For the Record

BuzzFeed Closes Pulitzer-Winning News Division:

BuzzFeed "is shutting down its news division as part of an effort to cut 15 percent of its work force" according to an internal memo from CEO Jonah Peretti, Benjamin Mullin and Katie Robertson of The New York Times reported Thursday. The closure "will affect 180 people across the company’s business, content, tech and administrative teams," Mullin and Robertson continued. "About 60 of those jobs will be affected by the shuttering of BuzzFeed News, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity. The company will offer jobs at BuzzFeed.com and HuffPost, which BuzzFeed acquired in 2021, to more than a dozen BuzzFeed News staff members affected by the closure in an attempt to salvage some positions." Peretti said he "'made the decision to overinvest' in BuzzFeed’s news division because he loved the work it produced but acknowledged that he had been slow to accept that social media platforms would not provide the financial support needed to make BuzzFeed News profitable." He added: "I've learned from these mistakes, and the team moving forward has learned from them as well. We know that the changes and improvements we are making today are necessary steps to building a better future." Although he maintained that he "own[s] this decision," Peretti said he would remain with the company in an all-hands video meeting Thursday morning. The decision will not affect sister company HuffPost, "which [...] Peretti said in his memo was profitable and less dependent on social platforms." Amid reports of the closure, BuzzFeed's stock dropped by more than 20 percent to $0.72 per share. In an interview, former Editor in Chief Ben Smith "this moment" as "part of the end of a whole era of media [...] It's the end of the marriage between social media and news." Known as a "beacon for up-and-coming political and investigative journalists," a team from the news site received the 2021 International Reporting Prize "for stories that used satellite imagery to report on the Chinese government's detention of Muslims," Mullin and Robertson continued. Staff entries from BuzzFeed News also were nominated for the 2018 and 2021 International Reporting Prizes, while 2014 Investigative Reporting winner Chris Hamby was nominated for the 2017 International Reporting Prize during his tenure at the organization. A spokesperson "said the company was planning to keep all of the stories published by the news division archived on its website in perpetuity."

Pulitzer Prize Board Member Carroll Leaves Gannett:

USA Today Editor-in-Chief Nicole Carroll "will step down on May 1 after leading the news organization for more than five years," Bailey Schulz reported in the newspaper yesterday. A Pulitzer Prize Board member since October 2018, Carroll (who also serves as parent company Gannett's president of news) was named to her current role in February 2018 after overseeing The Arizona Republic's 2018 Explanatory Reporting Prize-winning coverage of former President Trump's pledge to construct a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico. During her tenure, Carroll "championed greater diversity, equity and inclusion at USA Today." Schulz added: "Under her leadership, USA Today hired more journalists of color and in 2020 announced plans to add or reassign journalists to 20 new beats to expand coverage of inequities in the U.S." The publication "also became a majority-female newsroom in 2021 with Carroll at the helm." In a statement, Gannett Chief Content Officer Kristin Roberts lauded Carroll as a "valued colleague and partner at USA Today." Managing Editor of Standards and Ethics and Opinion Michael McCarter will serve as interim editor-in-chief while the newspaper conducts a national search for her successor. "I have nothing but gratitude for the past 31 years (with Gannett)," said Carroll, who plans to remain in journalism. "Getting to work on journalism that helped people and changed lives and changed law has been the honor of a lifetime. Right now, I'm just interested in looking at the next chapter of my career and what that might be." Carroll first joined The Arizona Republic in 1999 as a breaking news editor and became its executive editor in 2008. She "went on to become editor and vice president of news in 2015." A graduate of Arizona State University's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication and Georgetown University, she was named the 2017 Benjamin C. Bradlee Editor of the Year by the National Press Foundation.

Former Pulitzer Administrator Canedy Joins Guardian U.S.:

Former Pulitzer Administrator Dana Canedy "was named managing editor of Guardian U.S. on Tuesday, the latest executive to join the American edition of the British newspaper company," according to Benjamin Mullin of The New York Times. Canedy "will be one of the highest-ranking executives in the Guardian U.S. newsroom, reporting to the editor in chief, Betsy Reed," Mullin added. Reed, a longtime executive editor at The Nation who subsequently served as editor-in-chief of The Intercept, "is herself a relatively recent hire, having joined the publication in September," he continued. Following her three-year tenure at the Pulitzers, Canedy was senior vice president and publisher of Simon & Schuster's flagship eponymous imprint from 2020 to 2022, becoming the first Black woman to head a major publishing imprint. The new role "represents a return to daily journalism for [...] Canedy, who was a reporter and senior editor at The New York Times for more than 20 years" prior to her Pulitzer incumbency. Mullin continued: "During her time at Simon & Schuster, [...] Canedy won praise for acquiring books by prominent Black journalists and scholars, including the journalist and editor Errin Haines and the Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson, a fellow Pulitzer Prize winner. But some of her decisions drew criticism from her staff, many of whom signed an open letter protesting her decision to publish an autobiography by former Vice President Mike Pence." In a statement, Canedy "said she was 'honored' to join Guardian U.S., adding that she has 'long admired the Guardian's values.'" As managing editor, Canedy "will be responsible for the day-to-day operations of the newsroom, advancing its editorial ambitions and managing coverage of major stories."

