Mediagazer: The hype around esports is fading, as teams and organizations shrink due to a weak sponsorship and ad market, falling VC investment, and the crypto meltdown (Cecilia D'Anastasio/Bloomberg)

12:30 PM ET, December 9, 2022

Top News:

Kurt Wagner / Bloomberg:

Twitter Trust and Safety VP Ella Irwin says she took the screenshots of internal systems that Bari Weiss shared and that “reporters were not accessing user DMs” — Elon Musk is giving outside writers unprecedented access to internal Twitter Inc. information …

Discussion: @justinbaragona, @spdustin, @abgutman, @ellagirwin, @alexstamos, @bariweiss, @esqueer_, @mattbinder, @alexstamos, @davidrlurie, @donmoyn and @parismarx, more at Techmeme »

Kali Hays / Insider:

Sources: Bari Weiss was added to Twitter's Slack and given a company laptop and access to employee systems; a source says the access is generally just for staff — - CEO Elon Musk has made some dramatic changes to Twitter since taking over five weeks ago. — Amid layoffs, firings …

Shawn McCreesh / New York Magazine:

A look at the differences between pre-internet newspaper strikes and now, the divisions among NYT Guild members, and what management has and hasn't offered — As they have been threatening to do for months now, the New York Times newsroom went on a one-day strike today. — As a reader, you might not have noticed.

Discussion: @shawnmccreesh, @eyokley, @joshkraushaar and @intelligencer

David Folkenflik / NPR:
With 1,100+ staff on strike, NYT editors are publishing long-held stories and flexing dormant reporting muscles, but won't likely match the usual volume of copy

Discussion: Semafor, @nytimesguild, @abarnardnyt, @elonmusk, @jayrosen_nyu, @pkafka, @amandahess, @tasneemn, Nieman Lab, Poynter, @nytimesguild, The Indian Express, @abarnardnyt, Pittsburgh Union Progress, @repjerrynadler, @abarnardnyt, @abarnardnyt, @nytguildtech, @sahiltner, @paulkrugman, @johncusack, @eoinhiggins_, @mattyglesias, @julianbarnes, @anniekarni, @juliamoserrrr, @keitholbermann, @samadlerbell, @lindsayballant, @andrewmleber, @whstancil, @samthielman, @kantrowitz, @laura_nelson, @nhannahjones, @drmistercody, @soledadobrien, @jayrosen_nyu, @froomkin, @pblest, @jayrosen_nyu, @grimkim, @jessicaschulb, @athertonkd, @atrios, @elivalley, @dlind, @hearstunion, @alex_zee, @asteadwesley, @conordougherty, @elaheizadi, @rikkaaltland, @davidcorndc, @lourdesgnavarro, @scott_tobias, @wgaeast, @hugogye, @hjosephinegiles, @nyt_first_said, @billbaker830, @nytimesguild, @ceciliakang, @joshkraushaar, @davidfolkenflik, Los Angeles Times, @jimtankersley, Observer, Crain's New York Business, Press Gazette, Axios, Insider, The Desk, Al Jazeera, The Wrap, New York Post and HuffPost

Oliver Darcy / CNN:
After stalled talks, about 1,100 New York Times staff walked out on a 24-hour strike at midnight on December 8; the last union contract expired in March 2021

Discussion: The City, @amandahess, @nytimesguild, American Press Institute, @maxwelltani, Vanity Fair, Discourse Blog, @bencasselman, New York Times, @davidfolkenflik, @nickconfessore, @harrysiegel, @richardkimnyc, @clauirizarry, @danagoldstein, @davidcayj, @maggieastor, Wall Street Journal, @alex_kirshner, @kenjennings, @jamaalbowmanny, @greenhousenyt, @thepupnews, @corbinbolies, @corbinbolies, @nytguildtech, @jswatz, @timcast, @sheeraf, @scalzi, @ryanlcooper, @greenhousenyt, @nickconfessore, @natalieweiner, @pkafka, @oliverdarcy, @igorbobic, Magic + Loss, HuffPost, MediaPost, @kashhill, @nyguild, The Wrap, Slate, @sdkstl, @elaheizadi, @mikeisaac, @nazaninnour, @latguild, @nyguild, @ogleconnie, @nytguildtech, @froomkin, @ekp, @jaxelburgh, @micahinatl, @lauramlippman, @lauramlippman, @lauramlippman, @mtdukes, @mickimaynard, @froomkin, @francesrobles, @beyerstein, @passantino, @azi, @cnn, @davidgura, @lydiadepillis, Mediaite, Poynter, @edzitron, @oliverdarcy, @rebeccacokley, Observer, @markdavis, New Republic, @gaufre, Wall Street Journal, Newser, @flyingwithsara, @jeffsharlet, Rehak/Stuebing Mostly Media, Insider, Washington Post, Breitbart, New York Daily News, Deadline, ABC13, Vanity Fair, The Guardian, Common Dreams, Fox News and The Wrap

