Welcome to our first free Thursday newsletter. The stories you’ll find here are just as high quality as our Tuesday dispatches, but a breezier, lighter read.
Today we’re premiering two new series. The first is Maxed Out, where we ask some of our favorite women in media to share their internet diet and reveal their daily phone screen time with the world.
Then, Hot Jobs, where we roundup some of the most interesting roles posted in the last 24 hours — including a cushy new Chief Correspondent gig at Vanity Fair. And we have our usual Seen and Heard section with the latest media intel.
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xoxo,
Stephanie
Maxed Out is where we ask our favorite people in media about what they're reading, watching and listening to on the internet, but with a twist: they must come clean about how much time they're spending on their phone.
First up is Washington, D.C.-based journalist Zainab Mudallal, an industry veteran who's worked at Quartz, National Geographic, The Washington Post, and is now a senior audience editor at Bloomberg Industry Group.
One of my favorite stories to come out of the WaPo Opinions section was her piece on the criticism Shakira received after her 2020 Super Bowl halftime show, where she performed a zaghrouta — a traditional Arabic expression of joy — and the broader underrepresentation of Arab Americans in mainstream culture. I remember the story blowing up right after it was published; most outlets were focused on the meme moment of it all, not the historical context of the cheer itself. I knew Zainab would be the perfect person for this column.
Tell me about your job at Bloomberg — what does your day to day look like and how long have you been there?
I'm a senior audience editor at Bloomberg Industry Group, which encapsulates three brands: Bloomberg Law, Bloomberg Government and Bloomberg Tax. I've been there for just over a year. My days are a mix of tracking audience trends, shaping social strategy, and making sure our reporting shows up where it matters, whether that's the Bloomberg Terminal, homepages, Apple News or Flipboard. I also design and publish content, edit vertical video, and work on promotion for larger enterprise projects. It's very online, very fast, and requires a constant gut check between what's performing and what actually deserves attention.
What's your average phone screen time for a given week? Are you surprised by that number?
My daily average, according to my personal iPhone, is five hours and three minutes. That feels suspiciously low, given how much time I spend on my phone both for work and, admittedly, doomscrolling. That said, I also use a separate Bloomberg-issued work phone — which doesn't have screen time enabled — so the real number is probably a bit more humbling.
Where do you spend your daily screen time online? What are your go-to spots on the Internet that you think people should know and why?
A good chunk of my screen time goes to Reddit and Instagram. My favorite subreddits rotate depending on whatever my latest hyperfixation is (hello, ADHD), but a few that have stood the test of time are r/travel, r/AskHistorians (the internet at its best, in my opinion), r/sipstea (for the chaos), r/babyelephantgifs (a reliable dose of joy) and r/washingtondc (gotta stay tapped into my city).
On Instagram, I've been especially drawn to photo archives from my home country of Iraq. I love accounts like @galbi.iraq and @iraqiprintarchive — they showcase the country's rich history, architecture, and culture through intimate, everyday photography. It's a breath of fresh air in my feed, especially when so much of Iraq's story gets flattened or misrepresented. It's the kind of content I wish more people saw.
My toxic trait is subscribing to far too many newsletters and only consistently reading a handful. The ones that stick: 730DC (my go-to morning commute read for staying on top of local news), The Athletic FC for all things football (I refuse to call it soccer) and The Markaz Review, a nonprofit literary journal focused on the SWANA region that I return to for thoughtful, culturally grounded writing.
Jobs posted in the last 24 hours, carefully curated so you don't have to doomscroll LinkedIn
Vanity Fair just posted a big opening for a Chief Correspondent. The job description says: “The role will explore how power operates across the worlds of Hollywood, technology, business, media, politics, style, and beyond. This is a role for a highly seasoned and experienced writer with both authority and style—someone who doesn’t just observe the culture but shapes the conversations around it.” The role can be based in either New York or Los Angeles. $165,000-$270,000.