Google Announces AI Supercomputer Specifications:

Alphabet subsidiary Google released a scientific paper on Tuesday that contains "new details about the supercomputers it uses to train its artificial intelligence models, saying the systems are both faster and more power-efficient" than comparable products from Nvidia Corp., which manufactures the graphics chips employed in ChatGPT parent OpenAI's Microsoft-funded supercomputer, according to Stephen Nellis of Reuters. Google "has designed its own custom chip called the Tensor Processing Unit, or TPU," Nellis continued. "It uses those chips for more than 90% of the company's work on artificial intelligence training, the process of feeding data through models to make them useful at tasks such as responding to queries with human-like text or generating images." According to the paper, the TPU is now in its fourth generation. Its supercomputers contains more than 4,000 chips apiece alongside "custom-developed optical switches" that help to "connect individual machines." Nellis added: "Improving these connections has become a key point of competition among companies that build AI supercomputers because so-called large language models that power technologies like Google's Bard or [...] ChatGPT have exploded in size, meaning they are far too large to store on a single chip. The models must instead be split across thousands of chips, which must then work together for weeks or more to train the model. Google's PaLM model - its largest publicly disclosed language model to date - was trained" over 50 days across two supercomputers. "Circuit switching makes it easy to route around failed components," Google Fellow Norm Jouppi and Google Distinguished Engineer David Patterson said in a blog post. "This flexibility even allows us to change the topology of the supercomputer interconnect to accelerate the performance of an ML (machine learning) model." The computers have been run from a data center in Mayes County, Oklahoma since 2020. Although Google "said that for comparably sized systems, its chips are up to 1.7 times faster and 1.9 times more power-efficient than a system based on Nvidia's A100 chip that was on the market at the same time as the fourth-generation TPU," the company "did not compare its fourth-generation to Nvidia's current flagship H100 chip because the H100 came to the market after Google's chip and is made with newer technology." It has "hinted that it might be working on a new TPU that would compete with the Nvidia H100 but provided no details, with Jouppi telling Reuters that Google has 'a healthy pipeline of future chips.'" In October 2022, Robert Castellano of Seeking Alpha reported that the United States has "imposed a new license requirement for any future export to China" of Nvidia's chips "without an export license" that will fully take effect in September. Last month, the manufacturer announced that it has "modified its flagship product into a version that is legal to export to China," according to a Reuters report by Nellis and Jane Lee.

Russia Detains Wall Street Journal Reporter on Espionage Charges:

Russia's Federal Security Bureau "said Thursday it had detained Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich for what it described as espionage," according to a report by Daniel Michaels. Gershkovich, "a U.S. citizen and member of the Journal’s Moscow bureau, was detained in the city of Yekaterinburg, around 800 miles east of Moscow, on Wednesday while on a reporting trip," Michaels continued. The FSB has alleged that Gershkovich "collected information constituting a state secret about the activities of one of the enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex.” In a statement, the newspaper said that it "vehemently denies the allegations from the FSB and seeks the immediate release of our trusted and dedicated reporter [...] We stand in solidarity with Evan and his family." Following his arrest, Gershkovich was taken to Moscow, where "where he appeared in court with a state-appointed defense attorney and was ordered held in custody until May 29." Russian espionage trials "can take months to unfold" and seldom result in acquittals. Although the U.S. "released convicted Russian arms-trafficker Viktor Bout" in exchange for WNBA star Brittney Griner (who was arrested by Russia on drug smuggling charges for possession of THC oil shortly before the Russo-Ukrainian War escalated in February 2022) last December, the White House and the Kremlin "remain entangled over Russia's detention since 2018 of former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan on espionage charges." Deputy Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov "said it was premature" to discuss a prisoner exchange. "I would not even raise the question right now," he said in an interview with wire service RIA Novosti. "We'll see how this story develops further." Gershkovich, 31, "dropped out of contact with his editors while working in Yekaterinburg on Wednesday afternoon," Michaels added. "A post later appeared on Telegram describing a man with his face hidden being bundled from a restaurant in the city and put into a waiting van. It couldn't be determined whether the person was [...] Gershkovich." A graduate of Bowdoin College, Gershkovich was a news assistant for The New York Times before working as a reporter in Russia for the Moscow Times and Agence France-Presse. He joined The Wall Street Journal in January 2022.

