Mediagazer

3:05 PM ET, January 27, 2021

Top News:

Sara Fischer / Axios:

Sources: WaPo is considering National Editor Steven Ginsberg, former managing editor Kevin Merida, and National Geographic EIC Susan Goldberg, to replace Baron — The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Reuters, HuffPost and Wired are all looking for new editors. Soon, The New York Times will be too.

Discussion: MediaPost, @kimbui, @jayrosen_nyu, @jeffjarvis, @fedecherubini, American Press Institute, @ckristofic, @amyoleary, @rasmus_kleis, @enrique_acevedo and @alexanderrusso

Washington Post:
Washington Post Executive Editor Marty Baron is retiring on February 28 after eight years at the paper and nearly 45 years in journalism

Discussion: @farhip, Washington Post, New York Times, @katie_robertson, @wblau, CNN, @perlberg, @benyt, Esquire, @genepark, @brianstelter, @carolleonnig, @nytimesbusiness, @sarafischer, Medialyte, @arelisrhdz, @davidaxelrod, @ronbrownstein, Storyboard Posts, @govhowarddean, Columbia Journalism Review, @rosental, @axios, @dandrezner, @djrothkopf, @howardfineman, @arusbridger, @poynter, @amandionair, @ericbolling, @noahshachtman, @mikebarnicle, @jrubinblogger, @jayrosen_nyu, @allenststephens, @leonkrauze, @kenburns, @johnavlon, @gumby4christ, @michaelkruse, @ktumulty, @mviser, @michaelpaulson, @ericliptonnyt, @jswatz, @pgammo, @philiprucker, @chiquiesteban, @pbump, @jennyschuessler, @carolynryan, @papscun, @lpolgreen, @chriscillizza, @charlesppierce, Bloomberg, @gabemschneider, @sebastianepayne, @dskok, @freedomofpress, @rickklein, @b_fung, @gabriel_pogrund, @arturo_sarukhan, @sulliview, @dabeard, @michaelluo, @tomjackmanwp, @ziadramley, @davidfolkenflik, @markdistef, @travismandrews, @emmacarew, @ceciliakang, @jamesrbuk, @jakesherman, @mattyglesias, @laura_nelson, @davidalim, @greenhousenyt, @rasmus_kleis, @brianstelter, @emilybell, WTOP, wgbh.org and Wall Street Journal

Todd Spangler / Variety:

AT&T Q4: HBO/HBO Max US subscribers grew 20% YoY to 41.5M, two years faster than its forecast, and HBO Max activations doubled to 17.2M since end of Q3 — But a 21% decline in Warner Bros. revenue for Q4, as well as other COVID-related impacts, pulled the down company's revenue down and earnings for the quarter.

Discussion: MediaPost, AT&T, Observer, @jbflint, @loudmouthjulia, @loudmouthjulia, @xpangler, @xpangler, @pedrosazevedo, @loudmouthjulia, Hollywood Reporter, @loudmouthjulia, @xpangler, Light Reading and CNBC

Georg Szalai / Hollywood Reporter:

AT&T says it took a $15.5B charge in Q4 related to its “domestic video business,” led by DirecTV — AT&T, led by CEO John Stankey, reports its fourth-quarter results, including for entertainment arm WarnerMedia. — Telecom giant AT&T on Wednesday reported its fourth-quarter results …

Discussion: Variety, The Wrap, The National Interest, New York Post, @natjarv and Wall Street Journal

Jennifer Barnett / Medium:

Former managing editor at The Atlantic describes a toxic workplace that drove her out, under a boss “who went on to be next in line to run the paper of record” — I had the plum job. The top of the masthead of one of the most prestigious and respected publications with more than a 150-year-old history.

Discussion: Jezebel, @anyazoledz, @cindygallop, @cindygallop, @marisakabas, @theferocity, @monaeltahawy, @lemonsand, @lainnafader, @lainnafader, @ssdai, @abeaujon, @katieworth, @moorehn, @kerrymflynn, @kerrymflynn and @petersterne

Pippa Stevens / CNBC:10 minutes ago

As Reddit's r/WallStreetBets pushes GameStop's stock to record levels, other stocks mentioned in the subreddit surge, like AMC Entertainment, which is up 200%+ — - Shares of AMC Entertainment jumped more than 300% at the opening bell on Wednesday. — In addition to GameStop …

Discussion: @pkafka, Hollywood Reporter, New Republic, @akruglov, @alexstamos, @alexstamos, Polygon, Business Insider, Kotaku and @pkafka, more at Techmeme »

Jonah Engel Bromwich / New York Times:

California man charged with sending threatening text messages to relatives of a journalist, source says George Stephanopoulos, as rioters stormed the Capitol — Relatives of Hakeem Jeffries and George Stephanopoulos received threatening text messages as rioters stormed the Capitol, federal prosecutors said.

Discussion: Politico, @brianstelter, Mediaite, The Week, CBS New York and Al Jazeera

Aisha Majid / Press Gazette:

SimilarWeb: between Dec. 2019 and Dec. 2020, traffic to The Epoch Times grew 421% to 53.4M visits/month, The Gateway Pundit grew 284%, and BitChute grew 216% — Right-wing outlets remained the fastest-growing news websites globally in December, according to Press Gazette's latest analysis of the most popular news websites.