Bon Appétit is looking for a restaurant editor to oversee its dining coverage. New York, $92,500 - $140,000.
Dallas Morning News is hiring a Director of Audience to lead audience development for its newsrooms. Dallas, TX.
SiriusXM is looking for a Vice President, Digital Media to oversee all its paid, owned and earned digital channels. New York, $207,800-$286,350.
Morning Brew is in search of a Social Media Editor to manage its daily output across Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn. New York, $75,000-$80,000.
Vox Media is hiring for a Podcast Social Media Producer to cut clips of its tentpole shows and create custom assets for social. New York, $73,000 - $91,000.
CBS News is looking for a producer to write, edit and produce news segments for its flagship streaming news service, CBS News 24/7. New York, NY, $90,640-$105,000.
Foundry, which owns a suite of tech brands like Computerworld and NetworkWorld, is seeking a Global Editorial Director for its B2B business. Boston, New York, San Francisco.
What we’re seeing and hearing around the industry
Elizabeth Spiers, Founding Editor of Gawker who writes for New York Times Opinion, discovered that her renewed contract with NYT had an interesting new clause: you can’t put any story drafts into AI for edits. The clause isn’t all that shocking considering the source. The New York Times sued OpenAI and Microsoft for copyright infringement in 2023, claiming Times articles were illegally used to train chatbots that would go on to compete with the news outlet as a source of information (OpenAI and Microsoft deny this). The lawsuit is still ongoing. So, it makes sense that they’d bar writers from voluntarily offering drafts to AI. Elizabeth doesn’t seem all that phased, though: “I’d rather write my columns in my own blood than use AI to write or edit.” That’s punk.
If you're just catching up: NFL reporter Dianna Russini resigned from The Athletic earlier this month after the New York Post published photos of her and married New England Patriots coach Mike Vrabel at an Arizona resort. The photos appeared to show them holding hands and embracing. Both issued statements saying the relationship was platonic. The Athletic launched an investigation.
On Wednesday, executive editor Steven Ginsberg addressed the situation at the outlet's first all-hands since the story broke, according to Front Office Sports. In a prepared 10-minute statement, he acknowledged that internal communications could have been clearer and confirmed the investigation — led by editorial standards director Mike Semel — is ongoing and expected to be lengthy. He did not take questions.
Dianna Russini is out. Mike Vrabel remains the Patriots' head coach and even got a standing ovation at Tuesday’s Patriots season ticket holder event.
Former Atlantic staff writer Caitlin Flanagan is joining The Free Press as a columnist (in hindsight, this glowing column she wrote last year about Bari Weiss feels like some real foreshadowing). This is the first big hire for The Free Press since the Paramount acquisition was finalized in October. She released her debut column on Wednesday, which touches on the White House Correspondents Dinner and how desensitized we’ve all become to political violence. The guy who was actually in the room and decided to finish his salad rather than duck for his life would probably agree with that.
Speaking of Bari Weiss, CBS News announced that Shayndi Raice, deputy bureau chief for the Middle East and North Africa at The Wall Street Journal, will become the outlet’s new foreign editor. The news comes just days after London bureau chief Claire Day was ousted. Shayndi’s new role is different from Claire’s, but essentially she is her replacement—just with a more broad scope of work.
This is CBS News’ first senior woman hire since Bari took office last October. Up until this point, Bari’s track record was less than flattering on that front. Her initial wave of cuts last year included eight on-air hosts who were all women. And though the splashy contributor roster she announced in January did include some women, I thought it was interesting that there were no women specifically dedicated to the hard news beats.
Scoops you missed in Tuesday’s Seen and Heard:
After CNN launched its paywall in October 2024, the network’s SVP and head of growth, Amanda Rottier, is touting subscriber ‘success.’ She declined to give numbers. But when I looked at its performance stats vs. other competitors with a paywall, they tell a more revealing picture.
And, the New York Times is making a big bet on its audience strategy.