For the Record

Gannett New Jersey Newsrooms Unionize:

Three Gannett-owned newsrooms in New Jersey "announced Wednesday morning they are jointly unionizing," according to Angela Fu of Poynter. The Bergen Record, the Daily Record and the NJ Herald will form The Record Guild, a bargaining unit of the NewsGuild of New York. In an announcement signed by 68 staff members, the union called for " higher wages and better health care benefits to help them better cover the communities they serve." Several Gannett newsrooms (including The Desert Sun) have unionized in recent months amid widespread layoffs and buyouts at the media company, including more than 250 at the New Jersey newsrooms.

Blumenstein Takes on New Role at Times:

New York Times Deputy Managing Editor Rebecca Blumenstein "will take on a newly created role, reporting directly to the publisher, A. G. Sulzberger, and helping him run newsroom operations as the newspaper’s business expands," according to the newspaper's Marc Tracy. The past Pulitzer juror will remain on the publication's masthead with the title of deputy editor, publisher's office. "Rebecca will step away from the news cycle to become my day-to-day partner in supporting our journalism operations at a time when they are growing rapidly in size and ambition," said Sulzberger in an internal memo. Before joining The Times in 2017, Blumenstein was the deputy editor-in-chief of The Wall Street Journal.

Condé Nast Withholds One World Trade Rent:

Condé Nast "is withholding $2.4 million in rent at One World Trade Center for January 2021 and could withhold further sums in the coming months as part of a rent dispute with its landlords," Paul Berger of The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday. The media company "wants to reduce its square footage and its rent per square foot at the landmark office tower," according to a bond document published February 3 by the building's co-owner, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. In a statement, parent company Advance said that it "continues to be in discussions about bringing the lease in 1WTC into line with current market conditions and its ongoing needs at that location."

Punchbowl News Sued for Trademark Infringement:

Framingham, Mass.-based invitation and greeting card company Punchbowl, Inc. "has filed a trademark lawsuit against A.J. Press, Inc., the parent company of the political news startup Punchbowl News from former Politico reporters Anna Palmer, Jake Sherman and John Bresnahan," Andrew Beaujon of Washingtonian reported Tuesday.  The suit, which alleges that the shared moniker potentially misleads those "who are likely interested in both news about politics and news and services relating to event and celebration planning," asks for injunctive relief to stop Punchbowl News "from using the name, as well as monetary damages and attorneys' fees." Palmer, Sherman and Bresnahan declined to comment on the matter.

Bloomberg Media Expects $100 Million Subscription Revenue:

Bloomberg Media "is expecting to bring in at least $100 million in consumer subscription revenue in 2021, according to an internal memo sent to staff from CEO Justin Smith," Sara Fischer of Axios reported Tuesday. "We see a clear path toward making subscriptions a nine-figure business in 2021, following a 135% revenue increase in 2020," said Smith. According to Fischer, the launch of "niche verticals" (such as the climate-focused Bloomberg Green) and bundles with media outlets like The Information and The Athletic have bolstered sales, with Bloomberg Media set to overtake the company's flagship Bloomberg Terminal in subscribers by the end of 2021."

Bustle Embraces Newsletter-Driven Strategy:

Publishers such as Bustle Digital Group "are now priming their newsletter strategies to win a space in readers' inboxes while subsequently monetizing that position with interested advertisers," Kayleigh Barber of Digiday reported Monday. According to Wesley Bonner, the company's vice president of marketing and audience development, the publisher "wants to attract 10 million subscribers across all of the brands' newsletters and increase the newsletter business from a seven-figure revenue stream to an eight-figure revenue stream year-over-year," as exemplified by the launch of a flagship Bustle newsletter no later than next month. "It's a realistic goal if you are focused solely on that and it is your number one priority,” said marketing executive Kerel Cooper, citing the success of newsletters such as Morning Brew.

Rolling Stone's Fine Moves Into New Role:

Rolling Stone Editor Jason Fine has stepped down and will transition into the new role of director of content development, "focusing on film, T.V., podcasts, books and the like," Joe Pompeo of Vanity Fair reported Monday. Fellow editors Sean Woods and Jerry Portwood will oversee operations during the search for a successor. Pompeo added that President Gus Wenner (the son of founder Jann Wenner, who stepped down after the magazine's sale to Jay Penske) "will be closely involved in scouting for Fine's successor." Fine joined the magazine as an associate editor in 1997.

Internet Archive Features Editor & Publisher Archive:

The Internet Archive now includes a full, searchable archive of Editor & Publisher, a trade magazine that served as "the bible of the newspaper industry" for decades, according to Joshua Benton of NiemanLab. Current owner Mike Blinder approved the project after inquiring about the availability of microfilmed back issues. "Newspapers’ archives are an incredible storehouse of information about the history of our country," said Benton. "And too many of those archives are, as E&P’s were, left crumbling in some storage facility or hidden away on unindexed rolls of microfilm. If you work for a newspaper or magazine and your archives aren’t yet digitized and available online, do what Mike Blinder did and reach out to the Internet Archive, which can handle the process, often at no cost to you, and make sure the public will benefit from your newspaper’s work for years to come."

Google Launches News Showcase in Australia:

Google "has launched a limited version of its News Showcase in Australia" as it threatens to pull its search engine from the nation due to a proposed requirement that would force the technology platform to compensate local publishers, Campbell Kwan of ZDNet reported Thursday. The rollout includes a variety of publications, such as The Canberra Times, The Illawarra Mercury and InDaily. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison also held a "constructive meeting" about the proposed legislation with Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai Thursday. "At the end of the day, they understand that Australia sets the rules for how these things operate," Morrison said. "And I was very clear about how I saw this playing out."

Times Attains Subscription Record:

The New York Times announced in its Thursday earnings report that it "exceeded 7.5 million subscriptions for its digital products and print newspaper" in the fourth quarter of 2020, according to Marc Tracy. "In 2020, we reached two key milestones, both of which we expect to be enduring: Digital revenue overtook print for the first time, and digital subscription revenue, long our fastest-growing revenue stream, is also now our largest," said Meredith Kopit Levien, the company’s chief executive. "Those two milestones, and our best year on record for subscriptions, mark the end of the first decade of The Times’s transformation into a digital-first, subscription-first company." Total subscription revenue in 2020 "was up 10%, to $1.195 billion," although total ad revenue fell 26% to $392.4 million.