Mediagazer: Yuga Labs, the owner of three of the top NFT brands including Bored Ape Yacht Club, raises $450M at a $4B valuation led by a16z to build an NFT media empire (Jacob Kastrenakes/The Verge)

6:30 PM ET, March 22, 2022

Top News:

Katie Robertson / New York Times:

BuzzFeed News EIC Mark Schoofs says he and two other top editors are leaving, as BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti announces job cuts affecting ~1.7% of company staff — Mark Schoofs, the site's editor in chief, is among the departures. The company's chief executive said BuzzFeed News would need to …

Discussion: @markdistef, @jimwaterson, Axios, @jasonabbruzzese, @markstenberg3, The Daily Beast, @markstenberg3, The Wrap, @edmundlee, The Hill, @sarafischer, @jane__bradley, Today in Tabs, Gawker, @eoinhiggins_, @rebekahentralgo, @janelytv, @rmac18, @palewire, @kateaurthur, @kevincollier, @g_kayy, @cwarzel, @bradydale, @katenocera, @film_girl, @mediaevan, Vanity Fair, @nausjcaa, @robinwigg, New York Post, @thesarahkelly, @andybcampbell, @craigsilverman, @matthewstoller, @sivavaid, @saba_h, @jasonabbruzzese, @joshsternberg, @ejdickson, @peternhess, @rachelysanders, @saramorrison, @jamesrbuk, @paulxharris, @ajb_powell, @moorehn, Adweek, @rmc031, @taylorlorenz, @jackmirkinson, @brandyzadrozny, @mrernestowens, @jordanzakarin, @dancow, @lainnafader, @papapishu, @patrickklepek, @nrg8000, @paolobacigalupi, @charlesornstein, @paperhaus, @sachgau and @esotericcd

Alex Sherman / CNBC:

Sources: several large shareholders have urged BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti to shut down the site's news division, which has ~100 employees and loses ~$10M/year — - Several large shareholders have urged BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti to shut down the company's news organization.

A.J. Katz / TVNewser:

NBC News Digital names BuzzFeed News deputy EIC Tom Namako as executive editor, starting on April 25, replacing David Firestone, who is retiring after 40+ years — NBC News has named Tom Namako the new Executive Editor of NBC News Digital, beginning April 25.

Discussion: @catherinekimny, @tomnamako, Variety, Insider, @maggienyt, @mitrakalita, @claudiajo_ms, Mediaite, @lisatozzi, Press Gazette, @benyt, @edmundlee, Crain's New York Business and Barrett Media

Will Feuer / Dow Jones Newswires:

BuzzFeed reports $40.4M in Q4 net income, up 25% YoY from $32.2M, and revenue of $145.7M, up 18% YoY, driven by 33% YoY growth in its content revenue segment — Digital-media publisher BuzzFeed Inc. said its revenue and profit rose in the three months ended Dec. 31.

Sara Fischer / Axios:

Ben Smith and Justin Smith plan to name their media company Semafor, which they believe is “a very viable and successful option” for trademarking globally — Ben and Justin Smith plan to name their new company “Semafor,” a word used to describe a method of communication via two visual signals, the pair confirmed to Axios.

Jennifer Schuessler / New York Times:

A look at Compact, a new online magazine funded by unnamed investors and edited by two religious conservatives and a Marxist labor populist — Compact, a new online magazine edited by two religious conservatives and a Marxist proponent of “labor populism,” aims to challenge both “a libertine left and a libertarian right.”

Sara Fischer / Axios:

Recurrent Ventures, owner of Popular Science and MEL, acquires digital and print B2B publication Business of Home, its 25th acquisition in under five years — Recurrent Ventures, a venture equity-backed digital media company, has acquired Business of Home, a digital and print publication dedicated …

Discussion: @sarafischer, @rafat and @bmorrissey

Sara Fischer / Axios:

Ex-Trump staffers, including Donald Trump Jr., are launching a news aggregation app called MxM News, to fill a void left by the Drudge Report's waning influence — Former Trump staffers, including Donald Trump, Jr., are launching a news aggregation app called “MxM News” …

Discussion: Vanity Fair, @jbenton, @dkiesow, The Wrap, @laurahazardowen, @sarafischer, @surabees, @wickdchiq, @xeni and @mediaevan

Jon Lafayette / Next TV:

NBCU says it has certified eight more Nielsen alternatives for audience measurement and audience verification, including Comscore, DoubleVerify, and Conviva — Certifies providers of audience measurement and audience verification — NBCUniversal, which has been vocal in its search …

Discussion: Ad Age and MediaPost

ProPublica:

ProPublica promotes deputy managing editor Tracy Weber to managing editor, succeeding Robin Fields, who served for nine years and is returning to reporting — ProPublica announced Monday that Tracy Weber, deputy managing editor, has been promoted to managing editor.

