttrump, @nedryun, @frankconniff, The Guardian, @brianjameswalsh, @writerjms, @jonahdispatch, Newser, @arthurschwartz, @ninaburleigh, @nedryun, @jrubinblogger, @samstein, @paulwaldman1, @ericboehlert, @jonkarl, @oliviatroye, @nprinskeep, @jaredlholt, @jkirchick, @jayrosen_nyu, @elivalley, @zigmanfreud, @yesnicksearcy, @peter_wehner, @pkafka, @marceelias, @jerrydunleavy, @drgjackbrown, Campaign Update, UPROXX, @davidcorndc, @urbanachievr, @eugene_scott, The Hill, Rolling Stone, Deadline and Insider

Rick Edmonds / Poynter:

Alden Global Capital announces an offer to acquire Lee Enterprises for about $140M or $24/share, a ~30% premium to its stock's November 19 closing price — The hedge fund has developed a reputation for slashing staff in newsrooms and other departments and selling off real estate at outlets it owns.

Jennifer Meierhans / BBC:

Spotify removes shuffle play as the default option on albums for premium users, so 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.

Anna Nicolaou / Financial Times:

Jessica Lessin says The Information has 225,000 “active users”, including paid subs and newsletter readers, as it prepares to launch a weekend lifestyle edition — Website aimed at Silicon Valley proves value of subscription model for journalism

Discussion: Talking Biz News, @mohamed, @aservais1, @clockwerks, @pressgazette, @annaknicolaou, @markdistef, @jakesherman and @rafat

Gizmodo:

Gizmodo plans to publish the Facebook Papers in batches, redacting sensitive information with help from NYU, UMass Amherst, Columbia, Marquette, and the ACLU — Independent experts from NYU, UMass Amherst, Columbia, Marquette, and the ACLU are partnering with Gizmodo to responsibly publish this historic leak.

Discussion: @lauraedelson2, @film_girl, @swodinsky and @andrewcouts, more at Techmeme »

Brian Steinberg / Variety:

Nielsen says it will overhaul its commercial ratings in 2022, with plans to measure audiences for individual ads — Nielsen has a new proposal for TV networks that have been threatening for months to find other means of measuring their audiences: Stick with the yardstick you already use.

Discussion: MediaPost, Ad Age, Radio & Television …, Hollywood Reporter, Deadline, Advanced Television, @bristei, @bristei, @bristei, @bristei, Adweek and @nina_metz

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 …

Brian Welk / The Wrap:

Netflix acquires visual effects studio Scanline VFX, whose work includes Stranger Things 3; Scanline will continue to operate as a standalone VFX business — Netflix is acquiring the visual effects studio Scanline VFX, which has been behind special effects work for Netflix's recent series …

Discussion: The Guardian, Variety, Los Angeles Times, Deadline and Hollywood Reporter

Andrew Kersley / Press Gazette:

FT-backed Sifted, which covers European startups, raises £4M led by ScaleUp Capital, which will become the largest shareholder with a 25% stake — Financial Times-backed website Sifted, which covers the world of European start-ups, has raised £4m of investment funding for a 25% stake.

Discussion: Talking Biz News and Sifted

Joe Flint / Wall Street Journal:

Filing: arbitrator rules that Kevin Spacey must pay House of Cards producer MRC ~$31M for breaching contractual obligations amid sexual harassment allegations — Arbitrator rules actor breached contract, awards MRC nearly $31 million following sexual-harassment, misconduct claims

Discussion: The Wrap, Variety, Deadline and UPROXX

Nicole LaPorte / Fast Company:

A look at Spotify's podcast investments, including its push into advertising and video, as it appears poised to dominate the industry — With 3.2 million podcasts on its platform and more monthly active users than Apple, Spotify is the new heavy in podcasting. It's just getting started.

Discussion: @evan_greer, @alphachromeyayo, The Verge and @ashleyrcarman, more at Techmeme »

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

Archived Page Info:

This is a snapshot of Mediagazer at 2:35 PM ET, November 22, 2021.

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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

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Senior Editor, Remote US — PCWorld

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More News:

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Walmart will be the first to test Twitter's livestream shopping platform, with a Cyber Deals live event on November 28

Discussion: Ad Age and Adweek, more at Techmeme »

Jeff John Roberts / Decrypt:
Royal, which helps musicians create and sell NFTs, share royalties with fans, and more, raises a $55M Series A led by a16z, following a $16M seed in August

Discussion: TechCrunch, join_royal, Fortune, @naithanjones, @anthonyha and @jeffjohnroberts, more at Techmeme »

Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
Paul Dacre is re-appointed EIC of DMG Media, an advisory role that won't involve day-to-day editing, less than three weeks after leaving the role

Discussion: Financial Times, The Guardian, @kevin_maguire, @andyoakes and @direthoughts

Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
Thirty journalists fired from the Kyiv Post earlier this month launch Kyiv Independent, promising to use reader donations before adding commercial activities

Discussion: The Fix, @pressgazette, @olgatokariuk and @thefixmedia

Adi Robertson / The Verge:
A look at projects like The Voguverse and companies like Pixel Vault that are trying to build media franchises around their NFT collectibles

Discussion: The Thndrhs Nifty and hi, tech.

Jim Morrill / The Assembly:
Profile of Asheville Watchdog, which produces investigative reporting in North Carolina with accomplished, volunteer journalists who “retired” to the mountains

Discussion: @theassemblync, @barry_yeoman, @jimmorrill, @john_drescher, @coreyhutchins, @colmorrisdavis and @carolleonnig

Earlier Picks:

Renju Jose / Reuters:
Mining billionaire Andrew Forrest's Minderoo Foundation will help 18 Australian small news publishers negotiate collectively with Google and Facebook

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

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%

Discussion: @somospostpc, @codinghorror, @carnage4life, @issielapowsky, @protocol, @issielapowsky, @voterformation, @tatendacheryl, @issielapowsky, @saramorrison, @issielapowsky and @issielapowsky

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

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

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: @joshgerstein, @eriqgardner, @jesselynradack, @ggreenwald, @maxkennerly, @williamturton, @iwanttotalk_now, @gaberusk, @mmasnick, @pnjaban, @mathewi, @pressfreedom, @kylenabecker and @jason_kint

From Techmeme:

Daniel Wiessner / Reuters:
Google scraps a 2019 policy requiring US suppliers and staffing firms to pay their employees $15 an hour and provide health insurance and other benefits

Gaby Del Valle / The Verge:
The US Senate reauthorizes FISA's Section 702; some communication service providers had threatened to stop cooperating with the US government in case of a lapse

Kate Rogers / CNBC:
A look at Los Angeles' Homelessness Prevention pilot program, which uses AI to identify those at risk of becoming homeless, offering aid to keep them housed

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