Media Insider: Outlets Ask for Help Evacuating Afghan Colleagues, Axel Springer Eyes Politico, Facebook Reports Most-Viewed Content

Welcome to Media Insider, PR Newswire’s roundup of media news stories from the week.

Photo by Bill Dickinson, used under CC BY-NC 2.0.

CNBC | DAN MANGAN
New York Times, Washington Post, WSJ Ask Biden to Help Evacuate Afghan Colleagues of Journalists

The publishers of three major U.S. newspapers asked President Biden to help Afghan colleagues of their journalists evacuate Afghanistan. The requests from The New York Times, Washington Post, and Wall Street Journal came after they pleaded with the White House to move to safety more than 200 journalists and related people affiliated with the papers who are “in danger” at the Kabul airport. Post Publisher Fred Ryan said there are 204 journalists, support staff, and family members from the three newspapers who are stuck on the civilian side of the airport.

Related: Afghan journalists are “absolutely petrified” amid the Taliban takeover.

NEW YORK TIMES | EDMUND LEE
The Owner of Politico Is Said to Be Seeking $1 Billion in a Deal With Axel Springer

Politico, the Washington news site popular with Beltway power brokers, is seeking as much as $1 billion in a potential deal with the German publishing giant Axel Springer. Led by its owner, Robert Allbritton, Politico has been in talks with Springer about a potential investment or an outright sale, two people familiar with the matter said. It would be one of the most expensive media mergers in recent memory. A $1 billion deal would amount to five times Politico’s yearly sales.

Read next: Newsweek launches a geo-political podcast series, “The Diplomat.”

THE VERGE | MITCHELL CLARK
Facebook Releases a Report on the Most-Viewed Content in News Feed

Facebook has released a report to show what content was most widely viewed by Americans in the last quarter. The list includes a post from President Biden, a video from 5-Minute Crafts, and arguments about whether you should put sugar on spaghetti. Facebook’s report comes as a response to frequent reports that some of the platform’s posts with the most interaction are from right-wing sources that critics say could have a radicalizing effect on users. Facebook says that the report shows what people actually see on the platform, as opposed to what content on Facebook gets the most interaction, and that it’ll be creating these reports on a quarterly basis in the future.

ICYMI: Michael Moore joins other prominent writers on the digital news platform Substack.

YAHOO FINANCE
Boston Globe Joins With Media Organizations to Reinforce the Urgency of Vaccinations

In a special section published Aug. 18, The Boston Globe launched The Last Best Shot, a sweeping initiative to reinforce the importance of vaccinations in the fight against COVID-19. The launch features an editorial from the Globe’s editorial board urging bold efforts to vaccinate Americans, as well as several stories from the Globe’s top healthcare and metro reporters, and a compelling series of data visualizations. More than 50 newsrooms across the U.S. have answered the Globe’s call to action to publish similar editorial features urging the importance of vaccinations, including the Miami Herald, Chicago Sun-Times, and El Planeta Media.

Twitter has rolled out a new test feature that allows users to report COVID misinformation.

REUTERS | HELEN COSTER AND CHAVI MEHTA
Comcast, ViacomCBS to Launch Streaming Service SkyShowtime in Europe

Comcast Corp and ViacomCBS will launch a new streaming service, SkyShowtime, in Europe. It will provide content from Nickelodeon, Paramount+, Sky, and networks. SkyShowtime will be streamed in markets including Spain, Portugal, the Nordic countries, the Netherlands, and Central and Eastern Europe. The companies will have equal investment and control in the joint venture and will announce SkyShowtime’s subscription price at a later date. ViacomCBS has more than 42 million global streaming subscribers, while NBCUniversal’s Peacock streaming service has more than 20 million active monthly accounts.

In more international news, one of Malta’s wealthiest businessmen will face trial for the murder of an anti-corruption journalist.

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

Email Address

Subscribe

Maria Perez is director of web operations at Cision. In her spare time, she enjoys kickboxing, baking, and cuddling with her dog Toody.