News layoffs, Free Press editor leaves to save reporter jobs: TBN Ticker for Jan. 13, 2023

This week, TBN is covering the remarkable story of a newspaper editor who stepped down in hopes his salary savings would save jobs at the Gannett-owned Detroit Free Press. This comes as another round of layoffs and closures continue to dog the industry in the first month of 2023. 

Round of layoffs coming at Reach…Reach Plc is planning on slashing roughly 200 jobs as part of a cost cutting strategy after print advertising revenue fell about 20 percent in the three months to Dec. 25 and digital revenue slumped nearly 6 percent. The decision will save the British publisher at least £30 million or $36 million. Read more here.

And layoffs at Dow Jones…IAPE 1096, the union that represents business journalists at Dow Jones & Co. properties such as The Wall Street Journal and MarketWatch.com, sent out the following on Wednesday, “The union has been informed by Dow Jones management that the company intends to eliminate a number of positions today via layoff. At this time, the total number of jobs, working locations and departments of affected employees is unknown. This does appear to be a global effort, with employees outside the United States also receiving invitations to layoff meetings. IAPE will keep all members apprised of further developments.” Read more here.

Sqoop shutters… Sqoop, a site used by business journalists to track Securities and Exchange Commission filings, U.S. Patent and Trademark filings and federal lawsuits, is shutting. Founder Bill Hankes wrote, “As most of you know, we’ve had a series outages and technical setbacks over the course of the last six months. At times, it seemed like my development team was taking one step forward and two backwards. I brought on a trusted expert to help me assess our code base and determine what it would take to relaunch the service. Sadly, the answer is too far out of reach, and I can no longer afford to solely fund the company’s operations as I have been. I know from the hundreds of kind notes over the years how much Sqoop has meant to the journalism community, a profession that I truly love.” Read the full note here.

Free Press editor steps aside to save his troops… The Detroit Free Press top editor Peter Bhatia will step down from his post on Jan. 18, in hopes that the newspaper’s owner, Gannett, will use financial savings from his departure to reduce the number of layoffs at the Free Press that are set to occur this month. “We’re in a difficult period economically. The company is going through a layoff process and I essentially made the decision to lay myself off in the interest of saving other jobs,” Bhatia said. “I do have other opportunities that will probably come to work out at some point but if by getting my salary out of the budget it saves some jobs of people on the staff, I think that’s the right thing for the Free Press.” Read more here.

WSJ makes a tech beat hire… Tom Dotan has joined The Wall Street Journal to cover Microsoft and business technology. He has been covering YouTube, Google and Alphabet for Insider. He also worked at The Information and the Los Angeles Business Journal. Dotan worked freelance for the Guardian, Marketplace, KCET and the Sacramento Bee. Dotan has a master’s degree in online journalism from USC’s Annenberg School of Journalism.

Time ticks for New York Times to fill media beat…Vanity Fair’s Charlotte Klein analyzes why The New York Times is delaying to hire a media columnist to replace Ben Smith, who departed last year. “I’m told people involved with hiring have solicited beat memos from journalists both inside and outside the paper, though it’s unclear what, if anything, has come of them. A few names outside have emerged as contenders, including the Washington Post media writer (and former Vanity Fair special correspondent) Sarah Ellison, former CNN anchor Brian Stelter, and Puck media columnist Dylan Byers; all three had conversations with newsroom leaders, according to sources,” Klein wrote. Read more here.

The Verge debuts new tech newsletter…An announcement on The Verge’s page reads, “The Verge today announced a new weekly paid newsletter, “Command Line,” covering the product and business strategies of the most consequential tech companies, and the people driving them. Led by deputy editor Alex Heath, subscribers will get agenda-setting scoops, exclusive interviews with industry leaders, and expert-informed analysis on the tech news that matters most. The first edition of “Command Line” is available today.” Read more here.

2023 CJF Black Fellowship Program accepting applications…Applications are now open for the 2023 Canadian Journalism Foundation Black Journalism Fellowship Program. This will be an opportunity for an early-career Black journalist with experience of one to five years. The deadline to apply is January 20, 2023, 11:59 p.m. For the full details, click here.

