Alphabet’s YouTube Pledges to Ban ‘Malicious’ Insult Videos
Ars Technica: Content that "maliciously insults" someone based on their membership in a legally protected class, such as race, gender, or sexual orientation, is now against the rules, YouTube said in a blog post. "Veiled or implied" threats are also now...
Twitter Funds Team to Create Open Standard for Social Media
CNBC: Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey announced the company is funding a new research team that will develop an “open and decentralized standard for social media,” in part to address some of the current problems with the...
Facebook, Google No Longer on List of ‘Best Places to Work’
Bloomberg: Facebook and Google, long seen as some of the world’s most desirable workplaces, are losing some of their shine. The Silicon Valley companies dropped out of the Top 10 “best places to work” in the U.S., according to...
Tribune Staffers Sign Petition to Help Block ‘Destroyer’ Alden
Nieman Lab: Employees of Tribune Publishing delivered a petition urging the company’s board of directors to recommit to preserving newsrooms and prioritizing quality journalism. The petition followed news that Alden Global Capital purchased a 32% stake in the...
Hearst’s Former Magazine Chief Returns in Public Affairs Role
WWD: Just weeks after Hearst magazine staffers revealed their intentions to unionize and the company subsequently refused to recognize it, former division president David Carey is getting ready to return full-time. Hearst just named him SVP of public affairs and...
Conde Nast Staffer’s Sobbing Delays Flight After Firing by Text
Daily Mail: Actress Dana Delany tweeted that her JetBlue flight was delayed to let a "sobbing" passenger off the plane who had just been fired via text message by Conde Nast. Delany's Twitter followers reacted with outrage towards the publisher over the woman's...
Pride Media: Editors of Out Magazine, The Advocate to Resign
NBC News: The editors-in-chief of Out magazine and The Advocate, two LGBTQ brands owned by Pride Media, announced on Wednesday that they are leaving their posts. Their sudden departures have thrown the future of the publications into...
Hearst Staffers Discover Anti-Union Accounts on Social Media
Intelligencer: Hearst employees recently discovered a pair of anti-union social media accounts on Twitter and Instagram, both under the handle @HearstUndivided, and both with identical bios: “At Hearst Magazines, we’re committed to the rights of every...
Maven’s Sports Illustrated Gets Dissed by Sportsperson of Year
TheWrap: Megan Rapinoe accepted Sports Illustrated’s Sportsperson of the Year award with remarks that turned the focus back on SI and what the soccer star sees as a lack of diversity within the publication. “Is it true that I am the fourth woman deserving of this...
Vox Media Seeks Community Help to Study Good, Bad of Tech
Recode: Recode by Vox is launching a multiplatform journalism project supported by the Omidyar Network that will expose and explain the hidden consequences of tech — the good, the bad and the complicated. Recode will do this with stories and explainer...
ViacomCBS Begins First Round of Layoffs After Mega Merger
New York Post: The media company behind Showtime and Nickelodeon is swinging the ax at CBS’s finance department. The newly beefed-up company also is expected to slash jobs in its administrative and back-office...
Comcast’s NBC Nabs $1 Billion Ad Sales for Tokyo Olympics
Hollywood Reporter: With just under eight months before the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, NBC Sports has crossed the $1 billion mark in advertising sales. The network expects to book more than the $1.2 billion that it took in for the 2016 Summer Games in...
AT&T Plans ‘Pause Ads’ for When Viewers Hit Stop on Shows
Variety: AT&T’s Xandr ad-tech unit has begun selling a new version of what has been called a “pause ad,” or a commercial put in front of video-surfing consumers when they decide to use the remote to call for a stop in their viewing...
Disney Misses Out on Big Haul from Lack of Baby Yoda Toys
Daily Mail: Disney has missed out on at least $2.7 million in sales due to a lack of Baby Yoda merchandise offered to "Star Wars" fans over the holiday period, a report has claimed. Demand has grown for a collection featuring the breakout Disney+...
Sony TV to Buy Children’s Animation Studio Silvergate Media
World Screen: Sony Pictures Television is acquiring "Octonauts" producer Silvergate Media, which focuses on developing, producing and licensing children’s animation. “Silvergate gives us a great building block to expand into this genre in a meaningful...
