For the Record

Live Performance Producers Skeptical of Autumn Restart:

Concert promoters, theater companies, dance troupes and orchestras are "ripping up their 2020 calendars and hoping 2021 will mark a new beginning" as social distancing measures necessitated by the novel coronavirus pandemic persist, according to Michael Paulson, Joshua Barone, Ben Sisario and Zachary Woolfe of The New York Times. "We won't have programming this fall," said Chris Coleman, the artistic director of the theater company at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts. "Part of it is the uncertainty of when it’s going to be safe to gather, and part of it is economic — we've thought about social distancing, but it makes zero economic sense."

Atlantic Lays Off 68 Employees Amid Questioning of Powell Jobs:

The Atlantic laid off 68 employees, 17% of its staff, in addition to implementing executive pay cuts and a compensation freeze Thursday due to "abrupt and dramatic losses in our advertising and live events businesses" despite gaining over 90,000 subscribers since March, according to Kerry Flynn of CNN. Some journalists, including Politico Senior Media Writer Jack Shafer, have questioned why majority owner Laurene Powell Jobs failed to subsidize the business: "Laurene Powell Jobs, net worth $26 billion, could have preserved in perpetuity the 68 Atlantic positions she just jettisoned and never noticed the dip in her portfolio unless a forensic accountant alerted her to it. The fact that she noticed shows that [...] Jobs keeps her eyes on her pennies and has only so much tolerance for loss. She’s happy to be a vanity press savior but not a martyr."

Washington Examiner to Hire Dedicated HR Staffer:

Clarity Media Group CEO Ryan McKibben announced in a Thursday internal memo that the Washington Examiner "will hire an HR professional to coordinate personnel hiring and management, workplace culture, career-laddering and performance reviews" following the completion of a third-party review of the news organization's workplace culture amid reports of "workplace terror and bullying." The newsroom will conduct harassment and discrimination training alongside regular update meetings after the staff returns to the physical workplace.

Barnes Appears on Stelter:

Pulitzer Prize Board member and National Public Radio Senior Vice President of News/Editorial Director Nancy Barnes appeared on this week's episode of Brian Stelter's Reliable Sources podcast to discuss Eric and Wendy Schmidt's $4.7 million donation to the news organization (enabling the creation of a Midwest regional newsroom), coverage of COVID-19 and cutbacks at various news organizations, including NPR. "This gift was something we worked on over a period of really 18 months," she said. 

Alden to Play Large Role at Tribune Shareholder Meeting:

Hedge fund Alden Global Capital "is expected to consolidate its control over [Tribune Publishing] and usher in even more severe cuts than the ones the company has put in place" at the company's shareholder meeting today, according to David Folkenflik of NPR. Although the company has implemented unpaid furloughs at its properties (including the New York Daily News, the Chicago Tribune and The Baltimore Sun) in recent weeks, executive compensation has remained unaffected, while a proposed $9 million quarterly dividend to shareholders was cancelled earlier this month amid protests from the Chicago Tribune's union.

Poynter Launches Local Journalism Portal:

Poynter has launched Locally, a "journalism news site and resource center [...] designed specifically to help local journalists navigate their rapidly changing industry" with support from the Knight Foundation and other donors. Local news beat reporter Kristen Hare will serve as the site's editor. The initiative will include "regularly updated lists of layoffs and closures, funding opportunities, tools and guidance, remote training, jobs and obituaries" alongside Hare's Local Edition newsletter, "a weekly roundup of local journalism from around the country." (Neil Brown, the organization's president, is a member of the Pulitzer Prize Board.)

NewsGuild Launches Advocacy Campaign; Senate Revives Potential Payroll Subsidies:

The NewsGuild-CWA "is launching a historic advocacy campaign in a desperate effort to gin up political support to help stave off the economic crunch on the news industry," Sam Stein of The Daily Beast wrote. In addition to a "six-figure digital ad campaign" and "direct lobbying on Capitol Hill" under the rubric of "Save the News," laid off and furloughed journalists will "chronicle the industry’s plight" on a new website. "The window isn’t closed,” said Jon Schleuss, the union's president. "But it has gotten worse [in just the last month] and it is going to get worse every day." Also, a bipartisan group of senators (including Maria Cantwell of Washington, Joni Ernst of Iowa and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer) has introduced legislation that would expand eligibility for payroll subsidies to newspapers after a similar House bill failed to gain traction.

Spotify Licenses Rogan:

Joe Rogan is taking his talk-oriented podcast (including the show's 11-year archive) "exclusively to Spotify [...] in a licensing deal worth more than $100 million, according to a person familiar with the matter," Anne Steele of The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday. The comedian, actor and mixed martial arts commentator "had so far withheld his podcast from Spotify, saying the streaming service doesn’t pay enough and he had been generating significant revenue on other services such as [...] YouTube." Rogan's show, which "built an avid fan base discussing wide-ranging topics from neuroscience, sports and health to comedy and culture," frequently tops Apple Podcast's rankings.

Schmidt Gift Ballasts NPR Coverage in Midwest, California:

A $4.7 million gift from former Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt and Schmidt Family Foundation President Wendy Schmidt to National Public Radio will enable the news organization to create a Midwest regional newsroom and "boost the one in California with a focus on investigative reporting and coverage relevant to underserved communities," Media Correspondent David Folkenflik reported Tuesday. "Now more than ever, we depend on high-quality journalism for timely and critical information," Wendy Schmidt said in a statement. Senior Vice President for News and Editorial Director Nancy Barnes, a member of the Pulitzer Prize Board, added: "This generous gift will allow the Midwest and California regional newsrooms to focus on investigative reporting, which is so essential to an informed citizenry and democracy."

Roman on 'Temporary Leave':

According to Daily Beast Media Reporter Maxwell Tani, Alison Roman's New York Times cooking column is "on temporary leave" following "remarks she made earlier this month about model Chrissy Teigen and tidying expert Marie Kondo that set off a torrent of criticism online." In an interview with The New Consumer, Roman argued that Teigen's success is unwarranted: "She had a successful cookbook. And then it was like: Boom, line at Target. Boom, now she has an Instagram page that has over a million followers where it’s just, like, people running a content farm for her." Roman has since apologized, while Teigen tweeted Tuesday: "I hope we can laugh about it one day but I’m not happy with the NYT leave so she def can’t laugh about it yet. It just sucks in every way."