Your Media Morning: Snap billionaires club, The New Esquire, Time Inc opens its books to bidders, Buzzfeed Sued

MEREDITH CORP UNVEILS THE SPRING 2017 ISSUE OF THE MAGNOLIA JOURNAL The new issue of The Magnolia Journal, the magazine from lifestyle heavies and 'Fixer Upper" stars Chip and Joanna Gaines will hit newsstands on Valentine's Day jam packed with all things Chip and Joanna of course. WAIT... SAY WHAT NOW? "There was a period of time when Esquire had a real literary charisma, and there was a culture that responded to it" ESQUIRE EDITOR IN CHIEF JAY FIELDEN BUZZFEED BEING SUED BY RUSSIAN TIED TECH FIRM OVER TRUMP DOSSIER The lawsuits were brought by XBT Holdings, a Cyprus-based company owned by Russian tech magnate Aleksej Gubarev. Lawyers for his firm filed complaints Friday in London against the former spy and his company, and against BuzzFeed and its editor in chief, Ben Smith, in Broward County Circuit Court in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where XBT’s subsidiary Webzilla is headquartered. CONDE NAST'S PITCHFORK LAUNCHES 'OCTOBER' A WEBSITE FOR CRAFT BEER ENTHUSIASTS The gang at Pitchfork is about to see if they can copy the success they had with bringing indie music artists to the masses with a new website about craft beer called 'October'. The site is in partnership with beer giant AB-InBev... THE NEW YORK TIMES IS MOVING INTO TIME INC'S OLD OFFICE SPACE IN THE TIME AND LIFE BUILDING The New York Times which recently announced that it was giving up 8 floors in its headquarters, is now about to move some staffers into the former office space of Time Inc inside the Time & Life building according to The Real Deal. MEREDITH'S CUTS AND CHANGES WITHIN ITS NATIONAL MEDIA DIVISION SEEN AS PREPARATION FOR A HOOK UP WITH TIME INC Among the changes, Cheryl Brown, who was the editor-in-chief of Allrecipes, told The Post she is moving to the top spot at Family Circle. That follows the ouster of FC’s longtime editor, Linda Fears, this week. Jennifer Darling is moving from the special interest publications group at its Des Moines, Iowa, headquarters to run Allrecipes. Siempre Mujer, a magazine aimed at Hispanic women, is dropping print to go all digital. As a result, Jessica Torres, its editor-in-chief, is out. WILL GOOGLE'S 'INSTANT APPS' BE THE ANSWER PUBLISHERS HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR? There are a host of well-documented issues around publishing and media companies launching apps, with discoverability being one of the biggest challenges. Google is looking to smooth the app download experience, and have begun to roll out limited tests of their new ‘Instant Apps’ project with apps from Buzzfeed and Periscope, among others.  GERMAN MAGAZINE 'DER SPIEGEL' DEFENDS ITS TRUMP STATUE OF LIBERTY BEHEADING COVER The editor-in-chief of Der Spiegel on Sunday said a front cover illustration of U.S. President Donald Trump beheading the Statue of Liberty, which split opinion at home and abroad, was a response by the German magazine to threats against democracy. Published on Saturday, the cover depicts a cartoon figure of Trump with a bloodied knife in one hand and the statue's head, dripping with blood, in the other. It carries the caption: "America First". TIME INC OPENING UP ITS BOOKS TO SUITORS Time Inc. is expected to begin meeting with parties that have put in nonbinding offers for the magazine company and provide them access to financial data. The parties that have expressed interest aren’t just interested in buying the whole company. Some may want to buy certain properties or just make an investment. WHY DID SNAPCHAT QUIETLY PAY AN EX EMPLOYEE $157 MILLION? Snapchat employee Reggie Brown, who claimed he came up with Snapchat's disappearing-photo idea and filed a lawsuit against cofounders Evan Spiegel and Bobby Murphy after he was forced out of the company, was quietly paid a total of $157.5 million to settle. Snapchat issued a press release in September 2014 announcing the settlement. BLOOMBERG TELEVISION'S GLOBAL  'DAYBREAK' MORNING SHOW LANDS IN AUSTRALIA "We are stepping up our focus on critical market-moving news in Australia as it is a key part of the global market and kicks off the Asia-Pacific trading day," said Al Mayers, Global Head of Bloomberg Television and Radio. "By launching Daybreak in Australia, we are not only providing our audience with timely, compelling content, but we are further leveraging our unparalleled journalistic resources in the country. Our anchors are working seamlessly around the world to provide live Daybreak programming across our media hubs in New York, London, Dubai, Hong Kong and now Sydney" MTV NEWS EDITORIAL STAFFERS PLAN TO UNIONIZE The editorial staff of MTV News plans to unionize wit the Writers Guild of America, East, citing having to cover the Trump administration as part of the reason. WGAE cited a letter from MTV News that said: “Under the new Trump administration, we are acutely aware of how much we need legal protection.” TWITTER IS THINKING ABOUT BRINGING IN USERS AS OWNERS Despite unbridled use by the President of the United States; despite being used the world round to mobilise protests and marches - to distribute news, to interact and advertise - it looks like it’s in trouble. Awareness of it has never been higher and yet, Twitter isn’t making a profit. HEARST'S ESQUIRE MAGAZINE IS MUCH BIGGER WITH A NEW LOGO The March issue of Esquire, complete with a redesign, is the first that fully shows new editor Jay Fielden’s vision for the magazine. The cover subject is not a chiseled hunk, but James Corden, the host of CBS’s “Late Late Show.” “There’s no cigar smoke wafting through the pages,” Fielden said, “and the obligatory three B’s are gone, too — brown liquor, boxing and bullfighting.” -Good Morning SEND US NEWS TO INCLUDE IN THE NEXT ISSUE: [email protected] SUBSCRIBE HERE» MEDIAMORNING.TODAY

[post_ad]