Good morning. Here are 10 media stories.
- Qaida affiliate says it will kill journalist
British-American photojournalist Luke Somers appeared in a video by an Al Qaida affiliate in Yemen. The video’s “timing suggested a reaction to a rescue attempt on Nov. 25, a joint raid by American commandos and Yemeni troops on a cave in a remote part of Yemen, where Mr. Somers was believed to be held.” (NYT)
- How Philadelphia mag staffer helped set off Bill Cosby’s downfall
Philadelphia contributing editor Dan McQuade accompanied a friend with an extra ticket to a Hannibal Buress show in October and recorded a clip of the comedian calling Cosby a rapist. A BuzzFeed editor noticed his subsequent post, and the boulder that flattened Cosby’s career and reputation gathered speed from there. McQuade “feels like all he did was shoot a video and write an easy blog post.” (Billy Penn)
- Hire people who write shareable stuff
At a conference in Sydney, BuzzFeed Editor-in-Chief Ben Smith said “publishers needed to distinguish between ‘hiring young people who know how to tweet, versus journalists who write stuff that people want to tweet. The two often get confused.'” (The Newspaper Works)
- Ann Marie Gardner leaves Modern Farmer
Staffers learned yesterday she’d left the publication. “Gardner was known to have a fraught relationship with Modern Farmer’s investor, the Canadian mining magnate Frank Giustra, who recently agreed to keep the magazine afloat in exchange for additional shares from Gardner, who was a minority owner.” (Capital) | Magazine’s statement says Giustra “remains committed to the Modern Farmer brand and Ms. Gardner’s vision” and that “the rest of Modern Farmer’s editorial and advertising staff would remain.” (NYT)
- Cat Fancy is no more
It and Dog Fancy are being replaced by Catster and Dogster, respectively. (Folio)
- How the wrong footage ended up in a Ferguson protest report
Oregon’s KGW mistakenly edited footage from a San Francisco protest into a report about a Ferguson protest in Portland. “News Director Rick Jacobs called to confirm the footage was mistakenly sucked into KGW’s system alongside other social media footage from Portland.” (The Portland Mercury)
- OC Register lays off business staff
About 100 people in different non-newsroom departments at the Orange County Register and Riverside (Calif.) Press-Enterprise lost their jobs. (LAT) | Register Publisher Rich Mirman: “Unfortunately, the business is not profitable.” (OC Weekly)
- Fellowship funds ‘restorative’ journalism
The nonprofit Images and Voices of Hope has awarded five journalists $2,500 each to work on stories that “explore the tragedy and crime but highlight resilience and what is possible in a way that can maybe help people respond to crisis,” IVOH managing director Mallary Tenore (my former coworker here at Poynter.org) tells Lene Bech Sillesen. (CJR)
- Front pages of the day, curated by Kristen Hare
The New York tabs front a Staten Island jury’s decision to not indict the police officer who killed Eric Garner. (Courtesy the Newseum)
- Job moves, edited by Benjamin Mullin
Matt Thompson will be deputy editor of theatlantic.com. He’s currently director of vertical initiatives for NPR. (Poynter) | Mat Honan will be Silicon Valley bureau chief for BuzzFeed. He’s an editor and writer at Wired. (Re/code) | Justin Yurkanin is now manager of multimedia at Alabama Media Group. Previously, he was a photojournalist for the Las Vegas Review-Journal. (Email) | Sarah Karnasiewicz is now food editor of RealSimple.com. Previously, she was a writer at The Wall Street Journal. (Fishbowl NY) | Job of the Day: The (Rochester, New York) Democrat and Chronicle is looking for a senior engagement editor. Get your résumés in! (Career Builder) | Send Ben your job moves: bmullin@poynter.org.
Corrections? Tips? Please email me: abeaujon@poynter.org. Would you like to get this roundup emailed to you every morning? Sign up here.
