For the Record

Futurism Acquired by VC-Backed Firm:

Niche technology and science news site Futurism has been acquired by Recurrent Ventures, "which has quickly assembled a portfolio of well-liked but small, primarily digital media brands," Maxwell Tani and Lachlan Cartwright of The Daily Beast reported Monday. Over the past several years, the venture equity-backed company has purchased an eclectic array of 18 publications, including Popular Science, Saveur and The Drive. In June, Recurrent "raised its profile by announcing it had acquired MEL, the men's lifestyle publication previously backed by Dollar Shave Club that had become a cult favorite for its irreverent culture and lifestyle writing." In an email to Tani and Cartwright, CEO Lance Johnson indicated that his company will endeavor to acquire additional brands as the year progresses. "We would like to make a few more acquisitions this year that would either add to our existing range of topics or allow us to branch into new ones (like we did with MEL)," he said. "It just depends on the brands and the potential we see in them, as well as how they could fit within our portfolio and growth strategy." Futurism, which was previously owned by the Google and Deloitte-backed Singularity University, "went viral earlier this year after it noticed that The New York Times had accidentally published an article claiming that watermelons were found on Mars (the Times was testing its publishing CMS when it accidentally set the piece live)." The publisher also has conducted a major interview with former NASA Acting Administrator Steve Jurczyk and "investigated how gene-hacked mosquitoes terrorized a Florida community."

Analysis: Most Major American Newspapers Now Led by Someone Other Than a White Man:

Seven of the United States' 20 largest newspapers are currently led by a white man, while twelve are led by a woman, a person of color, or both, according to a new analysis compiled by Joshua Benton of NiemanLab. (The top editorship at the Honolulu Star-Advertiser is currently vacant.) Incumbents include Pulitzer Prize Board members Nicole Carroll (USA Today) and Kevin Merida (Los Angeles Times); past Pulitzer jurors Sally Buzbee (The Washington Post), Lee Ann Colacioppo (The Denver Post), Gabriel Escobar (The Philadelphia Inquirer), Emilio Garcia-Ruiz (San Francisco Chronicle), Katrice Hardy (The Dallas Morning News), Deborah Henley (Newsday), Michele Matassa Flores (The Seattle Times), Maria Reeve (Houston Chronicle) and Rene Sanchez (Star Tribune); and 1988 Investigative Reporting winner Dean Baquet (The New York Times). Benton added: "Back in 2014, when our friends at Nieman Reports examined the data, they found that women were the top editor of only 3 of the 25 largest U.S. newspapers," while a 2014 ASNE survey of American newspapers "found only 15% had even a single person of color in any of their top three editorial positions." He continued: "Having looked at a lot of newspaper staff listings recently, I can tell you the next tier of editors down — assistant managing editors, deputy metro editors, features editors, sports editors, and so on — is substantially more white and male than these numbers might suggest. A top editor is the face of a newsroom, but most of the editorial decision-making is necessarily done by people with less esteemed titles." Additionally, "research has long shown that lower-circulation newspapers are less likely to hire minority journalists, whether as an entry-level reporter or editor-in-chief." 

James R. Polk (1937-2021):

1974 National Reporting winner James R. Polk died July 15 at his home in Marietta, Ga. from complications of a series of strokes. He was 83. Early in 1973, Polk (a graduate of Indiana University then employed by the now-defunct Washington Star-News) "revealed that Robert L. Vesco, who was under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission for stealing $224 million in assets from an offshore investment fund he controlled, had made an unreported $200,000 contribution" to President Richard Nixon's 1972 re-election campaign. These findings "showed that Nixon's onetime Attorney General John N. Mitchell and Commerce Secretary Maurice H. Stans were part of an effort to funnel the money to the reelection effort and to defendants in the Watergate break-in." Later that year, Polk reported that "a former Philippine ambassador to the United States had delivered $30,000 to Stans soon after the Watergate break-in," while Edward Nixon, the president's brother, played a role in arranging the Vesco transaction. After receiving his Pulitzer, Polk joined NBC News as a Washington-based investigative reporter and co-founded Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE), "an organization that supports investigative journalism." In 1992, he joined CNN as a senior documentary producer and received an Emmy Award in 1996 "for leading the cable network's coverage of the bombing of a federal building in Oklahoma City in which 168 people were killed."