Will Oremus / OneZero:

How the social network Nextdoor is replacing local newspapers as a news and opinion hub, letting governments bypass the media and present a one-sided picture — While Facebook and Twitter get the scrutiny, Nextdoor is reshaping politics one neighborhood at a time

Discussion: @willoremus, @willoremus, @emilybell, @nikkiusher, @daveleeft, @jamcnn, @raej, @kerrymflynn, @yeahyeahyasmin, @willoremus, @mvzelenks, @marklittlenews, @meganmorrone, @ozm, @sarahfkessler and @dlberes

JP Mangalindan / dot.LA:

Hulu, Disney+, Prime Video, and Sling all rolled out virtual watch party features in 2020; Hulu says users held 1.5M sessions since the feature launched in May — One brisk Friday evening in January at around 9:30 p.m., 15-year-old Ella rushed down the stairs of her home in Stevenson Ranch …

Discussion: @jpmanga

Derrick Bryson Taylor / New York Times:

CBS places Peter Dunn, president of CBS TV, and David Friend, senior VP of news for TV stations, on leave, following accusations of racist and sexist conduct — The executives, Peter Dunn and David Friend, were placed on leave after a report in The Los Angeles Times in which they were accused of creating a hostile work environment.

Discussion: TVSpy, @nytimes, @wajahatali, @nytmedia, Newsbusters, NABJ, New York Post, Newser and Mediaite

Todd Spangler / Variety:

TV station group Tegna acquires Locked On Podcast Network, which has raised $750,000 and produces ~160 daily shows for US pro and college sports teams — Tegna wants a bigger piece of the podcast action: The TV station group announced the acquisition of Locked On Podcast Network …

Discussion: TEGNA, Radio & Television …, @codyroarknfl, @adamostrow, @lockedonsports, @deryspeaks and Podcast Business Journal

Tim Peterson / Digiday:

NBC News boosted its viewership on YouTube by 252% YoY in January and earned revenue for 2020 in the “many millions” amid the pandemic and election — In the past, TV networks' news organizations like NBC News have used YouTube as a side hustle.

Discussion: @charliechar and AdLingo

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More News:

Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat:
Google details the impact of Apple's upcoming IDFA ad privacy changes, including affecting how advertisers value and bid on ad impressions

Discussion: AdExchanger, The Keyword, AppleInsider, @deantak and MacRumors, more at Techmeme »

Tyler Fleming / Post and Courier:
Profile of Joshua Dawsey, who started in high school as EIC of a South Carolina weekly and is now on WaPo's investigations team after covering Trump White House

Aymann Ismail / Slate:
NYT national political reporter Astead W. Herndon on covering Trump's first rallies, the biggest mistake in early reporting, and when to use the word racist

Discussion: @samitsarkar, @jayrosen_nyu, @loisbeckett, @freepeeper, @simransethi, @declanpgarvey, @martinepowers and @eugene_scott

Kia Kokalitcheva / Axios:
After 10 months on Substack, the group behind the Everything Bundle is launching with its own platform, a new brand named Every, and $600K in seed funding

Richard Nieva / CNET:
YouTube says it is extending its suspension of Trump from posting videos to his channel, but did not say how long the extension would last

Discussion: Breitbart, The Verge, The Wrap, Ad Age, @adrianweckler, Bloomberg and The Guardian

Ashley Gold / Axios:
Newsweek opinion editor Josh Hammer volunteers as counsel at Oracle-funded Internet Accountability Project and often posts pieces critical of Big Tech, Google

Discussion: @ashleyrgold and @jaredbkeller

Michael M. Grynbaum / New York Times:
Larry Kudlow, the former CNBC star and Trump's economic adviser, will host a new show on Fox Business and also appear as an analyst on Fox Business and Fox News

Discussion: Associated Press, Variety, Vanity Fair, Axios, @ericboehlert, Poynter, @aschmidtacular, @yoda, Mediaite, Hollywood Reporter, Deadline and The Hill

Earlier Picks:

Erik Wemple / Washington Post:
NYT will never be able to uniformly enforce its social media behavior policy and should remove the language of journalists being “perceived as biased” from it

Teo Armus / Washington Post:
Idaho Statesman Editor Christina Lords confirms she was fired for violating McClatchy's social media policy and doesn't regret her tweet advocating for staff

Sara Fischer / Axios:
Washington Post's Zeus ad tech platform adds video to the range of formats publishers can sell; video ads are especially important for local broadcast companies

Discussion: @jarroddicker, @zfleischmann, @rameeztase, @seyitaylor, @sprakash007, @craigsilverman and @sarafischer

Politico:
Former NYT op-ed editor James Bennet has been hired by The Economist as a visiting senior editor for one year, writing mostly on foreign policy

Discussion: Washington Post, Talking Biz News, Letters from an American, @nkulw, @dylanbyers, Slate, WTOP, Associated Press, Daily Herald and Business Insider

Todd Spangler / Variety:
Verizon Media hit $2.3B in Q4 revenue, up 11.4% YoY, its first YoY revenue gain since buying Yahoo in 2017, and reported a net loss of $119M from HuffPost sale

Discussion: @alex, @kerrymflynn, @kerrymflynn, MediaPost and Verizon

Sara Fischer / Axios:
Twitter buys newsletter platform Revue, plans to lower its cut of paid newsletter revenue to 5% and let writers host conversations with subscribers on Twitter

From Techmeme:

Ryan Browne / CNBC:
As r/WallStreetBets causes GameStop, BlackBerry, and others to surge, online trading platforms like Robinhood and WeBull have rapidly climbed US app store ranks

John Gruber / Daring Fireball:
After saying on Jan. 5 that it would add Apple's privacy labels to its apps “this week or the next week”, Google's flagship apps still do not have the labels

Nikkei Asia:
Source: Apple is expanding production of iPhones, iPads, Macs, and other products in Vietnam and India, as the company increasingly shifts away from China

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