Top News:
David Folkenflik / NPR:
NPR plans to lay off ~10% of its workforce, or at least 100 people, and eliminate most vacant positions, citing lower ad revenue, particularly for its podcasts — HEADLINE: NPR says it's cutting jobs by 10% as ad revenue drops — NPR's chief executive announced the network would lay off roughly 10% …
Discussion:
CNN, Fox News, Radio & Television …, @peterboghossian, @davidfolkenflik, New York Times, @leilafadel, @mikeisaac, @isabellamariags, New York Daily News, Deadline, @kevinferguson, @aliveness_ape, @stphnfwlr, @brianmannadk, @diaahadid, The Wrap, @jaycowit, The Daily Beast, @deggans, @leilafadel, @laurie_garrett, @nprkelly, @meredithshiner, The Hollywood Reporter, @eshaansarup, @clay_masters, @shanegoldmacher, @liamstack, @brandonetc, @sayssimonson, @audiecornish, @tabitha_mueller, @aspiegelnpr, Current, @kelseyproud, @nprinskeep, @haleaziz, @publicbill, @rebekahentralgo, RAIN News and Bloomberg
Michael Schneider / Variety:
A profile of Casey Bloys, the CEO of content for HBO and HBO Max, as he oversees the programming on the service combining HBO Max and Discovery+ this spring — Casey Bloys was about four years into his tenure as a programming executive at HBO when he was driven to champion a project that was disliked by others at the network.
Discussion:
Screen Rant, @variety_cynthia, TVLine, The A.V. Club, @variety, @theinsneider, @lucas_shaw, The Wrap, The Playlist, @edmundlee, IndieWire and @variety
Joe Pompeo / Vanity Fair:
A look at Substack-hosted entertainment business publication Ankler Media, which claims profitability, with ~50% of revenue from subscriptions and ~50% from ads — Rushfield's sharp-tongued missives have earned him a bold-faced subscriber list. ("I read it the second I see it pop up," says Richard Plepler.)
Discussion:
@joepompeo, Talking Biz News, @bmorrissey, @felixgillette, @janicemin, @theinsneider, @joepompeo, @josephkapsch, @mlcalderone and @richardrushfield
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Artifact, the personalized news reader created by Instagram's co-founders, opens to the public for Android and iOS, with new features and no sign-up required — Artifact, the personalized news reader built by Instagram's co-founders, is now open to the public, no sign-up required.
Discussion:
Gizmodo, The Verge, Engadget, Artifact News and @nicholasadeleon, more at Techmeme »
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Spotify launches DJ, an AI-powered radio DJ feature that offers curated music and commentary about the tracks and artists in a “stunningly realistic voice” — Ahead of Spotify's upcoming Stream On event, where the company is expected to announce a redesigned home feed and other updates …
Discussion:
Spotify, Spotify on YouTube, Inside Radio, @gustavs, Variety, CNET, @drownedinsound, Radio & Television …, Neowin, RAIN News, @mirandareinert, @midimyers, @mignano, Music Ally, @chrismessina, @ocelma, @richontech, @patrick_oshag, @mountain_ghosts, 9to5Mac, Gizmodo, @elite_gz, Engadget, Music Business Worldwide and Billboard, more at Techmeme »
RELATED:
Jessica E. Lessin / The Information:
The Information launches Pro, a subscription tier with expanded org charts, databases based on staff reporting, surveys, and a specialized weekly newsletter — I am delighted to share the launch of The Information Pro—a new tier of subscription that features our expanded org charts …
Discussion:
Simon Owens's Media Newsletter, Talking Biz News, @boygenius, @jessicalessin, Axios and Carole's Newsletter
Blake Brittain / Reuters:
Letter: the US Copyright Office says AI-generated images in a graphic novel, created using Midjourney, should not have been granted copyright protection — Images in a graphic novel that were created using the artificial-intelligence system Midjourney should not have been granted copyright protection …
Discussion:
@connorwa and @paleofuture, more at Techmeme »
James Greig / Dazed:
How “TikTok detectives” drove speculation and spread conspiracy theories after UK woman Nicola Bulley disappeared, showing the dark side of the true crime genre — The flurry of speculation and conspiracy theories which arose in response to Nicola Bulley's disappearance shows …
Discussion:
@hannahnthewolf, @thobbsjourno, @jamesdgreig, The Week and New Statesman
Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
WARC projects global ad revenue for publishers will fall 7.7% in 2023 to $47.2B; Amazon, Alphabet, and Meta will take nearly $400B of the global $993B ad market — Amazon, Alphabet and Meta are estimated to take $4 in every $10 spent in the global ad market.
Alexandra Steigrad / New York Post:
Sources: Insider CEO Henry Blodget met with Daily Beast execs earlier in February; management later told the Beast union no sale is in the works “at this time” — Insider CEO Henry Blodget was spotted earlier this month at the Daily Beast's offices, sparking rumors …
Bill Grueskin / Columbia Journalism Review:
Dominion's filing details Fox News' post-election dysfunction and the channel's troubles for the 2024 election, particularly if Donald Trump wins the nomination — b — By most appearances, Fox News is a well-managed, tightly run outfit. It's America's most popular cable news channel …
Discussion:
San Antonio Express-News, @bgrueskin, @bgrueskin, @ddiamond, New York Daily News, Fox News and The Hill
Bron Maher / Press Gazette:
UK magazine publisher Future names Jon Steinberg as CEO, replacing Zillah Byng-Thorne starting on April 3; Steinberg was a BuzzFeed and a Mail Online executive — Steinberg takes over from Zillah Byng-Thorne at the start of April. — Jon Steinberg will be the next chief executive (CEO) …
Discussion:
MediaPost, Financial Times, Variety, @dangrabham, @oliverdarcy, Talking Biz News, Next TV, Dow Jones Newswires, Sharecast and Bloomberg