One of those stop-what-you're-doing-and-read stories
Media statistic of the week
For the five weeks from April 1 to the first week of May, Twitter’s U.S. ad sales plunged 59% from a year ago, to $88 million, according to an internal presentation obtained by The New York Times.?
Ryan Mac and Tiffany Hsu report that the document also said the company has regularly fallen short of its U.S. weekly sales projections. What’s more, “That performance is unlikely to improve anytime soon, according to the documents and seven current and former Twitter employees.
Derek Thompson points out, “The concept of a publishing company that elevates the signed political opinions of an eccentric owner isn't new; it's sort of a 19th century throw-back. But it is unusual for those kind of companies to rely on mass-market advertising. Hence, this.”
This past week in the media industry?
The critical role papers play
“Hundreds of journalists for the country’s largest newspaper chain walked off the job on Monday, accusing the company’s chief executive of decimating its local newsrooms, and demanding a change at the top.”
That’s Katie Robertson of The New York Times reporting on the walkout at Gannett , which included workers from 24 newsrooms across eight states. According to the union representing the journalists, it’s the biggest labor action in Gannett’s history.
Keri Heath , a K-12 Education Reporter for one of those newsrooms, the Austin American-Statesman, tweeted, “I didn't think I'd be a journalist, but the more I do this work, I'm more convinced of the critical role papers play. Done right, local news reflects the soul of a community. It sounds lofty, but a paper gives readers info they care about and must know.
Timed to coincide with the annual shareholders meeting, the strike came as journalists urged a vote of no-confidence against chief executive and chairman Mike Reed. Here’s more on the strike from Elahe Izadi at The Washington Post.
This is CNN
In media circles this week, CNN has been making the news as much as it’s been reporting the news. Much of it kicked off last Friday with Tim Alberta’s expansive, wide-ranging profile at The Atlantic, Inside the Meltdown at CNN , for which he had unprecedented access as he shadowed the new boss, Chris Licht, and interviewed nearly 100 of the network’s reporters.
As Yoni Appelbaum says, it’s “One of those rare stop-what-you're-doing-and-read stories, from @TimAlberta This is CNN.”
David Roberts shares that he “Finally read this profile of CNN boss Chris Licht. It's a remarkable document: a comprehensive compendium of elite cluelessness. About Trump, about journalism, about ratings, about *everything*. Just woeful, bone-deep, 360-degree cluelessness.”
And “While some are calling this a hit piece, it’s not,” Kara Swisher clarifies. “@TimAlberta has pulled off a real classic by simply observing with intelligent questions and appropriate pushback and incisive yet unfussy writing.”
As for the old boss, Could Jeff Zucker Fix CNN? He Seems to Think So . That’s according to the New York Times profile by Benjamin Mullin . As he puts it, “I profiled Jeff Zucker, who hasn’t let CNN go.”??
Alex Sherman thinks “There are many parallels between what’s happening at CNN and what happened at Disney w/ Bob Chapek and Bob Iger. It’s hard to be a leader at a place when many remaining employees are loyal to the guy leaving if there’s disagreement between old and new.”
YMMV, but James Oliphant declares, “I’ve hit capacity in terms of caring about wealthy, ego-driven TV execs.”
When they feel betrayed…
But we’re not done yet. In the wake of Alberta’s “15,000-word defenestration of Licht,” as Brian Stelter writes at New York Magazine, the question turned to, Can Chris Licht Survive at CNN? ?
Stelter explained that “Most of the 40-plus people whose insights informed this column, texted and called me over the weekend because of my history at CNN” as a media reporter and anchor of “Reliable Sources.”
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It goes to show, “When things are great at work — or even just okay — people don’t call their friends and former colleagues to talk about it. But when they feel betrayed… HO BOY. @brianstelter’s phone was ringing All Damn Weekend,” Jamie Stelter reveals.
This piece also left us with “Another question,” via Katie Couric : “why are media reporters obsessed with the word defenestration?”
While CNN’s own Oliver Darcy wrote in his “Reliable Sources” newsletter that he’d encountered a wide range of emotions among the dozens of staffers he’s spoken with, “There is one near-universal sentiment, however, that has been communicated to me: Licht has lost the room.”
“Ultimately,” Jeremy Barr of The Washington Post wrote on Monday , “Licht’s fate at the network rests in the hands of the man who picked him for the role: David Zaslav, chief executive of Warner Bros. Discovery.” And one CNN journalist told Barr that no matter who is in the president or CEO role, “people are going to be mad because it isn’t [Jeff] Zucker.”
In the end, Licht lost the room and Zaslav. Per The Post’s Elahe Izadi , Will Sommer and Barr , Zaslav notified staff on Wednesday morning that Licht will be leaving CNN , with “a transition team,” including Amy Entelis, Virginia Moseley, Eric Sherling and newly hired COO David Leavy, leading the network on an interim basis.
Masterclass
Speaking of things that make you say, HO BOY, in a Q&A with Isaac Chotiner of The New Yorker, Ted Koppel talks about covering—and befriending—Henry Kissinger , and as Lydia Polgreen says, “I don’t think Chotiner has ever Chotinered quite as hard as this and boy was it worth it.”
Greg Grandin points out, “When @IChotiner comes calling for an interview, someone of Ted Koppel’s stature might think they can handle it, so secure, so snug they are in their cocoon. They’d be wrong. This interview is a masterclass.”
Mehdi Hasan tracks “Multiple cop-outs from Koppel here. @IChotiner does a great job as ever with the questions. So much wrong with our media expressed in this single interview with one of our media icons. Sadly.”
“Ted Koppel, standing in for the media and political establishment here, does not come off looking good,” adds Wajahat Ali . “Just completely whitewashes Kissinger's atrocious war crimes, because, well, they're friends.”
The untold history of Snopes?
We’ll wrap it up this week with Chantel Tattoli’s piece for Fast Company, Inside Snopes: the rise, fall, and rebirth of an internet icon .
Tattoli goes deep, detailing the history and dramas behind the fact-checking site, giving us the full picture of “what went so right—and so wrong.”
“The untold history of Snopes by @chantchantel doubles as a history of fact-checking on the internet -- kick-started by a self-professed troll who, quote, ‘knows he’s wrong, he just wants you to admit it,’” tweets Dean Sterling Jones , who contributed reporting to the story.
This one’s a long read, but Matthew Rozsa notes, “In an era of rampant misinformation, we need @Snopes more than ever. This is a compelling deep dive by @FastCompany into the history of @Snopes. Like my longtime employer @Salon, Snopes does its absolute best to be factually accurate. Highly recommend!”
Adds David Whelan , “Long read but great details—start of ‘trolling,’ fact checking lineage—from @ChantChantel @FastCompany. Insights into business model behind fact checking, content management choices (edits, transparency), abutting journalism.”
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From the Muck Rack Team
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--NIVANEA
1 年What a Hot New? Great info though ??????