For the Record

Christopher Dickey (1951-2020):

Daily Beast Foreign Editor Christopher Dickey died in Paris Thursday from heart failure. He was 68. A son of poet/novelist James Dickey, he was best known for his long career as a foreign correspondent with The Washington Post and Newsweek. In later years, he frequently commented on international affairs on MSNBC. "He was a grateful man, thankful for every person he met, every story someone told him, every article he was able to edit to perfection and for journalism as it was and to what it is evolving," recalled colleague Barbie Latza Nadeau.

Massive Twitter Hack Assisted by Employee:

A Twitter employee "was responsible for a wave of high profile account takeovers on Wednesday," according to leaked screenshots obtained by Joseph Cox of Motherboard and "two sources who took over accounts." Throughout Wednesday, a number of verified accounts (including those of Barack Obama, Joe Biden and Elon Musk) tweeted cryptocurrency scams in the attack, resulting in the platform blocking the ability of verified accounts to tweet. A Twitter spokesperson told Motherboard that the company "is still investigating whether the employee hijacked the accounts themselves or gave hackers access to the tool."

Guardian Announces More Layoffs:

The Guardian announced this week that it will eliminate up to 180 jobs, including 70 editorial positions. In an internal memo obtained by Jim Waterson, Editor-in-Chief Katharine Viner and Guardian Media Group CEO Annette Thomas cited the COVID-19 pandemic's "unsustainable financial outlook," with revenue expected to be "down by more than £25m on the year’s budget." The executives added that they "remained committed to keeping the Guardian free-to-read and not following the paywall model adopted by many rivals."

Apple's Audio Push:

Apple announced Wednesday that it will "start producing its own daily news briefing called Apple News Today," according to Kerry Flynn of CNN. The briefing, which will cover the day's news in less than 10 minutes, will be hosted by former WNYC journalists Shumita Basu and Duarte Geraldino. Additionally, the Apple News+ subscription service will begin to produce recordings of major stories from its publishers read by professional voice actors, including Esquire, GQ and New York. Magazines and news organizations will be "compensated based on engagement."

Lucas Joins Knopf:

National Book Foundation Executive Editor Lisa Lucas has been named senior vice president of the Knopf imprints Pantheon and Schocken Books, the publisher announced Wednesday. "I’ve loved watching Lisa deploy her formidable skills and boundless energy on behalf of the National Book Foundation; her work as an advocate for writers and readers has been truly inspiring,” Knopf Executive President and Publisher Reagan Arthur said in a statement. According to Hillel Italie of the Associated Press, Arthur "got in touch" with Lucas following a "tweet earlier this summer in which she inquired, jokingly, whether anyone was needed to run an 'equitable publishing house.'”

Times to Move Part of Hong Kong Office to Seoul:

The New York Times announced Tuesday that it will "relocate its Hong Kong-based digital news operation to Seoul, South Korea, a significant shift by an American news organization as China has stepped up its efforts to impede the affairs of the Asian metropolis," according to Michael M. Grynbaum. In an internal memo, editors and executives who oversee international coverage cited the need to "make contingency plans and begin to diversify our editing staff around the region" following the implementation of the recent Hong Kong national security law, which is "aimed at stymieing opposition and pro-democracy forces." Last week, the city's authorities "refused to renew a work permit for Chris Buckley," a longtime China correspondent previously asked to leave Beijing in May.

Sullivan, Weiss Leave Publications:

New York Writer-at-Large Andrew Sullivan and New York Times Op-Ed Staff Editor/Writer Bari Weiss left their respective publications Tuesday. According to The Week the resignations "appear to be related to recent debates within the wider media landscape about the alleged stifling of public discourse," with Weiss citing the "subject of constant bullying by colleagues who disagree" with her views in a resignation letter addressed to Publisher A. G. Sulzberger. In a series of tweets, Sullivan stated that he will "detail some exciting news" in his final New York column Friday.

New Documentary Traces Pulitzer-Winning Vietnam War Journalists:

Directed by former NPR correspondent Thomas D. Herman, "Dateline-Saigon" explores the Vietnam War coverage of several journalists who received Pulitzer Prizes for their dissenting work on the conflict, including 1972 Public Service contributor and 1989 General Nonfiction winner Neil Sheehan, 1964 International Reporting winner David Halberstam and 1966 International Reporting winner Peter Arnett. Completed in 2016 and screened at several events over the past few years (including a joint ProPublica-CPJ premiere in 2017), the film is now available to buy or rent on iTunes.

Google Reconfiguration Affects Ad Traffic:

Amid other tweaks, a 2016 decision to add an extra marketing slot to Google search results "[has] siphoned off vital traffic and made it harder — and costlier" for publishers to reach customers online, according to Gerrit De Vynck of Bloomberg. By July 2019, "more than half of searches kept users on Google for the first time, rather than sending people to other sites through a free web link or an ad," with SEO adviser Rand Fishkin characterizing the search engine as a "walled garden." The change has been more pronounced on mobile devices, where "the proportion of [...] searches that led to clicks on free web links dropped to 27% from 40%" in a three-year period following the introduction of the marketing slot.

Miami Herald Closes Custom Publishing Operation:

The Miami Herald will close HCP Media, a 20-year-old custom publishing enterprise that "carved a niche in the travel and tourism market, producing award-winning publications for its clients," citing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. "We are grateful for the creativity and passion of the HCP team and their dedication to their customers,” said Aminda Marqués González, president and publisher of Miami Herald Media Company and a co-chair of the Pulitzer Prize Board.