Ford Foundation Donates $1 Million to The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate:

The Times-Picayune and The Advocate "will receive a $1 million gift from the Ford Foundation, one of the nation's largest philanthropic funds, to double the size of the newspapers' investigative team and expand the geographic reach of the papers' reporting," past Pulitzer juror and Managing Editor Martha Carr reported Thursday. The three-year grant "will be made to the Greater New Orleans Foundation for its Louisiana Investigative Journalism Fund, developed in partnership with the news organization." Contributions from previous donors enabled city politics reporter Jeff Adelson to move into a new role as a data journalist for the team, while the Ford Foundation donation will enable the newspaper to hire two additional reporters and a deputy editor for the effort. "I'm beyond thrilled the Ford Foundation saw fit to help us grow our investigative team," said Managing Editor/Investigations Gordon Russell, a 2006 Public Service and 2019 Local Reporting contributor. "I'm confident this generous gift will allow us to report and write stories that will shine a light on the problems that plague Louisiana — and maybe even help us solve some of them." Carr added that the gift "is part of a recent commitment by the Ford Foundation to contribute an additional $75 million to nonprofit and advocacy institutions across the Deep South in an effort advance justice at a moment of historic opportunity."

Tumblr Introduces Subscription Tool, Courts Younger Users:

Microblogging platform Tumblr is "letting some users charge their followers a monthly fee" Wednesday "in exchange for access to exclusive content," according to Katie Deighton of The Wall Street Journal. The Post+ feature "offers content creators a choice of three monthly prices to charge their followers—$3.99, $5.99 or $9.99—with Tumblr taking a 5% cut of subscription fees." Users may continue to post free content. Tumblr "hopes the feature will attract younger users—those from so-called Gen Z—and help keep them on a platform that rose to prominence among teenagers and college students in the early 2010s as a place to share memes, photos and creative writing" as it gains traction among the cohort, with more than 48% of its current users hailing from the younger demographic. "When we looked at the younger generation, trying to figure out what would be the hook for them, we decided to make Post+, because it’s something that will push the boundaries and it’s following their behavior they’re already doing," said Chief Product and Technology Officer Lance Willet.

Reeve Named Top Editor at Houston Chronicle:

Houston Chronicle Managing Editor Maria Douglas Reeve, a past Pulitzer juror, will succeed Steve Riley as executive editor of the Houston Chronicle, Staff Writer Paul Takahashi reported Tuesday. "We didn't have to look far to find the best person to become executive editor," said Hearst Newspapers President Jeff Johnson. "Since Maria began working for the Chronicle in 2019, we have all seen her commanding leadership, creativity and dedication to providing our readers with the stories that matter most to them. We know she will continue to drive growth and important storytelling in the newsroom." Reeve "joined the Chronicle from the Star Tribune in Minneapolis, where she served in various roles including assistant managing editor of news, assistant features editor and deputy metro editor." She "plans to accelerate the reinvention of the 120-year-old newspaper into a multi-platform media company, with a particular emphasis on online journalism" while also retaining an emphasis on public service reporting. "We have to meet our readers where they are: print and online, and grow our digital audience," Reeve said. "This is how we remain relevant and not only useful, but indispensable." 

