Stream of Reading (Prepare to be Forwarded) – An Archive of What I'm Reading
Photo: Jonathan Leibson (Getty) Last week, BuzzFeed shuttered most of its podcasts, which included See Something Say Something, The News, and Reporting to You. In a memo to staff written after the company learned of a forthcoming Wall Street Journal article about the decision, BuzzFeed’s VP of news, Shani O. Hilton, said that podcasts would…
The other week, Dave Portnoy, the founder and chief of content of the sports blog Barstool Sports, did what he and fans of his site always do: ratcheted up an online spat to a fever pitch, transforming their collective rage at a perceived enemy into content. Even if it meant leaning into the type of…
Discovery Channel founder John Hendricks is tweaking the business model for his video streaming startup after falling short of his initial expectations for subscriber growth. When CuriosityStream was launched in 2015, Mr. Hendricks predicted that between five million and seven million people would pay to view the company’s blend of documentaries and other non-fiction content within two…
Cheddar Inc. set out to upend traditional cable TV with its financial news-focused streaming service. Now it is making a push onto the cable dial. The company this week went live on WOW, a Denver-based cable and broadband provider with close to 800,000 subscribers. The network has been made available to about 400,000 of WOW’s…
Photo: Jim Cooke (GMG) It wasn’t supposed to be like this, I swear. When these here Intertubes came to prominence, the idea was that information would finally be free; that people would know MORE about this stupid world than they did before, because everyone would have a voice and because anyone, regardless of background, could…
The cable channel FX announced today that it is launching a weekly documentary series focusing on the inner workings of the New York Times. This is not to be confused with the new Showtime documentary series about the New York Times. Unfortunately for these desperate, gullible TV executives: media is fucking boring. Do you think…
Graphic: Jim Cooke (The Atlantic) If you must know one thing about journalist Jesse Singal, it’s that he loves reporting on trans issues—trans kids, in particular. If you must know another thing, it’s that a lot of trans people, myself included, loathe his coverage of trans issues with a once-fiery passion that has since cooled…
Last November, Vox published a story by politics editor Laura McGann about New York Times politics reporter Glenn Thrush and what she called his “history of bad judgment” around young women journalists. The story detailed four women’s assertions that Thrush came onto or harassed them, usually in situations involving alcohol. Three allegedly took place during…
Apple Inc. this week took more jabs at Facebook Inc. over its privacy practices. But this time the iPhone maker went one step further, signaling it plans to encroach on the social-media company’s turf. As it touted its newest operating software for the mobile devices on Monday, Apple unveiled forthcoming features that collectively bear the…
Watching the film Phantom Thread, I kept wondering why I was supposed to be interested in a control freak who is consistently unpleasant to all the people around him. I kept looking at the other characters—his sister who manages his couture business, his seamstresses, eventually the furniture (as a child, I read a very nice…