Struggling for strategy…Cheddar News, which has been described as a source of business news for millennials, has struggled under owner Altice to find the right strategy to attract viewers. Reed Alexander and Elaine Low of Insider report, “Most company sources requested anonymity for fear of reprisal from Altice, but their identities are known to Insider. Collectively, they painted a picture of an organization facing mounting pressures from within, including burnout and attrition, schisms that have pitted staff against management, and ethically questionable journalism practices.” Read more here.

Internal publisher promotion at Mainebiz…Mainebiz associate publisher Andrea Tetzlaff has been appointed publisher. Peter Van Allen of Mainebiz wrote, “Andrea joined the Mainebiz advertising sales team in 2013. In 2020, she was named advertising sales director. In her new role, she will oversee all operations at Mainebiz, including sales, editorial, production and events.” Read the full story here.

DLNews editorial departure… Jim Edwards, editorial director for DLNews, a new cryptocurrency news service, has left. Previously, he was the founding editor of Business Insider U.K. was a columnist for CBS Interactive, and managing editor and senior editor for Adweek. He also wrote for the New Jersey Law Journal and Brill’s Content. Edwards won the Neal award for business journalism in 2005 for investigating bribery in the advertising sector.

Reader’s Digest names EIC…Reader’s Digest has appointed Eva Mackevic to the post of editor in chief. She has been with Reader’s Digest for six years, recently serving as a senior editor, and before that, as a culture editor. Mackevic has a B.A. from the University of Worcester.

Vice Media debuts Riyadh HQ…Vice is in plans to open a new regional headquarters in Riyadh. An excerpt from Al Arabiya English news reads, “[The headquarters] will be located in the JAX cultural district and will officially open next month, the company said in a statement. The company already has a presence in Riyadh, after announcing the opening of a small office in the JAX district in 2021.” Read the full story here.

Bloomberg taps into the Arabic world…Asharq Quicktake, the Arabic edition of the Quicktake streaming news platform, has launched in the region through the expansion of an agreement between SRMG and Bloomberg Media. “This launch demonstrates the strong appetite the region’s business communities have for high quality business and financial news and analysis,” said Scott Havens, CEO of Bloomberg Media, in a statement. “We believe the Arabic-speaking audience will value Asharq Quicktake’s global insights.” Read the full story here.

Beard moves from the Economist to Prospect…Prospect Magazine has hired award-winning senior vice president, subscriptions marketing Mark Beard of The Economist as its CEO. Previously, he had worked at Telegraph Media Group and Haymarket Publishing. “I’m delighted to be joining Prospect at an exciting time for the brand. I believe Prospect has great potential to play an increasingly important role in British society, and beyond,” Beard said. Read the full story here.

Newsday nabs Chicago Tribune’s Sleets as managing editor… Rochell Bishop Sleets will join Newsday as a managing editor, securing the second top job in the newsroom on Feb. 27. Currently, Sleets serves as one of two news directors of the Chicago Tribune, overseeing coverage in arts and entertainment, the environment, business news and education. She has been at the Tribune for 16 years, and during that time, helped launch an initiative to increase coverage of the Black and Latino communities. You can read more here. Meanwhile, the Tribune continues to struggle under the heavy-handed ownership of Alden Capital and its infamous owner, the job-slashing Heath Freeman.

NY Times On Politics editor Hounshell passes away…Blake Hounshell, On Politics editor at The New York Times, who also held top editorial roles at Politico and Fortune Magazine, has passed away on Tuesday in Washington, aged 44. Sam Roberts of The New York Times wrote, “His family said in a statement that he had died ‘after a long and courageous battle with depression.’ The police in Washington were investigating the death as a suicide, a police official said.” Read more here.

Mariam Ahmed is Talking Biz News’ content correspondent. For tips on the Friday TBN Ticker, email her at mariam@talkingbiznews.com or connect with her on LinkedIn.