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UpInArms

(51,285 posts) Mon Feb 5, 2018, 03:27 PM Feb 2018

Newsweek Guts Its Top Edit Staff Amid Legal Turmoil

Source: Daily Beast

Newsweek on Monday fired all of its top staff amid turmoil that has upended the newsroom.

In a company meeting, several editors announced that the outlet had fired Editor in Chief Bob Roe, Executive Editor Ken Li and reporters Celeste Katz, Josh Saul, and International Business Times editor Josh Keefe.

The editors told staffers some of the firings were not official, but according to one person with direct knowledge, both Katz and Keefe were locked out of their work email and computer accounts and instructed to meet a human-resources representative offsite shortly after Roe was fired.

Newsweek also sent staff home for the day.

Though the editors did not elaborate on why the top staff left the company, three staffers who spoke to The Daily Beast on the condition of anonymity pointed out that Li, Katz, Saul, and Keefe had all published pieces reporting on the company’s recent troubles.

Read more: https://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek-guts-its-top-edit-staff-amid-legal-turmoil

15 replies

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Newsweek Guts Its Top Edit Staff Amid Legal Turmoil (Original Post) UpInArms Feb 2018 OP

Thanks for posting. This is very concerning. n/t pnwmom Feb 2018 #1

Yikes Eliot Rosewater Feb 2018 #2

They were raided by the NYPD a few weeks ago Renew Deal Feb 2018 #3

Seems they cheated with their circulation numbers ... UpInArms Feb 2018 #6

Why are circulation numbers so important? groundloop Feb 2018 #10

Probably relates to advertising money Renew Deal Feb 2018 #11

That does factor into the equation UpInArms Feb 2018 #13

Well, if you mail your paper, UpInArms Feb 2018 #12

KICK Angry Dragon Feb 2018 #4

I'm not too surprised. Their content has been way uneven lately... TygrBright Feb 2018 #5

Newsweek ain't what it used to be. mahatmakanejeeves Feb 2018 #7

I agree - Newsweek used to the best FakeNoose Feb 2018 #9

That's a shame. Dulcinea Feb 2018 #8

Kurt Eichenwald (a Newsweek contributor and Trump foe) retweeted this earlier... Princess Turandot Feb 2018 #14

Thanks for the additional information, princess UpInArms Feb 2018 #15

pnwmom

(109,009 posts)

1. Thanks for posting. This is very concerning. n/t

Reply to UpInArms (Original post)

Mon Feb 5, 2018, 03:30 PM

Feb 2018

Eliot Rosewater

(31,131 posts)

2. Yikes

Reply to UpInArms (Original post)

Mon Feb 5, 2018, 03:30 PM

Feb 2018

Renew Deal

(81,883 posts)

3. They were raided by the NYPD a few weeks ago

Reply to UpInArms (Original post)

Mon Feb 5, 2018, 03:34 PM

Feb 2018

So something criminal probably happened at some point...

UpInArms

(51,285 posts)

6. Seems they cheated with their circulation numbers ...

Reply to Renew Deal (Reply #3)

Mon Feb 5, 2018, 03:37 PM

Feb 2018

And ... that, in the news business, is a felony

You have to file those reports with the feds weekly (I reported those numbers for 10 years at my newspaper) and ... right under your signature, it states basically, if you lie, it’s a felony

groundloop

(11,527 posts)

10. Why are circulation numbers so important?

Reply to UpInArms (Reply #6)

Mon Feb 5, 2018, 07:18 PM

Feb 2018

I've never heard of this before so I'm curious as to the reason circulation has to be reported weekly.

