Media Insider: AP Crops Out Diversity, Berkshire Hathaway Sells Newspaper Assets, BBC Cuts Jobs

Welcome to Media Insider, PR Newswire’s round-up of media stories from the week.

Media Insider - Jan 31, 2020 - Collage of photos of people's faces and hands holding smartphones

AP NEWS | DAVID BAUDER
Photo cropping mistake leads to AP soul-searching on race

The Associated Press is committing to making diversity and inclusion its highest priority after a cropping mistake lead to backlash. Last week, an AP photographer covering the World Economic Forum took a photo of five climate activists. However, before sending the image, the photographer cropped out the African climate activist, Ugandan Vanessa Nakate, leaving a picture of four white women. The AP did not realize the image was cropped until it received backlash on social media for the distributed image. The initial explanation for the cropping was that it removed a distraction — a building behind Nakate. The mistake prompted a public apology to Nakate and three town hall meetings, which involved tense staff conversations over issues of racism and inclusion and the promise for expanded diversity training within the organization. Nakate has not directly responded to The AP’s outreach but posted a video on social media stating, “You didn’t just erase a photo. You erased a continent.”

The Washington Post also received backlash on social media this week: Felicia Sonmez and the tyranny of the social-media policy.

BLOOMBERG | KATHERINE CHIGLINSKY AND JOHN J EDWARDS III
Warren Buffett Says Goodbye to His Struggling Newspaper Business

Berkshire Hathaway completed the sale of its newspaper business to Lee Enterprises for $140 million. Berkshire also will lend Lee $576 million at a 9% annual rate with a 25-year maturity to cover the sale and Lee’s current debt. Warren Buffett, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, has always given journalists confidence in the industry because he purchased several small newspapers throughout the years, but recently he has been vocal about the dying print newspaper industry. This deal reinforces the view that mergers and acquisitions are the top strategy to slowing the fast-declining newspaper industry.

Looking for funding? Here are five tips for asking a potential funder.

BBC NEWS
BBC News to close 450 posts as part of £80m savings drive

BBC News announced around 450 jobs will be slashed to complete its £80m savings target by 2022. These cuts will focus on removing duplication from several programs that are putting resources into the same news stories. BBC News plans on investing the savings into digital content through its website and the launch of a new version of the BBC News app. Fran Unsworth, head of BBC News, stated: “We need to reshape BBC News for the next decade in a way which saves substantial amounts of money. We are spending too much of our resources on traditional linear broadcasting and not enough on digital.”

More on BBC: Why the BBC is so bad at engaging younger audiences.

THE NEW YORK TIMES | MIHIR ZAVERI
Ben Smith of BuzzFeed Named New York Times Media Columnist

Ben Smith, the editor in chief of BuzzFeed, is stepping down to be The New York Times’ next media columnist. The conversation regarding the move occurred between Smith and NYT executive editor Dean Baquet over lunch after Smith wrote a popular feature story on who would succeed Baquet. BuzzFeed hired Smith as editor in chief to help start its news division, BuzzFeed News. Smith spent eight years at BuzzFeed News building Pulitzer-nominated reporting. The rumored reason for Smith leaving is financial trouble and lack of growth at BuzzFeed but he quickly spoke up to debunk the rumors and said he simply is eager to get back to writing and reporting.

More job news: Emma Tucker becomes first female Sunday Times editor since 1901.

DIGIDAY | KAYLEIGH BARBER
Politico’s new FDA-focused subscription product costs as much as $75k a year

Politico is focusing on subscription revenue by launching a new subscription product covering the Food and Drug Administration called AgencyIQ. AgencyIQ will offer news coverage of the FDA as well as research and analysis for individuals working in regulatory affairs roles in the biotechnology, pharmaceutical, and medical industries. AgencyIQ plans to expand its coverage to focus on other regulatory agencies in the U.S., such as the Federal Trade Commission, and hopes to further expand to regulatory agencies around the world. Subscriptions for AgencyIQ will cost from $25,000 to $75,000 a year.

ICYMI: Facebook, Google, and Twitter scramble to stop misinformation about coronavirus.

Subscribe to Beyond Bylines to get media trends, journalist interviews, blogger profiles, and more sent right to your inbox.

[blog_subscription_form]

Erin Wade is a Senior Customer Content Specialist with PR Newswire. She is also an animal lover and aspiring world traveler. Tune into her insights as a social curator at @TotalCSR.

You may also like...

28 Responses

  1. George Meza says:

    very informative articles or reviews at this time.

  2. I appreciate you sharing this blog post. Thanks Again. Cool.

  3. I’m often to blogging and i really appreciate your content. The article has actually peaks my interest. I’m going to bookmark your web site and maintain checking for brand spanking new information.

  4. Sofia Sharp says:

    I just like the helpful information you provide in your articles

  5. Hi there to all, for the reason that I am genuinely keen of reading this website’s post to be updated on a regular basis. It carries pleasant stuff.

  6. Abdiel Cowan says:

    This is really interesting, You’re a very skilled blogger. I’ve joined your feed and look forward to seeking more of your magnificent post. Also, I’ve shared your site in my social networks!

  7. I appreciate you sharing this blog post. Thanks Again. Cool.

  8. I just like the helpful information you provide in your articles

  9. I very delighted to find this internet site on bing, just what I was searching for as well saved to fav

  10. Gunnar Park says:

    Hi there to all, for the reason that I am genuinely keen of reading this website’s post to be updated on a regular basis. It carries pleasant stuff.

  11. Gunnar Park says:

    very informative articles or reviews at this time.

  12. Pretty! This has been a really wonderful post. Many thanks for providing these details.

  13. I do not even understand how I ended up here, but I assumed this publish used to be great

  14. This was beautiful Admin. Thank you for your reflections.

  15. There is definately a lot to find out about this subject. I like all the points you made

  16. Lilly Ray says:

    I’m often to blogging and i really appreciate your content. The article has actually peaks my interest. I’m going to bookmark your web site and maintain checking for brand spanking new information.

  17. I really like reading through a post that can make men and women think. Also, thank you for allowing me to comment!

  18. Israel Gomez says:

    I just like the helpful information you provide in your articles

  19. This is my first time pay a quick visit at here and i am really happy to read everthing at one place

  20. Lilly Watts says:

    For the reason that the admin of this site is working, no uncertainty very quickly it will be renowned, due to its quality contents.

  21. naturally like your web site however you need to take a look at the spelling on several of your posts. A number of them are rife with spelling problems and I find it very bothersome to tell the truth on the other hand I will surely come again again.

  22. Laura Moran says:

    Nice post. I learn something totally new and challenging on websites

  23. Junior Glenn says:

    Hi there to all, for the reason that I am genuinely keen of reading this website’s post to be updated on a regular basis. It carries pleasant stuff.

  24. Heidy Mercer says:

    This is my first time pay a quick visit at here and i am really happy to read everthing at one place

  25. Pretty! This has been a really wonderful post. Many thanks for providing these details.

  26. naturally like your web site however you need to take a look at the spelling on several of your posts. A number of them are rife with spelling problems and I find it very bothersome to tell the truth on the other hand I will surely come again again.

  27. Jessie Price says:

    Good post! We will be linking to this particularly great post on our site. Keep up the great writing

  28. This is really interesting, You’re a very skilled blogger. I’ve joined your feed and look forward to seeking more of your magnificent post. Also, I’ve shared your site in my social networks!

Leave a Reply