Mediagazer: Memo: BuzzFeed shuts down News and cuts ~180 jobs, or ~15% of its staff; Jonah Peretti: “we will have a single news brand in HuffPost, which is profitable” (New York Times)

7:10 PM ET, April 20, 2023

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Memo: BuzzFeed shuts down News and cuts ~180 jobs, or ~15% of its staff; Jonah Peretti: “we will have a single news brand in HuffPost, which is profitable” — BuzzFeed News, which won a Pulitzer Prize but never made money, is “beginning the process of closing,” the company's founder …

Discussion: @oliverdarcy, The Daily Beast, NBC News, Los Angeles Times, Nieman Lab, Crain's New York Business, MediaPost, Wall Street Journal, @gamoid, Vanity Fair, @davidmackau, Axios, @genepark, The Verge, @benmullin, @addysbaird, @maxseddon, WWD, PenguinRandomhouse.com, @maxseddon, @briannawu, @dougsaunders, @janelytv, CNBC, NPR, @liamstack, The Information, Poynter, The Wrap, @chelseacirruzzo, @kevincollier@mastodon.social, @edmundlee, @daveyalba, @katenocera, @freeblackgirl, @lwalubengo, @caseynewton@mastodon.social, @ncksmmrs, @bernstein, @kpfallon, @benmullin, @chaykak, @rdrv3, @mnshap, @fortesalatifi, @karlbode, @johnpaczkowski, Newser, @papapishu, CNN, @kelsaywhat, @oliverdarcy, @ericnewcomer, @oneunderscore__, @benmullin, @harry1t6, @bcmerchant, @iansherr, @tomgara, @haleaziz, @tomnamako, @alexckaufman, @sarahw, @tomgara, @calebjhull, @kateaurthur, @lucas_shaw, @jeffjarvis, @stephaniemlee, @sarahkendzior, @lolacoaster, @thebrianpenny, @mediumsizemeech, @pfpicardi, @film_girl@mastodon.social, @hansmahncke, @michaelrcaputo, @sizpatel, Mediaite, @atrupar, @lucas_shaw, @markseibel, @medinamora, @euamiri, @katienotopoulos, @cbellantoni, @kenbensinger, @craftingmystyle, @skbaer, @davidmackau, @supermathskid, @vv1lder, @film_girl, @marcusgilmer, @jon_christian, @mcbyrne, @sarafischer, @matthewsitman, @jowrotethis, Gizmodo, @niketa, CBS News, @paldhous, New York Post, @kantrowitz, The Information, @pdmcleod, Press Gazette, @film_girl@mastodon.social, @GossiTheDog@cyberplace.social, @micsolana, @sarayasin, @film_girl@mastodon.social, @kemc, @1followernodad, @oliverdarcy, @oliviasolon, @jbenton, @tess_townsend, @howelloneill@infosec.exchange, @radbrowndads, @awolfeful, @oliverdarcy, @johnpaczkowski, @jason, @pt, The Guardian, @shannon_liao, @reichlinmelnick, @rdrv3, @mikeduncan, @abgutman, @jayasax, @byjoelanderson, @gregbensinger, @apbenven, @selviano, @kfile, @russbengtson, @ericnewcomer, @sapna, @silvermanjacob, @panzer, @mikeisaac, @rvawonk, Variety, @nycsouthpaw, @wesyang, @jgrebes, Fox News, @rahawahaile, @valeriereports, @edzitron, @katie_robertson, @waouwwaouw, @cfarivar, @lucas_shaw, @katienotopoulos, @sapna, @harrymccracken, @film_girl, @annabroges, @tomgara, @simonateba, @charliekirk11, @bcmerchant, @maxseddon, @jane__bradley, @petersterne, @hardin, @film_girl, @brandyzadrozny, @sdkstl, @agraybee, The Hollywood Reporter and Ad Age, more at Techmeme »

Ben Smith / Semafor:

The end of BuzzFeed News signals a vast shift in digital media: the old way of thinking about news as text distributed primarily on social media has passed — My old boss and partner Jonah Peretti announced today that he's shutting down BuzzFeed News, which we built together starting in 2012.

