For the Record

Luminary and New York Join Forces:

Podcast platform Luminary and New York magazine announced Wednesday that they will collaborate on "Tabloid," a new series. According to the outlets, the series "will tackle a flashy tabloid tale, researching it to the hilt and revealing whole new depths of intrigue — and drama." The first season, centered around Ivanka Trump, will debut next week along with an accompanying print story by Vanessa Grigoriadis.

L.A. Times' Subscription Woes:

Following its 2018 acquisition by Patrick Soon-Shiong, the Los Angeles Times has struggled to meet the owner's ambitious subscription goals, yielding 170,000 digital subscribers in comparison to 2.7 million at The New York Times and 1.7 million at The Washington Post. "Churn management" geared toward cultivating valuable customers "is a lot more about having true leadership in analytics, consumer insights and having a newsroom leadership that finds value in applying those insights to overt and some passive digital behaviors," observed former Gizmodo CEO Raju Narisetti, a professor of professional practice at the Columbia Journalism School.

Hal Prince (1928–2019):

Theatrical producer/director Hal Prince died Wednesday in Reykjavík. He was 91. With credits ranging from "West Side Story" to "The Phantom of the Opera," Prince enjoyed significant collaborations with 1985 Drama winner Stephen Sondheim (including all of his Broadway productions from "Company" [1970] to "Merrily We Roll Along" [1981]) and 1988 Drama winner Alfred Uhry. He also produced "Fiorello!", which received the 1960 Drama Prize.

Migrant Writers Sign Open Letter to Washington:

2016 Fiction winner Viet Thanh Nguyen is among nearly three dozen migrant and refugee writers who have "signed an open letter pleading with Washington politicians to take action over inhumane conditions in detention centres on the U.S.-Mexico border," Alison Flood of The Guardian reported Tuesday. “The reports of death, abuse, overcrowding, untreated illness, malnutrition and lack of basic hygiene are abhorrent, especially since many of those affected are children," the writers said. 

Gawker Revival Shelved:

Bustle Media Group has postponed indefinitely its planned relaunch of Gawker and laid off its staff, the media company announced Tuesday. According to Todd Spangler of Variety, CEO Bryan Goldberg’s 2018 purchase of the Gawker.com assets "was part of his larger roll-up strategy to build a large-scale digital media company by combining smaller and/or distressed properties," including Nylon and Flavorpill.

Investigative Reporters Persevere:

Countering the 24/7 news cycle, many smaller news organizations are supporting investigative and explanatory reporting despite financial and logistical hurdles. "You have to choose not to write for quantity, but for quality," said Ris Twigg, who pursued a project about gentrification at the Columbus-based Matter News. "Journalism is an exchange of ideas and information, and if we can’t do it creatively and informatively, what value-add does the newspaper industry have anymore?" 

Lowery on Race and Politics:

According to Politico's Michael Calderone, "some journalists of color are growing increasingly vocal in their push for media outlets to take race head-on in political coverage" of President Trump's recent remarks about Baltimore and the Rev. Al Sharpton. "Social media provides an important outlet for minority journalists to speak clearly and decisively about how they see things and create external pressure that forces institutions not only to respond, but to consider perspectives they might not hear," said 2016 National Reporting contributor Wesley Lowery.

Heilemann, Battelle Commence The Recount: 

Political journalist John Heilemann and Wired co-founder John Battelle launched The Recount on Monday. According to Battelle, the video-driven news site will offer a "unique mashup of each day's reporting and commentary" in clips of five minutes or less. 

Nation, CJR Spearhead Climate Coverage:

More than 60 news organizations have announced that they will participate in Covering Climate Now, an initiative co-founded by the Columbia Journalism Review and The Nation in partnership with The Guardian. Each outlet will run climate-focused coverage between September 16 and September 23, coinciding with the United Nations' Climate Action Summit. "To elevate climate coverage is no more of a value judgment than it is to sideline such coverage," Nation Environmental Correspondent Mark Hertsgaard and CJR Editor-in-Chief/Publisher Kyle Pope said in a joint statement.

Media Literacy Games Spike in Popularity:

Indiana University's Network Science Institute has developed Fakey, a game that enables participants to discover the provenance of an article in their social media feeds. "Thousands of people have played it and a couple of dozen have played a lot and have expressed interest in using it in classrooms or spreading the word about it or offering suggestions for improvement," said Mihai Avram, a University of Illinois doctoral student who developed the game.