Your Media Morning: Time Inc Bidding Going Into April, Facebook’s Snapchat Assault, Us Weekly Staffers’ Lunch-less Lunch Meeting...

THE BIG GRAB  HEARST AND CONDE NAST'S PUBWORX BUYS PROCIRC Hearst and Conde Nast are the proud new owners of ProCirc via their joint venture PubWorx. ProCirc the print circulation outsourcing company will... Post it Tweet it Share it Forward it Good Media Morning to you. Here's what's going on elsewhere. But first, FORWARD THIS ISSUE» WALL STREET JOURNAL STAFFERS SIGNED A LETTER DEMANDING MORE DIVERSITY IN THE NEWSROOM "Diversity in the newsroom is good for business and good for our coverage. We would like to see The Journal undertake a more comprehensive, intentional and transparent approach to improving it." The letter comes at a time of dissent at The Journal, when leadership has been internally criticized for being soft on President Donald Trump DISCOVERY CEO ISSUES WARNING OF CABLE STREET FIGHT Comcast Corp. and Charter Communications Inc. may have to sell their TV services nationwide to fend off online rivals, creating "mayhem" in a cable industry without head-to-head competition, Discovery Communications Inc.'s chief executive said. FACEBOOK ADDS SNAPCHAT LIKE DISAPPEARING STORIES TO ITS MAIN APP Facebook is making a dramatic change to the social network's mobile application, letting people post pictures and videos that disappear after 24 hours. Dramatic, but unsurprising: It's the fourth time the company has added such a feature to its apps. And it's a tool that was invented by its smaller, newly public competitor: Snap Inc DISCOVERY SHOWS OFF ITS SNAPCHAT AND AMAZON CONTENT Discovery Communications Inc. is eyeing growth through digital content for platforms like Snapchat, as well as international expansion, the cable network-owner said Tuesday at its annual event for the kickoff of the “upfront” ad sales season. THE GUARDIAN'S SINKING U.S. EXPANSION? The Guardian story is in some ways the story of all digital and legacy news organizations that are struggling to find a sustainable business model, with the print reading habit declining and the difficulty of replacing print dollars with digital ads as Facebook and Google swallow up almost all new digital ad spending. THE UNRAVELING OF A HOT SPORTS MEDIA START UP Last summer, the web video company OneUp Sports was riding high at the Cannes advertising festival on the French Riviera, with plans to deliver sports videos to a new generation of fans obsessed with social media and their mobile devices. US WEEKLY STAFFERS INVITED TO LUNCH-LESS LUNCH MEETING WITH DAVID PECKER About 80 staffers that were offered jobs were invited by Pecker to lunch at Le Bernardin at 12:45 p.m. on Friday. Most assumed that they would at least be getting a nice meal while they met their new bosses — a pleasant offering despite the pain of knowing many colleagues were getting the ax. But surprise. BUZZFEED OPENING "EXPERIMENTAL" OFFICE IN TEXAS BuzzFeed’s headquarters is based in New York, but the company has offices around the world. Its new Austin office will be focused on creative output — including BuzzFeed’s branded content — and learning how to tap Texas talent and identity in order to establish a way to work outside of world capitals. COULD DISNEY'S BOB IGER OBSESSION BECOME A PROBLEM? Practically speaking, it is good for Disney shareholders that CEO Bob Iger is staying longer. But it’s also problematic that the $179 billion TV, film, theme-park and consumer-products company has been molded by Iger over the years into something it seems only he can manage. VICE CEO SHANE SMITH TALKS INDIA LAUNCH India is possibly the most challenging market Vice Media is looking to enter. The millennial-focused company, founded by former punk rocker Shane Smith, will be launching services in India in the second half of 2017 in partnership with the Times Group, publisher of the Economic Times. GOOGLE SEEKING MEDIA AND ENTERTAINMENT OPPORTUNITIES Google Ventures, the venture capital arm of Alphabet, has just hired its first advisor in the entertainment and media space. The company known only now as GV has tapped Craig Kornblau to help with strategy and look for opportunities. He will not only be working with GV’s entire portfolio, but will be helping to look for potential investments. SOME PUBLISHING EXECS WILL NEVER VIEW GOOGLE OR FACEBOOK AS THEIR FRIENDS C-level execs from top publishers were gathered to discuss the challenges confronting digital media. Google and Facebook were very much at the top of these leaders’ minds: “I’m 100 percent confident Facebook and Google are not our friends. Facebook scares the crap out of me. Google tells you nothing. Nothing, nothing, nothing.” GANNETT CUTS 34 JOBS IN TENNESSEE Gannett has eliminated editorial positions in newsrooms all across its newspapers in Tennessee. At least 34 employees in four markets have been affected. “Today we underwent and completed a reduction in personnel in our news division in several of our Tennessee markets, as part of a transformative strategy.” Don't forget to share this morning's issue with colleagues and friends by clicking/tapping the button below   SUBSCRIBE

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