Gerry Smith / Bloomberg:
BuzzFeed CRO Edgar Hernandez and COO Christian Baesler are leaving as part of the company's cuts, following advertisers pulling back; BZFD closes down 19.71%

Discussion: Insider, @angelanfu, Sydney Morning Herald, @tomgara, @matthewfoldi, @poynter and @petersterne

Angela Fu / Poynter:

A deep look at the changes at The Buffalo News: print and design outsourcing, staff furloughs, insurance snafus, fewer reporters, and higher-paid Lee executives — Lee cut budgets, pushed out veterans and outsourced design and print production at a paper that had been spared the worst of the industry's decline.

Discussion: @byjonharris, @michaelrcaputo, @willcleveland13, @sulliview, @ckrewson, @poynter, @poynter, @byjonharris, @tompreciousalb, @buffaloscribe and @zachreports

Nate Saunders / ESPN.com:

The family of former F1 racer Michael Schumacher plans to take legal action against German magazine Die Aktuelle for a fake interview generated by an AI chatbot — Michael Schumacher's family plans to take legal action against a German magazine that ran an AI-generated interview with the Formula One legend.

Discussion: Reuters, @riathalsam, Newser, CBS News, The Verge, Engadget, Fox News, The Daily Beast, @edspencer99, @marybschneider, @lavosaurus and Fortune

Winston Cho / The Hollywood Reporter:

Alec Baldwin's lawyers reveal that involuntary manslaughter charges against him will be dropped in the fatal shooting of Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchins — Baldwin faced two counts of involuntary manslaughter.

Discussion: Deadline, Bloomberg, Variety, Los Angeles Times, Al Jazeera, Bustle, The Wrap, IGN, Vanity Fair, ABC News, New York Daily News, Comic Book, The A.V. Club, The Guardian, Associated Press, Rolling Stone, CBS News, Fox News, Insider, New York Post, TMZ.com, IndieWire, Semafor and abc7NY

Bron Maher / Press Gazette:

Insider lays off ~10% of its US-based staff to stay “healthy and competitive”, affecting editorial and commercial roles; the company employs ~950 staff globally — The company president emailed staff to inform them at 7am Eastern time on Thursday.

Discussion: The Daily Beast, New York Daily News, Gizmodo, @david_slotnick, @lmoses, Talking Biz News, @litcapital, @pressgazette, @pressgazette, @pressgazette, @tomaxwell, @corbinbolies and The Information

Katherine Le Ruez / The Guardian:

The Guardian signs a commercial licensing deal to let London-based tech startup Illuma use The Guardian's API to categorize articles for contextual ad purposes — The Guardian has signed an agreement with a British technology company, Illuma, to categorise article pages for contextual advertising purposes …

Discussion: Digiday, @missig_geek, @vivaldibrowser, @accountabletech, @mattrogerson and @digiday

Mariella Moon / Engadget:

Imgur plans to delete “old, unused, and inactive content” that's not tied to a user account, starting on May 15, potentially erasing years of internet history — For years, Imgur has made sharing photos and GIFs on the internet as easy as uploading a file — you don't even need an account to use it.

Discussion: @sophaskins, Mashable and @tomgara, more at Techmeme »

Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch:
Imgur plans to ban explicit images, but permit artistic nudity, from May 15, and expects issues as the service adopts a mix of automatic and human moderation

Discussion: The Verge, Gizmodo and Windows Central, more at Techmeme »

Mark Joyella / Forbes:

Fox News host Dan Bongino says he is leaving after unsuccessful contract extension talks, ending his shows Unfiltered with Dan Bongino and Canceled in the USA — Fox News has ended its relationship with Dan Bongino, who hosted the Saturday night show Unfiltered with Dan Bongino.