Texas Observer Will Continue Publishing Following Crowdfunding Effort:

The "nonprofit publisher of the Texas Observer said on Wednesday that it would change course and keep the 68-year-old liberal magazine going, following an emergency appeal that crowdsourced more than $300,000," Pulitzer Prize Board member Sewell Chan of The Texas Tribune reported Wednesday. "Today, upon receiving significant financial pledges over the past few days, the Texas Observer board gathered to vote to reconsider previous board actions," Texas Democracy Foundation President Laura Hernandez Holmes said in a statement. "The vote to rescind layoffs was unanimous, and the board is eager to move the publication to its next phase." Nevertheless, The Observer "still faces significant obstacles to its survival," Chan added. "Board members have acknowledged that they allowed the budget, which reached $2.1 million last year, to grow beyond what was sustainable. Its top business officer resigned on Thursday, and its chief fundraiser stepped down Monday, both in protest of the board’s decision to close the magazine. The fundraiser, James Canup, started the GoFundMe appeal hours after resigning." Hernandez Holmes also will step down at the end of the week while remaining active as a donor. "The long-standing issues at the Observer, regardless of the personalities who fill the org chart, are structural," Canup said in an interview prior to the reversal. "The board of the Texas Observer has always been informal in its operations. It's easy for a sense of distrust to develop between the board and the staff, and similarly between the small business and editorial sides of the publication." 

Whitehead Receives National Humanities Medal Amid Biden Quip:

President Biden "used a White House ceremony honoring artists and academics to drop his latest indication that he will seek reelection next year," characterizing 2017 and 2020 Fiction Prize winner Colson Whitehead as “the only novelist to win the Pulitzer Prize for back-to-back works [...] I'm kind of looking for back to back myself," Azi Paybarah of The Washington Post reported Tuesday. The event "celebrated recipients of the 2021 National Medals of Arts, as well as the 2021 National Humanities Medals," including singer-songwriter/bandleader Bruce Springsteen (National Medal of Arts), singers Gladys Knight & José Feliciano (National Medals of Arts) and 2020 Fiction finalist Ann Patchett (National Humanities Medal). 1993 Biography finalist Walter Isaacson (National Humanities Medal), novelist Amy Tam (National Humanities Medal) and Johnnetta Betsch Cole (the "former president of Spelman College and the first Black woman to hold that title"; National Humanities Medal) also were among the honored recipients. Described as one of "Biden's favorite musicians," singer-songwriter Elton John "was a recipient of the 2021 National Humanities Medal but was given his medal when he performed at the White House last September," Paybarah added.

Justice Department Probes TikTok Over Alleged Journalist Tracking:

The U.S. Department of Justice is probing TikTok parent company ByteDance's "surveillance of American journalists" via the app "as authorities scrutinize the popular social media platform’s Chinese owner after it admitted to improperly obtaining user data," Stefania Palma of the Financial Times reported Friday. In December, ByteDance "revealed user data from the short-form video app was obtained to study journalists' locations as part of an internal investigation into information being shared with the media," Palma added. The DOJ and the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Eastern District of Virginia "have requested information from ByteDance on how staff used TikTok to find details on American journalists' locations and other private data, according to Forbes, which first reported the investigations." Financial Times reporter Cristina Criddle was allegedly targeted by ByteDance after "[leading] a string of stories revealing that dozens of staff had left TikTok's London office and that some had worked 12-hour days or had been demoted after taking time off." Although U.S. and China-based ByteDance employees allegedly "obtained her IP addresses and other personal data to assess whether she was near any ByteDance workers, [...] the company found no leaks," Palma continued. The company also has targeted employees of BuzzFeed and users linked to journalists through accounts on the platform. In a Thursday statement, ByteDance said it has "strongly condemned the actions of the individuals found to have been involved, and they are no longer employed at ByteDance [...] Our internal investigation is still ongoing, and we will co-operate with any official investigations when brought to us." The DOJ and FBI declined to comment on the matter, while the Eastern District of Virginia did not respond to a request for comment. The investigations "come as the US government has threatened to ban TikTok on national security grounds if ByteDance does not sell its stake" as the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (a Treasury Department-led "panel that vets foreign investment in the country") has requested its divestiture. As a rare bipartisan group of Senate sponsors has "introduced a bill that would give the Biden administration the authority to ban Chinese apps that pose security threats," negotiations toward a potential national security agreement with the U.S. government that commenced during the Trump administration have stalled in recent months.
 

