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Quick recap on how we got here.
Instead, all episodes ofCaliphatenow start with an editors note to provide listeners with context around the reporting errors.
But the pain didnt stop at the acknowledgment of mistakes made during the reporting ofCaliphate.
The manner of the announcement itself turned out to be messier than the paper had probably intended.
I dont think I agree with this.
Weve seen strong examples of this bang out of interview in the past, even in the audio business.
I get it, though.
Indeed, such impartiality was unambiguously present throughout the Kelly-Mohn interview.
Theres a lot going on here.
And we havent even talked about the even messier matter ofCaliphates lead personnel yet.
Here we get into exponentially muckier territory.
It should also be noted that controversy aroundCaliphatecant be properly divorced from broader controversies around Callimachi herself.
Theres also the matter of the institution.
If that was the intent, there were issues with the follow-through.
Could theTimeshave done more to shift that burden between institution and individual?
This may well be the natural consequence of an organizational shift that emphasizes star reporters.
Regardless of what the cover art suggests,Caliphatewas a two-lead project.
Indeed, Mills was the personwho gave the speechwhen accepting the now-returned Peabody.
A few days after theTimesannounced its findings onCaliphate, Mills guest hostedThe Daily, the papers flagship podcast.
This split evoked an all-too familiar frustration: who gets to fail, and who gets to fail upward?
To be sure, there are plausible counterarguments.
In other words, perhaps this is a terrorism beat thing, and not a gender thing.
But could it really just be that?
There is also significantly more to the story of Mills.
Most of these allegations were never formalized into an official complaint.
I am sorry to anyone who heard of this comment and felt pain or offense, he said.
I am sorry if this comment in any way contributed to discouraging women in our field.
In that same report, theTimesaudio team vouched for him.
That report by The Cut was published in early 2018, about two months beforeCaliphatedebuted.
Even more expressed their broad frustration with Mills apparent unimpeded ascendance despite the circumstances.
The social media-facilitated explosion against Mills is illustrative of two things.
What are the adequate paths forward for people who feel harmed by someone like Mills?
What are the adequate paths forward for someone like Mills?
This is unambiguously true.
TheTimesaudio division has hireda crap-tonof people.
Quick pause at this point.
To be perfectly clear: I am not morally superior to this situation.
With that in mind, Id like to hit three more things.
What that acknowledgment is supposed to look like continues to be the struggle.
That said, I also think they should not be read as being threads uniquely about theTimes.
This just happened to be the highest-profile incident possible.
The last thing is this: I wont pretend to know what the shape of specific remedies should be.
But my sense is that what people are generally hoping to see is genuine internalization of error.
That these mistakes will meaningfully inform every move that comes next.
Amazon to Acquire Wondery
This officially puts a bow onwhat theWall Street Journalreported in early December.
Lopez has denied all charges.
The case is still on-going.
The acquisition price was not formally disclosed, buta source told theJournalthat it was about $300 million.
Wonderys chief operating officer, Jen Sargent, will take over the company upon Lopezs departure.
Lets switch over to Amazon.
Keep in mind: Amazon Music isnt the only media division in the Amazon octopus to dabble in podcasting.
Its towering audiobooks service, Audible, has long maintainedan on-again off-again relationship with podcasts or podcast-like products.
For what its worth, there doesnt seem to be much of a master plan here.
What does Wondery give Amazon Music?
(Insofar as there are Wondery fans, of course.
Presumably, this is where Wonderysadventures with app-specific premium subscriptionscame in handy.)
This conversion effort might mean eventual program exclusivity, but it might very well mean something else.
Well see what the Amazon Music team tries out.
I struggle to see how that amounts to anything more than a mild value-add for Amazon Music.
Well, thats never been the framing for this kind of thing.
Again: YouTube-style ambitions, YouTube-style challenges.
FromSouth China Morning Post: Chinas podcasters wary of censors as popularity grows.
The show is called Saqrs Eclipse, andits out now.
Sweet dreams, KCRW Berlin.
In tomorrowsServant of Pod…By The Books Jolenta Greenberg and Kristen Meinzer are on the show this week.
As you would probably expect, only some are actually useful, most not so much.
Share, leave a review, so on.