Renew Deal

(81,883 posts)

11. Probably relates to advertising money

Reply to groundloop (Reply #10)

Mon Feb 5, 2018, 08:16 PM

Feb 2018

Higher circulation = more money

UpInArms

(51,285 posts)

13. That does factor into the equation

Reply to Renew Deal (Reply #11)

Mon Feb 5, 2018, 09:12 PM

Feb 2018

But the reporting is separate from that ... advertising rates a really dependent upon your demographics

UpInArms

(51,285 posts)

12. Well, if you mail your paper,

Reply to groundloop (Reply #10)

Mon Feb 5, 2018, 09:09 PM

Feb 2018

You are classified as periodical mail, class 2 ... and your rate depends on your level of advertising as weighted against the news (by percentages) and then the total physical weight of each paper to be mailed ... on an annual basis, you report your total circulation .. which has to match what you mail and certify weekly ...

But, the amount of money that you can charge your advertisers is roughly based on what your reported circulation numbers are ... it’s rather convoluted

The bottom line is that you cannot fudge those numbers without being caught up in it ... the web is really tight

Angry Dragon

(36,693 posts)

4. KICK

Reply to UpInArms (Original post)

Mon Feb 5, 2018, 03:37 PM

Feb 2018

TygrBright

(20,773 posts)

5. I'm not too surprised. Their content has been way uneven lately...

Reply to UpInArms (Original post)

Mon Feb 5, 2018, 03:37 PM

Feb 2018

...and included a higher percentage of un- or barely-substantiated clickbait-ey non-news than most reputable outlets can tolerate.

A lot depends on what they were hoping to get from the company over short/long horizons, but if they can survive this they may need another few years to rebuild as a credible magazine-format news outlet.

If format even means anything in the era of 5-minute news cycles and social media, anymore...

regretfully,
Bright

mahatmakanejeeves

(57,664 posts)

7. Newsweek ain't what it used to be.

Reply to UpInArms (Original post)

Mon Feb 5, 2018, 03:38 PM

Feb 2018

It hasn't been what it used to be for a long time.

FakeNoose

(32,823 posts)

9. I agree - Newsweek used to the best

Reply to mahatmakanejeeves (Reply #7)

Mon Feb 5, 2018, 04:04 PM

Feb 2018

But that was when they were owned by the Washington Post - a long time ago.

It's sad to see this happen, but maybe they should just close it now. Seems like The Daily Beast has taken over their partnership and there's not enough business to sustain both brands.

Dulcinea

(6,670 posts)

8. That's a shame.

Reply to UpInArms (Original post)

Mon Feb 5, 2018, 03:56 PM

Feb 2018

I used to really enjoy reading the print edition. I was required to in college, many moons ago.

Princess Turandot

(4,787 posts)

14. Kurt Eichenwald (a Newsweek contributor and Trump foe) retweeted this earlier...

Reply to UpInArms (Original post)

Mon Feb 5, 2018, 09:35 PM

Feb 2018

Link to tweet

The guy whom Eichenwald retweeted then published this article:
https://nypost.com/2018/02/05/newsweek-fires-top-editors-covering-probe-into-parent-company/

The two editors were overseeing a Newsweek investigation into the magazine parent company’s financial affairs and its possible connection to Olivet University, a fundamentalist Christian college founded by followers of controversial Korean-American pastor Rev. David Jang.

.....

The Manhattan DA is in the midst of an 18-month probe of NMG [Newsweek's parent], sources said. One focus of the probe is a possible money trail between the NMG and Olivet, sources have told The Post. On Jan. 18, about two dozen agents from the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office raided the Newsweek offices in downtown Manhattan and carted away 18 computer servers. The DA’s office declined to comment on the probe.

It's the NY Post, but Eichenwald is reliable. He's the guy who was tweeted a video with flashing strobe effects from a rightwinger/Trumper, hoping to cause him to have a seizure, since he is epileptic. There are charges outstanding against the miscreant in question in Texas, for aggravated assault with a hate-crime enhancement.

UpInArms

(51,285 posts)

15. Thanks for the additional information, princess

Reply to Princess Turandot (Reply #14)

Mon Feb 5, 2018, 10:25 PM

Feb 2018

👍🏼

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