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Tuesday, June 23, 2020
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A lot of today’s podcast deals look like an earlier era’s music label deals — not, shall we say, “artist friendly”Plus: Spotify tries in-app podcast ads, SiriusXM acquires Simplecast, and a new Apple Podcasts app is coming to phones. By Nicholas Quah. |
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Amid cutbacks in public radio, WBUR faces questions about revenue, unionizing, and diversity“Ultimately, we need to be able to monetize audio in all its platforms, in all its forms. As we think about how to move forward, we want our thinking about podcasts to be something that the entire organization is invested in.” By Nicholas Quah. |
What We’re Reading
Global Investigative Journalism Network / Drew Sullivan
A group of reporting networks and media outlets want to amplify Rappler’s work and offer its journalists access to resources →
“Working with Rappler's reporters, the group will look into international angles of important stories originating from the Philippines. Rappler staff will have access to databases and analysts, journalists, researchers, and reporters from all these partner organizations to help them in their work.”
The New York Times / Noam Scheiber
Bill Simmons faces staff pushback about diversity issues at The Ringer →
“Some staff members said they were taken aback when a white editor was chosen as the sole anchor for a podcast on ‘Atlanta,’ the FX series centered on a rapper and his cousin, played by Donald Glover.”
The Washington Post / Graham Vyse
Stars and Stripes faces a budget threat and reduced transparency from the Trump DOD →
“In February, the Trump administration proposed eliminating all of the publication's federal support in 2021. That's more than $15 million a year, about half its budget…[Current Pentagon leadership] restricts journalistic access more than under previous administrations…In general, information is harder to come by, inhibiting reporters from playing their watchdog role.”
The Los Angeles Times Guild / Anthony Pesce
The L.A. Times Guild’s Black Caucus wants management to commit to making the newsroom more diverse and inclusive →
In a letter to L.A. Times owner Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong and executive editor Norman Pearlstine, Black journalists demanded that the newspaper hire more Black journalists, correct pay disparities, and create a pipeline for Black journalists to advance their careers.
Mediapost / Sara Guaglione
Most New York Times journalists won’t have to return to the office until 2021 →
“While the Times may ask ‘a small number’ of people to return ‘if they do critical work that substantially benefits from being done in the office,’ the company will ‘honor the decision’ of any employee who does not wish to come into the office.”
The New York Times / Wesley Lowery
Black journalists are leading the reckoning over objectivity →
“Instead of telling hard truths in this polarized environment, America's newsrooms too often deprive their readers of plainly stated facts that could expose reporters to accusations of partiality or imbalance.”
Poynter / Harrison Mantas
A majority of fact-checking organizations are now for-profit →
“Of the 80 organizations that responded [to the survey], 43% said their main source of income was Facebook's Third Party Fact-Checking Program. That's just ahead of the 42% that reported most of their income comes from donations, memberships or grants.”
Google / Harris Cohen
Google is adding fact check information to Google Images →
Finally, you can check if that pic of a shark swimming through a flooded downtown is fake. (It’s fake.)
The Tennessean / Adam Tamburin
The Tennessean fired a manager over that full-page anti-Muslim ad →
“An internal investigation revealed three Tennessean advertising staff members ‘had the opportunity to review the ad in its entirety’ before it was published.”
The Wall Street Journal / Keach Hagey
eMarketer: Google’s U.S. ad revenue will decline in 2020 for the first time…ever →
“Largely because Google's core search product is so reliant on the pandemic-battered travel industry.”