Murray says the Post will be closing the sports department “in its current form.” The paper plans to retain several reporters to join features and cover sports as a “cultural and societal phenomenon,” and will have a few employees on its print sports section.

https://twitter.com/maxwelltani/status/2019042396693270668

In addition to sports, the Washington Post is killing its book section, suspending its Post Reports podcast, restructuring its metro section, and shrinking its international footprint.

On her show just now, Rachel Maddow said of Joy Reid's show being cancelled: "I think it is a bad mistake to let her walk out the door." She adds it is "unnerving" to see the network's decision to cancel shows hosted by nonwhite anchors: "That feels indefensible." Maddow also strongly criticized the network's decision to make staff on those shows reapply for their jobs: "It's not the right way to treat people and its inefficient and it's unnecessary and it kind of drops the bottom out of whether people think this is a good place to work."

During a meeting this afternoon with staff, WaPo top editor Matt Murray thanked employees for their hard work and apologized for hardship the non-endorsement caused the newsroom. But added "It’s done, it’s happened" and now the question is how the paper moves forward. He adds that "The core mission of the Washington Post ... has not and will not change.” He also says that owner Jeff Bezos has a ten year track record of supporting the newsroom, and no non newsroom figures will interfere with the paper’s journalism.

Editorial board member David Hoffman is also resigning, I'm told. Hoffman accepted the Pulitzer last week for his series on "new technologies and the tactics authoritarian regimes use to repress dissent in the digital age, and how they can be fought."

https://twitter.com/maxwelltani/status/1850929498692133019

To clarify: Hoffman is stepping down from the editorial board, not resigning from the Post altogether.

Heard the meeting between Jason Kilar and CNN DC staff did not go well. One source described it as a “shitshow,” another person said Kilar was pressed repeatedly on whether his poor relationship with Zucker played into his departure. He confirmed he previously did not know about the relationship between Gollust and Zucker, and said CNN’s new owners at Discovery were not involved in Zucker’s not-so-willing resignation.

politico.com/news/2022/02/0…

New: Teen Vogue staffers released a statement tonight saying they "fully reject" new editor-in-chief Alexi McCammond's college tweets mocking Asians. The tweets recirculated this weekend after Condé Nast announced McCammond was the new Teen Vogue EIC. thedailybeast.com/teen-vogue-sta… It's referenced in the statement, but I'm told staff sent a letter to Anna Wintour and CEO Roger Lynch expressing concerns about the hire thedailybeast.com/teen-vogue-sta…

NYT's star COVID reporter Donald McNeil was reprimanded after multiple people complained that he used racist language, including the n-word, while accompanying a 2019 trip the NYT hosted for high school students to Peru.

thedailybeast.com/star-new-york-… Two students on the trip said he did not believe in the concept of white privilege; three other participants alleged that McNeil made racist comments and used stereotypes about black teenagers.

thedailybeast.com/star-new-york-…

There's been some internal pushback to Ben Shapiro authorship of Playbook today. A few messages that were shared and upvoted in Politico's internal Slack today:

thedailybeast.com/politico-faces… Politico EIC Matt Kaminski briefly addressed the concerns today, saying the decision to have Shapiro guest author Playbook was part of the publication's commitment to reflecting a range of views

thedailybeast.com/politico-faces…

I profiled Arthur Schwartz, the aggressive Trump-world operative who has become known for waging war on reporters thedailybeast.com/how-trump-jrs-… In recent years, Schwartz has threatened to sue a reporter at the Daily Caller, shopped dirt about reporters at outlets like Page Six, GQ, and Politico, demanded journalists defend him from mean tweets, and gotten into a bar argument with a CNBC staffer: thedailybeast.com/how-trump-jrs-…

In an interview with David Remnick, James Comey dodges a question about Rudy joining Trump’s team: “I don’t know what to make of it....There’s no doubt he’s a smart and skilled attorney.” Remnick asks Comey why he didn’t investigate Trump’s businesses when Comey was a US attorney in NY. Comey did not really have an answer.