For the Record

New Yorker Union Initiates Daylong Walkout:

More than 100 employees represented by The New Yorker Union (including fact checkers, web producers and other editorial employees represented by the collective bargaining unit) commenced a 24-hour walkout Thursday morning "after recent rounds of negotiations with management failed," according to Katie Robertson of The New York Times. Natalie Meade, the union chair and a fact checker at the magazine, "said the union wanted to raise the salary minimum to $65,000" after a recent pay study by the union revealed that parent company Condé Nast's editorial assistants were paid a median salary of $42,000. "It is our hope that, as opposed to resorting to actions like this one, the union will bargain in good faith and return a counter proposal, as is standard in negotiations," the magazine said in a statement. "That way, we can work together productively to reach a final contract as quickly as possible." (New Yorker Editor David Remnick is a member of the Pulitzer Prize Board.)

Google, Facebook Offer Threats in Australian News Battle:

Google "has threatened to remove its search engine from Australia and Facebook has threatened to remove news from its feed for all Australian users if a code forcing the companies to negotiate payments to news media companies goes ahead," Josh Taylor of The Guardian reported Thursday. The companies are "fighting against legislation currently before the parliament that would force the digital platforms to enter into negotiations with news media companies for payment for content, with an arbiter to ultimately decide the payment amount if no agreement can be reached." Google Australia Managing Director Mel Silva defended the ultimatum to the Australian Senate. "The principle of unrestricted linking between websites is fundamental to search and coupled with the unmanageable financial and operational risk if this version of the code were to become law, it would give us no real choice but to stop making Google Search available in Australia," she said. "Withdrawing our services from Australia is the last thing that Google want to have happen, especially when there is another way forward."

SPJ Asks Biden to End Agency Restrictions:

In a letter, the Society of Professional Journalists has asked President Biden "to undo rules that constrain which federal agency personnel can speak directly to reporters, writing that it has amounted to 'extreme censorship,'" according to Zack Budryk of The Hill. "Agencies that the public count on, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration, have stymied reporting for years," the letter states. "Often, the press is not allowed in their facilities and reporters are prohibited from contacting staff without the authorities' oversight; in reality, reporters are often not allowed to speak to anyone." The letter notes that opposition to the rules manifested as early as 2015, when representatives from a coalition of trade organizations met with President Obama to gauge the possibility of reform.

Google, French Publishers Reach Agreement:

Google "has reached an agreement with an association of French publishers over how it will be pay for reuse of snippets of their content," Natasha Lomas of TechCrunch reported Thursday. The technology company was forced to negotiate with the publishers after exhausting its legal options when a "'neighboring right' for news was transposed into national law" during the European Union copyright reforms of 2019. According to a Google press release, the agreement “establishes a framework within which Google will negotiate individual licensing agreements with IPG certified [or state-recognized] publishers" for inclusion in its News Showcase program. However, the company "has not confirmed how much money will be distributed to publishers in France solely under the agreed framework over content reuse which is directly linked to the neighboring right."

Pack Resigns at Request of Biden Administration:

U.S. Agency for Global Media CEO Michael Pack resigned at 2:00 p.m. Wednesday following a request from the Biden administration, according to Dan De Luce of NBC News. "It was a tremendous honor to serve alongside you," said Pack in an internal email. "I firmly believe that — thanks to your support, patriotism, and understanding — a great amount of much-needed reform was achieved in the past eight months." The resignation followed a whistleblower complaint alleging that Pack retained law firm McGuireWoods in a $2 million effort "to conduct investigations of employees he wanted to remove."

Record Number of FOIA Requests Filed in Trump Era:

More Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests "were filed during the past four years than at any time in American history, per the FOIA Project, a nonprofit project that gathers comprehensive information on federal FOIA decisions," Sara Fischer of Axios reported Tuesday. The media filed a total of 386 FOIA cases during the Trump era, with BuzzFeed News leading news organizations in filings. These encompassed such documents as "the unredacted Mueller report and underlying FBI interviews" and "the criminal referral letter from the Inspector General for the intelligence community" that precipitated the president's first impeachment. A BuzzFeed spokesperson told Fischer that "scoops from FOIA requests have racked up millions of total page views."

Pack Whistleblower Complaint Alleges Impropriety:

A whistleblower complaint against U.S. Agency for Global Media CEO Michael Pack alleges that the head of Voice of America's parent agency "hired a law firm at a rate of about $500 an hour and spent $2 million in taxpayer funds to compile personnel dossiers on managers he had targeted for removal," Paul Farhi of The Washington Post reported Tuesday. According to the complaint, which has been coordinated by the Government Accountability Project, Pack hired law firm McGuireWoods "on Aug. 12 [...] — the same day he removed six senior USAGM officials, including its executive director, general counsel and chief financial officer." Neither Pack nor McGuireWoods partner John D. Adams responded to Farhi's requests for comment.

Andreessen Horowitz Plans Opinion Publication:

Menlo Park, Calif.-based venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz will "expand its publication of content related to technology and business on its website through an opinion section that publishes articles from outside contributors," Zoë Bernard of The Information reported Tuesday. A recent job listing for the executive editor position details the firm's plan to “dramatically scale our editorial operation—across coverage areas and across mediums (especially video) […] to grow and lead a talented team of creatives, producers, talent, and marketers." Editor in Chief Sonal Chokshi will oversee the expansion. Co-founder Marc Andreessen "has privately expressed antipathy toward the press, which he and some other Silicon Valley leaders consider to be overly critical of technology firms and their perceived impact on society."

United States Opposes Proposed Australian News Regulations:

In a submission to an Australian parliamentary inquiry, the United States government characterized draft legislation that would force platforms such as Google and Facebook to pay news organizations for sharing content as "fundamentally imbalanced" and "[running] counter to the U.S.-Australia free trade agreement," Calla Wahlquist of The Guardian reported Monday. "In the view of the United States, it would be preferable to pursue additional market study and consultation to identify a specific market failure that might be addressed first though a voluntary code, and if demonstrably ineffective, through Australia’s regulatory rule-making process," the filing states. The bills would "impose a mandatory code of conduct on digital platforms which would allow for both individual and collective bargaining by Australian media companies to determine payment for displaying news content in Google Search and on Facebook," while platforms would be required to provide media outlets "with 14 days advance notice of algorithmic changes that would affect their business."

Newsrooms Invest in Protective Equipment, Training Before Inauguration:

Newsrooms such as the Los Angeles Times "have distributed protective equipment and held safety trainings to prepare reporters for Inauguration Day" following the January 6 storming of the Capitol, Kerry Flynn of CNN reported Monday. The Times equipment includes "gas masks, helmets and body armor," while reporters at The Washington Post "will get a refresher on a training program that teaches them how to make decisions in contentious situations" in addition to receiving protective equipment. "All of the things that are very normed and ceremonial have been up in the air," said Tracy Grant, a managing editor at The Washington Post. "Nothing about this has been predictable, and so we are prepared for things to change right up until the last moment."