Discussion: American Press Institute, @megmccloskey, @froomkin, @terryparrisjr, @charlesornstein, @gingerthomp1, Associated Press, @pamelacolloff and @sisiwei

Ashley Carman / The Verge:

A look at the confusion, culture clash, and shifting goals in SiriusXM's Stitcher deal, as many shows and over 25% of Stitcher's staff left post-acquisition — SiriusXM leapt into podcasts with a $325 million deal — insiders say it's off to a messy start — Illustrations by Vincent Kilbride for The Verge

Discussion: @davemolloy, @ashleyrcarman, @chrisbchester, RAIN News, @ashleyrcarman, @simonowens and @jeff_holmes

Jacob Kastrenakes / The Verge:

Yuga Labs, the owner of three of the top NFT brands including Bored Ape Yacht Club, raises $450M at a $4B valuation led by a16z to build an NFT media empire — The funding values Yuga Labs at $4 billion — Yuga Labs, the owner of three of the biggest NFT brands on the market …

Discussion: Variety, TechCrunch, Cointelegraph, Business Wire, @nitashatiku, @brianjcho, Protocol, @seyitaylor, @baekkyoumkim, @naithanjones, @simonowens, @djohnson_cpa, @tropofarmer and @silvermanjacob, more at Techmeme »

Archived Page Info:

This is a snapshot of Mediagazer at 6:30 PM ET, March 22, 2022.

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:

Associated Press:
Small groups of Disney employees staged demonstrations across the US on Tuesday, protesting CEO Bob Chapek's slow response to Florida's “Don't Say Gay” bill

Discussion: Forbes, Bloomberg, CNN, The Daily Beast, New York Post, Deadline, LGBTQ Nation, CBS Los Angeles, abc7NY, Popular Information, The Hill and NPR

Josh Gerstein / Politico:
Project Veritas lawyers claim US government investigators subpoenaed emails of Veritas staffers from Microsoft and gagged Microsoft from divulging the orders

Discussion: @pnjaban and Vanity Fair

Dessi Gomez / The Wrap:
Twitter suspends the Babylon Bee's account for violating its hateful conduct policy by sharing a link to an article awarding Rachel Levine its “man of the year”

Discussion: Fox News, Media Matters for America, @sethdillon, Breitbart, @matthewboedy, @anarchocorvidae, @sethdillon, @sethdillon, Daily Mail, The Independent and His Glory.Me

Catie Keck / The Verge:
Roku announces OS 11, coming soon, with a curated “what to watch” hub and custom screensavers; Roku's app will add info about content and where to stream it

more at Techmeme »

Amanda Silberling / TechCrunch:
Apple announces new Podcasts Connect creator features, including follower counts, uploading MP3 files as subscriber-only audio, and custom subscription banners

Discussion: podcasters.apple.com, Podnews, Podcast Movement, Protocol, Newslit Daily, Variety and RAIN News, more at Techmeme »

Earlier Picks:

Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
A UK judge rules journalist Chris Mullin won't have to turn over his notes to the police; his investigation helped overturn convictions in the 1974 IRA bombings

Discussion: @pressgazette, @pressgazette, @pressgazette, @gerryhassan, @bondhack, @kevin_maguire and @bat020

William Turvill / Press Gazette:
Staffers at Creators Media Group, Ukraine's largest publisher of tech news sites, recount their experiences as they continue to file stories, now all about war

Discussion: @wturvill, @wturvill, VentureBeat, @seangriffey, @justin_b_smith and @pressgazette

Yuvraj Malik / Reuters:
Tencent Music plans to pursue a secondary listing in Hong Kong, after reporting an 8.7% YoY drop in Q4 revenue, including a 15% YoY drop in social entertainment

Discussion: Benzinga

Shubham Sharma / VentureBeat:
Applied XL, founded by two computational journalists to provide real-time data, raises a $3.5M seed led by Hearst Ventures, with STAT and others participating

Discussion: A Media Operator, @rickberke, @rosemaryhgraves, @newlab, @fpmarconi, @kerrymflynn, @kerrymflynn, STAT, Applied XL, MediaPost, Axios and Crain's New York Business

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

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

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