Top News:


Facebook ramps up its Instant Articles as Washington Post says it will publish all of its articles on Facebook and over a dozen new publishers join — Facebook Ramps Up Its Instant Articles, and the Washington Post Is All In — Last spring Facebook started hosting stories from the New York Times …


Ta-Nehisi Coates to Write Black Panther Comic for Marvel — Ta-Nehisi Coates can be identified in many ways: as a national correspondent for The Atlantic, as an author and, as of this month, as a nominee for the National Book Award's nonfiction prize. But Mr. Coates also has a not-so-secret identity …
Discussion:
Forbes, Mediaite, UPROXX, Variety, Talking Points Memo, Tor.com, Comicbook.com, @mattegagnon, @justinnxt, Polygon, The Verge, @leonardpittsjr1, Paper, Boing Boing, @skylightbooks and Shadow and Act


Sources: 200-300 layoffs coming to ESPN within the next few months, as Disney has notified ESPN to trim $100M from the 2016 budget — Layoffs are coming to ESPN. — Multiple sources inside and outside of ESPN tell The Big Lead that the network will be laying off “200 to 300” employees in the coming months.
Discussion:
Deadline, The Wrap, Variety, @jeffschultzajc, FishbowlNY, @realobf and Media Wire Daily

Source: Google acquired Oyster's tech, discovery tools, and editorial content, including literary magazine The Oyster Review, but not its publisher contracts — Google's grab of Oyster suggests ebooks, like news, are becoming “content” read on big platforms
Discussion:
Mashable, @janefriedman, @laurahazardowen, @losowsky, @willyblackmore and Oyster HQ Blog
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Netflix-like e-book subscription service Oyster to shut down; part of team moving to Google Play Books, including CEO and co-founders according to sources
Discussion:
CNET, Tech Insider, Consumerist, Ubergizmo, GeekWire, Entrepreneur, Fortune, @khoi, Inc.com, Fortune, 9to5Google, @sdkstl, VatorNews, @kaetrin67, SlashGear, @taylorlorenz, New York Times, TechCrunch, The Verge, Engadget, The Next Web, Business Insider, Bookseller News, @sabrina, @pmarca, @laurahazardowen, @mikeisaac, Publishers Weekly and Forbes

Tribune Publishing pleads its case with investors; share price falls further — Tribune Publishing hosted a brief “investor update” call Tuesday, making more explicit its earlier statements that the Los Angeles Times was under-performing financially and dragging down company-wide results.
Discussion:
CNN, @rickedmonds and Politico


Complex, a network of pop culture magazines, raises $21M from Hearst — Another Old Media-New Media Bet: Hearst Invests $21 Million in Dude-Centric Complex — Big media companies have lots of cash. But they're worried that won't help them if they can't find new audiences.
Discussion:
CNNMoney, Variety, Crain's New York, Ad Age, Folio, FishbowlNY, WWD and Media Wire Daily


New York Times not available in Thailand on Tuesday after local printer declines to print it because of sensitive story about country's monarchy — Why you can't find today's New York Times in Thailand — The international edition of The New York Times wasn't printed Tuesday in Thailand.
Discussion:
New York Times and NPR


Sources: Axel Springer within weeks of closing deal for full control of Business Insider, valuing it about $560M — Axel Springer Wants to Buy Business Insider for Around $560 Million — German publishing giant Axel Springer is closing in on buying Business Insider …
Discussion:
Politico, USA Today, Quartz, Financial Times, Talking Biz News, @danroth, Fortune, @mathewi, InvestorPlace, @ckrewson, @brianstelter, @ritholtz, MediaPost, @mims, @jimwaterson, PE Hub Blog, @colinmorrisonuk, The Wrap, @ejpfauth, @pjozefak, @edmundlee, @jmcduling, @vb2b, @sub8u, @rafat, @profjeffjarvis, @howardlindzon and @mikeisaac


Bloomberg head of global digital video, Paul Marcum, takes on new role as president of Truffle Pig, the ad agency created by Snapchat, Daily Mail, and WPP — Bloomberg exec Paul Marcum joins agency Truffle Pig as president: ‘A transformative time in the industry’ — Paul Marcum has hit the trifecta.
Discussion:
@digiday and Talking Biz News


VICE has invested heavily in coverage of the prison system, with a HBO documentary and more than 50 pieces to be published in coming weeks — Vice Went To Prison With Obama. Now It's Going Deep Into Inmate Issues. — “It was too good an opportunity not to throw the kitchen sink at it.”

Investigative reporting podcast Reveal works to expand its network beyond current five news partners as it prepares for weekly shows in January — A cross-country network helps Reveal boost its investigative reporting power — One of the great benefits of working in audio …
Discussion:
@sacpressclub and @corriemac


Columbia J-School launches Columbia Global Reports, a longform, non-fiction publisher of works averaging 25K words in length — Could a university be the savior longform journalism has been looking for? — The relationship between academia and journalism had not always been cozy.