Mediagazer: Miami-based Muck Rack, a database of journalists, raised a $180M Series A from Susquehanna Growth Equity, after being bootstrapped since its founding in 2009 (Ingrid Lunden/TechCrunch)

1:50 PM ET, September 7, 2022

Top News:

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:

Miami-based Muck Rack, a database of journalists, raised a $180M Series A from Susquehanna Growth Equity, after being bootstrapped since its founding in 2009 — For any journalist who has ever googled their name, there is a good chance that one of the hits will be for Muck Rack …

Discussion: @gregory, @anthony, Axios, @rafat, Business Wire, Insider, @muckrack, @semel and @lhm1, more at Techmeme »

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Ahead of the US midterms, Twitter plans to add 1,000 contributors weekly to its Birdwatch fact-checking tool, each assigned a “rating impact” score out of five — On the heels of a report detailing how Twitter had once accidentally allowed a conspiracy theorist into its invite …

Discussion: Insider, Bloomberg, The Verge, @birdwatch, @willoremus and CNET, more at Techmeme »

Matt Stevens / New York Times:

Chess champion Nona Gaprindashvili settles a defamation lawsuit against Netflix over a line in The Queen's Gambit final episode saying she had “never faced men” — The fictional series had named Nona Gaprindashvili, a pioneering real-life chess champion, and falsely claimed she had “never faced men.”

Discussion: Gizmodo, @eriqgardner, @chesscomlive, IndieWire, The A.V. Club, ComingSoon.net, Deadline, The Wrap and Variety

Paul Farhi / Washington Post:

Memo: Disney-owned National Geographic magazine, which has ~125 editorial staff, laid off six of its top editors last week, three months after naming a new EIC — National Geographic magazine, the venerable journal of science, history and the natural world, laid off six of its top editors …

Discussion: bookforum.com, @nicdawes, @jayrosen_nyu, @bryanchristy, @knapsack, @knapsack, @matthewteller, @bryanchristy, @timothynoah1, @monscience, @carlosnyt, @peterbakernyt and @tomricks1

Wall Street Journal:

Sources: Netflix scours its business to cut costs, including by reducing real estate, curbing cloud spend, limiting corporate swag, and hiring more junior staff — The streaming giant seeks to impose more financial discipline as growth stagnates — As Netflix Inc. NFLX 1.50%▲ …

Discussion: The Wrap and @jtoonkel, more at Techmeme »

New York Times:

Sources: Vice is exploring a deal worth ~$50M with MBC, a media giant partially owned by the Saudi government, to launch a new content partnership in the region — The company is in talks to develop a content partnership with MBC, a Saudi Arabian media giant partially owned by the government.

Discussion: @benmullin and @benmullin

K.J. Yossman / Variety:

New UK Prime Minister Liz Truss appoints Michelle Donelan as Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport; Donelan once worked for the WWE — New U.K. Prime Minister Liz Truss has appointed Michelle Donelan as the new secretary of state for culture.

Discussion: Deadline, Press Gazette, Columbia Journalism Review, NME, NME, Mediaite and Politico

Max Goldbart / Deadline:
UK Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries resigns after a tenure of less than a year in which she made several inflammatory remarks about Channel 4 and the BBC

Discussion: @johnestevens, @nadinedorries, Exclusive Daily Mail News …, @frasernelson, @adambienkov, @jimwaterson, @steven_swinford, @johnestevens, @pippacrerar, The Guardian, HuffPost UK, The Guardian, Bloomberg, The Independent and Variety

Legit.ng:

Source: Hong Kong Journalists Association President Ronson Chan, who was set to begin a Reuters Institute fellowship in September, was arrested on Wednesday — PAY ATTENTION: You can save a live of girl at risk. Donate to Legit Charity on Patreon. Your support matters!

Discussion: Reuters, Committee to Protect …, Bloomberg and @jerometaylor

The Hollywood Reporter:

Cineworld Group files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the US, saying it has around $1.94B in commitments from existing lenders — The debt-laden exhibitor, led by CEO Moshe “Mooky” Greidinger, had said in mid-August that it was eyeing unspecified strategic options.

