Mediagazer: 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 (Ashley Carman/The Verge)

8:10 AM ET, March 23, 2022

Top News:

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.

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, @jasonabbruzzese, @markstenberg3, @markstenberg3, Axios, @edmundlee, The Daily Beast, The Wrap, @tombwarren, @pressgazette, @racheldonadio, @jane__bradley, @sarafischer, @rebekahentralgo, @automaticzen, @claudiakoerner, @film_girl, @wongalum, @saba_h, @cliffordlevy, @peternhess, @rmc031, @aaschapiro, @dancow, The Information, @papapishu, @ellievhall, @lainnafader, @sachgau, @rmac18, @matthewstoller, @jordanzakarin, @charlesornstein, @g_kayy, @nausjcaa, @robinwigg, @ejdickson, @nrg8000, @esotericcd, @paolobacigalupi, @eoinhiggins_, @janelytv, @cwarzel, @moorehn, @taylorlorenz, @mrernestowens, @bradydale, @patrickklepek, @kateaurthur, @katenocera, @ajb_powell, @jamesrbuk, @rachelysanders, @thesarahkelly, @andybcampbell, @jackmirkinson, @brandyzadrozny, @sivavaid, @saramorrison, @kevincollier, @jasonabbruzzese, @palewire, @paulxharris, @paperhaus, @mediaevan, @craigsilverman, @alexweprin, @joshsternberg, Today in Tabs, The Hill, Gawker and Adweek

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, @lissandravilla, @claudiajo_ms, @maggienyt, @lisatozzi, @edmundlee, @mitrakalita, @benyt, Crain's New York Business, Vanity Fair, Mediaite 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.

Camille Gijs / Politico:

Reuters removes Russian wire service TASS from its B2B marketplace Reuters Connect, following criticism from Reuters staff over TASS' content — Reuters will remove all the content of the Russian state news agency TASS from its business-to-business service Reuters Connect, it said Wednesday in an internal email to staff.

Discussion: Reuters, @pressgazette, @sanhotree, @michaelcdeibert, @zoryalondonsk and @runasand

Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism:

Internews Europe names Meera Selva, currently Deputy Director at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, as its CEO — Meera, who has been the Director of our Journalist Fellowship Programme since September 2017, will take up her new role in June

Discussion: Information Saves Lives, @meeraselva1, @risj_oxford and @rasmus_kleis

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.

Ken White / The Popehat Report:

The New York Times' Editorial Board essay on free speech was incoherent nonsense and its ill-defined criticisms of “cancel culture” will only inflame debate — What the NYT Cancel Culture Editorial Got Wrong, And What It Got Right — If you want to be a decent person, you should care about how you treat other people.

Discussion: Media Nation, @jackshafer, @nickgillespie, @dangillmor, @mmasnick, @adamdavidson, @hondanhon, Tactless, The Scroll, Techdirt, The Attention of Fools and The Liberal Patriot

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.”

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: @brandongrugle, @davemolloy, @jake_k, @chrisbchester, @mohitaroraxyz, @ashleyrcarman, @jeff_holmes, @brandongrugle, @simonowens, @ashleyrcarman and RAIN News, more at Techmeme »

Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:

While Gary Vaynerchuk and Web3 thinkers share ideas about fans being “the new record label”, decentralized systems will struggle to replace studios and labels — If you've spent any time on the internet this year, chances are you've heard about cryptocurrencies, NFTs, the metaverse or web3.

Discussion: The Rebooting, @iamsteph, @martinkoolhoven, @lucas_shaw, @datelinedisney and Deadline

Ashley Carman / Bloomberg:

Sources: Spotify will rename its live conversation product, from Greenroom to Spotify Live, and plans to integrate the content into its main app in Q2 — Spotify Technology SA is renaming its live conversation product and integrating the content into its main streaming app to make the service …

Discussion: Podcast Movement, more at Techmeme »

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Assistant Standards Editor, NY — NYT

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Economic Policy Reporter, DC — Punchbowl News

Senior Director - Editorial, NY — AP

Senior Editor, FL — Flamingo Magazine

Senior Sydney Correspondent — MLex

Investigative Reporter, OR — Street Roots

Reporter I, Remote — APMG

Reporter, CO — Vail Daily

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Sr. Political Reporter, CA — Sacramento Bee

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Managing Editor, NY — Sportico

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YouTube is making nearly 4,000 TV episodes available for free with ads in the US, including Hell's Kitchen and Andromeda

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Joel Simon / Columbia Journalism Review:
How group messaging tools like WhatsApp and Signal plus tracking technology have changed how newsrooms manage their reporting teams in Ukraine

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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

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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: ACLU, @laurajedeed, @repjimbanks, @jacklgoldsmith, @laurajedeed, @laurajedeed, Fox News, @laurajedeed, @pnjaban, Real News Revolt, @starboyhk, @laurajedeed, @laurajedeed and Insider

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

Jon Lafayette / Next TV:
NBCU says it has certified eight more Nielsen alternatives for audience measurement and audience verification, including Comscore, DoubleVerify, and Conviva

Discussion: Ad Age and Ad Age

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

Discussion: @rafat, @bmorrissey and @sarafischer

Earlier Picks:

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

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

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

ProPublica:
ProPublica promotes deputy managing editor Tracy Weber to managing editor, succeeding Robin Fields, who served for nine years and is returning to reporting

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

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

Discussion: FlatpanelsHD

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, Podcast Movement, Podnews, Protocol, RAIN News, Newslit Daily and Variety, more at Techmeme »

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

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

From Techmeme:

Suzanne Smalley / The Record:
Pennsylvania's Supreme Court rules that police can get Google search data without a warrant; an expert warns it may encourage warrantless searches nationwide

Lydia Beyoud / Bloomberg:
The US Senate confirms Trump pick Michael Selig as chairman of the CFTC, as lawmakers consider legislation to give the agency more control over digital assets

Meghan Bobrowsky / Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Meta is developing a new image and video-focused AI model codenamed Mango, expected to be released in H1 2026 along with its new LLM dubbed Avocado

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