The Nation:
Over 150 members of the Freelance Solidarity Project pledge not to cross the NYT Guild's picket line, noting that the devaluation of media jobs affects them too

Discussion: @harucoryne, @shellykittleson, @katzonearth, @abbyhiggins, @shannonmstirone, @cliomiso, @brycecovert and Freelance Solidarity Project

Alex Sherman / CNBC:

Sources: Brad Pitt sells a 60% stake in his production company Plan B to French conglomerate Mediawan, valuing Plan B in the low hundreds of millions — - Brad Pitt has sold a 60% stake in his production company, Plan B, to French company Mediawan. — Plan B helped make “The Departed” and Amazon's “The Underground Railroad.”

Discussion: The Wrap and Variety

Puck:

Sources: Rebekah Mercer is looking to sell her Breitbart News stake, in which her family invests in the mid-seven figures each year; Breitbart denies the story — After defining the alt-right and MAGA in 2016, the culture seemed to move on from Breitbart. Now the Mercers have, too.

Discussion: @tarapalmeri and @jeffnesbit

Asif Shahzad / Reuters:

After prominent Pakistani TV journalist Arshad Sharif was killed in Kenya, a fact-finding team sent by Pakistan finds the killing was a targeted murder — A team set up by the Pakistani government to probe the killing of a well-known Pakistani journalist in Nairobi said it found several contradictions …

Discussion: The Indian Express

Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg / Wall Street Journal:

Penguin Random House CEO Markus Dohle resigns after a judge blocked the Simon & Schuster deal; US COO Nihar Malaviya will serve as interim CEO — Markus Dohle will be succeeded by Nihar Malaviya on an interim basis — Markus Dohle has resigned as chief executive of Penguin Random House weeks …

Discussion: The Wrap, CNBC, Publishers Weekly, Observer, Associated Press, Deadline, The Bookseller, Reuters, Financial Times, New York Times, Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA, Publishers Lunch, @jeffreyt1, @thomasrabe and @thomasrabe

Sheila Dang / Reuters:

In an email to advertisers, Twitter says it will launch controls to prevent ads from showing up next to tweets containing certain keywords as soon as next week — Twitter Inc will roll out new controls as soon as next week to let companies prevent their ads from appearing above …

Discussion: MediaPost, Street Fight, @ashnaguliani, @caseynewton, @blackamazon and Bloomberg, more at Techmeme »

Cecilia D'Anastasio / Bloomberg:

The hype around esports is fading, as teams and organizations shrink due to a weak sponsorship and ad market, falling VC investment, and the crypto meltdown — The once-thriving esports industry has fallen on hard times as funding sources dwindle and signs abound that athletic competition via video games …

Discussion: @sergi_m, @arnoldwh, @cecianasta, @_erome, @crypto and @stephentotilo, more at Techmeme »

Maxim Edwards / Nieman Reports:

A look at the benefits and limits of newsrooms integrating open-source investigations, and how journalists and open-source researchers can learn from each other — Spurred by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, open-source investigations are being integrated into standard newsroom practice

Discussion: @maximedwards

Nic Newman / Reuters Institute:

A report on the top news publishers using TikTok in 44 countries: 49% post regularly, adoption is uneven, the process of getting verified is opaque, and more — 3. How and why publishers are moving onto TikTok | 4. TikTok's ‘magic’ algorithm - how it works | 5. What strategies are publishers pursuing on TikTok?

Discussion: @janebsinger, @risj_oxford, @livmoloney, @angiejaime, Press Gazette, The Information, What's New in Publishing, @andreas212nyc, @achilleositv, @rasmus_kleis, @mitalilive, @frazaffarano and HoldtheFrontPage

Brittany Shammas / Washington Post:

Like reporters in Texas and Florida after recent storms, staff at The Pilot in North Carolina covered a county power outage while lacking electricity themselves — Journalists at the Pilot were finalizing coverage Saturday night of a drag show targeted by protesters, when they spotted social media chatter about a power outage.