Garland Sets Record Seizure Limits:

The Department of Justice "will no longer use compulsory legal processes to seize information from people working in the news media who are acting 'within the scope of their newsgathering activities,'" Attorney General Merrick Garland announced in a memo Monday. According to Maeve Sheehey of Politico, the new policy "imposes further limits on when the DOJ can seize reporters' records, a long-debated political issue balancing freedom of the press and government intelligence" that attained a new resonance in the popular consciousness after it was revealed earlier this year that "the previous department under Donald Trump seized the records of reporters in secret" during an investigation. "Because a free and independent press is vital to the functioning of our democracy, the Department of Justice has long employed procedural protections and a balancing test to restrict the use of compulsory process to obtain information from or records of members of the news media," Garland said. "There are, however, shortcomings to any balancing test in this context,” he added, noting that the test can "fail to properly weight the important national interest in protecting journalists from compelled disclosure of information revealing their sources, sources they need to apprise the American people of the workings of their government." The policy provides exemptions for "members of the media who are the subject or target of an investigation, so long as the status is not based on or within newsgathering activities," members of terrorist organizations, subpoena-ordered records from news organizations, DOJ authentication of "already-published records or information" and when "compulsory legal process is needed to 'prevent an imminent risk of death or serious bodily harm.'" In addition, Garland enjoined Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco to formally review the media protections.

Kristof Weighs Oregon Gubernatorial Run:

Two-time Pulitzer winner Nicholas Kristof "is considering running in the Democratic primary race for governor of Oregon," Lisa Lerer of The New York Times reported Monday. Kristof, who grew up on a farm about 25 miles west of Portland in an academic family, "said in a statement that friends were trying to recruit him into the race to replace Gov. Kate Brown, a Democrat who is prevented from running for re-election by term limits," prompting him to take a leave from The Times last month. Several candidates have announced their intention to enter the race, including the state treasurer, the speaker of the state's House of Representatives and the state attorney general. Kristof "became more involved in managing his family farm two years ago, when he returned to the state with [wife and 1990 International Reporting winner Sheryl WuDunn] to transition its business from growing cherries to cider apples and wine grapes." In a statement, Kristof reflected on his decision: "I have friends trying to convince me that here in Oregon, we need new leadership from outside the broken political system. All I know for sure is that we need someone with leadership and vision so that folks from all over the state can come together to get us back on track."

Shachtman Joins Rolling Stone:

Rolling Stone "has chosen Noah Shachtman, the top editor of the news site The Daily Beast, as its next editor in chief, the magazine announced on Thursday, calling on him to continue the transformation of the 54-year-old pop music bible into a digital-first publication," according to Marc Tracy of The New York Times. In an interview with Tracy, Shachtman said that he intends to bring along his current publication's "newsy approach and web metabolism" when he begins the new role in September: "It's got to be faster, louder, harder. We've got to be out getting scoops, taking people backstage, showing them parts of the world they don’t get to see every day." Shachtman will succeed Jason Fine, a music journalist best known for his revelatory interviews with Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard and Brian Wilson. Fine will continue to oversee the publication's podcast and documentary ventures. The selection of Shachtman "was driven by Gus Wenner, Rolling Stone’s president and chief operating officer and a son of Jann S. Wenner," who co-founded the magazine with longtime San Francisco Chronicle music critic and Columbia alumnus Ralph J. Gleason as a recent University of California, Berkeley dropout in 1967. The elder Wenner relinquished his stake in the magazine in the 2010s. "I love that his strength is in an area where we need to get stronger," the younger Wenner said of Shachtman. "But he's certainly got the skill set on long-form pieces, and that's going to continue to be super important, too. Five years from now, I want Rolling Stone to be at the forefront of content creation across any platform: films, podcasts, the website, the magazine."

Indian Summarization Startup Raises $60 Million:

Indian startup Inshorts, "a popular aggregator app that summarizes news articles in 60 words and covers a wide-range of topics," has raised $60 million in funding as its companion social media app continues to scale up in popularity, Manish Singh of TechCrunch reported Thursday. The latest investment "values the startup at about $550 million, up from about $250 million valuation in $41 million fundraise in March and $125 million valuation in September last year," according to three people familiar with the matter. "The world is changing every minute, and each one of us has an inherent desire to remain updated about these changes," said CEO Azhar Iqubal. “Both Inshorts app and Public app are aimed to help some of these people in their quest of keeping themselves informed and we are thrilled to have Vy Capital join us in our journey.” Public has attracted as many as 60 million users since its launch two years ago. The location-based social media network "connects individuals to people in their vicinity" and also serves as a "classified, entertainment and recruiting platform."