Top News:
Todd Spangler / Variety:
After backlash, Max will change back film credit listings to break out directors and writers, blaming a technical “oversight” for grouping them under “creators” — Now the company says it is changing the listings back to how they were presented on HBO Max, blaming the issue on a technical “oversight.”
Discussion:
Los Angeles Times, @jfrankensteiner, @anoushasakoui, The Wrap, The Streamable, @empirestatebldg, The Hollywood Reporter, @snoodit, TVNewsCheck, The Messenger, @emtothea, @terri_white, @kavehtaherian, @mikeisaac, The A.V. Club, @mikeisaac, @itsmecarolamptp, @pattymo, @jfruh, @peterapeel, @fb_bmb, @jayhasrajani, Deadline, @mjmckean, @glenmazzara, @vincenzo_natali, @megjameslat, @janefriedman, @jeffjarvis, Rolling Stone, @sautterdays, @kabirakhtar, @jcampanellinyc, IndieWire, @jbflint, @cwarzel, @norazuckerman, @zachsilberberg, @jfrankensteiner, @jfkenney, @justysilverman, @agraybee, @mileskahn, Dark Horizons, @derrific, @geoffwilt, @scottemovienerd, @kirkwrites79, @nicksharafinski, @kimmasters, @kaludiasays, @johnsemley3000, @nycsouthpaw, @scottderrickson, The Wrap, @imjohnleary, @brennancaldwell, @acuna_mattata, @fb_bmb, @imohumoren, @jakelawler42, @johnlevenstein, @trulyrick, @jasondashbailey, @alishagrauso, @nkulw, @carolinerenard_ and @jamessabata
Philip Bump / Washington Post:
Elon Musk's intent in buying Twitter apparently was not only to dismantle a traditional media tool but also to turn Twitter into a right-wing media heavyweight — It was only a year ago that Elon Musk, then simply the guy who was hoping to buy Twitter, insisted that his politics sat squarely at the center of the national spectrum.
Discussion:
Axios, The Atlantic, New York Times, Mediaite, The Hill, Fox News, Quartz, Semafor, Reuters, The Wrap, Politico, The Daily Signal, The Guardian, TIME, Poynter, @zaleskiluke, @stillgray, @jordanbpeterson, @pbump, @pbump, @scalzi, @stollmeyereu, @digiphile, @danprimack, @pbump, @penamerica, @zaleskiluke, @jayrosen_nyu, The Verge, The Messenger, Al Jazeera, CNN, BGR, NPR, CBS News, Bloomberg, Media Play News, Associated Press, Vanity Fair, Slate, The Information, Forbes, Gizmodo, Deadline, Financial Times, TMZ.com, ABC7, NBC Bay Area, Boing Boing and Rolling Stone, more at Techmeme »
Benjamin Mullin / New York Times:
Semafor raised $19M from Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang and others, replacing the $10M from Sam Bankman-Fried, and says the outlet has $10M+ in 2023 revenue so far — The media start-up's new backers include Henry Kravis, a founder of the private-equity giant KKR, and Jerry Yang, a Yahoo founder.
Discussion:
Variety, @eliotwb, The Information, @bmorrissey, @viajoshhunt, @sdkstl, @jimlaporta, @justin_b_smith, @benmullin and @hkanji
Katie Robertson / New York Times:
The New York Times reaches a tentative deal with the NewsGuild of New York that would set a salary minimum of $65K; a vote is expected in the coming week — The new agreement, if ratified, will give union members immediate salary increases of up to 12.5 percent.
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, The Daily Beast, @katie_robertson, @allyburris, The Hill, @michaelroston, @tsnyderdc, @lleibowitzz, @michaelroston, @reemadamin, @edrabinski, @greenhousenyt, @heytherehaley, @scottgurian, @emily_lip, @profpetercole, @latguild, @4evrmalone, @bencasselman, @katierogers, @carolynryan, @taffyakner, @jennyvrentas, @birdyword, @wendyluwrites, @nytimes, nyguild.org, @ktbenner, @ktbenner, @the_log_lady, @maragay, @daveyalba, @abarnardnyt, @benjamindictor, @nytimesguild, @nytimesguild, @nytimesguild, @nytimesguild and MediaPost
Perry Bacon Jr / Washington Post:
How The American Prospect, Balls and Strikes, Bolts, The Guardian US, Hammer & Hope, Popular Information, and States Newsroom are changing political journalism — Political journalism is in crisis. Over the past few months, BuzzFeed News, FiveThirtyEight, Vice and a number of other outlets …
Discussion:
American Press Institute, Columbia Journalism Review, @amyhanauer, @chrisgeidner, @jmshumway and The Rural Blog
Adi Robertson / The Verge:
Hands-on with Sudowrite's Story Engine, a generative AI tool for writing long-form fiction novels that works better than expected but still has big limitations — Thoughts are swarming my mind like a nest of cyber-rats. — Last week, generative fiction tool Sudowrite launched a system for writing whole novels.
Discussion:
@jjvincent and @shakeelhashim, more at Techmeme »
Sara Fischer / Axios:
BuzzFeed launches a Verishop-powered online store for lifestyle commerce brand Goodful, launched in 2016, its first store combining licensed and curated goods — BuzzFeed on Tuesday will debut a new online retail storefront for Goodful, a lifestyle commerce brand it launched in 2016 initially …
Discussion:
@sarafischer and @dottkhan
Mark Stenberg / Adweek:
A look at New York Magazine's investment in newsletters, growing its subscribers from ~500K in 2019 to pass 1M across its 30 email products in December 2022 — The publisher has used pop-up, subscriber-only newsletters to boost retention — Since retooling its newsletter strategy in 2019 …
Discussion:
Journalism.co.uk and @markstenberg3
Georgetown University:
Georgetown and the Knight Foundation commit $30M to establish the Knight-Georgetown Institute to connect researchers, journalists, and tech leaders on policy — Georgetown has partnered with the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation to invest $30 million in a nonpartisan institute …
Discussion:
@craignewmark, @grahambrookie, @emilytav, @paulohm, @paulohm, @blackamazon, Knight Foundation, @jcperrino, @techgeorgetown, @ashleyzohn, @iohnsands, @csetgeorgetown and @lauradenardis
Sarah Frier / Bloomberg:
Linda Yaccarino's main challenge at Twitter will be improving advertiser relationships while keeping Elon Musk happy; sources say she wants to raise her profile — Elon Musk joked in December that he'd step down as Twitter's chief executive officer once he found someone “foolish enough” to take his place.
Discussion:
@profgalloway, @sarahfrier, CNN and The Messenger, more at Techmeme »
Andrew Higgins / New York Times:
Belarus pardons Roman Protasevich, the journalist sentenced to eight years after he was arrested on a Ryanair flight; former allies say he has turned on them — Roman Protasevich became a symbol of the struggle for democracy when Belarus forced down a plane and arrested him.
Corbin Bolies / The Daily Beast:
A US West Coast editor quit before The Messenger launched; she said she was hired for long-form journalism but the job demanded aggregated content and clickbait — “What was presented to me as the job and what the job was was two entirely different things,” said Bender, an editor who quit the much-hyped startup days before its launch.
Discussion:
@benmullin, @jayrosen_nyu, @devonheinen and @justinbaragona