For the Record

Snopes Launches Membership Program:

Fact-checking site Snopes announced this week that it will launch a membership program in 2020. The $30 tier "will give members access to a community board where they can contact Snopes' editors, ad-free browsing [and] a members-only biweekly newsletter," according to Kayleigh Barber of Digiday. A spokesperson for the site said that its reliance on advertising is increasingly "antithetical to the Snopes brand and the core user experience."

Time Initiates Exclusive Membership Program:

Beginning in 2020, Time will launch a three-tiered, invitation-only membership program "affiliated with Time 100, its growing franchise that lists and profiles the 100 most influential people in the world," Digiday's Max Willens reported Wednesday. Priced at $20,000 per year, the most exclusive tier will include an invitation to every Time 100 event and a Time-hosted Davos event, while the least expensive "rising star tier" (priced at $1,750 per year) will "[give] people Time’s editorial staff (and other Time 100 members) see as ascendant figures in their fields access" to one event. Editor in Chief Edward Felsenthal designed the program as an alternative to paywall-based memberships. "I am not bullish on the three to five [articles] free, then you hit the wall," he said. "I think there’s subscription fatigue at that general level."

Miami Herald Eliminates Saturday Print Edition:

Miami Herald President, Publisher and Executive Editor Aminda Marqués Gonzalez announced Monday that the newspaper is replacing its Saturday edition with expanded Friday and Sunday papers beginning on March 21. "We are seeing shifts in how our readers are engaging with this valued content," said Marqués, a Pulitzer Prize Board member. "More and more of our customers are reading our local journalism online. This is not only a trend in Miami, it is a media industry trend, and in fact, all industries." Parent company McClatchy announced in November that it intends to eliminate all Saturday print editions of its newspapers by the end of 2020.

Newmark Funds Cyber Threat Initiative:

The Global Cyber Alliance announced the launch of the Craig Newmark Trustworthy Internet and Democracy Program Wednesday. According to a press release, the initiative "will provide news outlets, government functionaries, election officials and community organizations with free toolkits and online forums to help protect them from cyber threats," including a cybersecurity toolkit for government officials. "We are living in a critical time, when our democratic systems and those who make them happen require strong cyber protections to maintain their integrity," said Newmark, who has emerged as a major philanthropic force in media and anti-misinformation programs over the past decade.

Thiel and Inaccurate Facebook Ads:

According to Emily Glazer, Deepa Seetharaman and Jeff Horwitz of The Wall Street Journal, longtime Facebook board member Peter Thiel has served "as an influential voice advising CEO Mark Zuckerberg not to bow to public pressure" concerning the platform's decision to permit potentially inaccurate political ads. "Many of the decisions we’re making at Facebook come with difficult trade-offs and we're approaching them with careful rigor at all levels of the company, from the board of directors down," a Facebook spokesman said. Thiel declined to comment on the report.

Bumiller Joins Times Masthead:

New York Times Washington Bureau Chief Elisabeth Bumiller has been promoted to assistant managing editor, the newspaper announced Monday. According to Executive Editor Dean Baquet and Managing Editor Joe Kahn, Bumiller will "continue to lead the Washington bureau" while "taking on broader assignments with the masthead." Since joining The Times, Bumiller has covered New York City Hall, the White House and the 2008 presidential campaign.

Vox Eliminates Freelancers Ahead of California Law:

Vox Media will eliminate hundreds of freelance positions in California ahead of a new state law that forbids independent contractors from submitting more than 35 articles per year to a single outlet. The cuts will primarily affect sports-oriented SB Nation, which will hire a range of salaried contributors to make up the shortfall. "We know many of our California contractors already have other full-time jobs and may not have the bandwidth to apply, but we hope to see many of them join us as employees," said John Ness, the news organization's executive director.

Google, IBM Dispute Quantum Supremacy:

According to Emily Conover of Science News, Google's recent claim of quantum supremacy (in which its Sycamore quantum computer can "perform a calculation that is impossible for a standard computer") has attracted scrutiny from competitors, most notably IBM. However, improved quantum computing techniques eventually may yield dividends in several fields with journalistic relevance, including machine learning and database searches. "We have to be patient," said John Preskill, a physicist at Cal Tech.

AP Recognizes Fallen Correspondent:

The Associated Press installed Y. C. Jao's name on its memorial Wall of Honor Wednesday. Jao, a venerable local correspondent and University of Missouri graduate who was characterized by Vice President for Standards and Pulitzer Prize Board member John Daniszewski as "intellectual deeply committed to news," worked under former Pulitzer Prize Administrator Seymour Topping in Nanking during the waning years of the Nationalist government. According to Daniszewski, he stayed on after the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949 before being accused of "spying and of counterrevolutionary activities," leading to his 1951 execution. 

Montclair Paper Transitions to Nonprofit:

As part of its transition to nonprofit status, the Montclair (N.J.) Local has added several prominent journalists to its board of trustees and advisory board, including former Pulitzer Prize Board member Kathleen Carroll, current member Stephen Engelberg and former New York Times Assistant Managing Editor David Jones. The newspaper, which serves an Essex County suburb long favored by New York's entertainment and media cognoscenti, was founded by Google engineer Heeten Choxi in 2016.