For the Record

Tension at Newsweek:

Although Newsweek formally spun off from the International Business Times in 2018, the magazine continues to struggle with its identity in the digital era amid financial and editorial difficulties, CJR's Daniel Tovrov reports. "Reporters and editors there tell me they're willing to do good work," he said. "[T]he question is whether Newsweek is willing, or even able, to find a business model that allows them to do it."

Farrow Apologizes for Fox News Comments:

2018 Public Service contributor Ronan Farrow apologized Wednesday to four women who received settlements from Fox News for saying that the network did a "great job" of handling sexual misconduct complaints. "Let me be clear: I in no way intended to suggest that networks like Fox have fully addressed these issues," he said. "One of the lessons of the past few years is that there's still a long way to go. I've heard what these women have said and join with them in the hopes that people in power are listening." 

CNN Mulling Aggregator Platform:

According to Jessica Toonkel of The Information, CNN "is discussing paying news organizations to feature their content" on a new aggregation platform containing a mixture of subscription- and advertising-based content. If developed, the platform would compete with Facebook's News tab (set to launch Friday), Apple News+ and News Corp.'s Knewz.com.

From "Snow Fall" to Story Labs:

Microsoft Story Labs has released a digital storytelling handbook based on a variety of the unit's projects, including the Gimlet-backed podcast ".future" and its "Microsoft by the Numbers" feature. Chief Storyteller Steve Clayton and Creative Director Steve Wiens credit John Branch's Pulitzer-winning "Snow Fall" with inspiring much of their early work. "We shamelessly ripped off 'Snow Fall,'" said Clayton at a Seattle Interactive Conference panel last week.

Earning Living Wage by Podcasting:

Freelance podcast producers increasingly are forced to contend with unremunerative contracts (often drawn up by "brands and work-for-hire partners who come from other industries and thus aren't cognizant of the all-in costs," according to Elise Bergerson, a former Serial business manager) and what NiemanLab's Nicholas Quah has characterized as "alternative online services that further lower the perceived value of labor," as exemplified by Fiverr-based freelance technical personnel who charge as little as $5 to edit and master episodes. "Telling good stories is hard work," said Amanda Hickman, the director of AIR's Freelance Futures Initiative. "And if you're doing that hard work, you should be able to not just pay the rent, but also take vacations and put some money aside for retirement."

From Condé to Si:

A new biography of Condé Nast and a memoir by former Gourmet Editor-in-Chief Ruth Reichl trace the eponymous media company's emergence as a "mirror for the early 20th century’s café society" and its enduring legacy under the ownership of the Newhouse family. "With a fast-paced web site and a weekly radio show, [The New Yorker] projects a new image of aspiration that has less to do with material consumption than with cultural or social cachet," said Kyle Chayka of The New Republic. "Even as ad pages dwindle, print disappears, and social media absorbs more of our attention, the highest and most Condé-esque goal of glossy media is likely to survive: creating a club that you want to be part of."

Florida SPJ Files 'Fake News' Trademark Application:

The Florida Pro Chapter of the Society for Professional Journalists has applied to trademark the term "fake news" to discourage its inappropriate use by President Trump and other media and political figures. The chapter sent Trump a cease-and-desist letter Tuesday and plans to send additional letters in the coming weeks. "[W]e want a bigger conversation about journalists' role in our democracy and why 'fake news' is problematic – and so the letters will go out," said Emily Bloch, an education reporter for the Florida Times-Union who serves as the chapter's president.

Medium Changes Payment Structure:

Medium will use reading time (including scrolls and short breaks) to calculate compensation for writers in its Partner Program, Product Manager Emma Smith announced Tuesday. Compensation also will be calculated on a daily basis, although the company will maintain a monthly payment schedule. "We believe it's critical that creators are fairly compensated for their work, and we'll keep improving in service of this goal," Smith added.

White House to Cancel Times, Post Subscriptions:

Following remarks by President Trump on "Hannity" Monday, the White House confirmed that it will not renew its subscriptions to the New York Times and the Washington Post. "We're going to probably terminate that and the Washington Post," Trump said to the Fox News host. "They're fake." Representatives from both organizations declined to comment on the decision.

Ifill, Locke Honored With Forever Stamp:

The United States Postal Service announced Tuesday that longtime PBS NewsHour anchor Gwen Ifill will be honored with the 43rd commemorative Forever stamp in its Black Heritage series. Ifill, who died from complications of cancer at the age of 61 in 2016, was a White House correspondent for the New York Times from 1991 to 1994. The agency also unveiled a stamp honoring philosopher Alain Locke (the subject of Jeffrey C. Stewart's 2018 Pulitzer-winning biography) in a special Voices of the Harlem Renaissance series.