Smith, the paper’s media columnist, will leave to start a global news organization with another Smith: outgoing CEO of Bloomberg Media Justin Smith. (The startup is unnamed for now but folks on Twitter have suggestions.)

“The ways in which journalists of color view and report on the world are often dismissed, minimized or appropriated within journalism. The systemic issues that impact historically excluded communities are often overlooked by mainstream media, or seen as “underreported” despite the committed coverage carried out by journalists of color, often with little resources…Navigating these realities is complex and demoralizing, impacting the well-being of journalists of color and materially excluding them from investigative work.”

And when comparing December 2021 to January 2021, traffic is down nearly 20%. “Given the ongoing decline in interest in news about COVID-19 and politics, it doesn’t look like 2022 will be much better.”

“Facebook groups swelled with at least 650,000 posts attacking the legitimacy of Joe Biden’s victory between Election Day and the Jan. 6 siege of the U.S. Capitol, with many calling for executions or other political violence, an investigation by ProPublica and The Washington Post has found.”

Right now, the tech startup is 100% ad-supported. “Our long-term ambition is definitely to build Protocol into a hybrid model with professional services and subscriptions.” Protocol, which laid off a huge chunk of staff just 11 weeks after launching, says it’ll also add 25 new positions by the end of the year.

“In their lawsuit and in interviews with The Post, Gurjar, 33, and Henry-Bohoskey, 30, a Black woman raised in Japan, paint a picture of Feedfeed as a place that tolerated casual racism and sexism. In their complaint, they allege they were tasked with menial labor and were used to promote Feedfeed’s diversity while being treated as ‘second-class employees.'”

Other hosts who have left include Noel King and Lulu Garcia-Navarro. (Here’s what Garcia-Navarro had to say today.)

Gideon Lichfield, editor-in-chief of all editions of WIRED, also asked: “What does it mean to be WIRED, a publication born to celebrate technology, in an age when tech is often demonized?”

“On Nov. 1, 90 people played. On Sunday, just over two months later, more than 300,000 people played.”

Bloomberg Media CEO Justin Smith will leave immediately. “[Smith] has always talked about a market of 200 million college-educated, English-speaking professionals throughout the world. And the big bet he’s making is that they’re more like each other than their individual countrymen.”

“Study after study has shown that when local news disappears, the public checks out or turns to social media, where misinformation and conspiracy theories abound. Political polarization becomes even more extreme. Mistrust in government grows, and voters become more susceptible to manipulation,” Kim said. “That’s why THE CITY’s mission is so crucial, not just for New York and New Yorkers, but as part of a national movement to revive democracy by reviving local news.