Thursday, April 15, 2021 |
| “This is not a grants program, nor is it inspired by philanthropic intent.” By Sarah Scire. |
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| Who deems Reuters.com so essential that they’ll pay more than two Netflixes a month for it? By Laura Hazard Owen. |
What We’re ReadingDigBoston / Chris Faraone
A short documentary about how DigBoston weathered a pandemic year →“I wanted to compile some sort of time capsule about the struggle we have endured to continue reporting the news. Our difficulties aren’t comparable to the family and personal hardships that too many people are still living through, but we’re among the last outlets that cover those for whom basic comforts amount to luxury amenities in good times, and considering that we’ve been going extra hard on that grind all year, it seemed like a video compendium was fitting.”Substack / Richard J. Tofel
SPACs are not a business model →“As so often is the case with faddish financial techniques, the only people who make sure returns are the financial professionals … Is there really any evidence that the sort of minimal ‘scale’ that comes from combining these relatively small companies will make them better able to compete for advertising with Facebook, Google and Amazon? Definitely not.”Substack / Rachel Karten
Social media managers talk about logging off →“It’s really hard to create boundaries. Everyone thinks social-related tasks are always a ‘quick’ update, when in reality we’re juggling 12 other ‘quick’ tasks. After-hours requests take on a guilt cycle: ‘Can you update this quickly?’ at 8 p.m. or on a weekend turns into feeling like you SHOULD be able to do it quickly, so then you have to, and then the boundaries are relaxed or broken.”Press Gazette / William Turvill
Former New York Times CEO on how Trump and Covid helped the Times reach 7 million digital-only subscribers →“When the election happened and Trump got elected, we were more ready than anyone else.”Poynter / Harrison Mantas
How U.S. fact-checkers are explaining the Johnson & Johnson vaccine pause →“This week, fact-checkers in the United States faced a similar challenge to one faced by their European counterparts a little less than one month ago. In mid-March, several European countries paused their use of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine after a small number of patients reported developing blood clots shortly after receiving the vaccine.”TechCrunch / Sarah Perez
TikTok will fund a public health series from NowThis, the first time it has backed a publisher directly →NowThis’ new series, “VIRAL,” will feature interviews with public health experts and a live Q&A session focused on answering questions about the pandemic.Variety / Brian Steinberg
Kim Godwin is named president of ABC News →Godwin, who has been with CBS News since 2007, will be the first Black executive to run a broadcast-network news operation.Digiday / SARA GUAGLIONE
The Los Angeles Times enters the crowded daily news podcast market with a West Coast twist →“The Times: Daily News from the L.A. Times” will debut in May. Like The New York Times’ daily show, “The Times” will feature a mix of conversations with reporters from the newsroom, reported pieces from the field, and interviews with newsmakers.Washington Post / Jeremy Barr
Tucker Carlson villainizes journalists on his top-rated show. Then the threats pour in. →“Among journalists who say they have been harassed following segments on Carlson’s show, there is a reluctance to speak publicly about what happened for fear of inciting a new round of negative attention and hostility. One female journalist expressed fear of a ‘Tucker wave’ of harassment if she were to be featured in this story.”New York Times / Edmund Lee and Lauren Hirsch
A former Condé Nast editor plans “a Vanity Fair for the Substack era” →Heat Media, which will be funded by private equity firms, aims to attract writers with a revenue-sharing plan. “The start-up’s business model represents an early attempt to combine Substack’s entrepreneurial system, under which writers can make money directly from subscribers, with that of traditional publications.”
Nieman Lab / Fuego / Encyclo
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