Good morning and happy Friday. You’ll get to enjoy this newsletter courtesy of Ben Mullin next week. I’ll be back after that. See more here are 10 media stories.
- We’re all on watch watch
On Monday, Apple Watch is expected to launch. There are, of course, a lot of questions about what it and wearables mean for journalists and the audiences they serve. Jack Riley explores what news might look like in a wearable world, what content works for your wrist and how wearables could make money. (Nieman Lab) | There could also be smart bands. (TechCrunch) | Wired has a list of what to expect from Monday’s launch, including more about a mode that lets the Apple Watch be, you know, just a watch. (Wired) | Reminder – the press wasn’t too impressed by the iPod or the iPhone. “Slashdot, the vox populi of its day, famously sniffed, ‘No wireless. Less space than a nomad. Lame.'” (BuzzFeed)
- Andrew Lack to NBC
Andrew Lack will be the new chairman of NBC News and MSNBC. (CNN) | “The odds on Brian Williams regaining the anchor chair just ticked up with Andrew Lack’s return to run NBC News.” (@jayrosen_nyu) | For weeks, current and past employees of NBC have reportedly been meeting with reporters to talk about Brian Williams and NBC. “These old-timers, current and former NBC News executives and journalists, wanted heads to roll. This week they got their way.” (Business Insider)
- DailyMail.com utterly refutes
In a statement, DailyMail.com Managing Editor Rhiannon Macdonald “utterly refutes” the Gawker story by James King entitled “My Year Ripping Off the Web With the Daily Mail Online.” He was just a freelancer and “he had had become unreliable and late,” the statement read, and “had to be repeatedly reminded about the need for proper attribution in his work. He offered a version of the story published by Gawker to the Washington Post last year. They rejected it after its inaccuracies and his unreliability were pointed out”. (The Guardian)
- Mr. Smith goes to Washington
On Wednesday, Vice CEO Shane Smith met with some senators in Washington. “The meetings came amid news that Vice will open its own Washington bureau in the next year as it expands its political and presidential campaign coverage, aimed at breaking what he sees as the bifurcated ‘Fox and MSNBC ad nauseam’ coverage.” Smith said he freaked out the one Republican who met with him. (The New York Times)
- Chris Matthews on his wife’s possible run for Congress
On Thursday night, Chris Matthews spoke about the possibility of his wife’s run for a seat in Maryland and promised viewers he’d continue being transparent about it. (Mediaite)
- ‘You have to embrace change.’
Gregory Favre, now 79, will launch the non-profit CALmatters in May or June. Favre, who was the president of news for McClatchy, an executive editor at the Sacramento Bee and a distinguished fellow at Poynter, said the new site will use longform journalism to cover California’s politics and government. (USA Today)
- Images of Holi
Friday is the Hindu festival Holi, and Quartz has “a photographic journey throughout the country, exploring the many different shades of Holi.” (Quartz) | Mashable also has some stunning images of Holi. (Mashable)
- And now for some March Madness, NPR-style
On Friday morning, NPR reported a fun story on some evolutionary biologists who thought up “Mammal March Madness.” It was inspired by a BuzzFeed story from 2013. “It was only 16 species — March Madness is 64. And it was whichever species was the cutest. There’s no science to that!” NPR’s prediction shows the fennec fox advancing to the final four. (NPR)
- Front page of the day
The Courier-Journal leads with a photo of stranded drivers. (Courtesy the Newseum)
- Job moves, edited by Benjamin Mullin
John DeVore has been named editor-in-chief of Internet Action Force. Previously, he was managing editor of TeamCoco.com. (Email) | Chris Amico is now interactive editor at “Frontline.” He is the co-founder of Homicide Watch D.C. (Poynter) | Jerry McBride is now editor at Kayak Fish Magazine. Previously, he was a writer there. (Mediabistro) | Job of the day: The Chattanooga Times Free Press is looking for a news editor. Get your résumés in! (Journalism Jobs) | Send Ben your job moves: bmullin@poynter.org.
Corrections? Tips? Rooting for the numbat? Please email me: khare@poynter.org. Would you like to get this roundup emailed to you every morning? Sign up here.
