Top News:
Ravi Somaiya / New York Times:
Gawker to sell minority stake to Columbus Nova Tech Partners, pending shareholder approval, to fund video and e-commerce growth, lawsuit defense — Gawker Media Plans to Sell Minority Stake to Investment Company — Gawker Media plans to sell a minority stake to the investment company …
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Peter Sterne / Politico:
Judge recommends mediation in Gawker-Hulk Hogan trial — The state court judge overseeing professional wrestler Hulk Hogan's $100 million lawsuit against Gawker Media has recommended that the parties seek mediation rather than a trial, according to court documents.
Discussion:
Tampa Bay Times, Awful Announcing and Fortune
Barry Wilner / Associated Press:
Facebook launches Sports Stadium, a hub for American football now, other sports soon, offers real-time chats, stats, media commentary, more — Facebook's Sports Product to Launch During NFL Championships — There's a new stadium in town. Actually, in every town. — It's on Facebook.
Discussion:
Facebook, Re/code, Wall Street Journal, Fortune, Android Police, Business Insider, PCWorld, USA Today, @caseynewton, @kantrowitz, GeekWire, SiliconBeat, VentureBeat, @flyosity, @mikeisaac, The Next Web, @wy_yw, SlashGear, @helensitu, TechCrunch, @gaberivera, The Verge, Engadget, The Tech Portal, @aaronwall and Re/code
Kurt Wagner / Re/code:
News Corp denies rumors stemming from CNBC segment that it's interested in buying Twitter — Twitter's Stock Surged, Then Slipped on Takeover Speculation — Twitter's stock received a healthy boost Wednesday afternoon thanks to market speculation that the media giant News Corp may be interested …
Discussion:
Fast Company, Wall Street Journal, Sydney Morning Herald, Reuters, New York Times, @alexbarinka, Vanity Fair, TechCrunch, TheStreet.com, Telegraph, Reuters, Forbes, StreetWise Journal, Businesstoday.in, Variety, GeekWire, Bloomberg Business, Guardian, The Wrap, SiliconBeat, @kesslerspcapiq, Business Insider, International Business Times, @jimkennedy250 and @edmundlee
He Huifeng / South China Morning Post:
Weibo to expand its 140-Chinese-character limit on messages up to 2K, trial starts January 28, rolling out to all 500M users on February 28 — China's Weibo follows Twitter in controversial move to ditch 140-character limit, says users can soon waffle on for up to 2,000 — Main menu
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, BBC, New York Magazine, ZDNet, Digital Spy, CCTV America, AndroidHeadlines.com, Shanghaiist, Tech Times, The Drum, The Next Web, NDTV News, VentureBeat, BuzzFeed, Engadget and The Verge
ExaroNews:
Leaked 500 page draft report into Jimmy Savile scandal criticizes “deferential culture”, “untouchable stars”, and “above the law” managers at BBC — Jimmy Savile: Janet Smith's damning review leaked to Exaro — BBC's ‘deferential culture’, ‘untouchable’ stars and ‘above the law’ managers blamed
Discussion:
Guardian, Press Gazette, The Independent, Mirror.co.uk, Telegraph, Mirror.co.uk, Spectator, Spectator, BBC, Press Association, ITV, Dailystar.co.uk, TheJournal.ie, Featured Articles and Daily Mail
Associated Press:
Viacom cuts Sumner Redstone's salary by 85% to $2M amid questions about his health and competence — Viacom slashes exec pay amid lawsuit over Redstone's health — LOS ANGELES (AP) — Viacom Inc. on Wednesday pre-released details about executive pay that show an 85 percent drop in compensation …
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Henry Mance / Financial Times:
Pearson unveils £320M restructuring plan that includes 4,000 job cuts, and caps dividend due to weak earnings — Pearson to cut 4,000 jobs as it warns on profits — Pearson has unveiled a £320m restructuring plan that will cut one-tenth of its workforce …
Discussion:
New York Times, International Business Times, Wall Street Journal, Scotsman, Reuters, Agence France-Presse, International Business Times, Sky News, Bloomberg Business, Guardian, Reuters, London Evening Standard, Financial Times, BBC, Bloomberg Business, Talking Biz News, Fortune, Telegraph, NASDAQ.com, dailyrecord and Bookseller News
Sky News:
Around 900 jobs are under threat at telecoms firm Virgin Media after it announced plans for a shake-up. — The group, owned by US giant Liberty Global, warned that the redundancies were likely over the next two years as it undergoes a structural shake-up. — Chief executive Tom Mockridge said …
Discussion:
Guardian, RTÉ, Life Style Extra and dailyrecord
Kelly Liyakasa / AdExchanger:
Google rolling out “Real-time ads”, pre-planned ads that appear at specific times, first for select brands, then more broadly later this year — Google Debuts ‘Real-Time Ads’ To Drive Live Engagement — Google sounds more and more like Twitter, heralding ways marketers can tap into live events for engagement.
Discussion:
Adweek, Ad Age, VentureBeat, YouTube Blog, Wired, mUmBRELLA, Engadget and Broadcasting & Cable
Roger Yu / USA Today:
Penthouse refutes reports of imminent closure of print magazine, citing “gravitas” of print — Penthouse plans to retain magazine, launch overhauled site — Penthouse, the adult magazine founded by Bob Guccione, said Tuesday it has no plans to shut down print publishing …
Discussion:
CNNMoney, FishbowlNY, New York Post, Talking New Media and Folio
Richard Tofel:
Print newspaper circulation numbers for weekdays fell dramatically between 2013 and 2015 — The sky is falling on print newspapers faster than you think — Last October, a McKinsey report declared, “We believe that many of the people likely to abandon print newspapers and print consumer magazines …
Discussion:
Chris O'Brien, @jimbrady, @cmcloutier, @meghanwesley, @tcarmody, @kelseyproud, @sulliview and @digiphile
Washpostpr / Washington Post:
In new statement, Jason Rezaian says he hopes to write again about Iran and the US — New statement from Jason Rezaian — Below is a written statement from Jason Rezaian, issued today from Landstuhl, Germany:
Discussion:
Associated Press, Mashable, CBS San FranciscoCBS …, Guardian, ABC News, Mediaite and @rezamarashi
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