What We’re Reading

We keep an eye out for the most interesting stories about Labby subjects: digital media, startups, the web, journalism, strategy, and more.

Boston Business Journal / Don Seiffert

In 2021, Gannett paid its CEO Mike Reed $7.74 million while cutting its overall headcount by 24% →

“The company said Reed earns 160 times more than its median employee, who earns $48,419.” —SS

What else we were reading on April 11

Vanity Fair / Joe Pompeo

In the wake of leadership turmoil, CNN tries to get back to the basics with coverage of the war in Ukraine →

CNN has dozens of journalists and other staffers in Kyiv, second only to the BBC. —SS

The New York Times Co.

Lydia Polgreen is returning to The New York Times as an opinion columnist →

“[Polgreen] is returning to The Times from Gimlet, a podcast studio at Spotify, where she has been managing director. She left The Times in 2017 to be editor in chief of HuffPost, leading a team of hundreds of journalists publishing 16 editions across the globe in nine languages.” —SS

New Jersey Hills

New Jersey Hills Media Group, owner of 14 local newspapers, converts to nonprofit ownership →

“The decision by the New Jersey Hills Media Group, the largest remaining independent weekly newspaper group in New Jersey, follows in the footsteps of the Philadelphia Inquirer, Chicago Sun-Times, Tampa Bay Times, Salt Lake Tribune, and Colorado Community Media, whose 24 weeklies in the Denver suburbs converted to nonprofit ownership last May … Four of the newspapers – one each in Morris, Somerset, Essex and Hunterdon counties – are more than 100 years old, and all 14 have been published continuously for more than 40 years.” —SS

The Boston Globe / Jon Chesto

“It’s devastating.” As Boston-area weeklies close, towns ponder civic life without local news. →

““It’s heartbreaking to know we’re going to lose our papers that arrived on our lawns for decades…at the end of the day, I expect this is a wake-up call to start thinking about an alternative.” —SS

The Washington Post / Philip Bump

The very different media universes in which Americans live, visualized →

“Fox consistently leads in the ratings. It’s not because Americans trust it (it trails most other national outlets); it’s because Republicans often rely on it to the exclusion of other sources.”

The Washington Post / Pranshu Verma

Meet the 1,300 librarians racing to back up Ukraine’s digital archives →

“Using open source tools and Slack, these volunteers have backed up everything from the country’s historical records and census data to children’s poems and basket weaving techniques.” —SS

Financial Times / Alex Barker and Alistair Gray

The Guardian will test a paywall on its news app →

“The measure caps a seven year journey for the Guardian’s leadership, moving from outright hostility to paywalls under former longtime editor Alan Rusbridger to relying on subscriptions and contributions for the majority of revenues under his successor Katharine Viner. One long serving journalist described the transition as welcome but ‘surreal'”

The Wall Street Journal / Salvador Rodriguez

Elon Musk won’t join Twitter’s board after all →

Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal warned staff of “distractions ahead” when making the announcement. —SS

Coda Story / Zenaira Bakhsh

“I cannot hide”: Viral photos from conflict in Kashmir haunt subjects for years →

Who has the right to be forgotten? —HT

The Guardian / Isabel Choat

Bilan launches as the first all-women media organization in Somalia →

“Led by one of the few female senior news producers in the country, the team of six will produce content for TV, radio and online media on issues such as gender-based violence, women in politics and female entrepreneurs. Crucially, they will have the autonomy to make editorial decisions.”

Current / Leigh Giangreco

NPR’s “Code Switch” will get a $600,000 grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting →

“The two-year grant is part of a more ambitious plan to raise the profile of the podcast on race and identity. The Code Switch team will grow with the addition of a new host and a senior editor, enabling it to produce more short news pieces for NPR shows ‘as well as longer features written and produced by influential journalists and scholars, member station contributors, and Code Switch fellows,’ CPB said in a release.”