Mother Jones says Facebook’s ‘Big Brother’ tactics have cost it jobs
New York Post October 27, 2020 Left-leaning investigative magazine Mother Jones has taken another shot at Facebook — this time claiming the social network’s “Big Brother” tactics have cost it jobs. On Monday Mother Jones’ news editor Patrick Caldwell revealed that the news censorship tactics of the social network run by Mark Zuckerberg cost it some $400,000 in lost revenue over the last three years. The $400,000 loss was particularly painful when the company had to reduce payroll to offset the coronavirus, resulting in it laying off six people on its 90 person staff, Caldwell wrote in the urgent appeal to readers for funds. “That $400,000 inevitably
COVID-19 pandemic is turning us into readers again
New York Post October 15, 2020 If the media industry were to proclaim one silver lining of the pandemic it would be the book sale boom. Kids books are doing especially well as parents look for ways to keep their tots occupied at a time when playdates are hard to come by. E-book revenues for children and young adult books this year through August have surged 63.2 percent to $83.6 million, according to figures from the Association of American Publishers released this week. Adults also appear to be doing more reading — and listening — at a time when many bars and theaters remain closed
Father-daughter duo rebrands Bedford magazine, doubles ad-page count
New York Post October 13, 2020 In a rare success story in the midst of the pandemic, a father-daughter team took over a tiny magazine named after Martha Stewart’s hometown of Bedford, NY, and doubled its ad-page count in the first issue. The buyer of the magazine, simply called Bedford, is Michael Kaplan, who has long been active in the commercial real estate world around Westchester. “The housing market is booming,” Kaplan explained of his success with the former TownVibe Media holding, which he renamed Bedford and New Canaan Magazine because it now covers towns in Westchester and Connecticut. The deal was possible due to the pandemic,
Google’s $1 Billion Pledge To Publishers Merits Caution
MediaPost October 5, 2020 In announcing Google's pledge of $1 billion in licensing payments to news publishers, CEO Sundar Pichair described his early affinity for newspapers as a child growing up India. Every morning at breakfast, he waited for his father and grandfather to finish reading the paper before handing it off to him to devour the latest headlines. It's a heartwarming account of an inter-generational bonding ritual that formed a reverence for journalism and its vital role in a democracy. Sadly, many newspapers have died out amid declining readership and advertising revenue in the past 20 years, a period that coincides with Google's