Discussion: Mediaite, Pew Research Center, Metro US, Los Angeles Times, New York Daily News, @pewjournalism, AllAccess.com, Deadline, The Hill, @mattgertz, @justinbaragona, @jennaellisesq, The Daily Beast, @bradmossesq, @parkermolloy, @helenkennedy and @jeremymbarr

David Pierce / The Verge:

A look at ActivityPub, the open, decentralized social network protocol finalized in 2018 that is gaining prominence powering Twitter alternatives like Mastodon — The tech industry is abuzz about a new standard for social networking that is more open, more user-centric, and potentially more powerful than Twitter and Facebook.

Discussion: @shoq and @anildash, more at Techmeme »

Jef Feeley / Bloomberg:

Sources: the prospect of fired Fox News producer Abby Grossberg's secret recordings being played during trial pushed Fox News to its $787.5M Dominion settlement — The prospect of a fired Fox News producer's secret recordings being played during trial helped push the conservative network …

Discussion: Gizmodo and @timobrien

CNN:
Sources and the mediator detail how Fox and Dominion settled, after Dominion notified Fox that Rupert Murdoch and Tucker Carlson were among its first witnesses

Julia Rock / The Lever:

Fox says the company can deduct the cost of its $787.5M settlement with Dominion; writing off the full payment would amount to an estimated $213M in tax savings — Fox's massive settlement with private equity-backed voting machine company Dominion Voting Systems didn't just spare …

Discussion: @davidsirota, Vanity Fair, @davidwbrown, @halmarshall2309, The Wrap, @halmarshall2309, @halmarshall2309, New Republic, @halmarshall2309, New York Times and @halmarshall2309

Washington Post:
The Fox-Dominion settlement is the largest publicly disclosed one in a US defamation case yet; sources: Fox doesn't have to make an on-air correction or apology

Discussion: Columbia Journalism Review, Media Matters for America, Insider, New York Times, @aaronblake, @danprimack, @11tulips, @leonidragozin, @davidsirota, @aaschapiro, @kbandersen, Poynter, @nytopinion, @awelder, New York Magazine, @con_carnage, @finnertymike, @espuelasvox, @therealzblog, @ronfilipkowski, @dvillella, @jeffjarvis, American Press Institute, @martinishark, @1414maple, @fabienmajor, @bollywoodhq, @goangelo, @mcfaul, @bbtrashstan, @michellebhasin, @seanstanglanddh, @toddhallidy, @billablog, @ibishblog, @ibishblog, @kennethcolereal, @froomkin, @gibsonradio, @kdeitsch_wx, @famousbl3, @bizballmaury, @niemanlab, @senatormenendez, @johncusack, @tripgabriel, @justinbaragona, @b52malmet, @mattgertz, @goangelo, @alexpadilla4ca, @maassp, @macfarlanenews, @ryanvanvelzer, @jamilsmith, @donmoyn, @mollyjongfast, @steven_strauss, @timobrien, @walshfreedom, @waltisfrozen, @renato_mariotti, @wilkowmajority, @davidaxelrod, @davidfolkenflik, @ron_fournier, @tedlieu, @tomfitton, @nickconfessore, @brianstelter, @bgrueskin, @haldavis3, @lindyli, @erikwemple, @jakeadelstein, @farhip, @farhip, @claremalone, @bgrueskin, @bgrueskin, @erikwemple, @mattiweil, @blowryontv, @brianklaas, @alfranken, @kbandersen, @tripgabriel, @lindyli, @pickardje, @maassp, @aaronblake, @froomkin, Axios, ABC News and Washington Post

Jack Shafer / Politico:
For Fox Corp., which ended 2022 with $4.1B in “cash and cash equivalents” on hand, $787.5M is a bargain to avoid more embarrassment and continue its sleazy ways

Tim Ingham / Music Business Worldwide:

Mandolin, a music livestreaming platform that launched in June 2020 and closed a $12M Series A in June 2021, announces it is shutting down — During the pandemic, it was billed as one of the leading platforms in the music livestreaming space. Last year, it was named the most innovative music company in the world by Fast Company.

Discussion: Variety, AllAccess.com, Pollstar News and Hypebot

Financial Times:

Internal slides: in the coming months, Google plans to let advertisers supply “creative” content for generative AI to “remix” for more sophisticated campaigns — Big tech groups are racing to incorporate the groundbreaking new technology into their products