Odds & Ends
November 8, 2021
5:18 am
Red Ventures isn’t selling ZDNet anytime soon. If anything, the 30-year-old franchise is growing. Look for enhanced coverage of health, education and personal finance in
>> Buzzfeed
Alex Kantrowitz Wrote the Book on Facebook and Other Titans
May 11, 2020
6:13 pm
BuzzFeed senior technology reporter Alex Kantrowitz says he’s proud of his first book, Always Day One, published last month in hardcover and online. Always Day One explores management attitudes and techniques that keep Amazon, Facebook and Microsoft on top (Apple not so much, due to its secrecy, Alex says).
Behind BuzzFeed’s 200+ Layoffs: The Big Roll-Up
January 24, 2019
12:49 pm
More than 1,000 media people lost their jobs yesterday. At BuzzFeed the toll will range between 225 and 250. At Verizon Media Group — home to Yahoo, AOL and TechCrunch — it was more like 850. What’s happening and what does it mean for PR?
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FRIDGE NOTES
Vendors: Don’t Forget the Contact Info
February 8, 2023
Bloomberg reporter Matthew Boyle Tweets: “Another hour lost to rooting around a startup’s ‘newsroom’ page, looking in vain through the fawning case studies and trite “thought leadership” blog posts for the name of an actual human media contact with an email address and (!) phone number.”
Penske Media Buys 20% of Vox Media
February 7, 2023
So 1/5 of The Verge and 1/5 of Vox, and the other titles, now belong to the publisher of Rolling Stone and Women’s Wear Daily. Interesting deal and a nice scoop from the NYT.
The Verge: ‘CNET Pushed Reporters to Be More Favorable to Advertisers, Staffers Say’
February 3, 2023
CNET insiders are leaking, helping Mia Sato deliver this powerful story, which alleges that CNET buckles to advertisers, and also, that editors knew about the unreliable AI-written copy, but owner Red Ventures made them use it anyway.
CNET and Owner Red Ventures Have a Mess on Their Hands
February 2, 2023
The latest from Futurism: ‘Leaked Messages Show How CNET’s Parent Company Really Sees AI-Generated Content…
They’re happy to spoonfeed you unlabeled AI garbage — but they’re terrified Google will take notice.’
Bloomberg TV to Launch ‘Bloomberg Originals,’ Moves QuickTake to Social
February 2, 2023
Great scoop from the WSJ’s Alexandra Bruell (sub required).
Good Pitching Advice from Axios
February 2, 2023
Tweeted by Axios health tech reporter Erin Brodwin: “If you’re pitching me on a company’s credentials, no need to tell me how great the founding team is, where they’ve worked, etc. — I’ll find out. Tell me how they solve a problem, how they’re diff from rivals (and there are *always* rivals), how they track outcomes and get paid.”
ChatGPT Tells Accounting Today ‘Don’t Worry’
February 1, 2023
AI won’t replace accountants, says ChatGPT, as published in Accounting Today.