Axios Reporter Fired After Characterizing Florida Education Dept. News Release as 'Propaganda':

Axios reporter Ben Montgomery "said he was fired this week after he responded to a Florida Department of Education email about an event featuring Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), calling the news release 'propaganda,'" Dan Rosenzweig-Ziff and Sonia Rao of The Washington Post reported Wednesday. Montgomery "said he received a call on Monday evening from Jamie Stockwell, executive editor of Axios Local, who asked Montgomery to confirm he sent the email before saying the reporter's 'reputation in the Tampa Bay area' had been 'irreparably tarnished,'" Rosenzweig-Ziff and Rao continued. The Monday news release "said DeSantis, a potential 2024 GOP presidential candidate, had hosted a roundtable 'exposing the diversity equity and inclusion scam in higher education'" and "also called for prohibiting state funds from being used to support DEI efforts." Montgomery, a mainstay of the Tampa Bay metropolitan press corps who was nominated for the 2010 Local Reporting Prize for his coverage of decades of abuse at a Florida reform school, sent his rejoinder three minutes after receiving the email. According to Rosenzweig-Ziff and Rao, "the Education Department's communication officer, Alex Lanfranconi, shared Montgomery's reply on Twitter, where it has since been viewed more than 1 million times." Axios Editor in Chief Sara Kehaulani Goo has confirmed Montgomery is no longer employed by Axios "but declined to comment further." In an interview with The Post, Montgomery "said he has seen similar incidents happen to reporters in Florida," adding: "It's incredibly important that their organizations stand up on their behalf and realize that this is nothing but a political tactic to gain right-wing votes and disrupt the lives of hard-working journalists." Hired by Axios as part of its burgeoning local journalism efforts in late 2020, he said the staff was "often assured in his early days at the company that 'we're not going to let the trolls run the newsroom,' and that he was therefore 'unafraid' to send the email to the press office." According to a person familiar with internal deliberations at the news organization, "the reaction in the newsroom has been a mix of sadness for losing a colleague and fear that something similar could happen to them." Montgomery echoed these sentiments. "It might seem like a little thing for a guy in Tampa, Fla., to be out of a job for a minute," he said. "But this has ripple effects for an administration that’s really had their way with the press and run roughshod over a lot of people — good people."

Final Sondheim Musical Will Be Staged in New York:

1985 Drama winner Stephen Sondheim's "’long-in-the-works Luis Buñuel musical, which he described as unfinished just days before his death, will be staged in New York this fall, giving audiences the chance to see the final show by one of the most important artists in musical theater history," Michael Paulson of The New York Times reported Thursday. Currently titled "Here We Are," the musical is "inspired by two Buñuel films, 'The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie' [1972] and 'The Exterminating Angel' [1962]," Paulson added. Sondheim wrote the music and lyrics for the work, while David Ives (best known for writing a series of comedic one-act plays) contributed the book. Scheduled to begin in September at The Shed - a "multidisciplinary arts venue" in the Hudson Yards development on Manhattan's far West Side - the "commercial Off Broadway venture" will be directed by "Wicked" veteran Joe Mantello and produced by "Hadestown"'s Tom Kirdahy. Although iterations of the musical (then titled "Buñuel" or "Square One") were workshopped by the likes of Nathan Lane and frequent Sondheim collaborator Bernadette Peters under the aegis of such disparate organizations as the Public Theater and Scott Rudin's production company throughout the mid-to-late 2010s, it was encumbered by "delays and setbacks" in the manner of many of Sondheim's later works. Casting for The Shed's production has not been finalized and "there are no indications that Lane and Peters have remained with the project." Sondheim offered a rare précis in an interview with Paulson days before his death in November 2021: "I don't know if I should give the so-called plot away, but the first act is a group of people trying to find a place to have dinner, and they run into all kinds of strange and surreal things, and in the second act, they find a place to have dinner, but they can’t get out." Paulson added: "Sondheim described the show as incomplete, as did some of his collaborators in the days following his death. It is not clear what state it was in when he died, and what kind of work has been done to it since." While interest in Sondheim's oeuvre arguably ebbed in the late 1990s and early 2000s amid several commercial failures, a late-in-life resurgence (beginning with Tim Burton's 2007 film adaptation of "Sweeney Todd" and continuing with the likes of Lonny Price's documentary "Best Worst Thing That Ever Could Have Happened" [2016; concerning the tumult that engulfed the original 1981 production of "Merrily We Roll Along"] and the Criterion Collection's 2021 rerelease of D. A. Pennebaker's long-unavailable documentary "Original Cast Album: 'Company'" [1970]) has flourished into a "booming" posthumous career, including "Broadway revivals of 'Into the Woods' (which opened last summer) and 'Sweeney Todd' (which opens this month)," as well as an Off Broadway revival of "Assassins" and an Off Broadway revival of "Merrily We Roll Along" that will transfer to Broadway in September.