Discussion: Forbes, The Wrap, Deadline, Los Angeles Times, Media Play News, Axios and @dfriend

Sara Fischer / Axios:

Cumulus Media says it is “disassociating” from the annual Podcast Movement industry conference, after a Twitter spat between the conference and The Daily Wire — Cumulus, one of the largest radio companies in the country, says it's “disassociating” from Podcast Movement …

Discussion: Inside Radio, Mediaite, @ashleyrcarman, The Verge, Podcast Business Journal, Radio & Television …, @kerrymflynn, @jeremydboreing, @ericdjuly, @skyepillsbury, @realdailywire, @arshapiro90, RADIO ONLINE and Barrett Media

Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:

Amazon's Prime Video Channels head Soumya Sriraman leaves to join Qurate Retail Group, which owns the QVC and HSN shopping channels, as president of streaming — Soumya Sriraman, who previously led BritBox, will become president of streaming for the company.

Discussion: Variety and Deadline

Dan Kennedy / Media Nation:

Memo: longtime Boston Globe Editor Brian McGrory is leaving at the end of the year to chair the journalism department at Boston University — Brian McGrory, the accidental editor of The Boston Globe who ended up staying for nearly 20 years, has finally made official what half the city has known for months …

Discussion: The Boston Globe and Talking Biz News

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Sara Fischer / Axios:
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Georg Szalai / The Hollywood Reporter:
The BBC names Chinny Okolidoh, currently L'Oréal's director of DEI, as its director of diversity and inclusion, starting later in 2022

Discussion: @blackamazon, Variety and Deadline

Masha Borak / Rest of World:
Some Wikipedia editors in Russia have been doxxed, threatened, and arrested for not supporting Russia's war in Ukraine; some now edit less and others have quit

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David Pierce / The Verge:
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Discussion: @michellemanafy, @dannygroner, @pierce, @robblackwellab, @mattrly and @simonowens

David Gritten / BBC:
Gulf Arab states demand that Netflix remove all content deemed to violate “Islamic and societal values and principles”, including content made for children

Discussion: CNBC, Reuters, Gizmodo, Financial Times, @chrislikesdinos, Al Jazeera, Variety and Middle East Eye

Mark Bergen / The Verge:
A book excerpt details how YouTube's love affair with PewDiePie soured in 2017, before he stopped pushing boundaries and signed a livestreaming deal in 2020

Discussion: Sup Culture, @mhbergen, @mhbergen, @kevinroose, @theatlantic, The Atlantic and Bloomberg

Earlier Picks:

Ian Ward / Politico:
A look at Capitol Hill Citizen, a print newspaper launched by Ralph Nader in April 2022 to cover big-picture stories overlooked by DC's scoop-obsessed media

Discussion: @wuerker, @benweyl, @david_boaz, @waywardwinifred, @michaelkruse, @jackshafer, @mattwelch, @jmartnyt and @ralphnader

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Real Life, a magazine founded in June 2016 and funded by Snap, ceases publication immediately due to a lack of funding

Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
CNN hires John Miller, a former TV correspondent who also had two long stints with the NYPD, to serve as its chief law enforcement and intelligence analyst

Discussion: Media Matters for America, @cnnpr, Gizmodo, Politico, Poynter, @dellcam, @joshuahol, @johnknefel, @jeffjarvis, @mattgertz, @parkermolloy, @parkermolloy, @froomkin, @ranaforny, @kgosztola, @joshsternberg, @parkermolloy, CNN, The Wrap, New York Post and The Hill

Sara Fischer / Axios:
Yahoo acquires The Factual and plans to integrate its AI system for rating the credibility of news sources into Yahoo News while licensing it to other companies

Discussion: American Press Institute, Media Voices, @brianprovost, @librarythingtim, @megdunk, @rafat, @jlanzone, @alex, @gintautasd, @arifcrafiq, @davidclinchnews, @sarafischer and MediaPost

Brooks Barnes / New York Times:
As theaters struggle, analysts suggest cutting underperforming screens in the US and Canada, from 40.7K to 25K-35K; movie releases are down ~50% since 2002

Discussion: @alfredspellman and @richlightshed

From Techmeme:

Wall Street Journal:
Sources: China's muted response to TikTok bill reflects the view that TikTok is of less strategic value than Huawei; China prefers TikTok US closure to sale

Emanuel Maiberg / 404 Media:
Apple removes three AI image generation apps from the App Store after a 404 Media probe found the apps advertised being able to create nonconsensual nude images

Dustin Volz / Wall Street Journal:
Sam Altman, Satya Nadella, Sundar Pichai, Jensen Huang, and others join a board for advising the DHS on deploying AI safely within US critical infrastructure

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