Discovery Founder’s Streaming Upstart Outpaces ESPN, HBO
Bloomberg: CuriosityStream, a streaming service founded by Discovery Channel creator John Hendricks, has eclipsed 10 million subscribers. That’s more than ESPN+, HBO Now, CBS All Access or the WWE app, and up from just a million last...
Netflix Loses to Fox in Big Legal Battle Over Poaching Execs
Los Angeles Times: A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge has issued an injunction barring Netflix from poaching rival Fox executives under contract, or inducing them to breach their fixed-term agreements. “It was a complete loss for...
Fox Streaming Service Host Files Lawsuit for Sex Harassment
Vanity Fair: Britt McHenry, a Fox Nation host, has filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Manhattan against Fox News Channel and Fox News contributor George Murdoch, known as Tyrus, alleging sexual harassment, gender discrimination and...
Verizon Media Plans Layoffs in Redo by Owner of AOL, Yahoo
CNN: Verizon Media is laying off 150 staffers this week, which means the telecom company's 2019 is ending much in the same way it started. Verizon's portfolio of media brands includes Yahoo, AOL, TechCrunch and...
Snap Enjoys Political Ad Bump as Young Users Flee Facebook
Financial Times: Snapchat is becoming an increasingly popular platform for political advertising, as campaigns seek to target younger audiences and take advantage of the app's detailed user data. “We have seen a hollowing out of under-35s from...
Facebook Readies Talk Show with Veteran Host Steve Harvey
USA Today: Steve Harvey is returning to a familiar format, the talk show, but on a new platform, Facebook Watch. Harvey will launch "Steve on Watch" on the video platform on Jan. 6. The most recent Harvey daytime talk show, "Steve," ended its run in...
Quibi, Snap, Facebook to Rule Short-Form Video, Report Says
World Screen: Snapchat, Facebook Watch and Quibi are leading the pack in a short-form content boom, per a new report by Ampere Analysis. “Short-form content is growing strongly, and we expect to see it boom — both in English-speaking markets and...
Google Funds Nonprofit Local-Journalism Effort in California
Axios: A new Oakland, California-based journalism venture will launch next spring with $1.56 million in funding from the Google News Initiative. It has also raised $1.56 million from the American Journalism Project, a new, well-funded venture philanthropy...
Bloomberg Media to Buy Atlantic’s Urban-Living Site CityLab
Wall Street Journal: Bloomberg LP’s media division is buying CityLab, a website focused on urban planning and the future of city living, from the Atlantic, the first acquisition of an editorial property by the news and financial data company in over a...
Cox’s Atlanta Newspaper to Fight ‘Malicious’ Eastwood Movie
Associated Press: Kevin Riley, the editor of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, is disputing the depiction of the newspaper’s reporting in the new film "Richard Jewell," especially the portrayal of reporter Kathy Scruggs, who the movie implies traded sex for a...
Meredith Sees Record Traffic at Allrecipes Over Thanksgiving
MediaPost: Meredith’s Allrecipes brand recorded its highest-trafficked Thanksgiving this year. The largest number of visitors in its 22-year history, Allrecipes's website counted more than 22 million visits over the Thanksgiving...
Hearst Taps Drag Queen to Host New Short-Form Video Show
Broadway World: Quibi and Hearst Originals, the video production unit of Hearst Magazines, have announced a partnership to produce "Fashion's a Drag" for Quibi's news and entertainment programming. "Fashion's a Drag" is a daily fashion review talk...
Conde Nast Lays Off Staffers in Revamp of Video Production
WWD: The shakeout from Conde Nast’s combination with overseas operations isn’t over yet. Conde Nast Entertainment, the video production arm of the publisher, is being slightly restructured under group president Oren Katzeff, who took on the role a year...
Fortune Magazine to Unveil Paywall, Memberships in January
Digiday: In January 2020, Fortune will launch a paywall it has wanted to build for more than two years. That paywall will provide the foundation for a tiered membership program that will allow Fortune to diversify away from advertising, sponsorship and events...
BuzzFeed Former Staffers Open Digital Entertainment Studio
Variety: After building their careers as internet personalities at BuzzFeed, the creators and hosts of three of the company’s biggest shows — Steven Lim, Ryan Bergara and Shane Madej — have formed their own digital-video venture, Watcher...