Study Hall Digest 1/21/2019

By Study Hall staff writer Allegra Hobbs (@allegraehobbs)

Did you know that this is, in many respects, a golden age for journalism? It says it right there in the New York Times: “This is, in many respects, a golden age for journalism.” Very cool! But not so fast — it’s not as golden as it used to be, and if you Tinder-swiping millennial morons can put down your Instagram lives for a SECOND, the paper of record will explain WHY.

The piece in question, a bit of analysis from Jim Rutenberg on BuzzFeed’s scoop that Trump directed Cohen to lie about a Moscow real estate deal — a scoop the special counsel’s office has disputed — compares the current frenzy for big stories in a political landscape marked by scandal to the Watergate era of journalism. But instead of Woodward and Bernstein’s “methodical news-gathering,” we have this so-called golden age’s “insatiable appetite of social media and cable news for fresh material” of which BuzzFeed is emblematic. The Times piece states BuzzFeed is all about “immediacy,” “viral content” and takes care to note BuzzFeed’s other, non-news content of silly listicles. All of these things can imperil accuracy, argues Rutenberg.

The implication, of course, is that BuzzFeed was so obsessed with virality and immediacy that is hurtled through the reporting process on a high-stakes story. The listicles on BuzzFeed’s non-news pages apparently support that thesis. It’s an out-of-touch analysis that underscores the disconnect between self-serious old media stalwarts and new (digital) media: the former can’t fathom that a WEBSITE (!!) called BuzzFeed that pedals kitten videos alongside White House coverage could be worth taking seriously. Let’s not forget that the New York Times has a silly side as well…or is the op-ed page not a long-running satire project?

Is it really any surprise that Jake Tapper, a civility-loving Sorkin character come to life, decided to share Robby Soave’s take on the MAGA hat-wearing teens’ confrontation with a Native American elder? Pundits, in the interest of both-sidesism, seem to be really grappling with the supposed complexity of this encounter when only one party was donning the chosen garb of white supremacists. The painstaking parsing of who did precisely what seems to ignore the fact that wearing a MAGA hat is, in and of itself, a racist intimidation tactic. It seems silly to quibble over whether or not this sea of white faces was chanting “build that wall” when they are all wearing bright red signs that essentially scream “build that wall.” Also interesting that we’re supposed to believe their PR-prepared version of events when those hats declare allegiance to a proven serial liar.

What a week it’s been for Bustle founder Bryan Goldberg behaving badly! Let’s check in with his ongoing projects:

• New “Gawker” announced its first hires. Remember Gawker? Notoriously anti-establishment? Living and dying by an ethos of savaging the powerful? Weird choice to hire an editorial director who tweeted prolifically about suspecting her maid of stealing her luxury goods (I mean who hasn’t been there) plus some bigoted garbage about people of color…and, more recently, plagiarized tweets. But then again, new Gawker was never going to be old Gawker. Should we even call it Gawker? Stupid Media Project Run by a Union Buster has a better ring to it.
• The Mic “relaunch” is going about as well as expected. The Mic Union on Friday published an op-ed saying management had lied to staffers about the company’s financial circumstances. It also said Mic has repurposed stories worked on by former staffers, some of whom had no input in the final product. So about what I’d expect from a guy who fired his entire unionized staff to rebuild a newsroom on non-union labor.
• Bryan is not currently accepting feedback, by the way — his Twitter is locked. One male feminist blog founder profiting off shitty labor conditions can only take so much fan mail, I guess.

Speaking of Media Men Behaving Badly, Joshua Topolsky, who you’ll recall fired Outline staff writers apparently due to financial woes, is launching a tech vertical called Input. You’ll notice in his announcement that he takes several moments to shit on existing tech journalism, which he characterizes as a bunch of cozy ass-kissing. The announcement is almost certainly a targeted dig at famed tech journalist Kara Swisher, with whom Josh has a long history of Twitter spats. Swisher essentially responded with a weary sigh and an “Oh, Josh,” which sounds about right. It also appears that the new vertical will rely heavily on freelance labor, which I guess is good for freelancers, but a bad look for someone who just fired all their staff writers.

Everyone in media Twitter was navel-gazing and talking about their personality foibles this past week, so business as usual on Twitter, except this time it was in the form of a new test from Nate Silver’s FiveThirtyEight. Want to see your maladjustment graphed out in a triangular shape? Right this way. I’m moderately depressive and not very agreeable but I am open to new experiences. A quick scroll through Twitter seems to indicate just about everyone else in media checks all those boxes as well. It’s great to celebrate what makes each of us unique!

In a devastating blow to LGBTQ media, Grindr has shut down its digital magazine INTO. Grindr announced the shuttering as a pivot to video — but staff has stated the video department was also fired. It has been pointed out that the closure comes a little over a month after INTO reported on a post from Grindr president Scott Chen defining marriage as “holy matrimony between a man and a woman.” Chen has said the decision was the result of evaluating “what is best for Grindr” — but it is clearly not what is best for queer media. Maybe it was just what is best for him.

Finally, I have one last thought, and I hope you’ll carry it with you throughout the week. Generously buttered noodles, sprinkled with just a quarter cup of parsley for color and freshness, are the perfect blank canvas for any stew or braise. You know it, I know it, we all know it…well, not all of us. 🙁

SHORT LINKS:

• USA Today owner Gannett Inc.’s pursuit of Gizmodo Media may have been derailed by a takeover approach from MNG Enterprises, also known as Digital First Media, which recently announced it wants to acquire the company for around $1.4 billion. So maybe Gannett won’t buy Gizmodo — what other bidders are in the running? Oh, just an “unnamed private equity firm and…BRYAN FUCKING GOLDBERG.
• Huffington Post’s Ashley Feinberg got Jack Dorsey to sit for an interview, in which he struggles to explain his attempts to placate far right commentators like Candace Owens as well as well as his meditation practice and how that plays into how he runs Twitter.
• Tumblr, about a month ago, purged its site of porn and adult content — a controversial move that many have countered is not great for sex workers and other marginalized groups. Yet white-nationalist content seems to be thriving. Internet-users, consider yourselves protected from offensive content.
• Facebook, a very hip and cool and young platform, is developing a teen meme hub called LOL (the concept is still in the testing stages).