Top News:
Emily Steel / New York Times:
Two women who reached sexual harassment settlements with Bill O'Reilly have joined a defamation lawsuit against him and Fox News on Wednesday — Two women who reached sexual harassment settlements with Bill O'Reilly joined a defamation lawsuit against Mr. O'Reilly and Fox News on Wednesday …
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Brian Stelter / CNNMoney:
Longtime E! host Catt Sadler has quit the channel, claiming a male co-host was earning nearly double her salary and the channel refused to correct the gap — Longtime E! channel host Catt Sadler says she is leaving the company due to a “massive” pay disparity.
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People.com, Washington Post, TIME, IndieWire, @anushayhossain, @kellyvski, @betamomma, Vanity Fair, Mashable, @vanessa_wlwt, @perezhilton, @aamerah_t, @brianstelter, @theperezhilton, @rachelmaleady, theCATTWALK, @rosemaryconnors, @clare_oc, @natalie_j_stone, Splinter, Variety, Fortune, The Daily Beast and AOL
Gerry Smith / Bloomberg:
Companies from ESPN to Charter are cracking down on password-sharing, with TV industry losses from it estimated to rise from $3.5B in 2017 to $9.9B by 2021 — Using someone else's credentials to stream for free will soon be a $10 billion problem for pay-TV companies.
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Gizmodo, The Verge, FierceCable, @soshnick, @mbgelman, @gerryfsmith, @richbtig and @dkatzmaier
Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
Netflix orders a sequel of the soon-to-be-released Will Smith film “Bright”, creating what's believed to be the first movie franchise of the streaming era — Will Smith buddy-cop film targets movie industry's breadbasket — Company's $8 billion budget includes 80-movie slate for 2018
Discussion:
TechCrunch, Business Insider, @lucas_shaw and The Verge
Michael Calderone / Politico:
John Heilemann spoke to The Tony Kornheiser show about his future without collaborator Mark Halperin, said he hopes to continue as a “solo act” but that is TBD — THE WHITE HOUSE'S DEFENSE of President Trump's claim that he'll take a hit under the Republican tax bill boils down to this: Trust us.
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Marc Hogan / Pitchfork:
Pitchfork reporter describes a demo of an interactive project with hand-tracking, designed for Magic Leap hardware in conjunction with rock band Sigur Rós — A first look at the billion-dollar company's potentially game-changing collaboration with Sigur Rós
Discussion:
VentureBeat, Forbes, Fast Company, Business Insider, Rolling Stone, TechCrunch, BetaNews, New York Magazine, Magic Leap, SportTechie, Digital Trends, GeekWire, The Verge, Mashable, Polygon, BGR, Gizmodo, Pocket-lint, ina and 9to5Google, more at Techmeme »
Sahil Patel / Digiday:
Sources: Facebook is seeking stricter terms from publishers for its Watch platform, such as owning shows outright, as it negotiates multiple new deals — Facebook is increasingly asking for stricter terms for video shows it buys for Watch, including buying shows outright, sources said …
Reporters Without Borders:
Reporters Without Borders: 65 journalists were killed in 2017, the least deadly year for professionals in 14 years; Syria and Mexico are deadliest countries — Overview: figures at a glance How we calculate these figures — The 2017 round-up figures compiled by Reporters Without Borders …
Discussion:
Reuters, Forbes, @adriennemahsa, Broadcasting & Cable and DW.COM
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David Uberti / Splinter:
An audio recording of Ziff Davis executives' first meeting with Mashable staff sheds light on how the site is to be folded into existing e-commerce business — The recent trajectory of tech site Mashable has put it at the forefront of some of the worst trends reshaping digital media.
Discussion:
@ashdigital_, @pkafka, @mlcalderone, @rafat, @rafat, @mathewi, @jmrivera02, @tim_bays, @saba_h, @mattrosoff, @bmorrissey, @petersterne, @moorehn and @moorehn
Media Matters for America:
On Fox News show “Outnumbered”, aired Tuesday, contributor Kevin Jackson suggested the FBI might have planned to assassinate Donald Trump — Serial liar and conspiracy theorist Kevin Jackson suggests “social media” sources indicated a plot against Trump — From the December 19 edition of Fox News' Outnumbered:
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Newser, Washington Post, The Wrap, @adrienneelrod, @rolandsmartin, @laurajsilverman, @chrismegerian, @l_tucc, Mediaite and UPROXX
James Warren / Poynter:
Incoming NYT publisher A.G. Sulzberger sends “State of The Times” address to newsroom, says paper will try to maintain stable newsroom budget over two years — Amid the hallowing out of newsrooms nationwide, the new leader of The New York Times pledges that …
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Michelle Davis / Bloomberg:
Source: Carlos Slim plans to cut his stake in The New York Times from 17% to about 8%, selling securities in a private offering
Source: Carlos Slim plans to cut his stake in The New York Times from 17% to about 8%, selling securities in a private offering
Discussion:
The Wrap, Financial Times, New York Post, Blog Network, The Daily Caller, PR Newswire, @danprimack, @winnieokelley and @michellef_davis
Bryan Curtis / The Ringer:
A look at the changes in tone SportsCenter has undergone and how the figure of Funny Highlight Guy, with his quips and catchphrases, has become obsolete — As ‘SportsCenter’ diminishes, a classic figure of modern sports media is becoming obsolete: the quip-happy anchor. You might say, they're going ... going ... gone.
Press Gazette:
Sky News staff write letter to UK competition watchdog CMA, warning it that blocking 21st Century Fox-Sky deal would lead to closure of the channel — Staff at Sky News have piled into the debate over the broadcaster's potential takeover, warning the competition watchdog that blocking …
Variety:
Sources: the first round of bids for the Weinstein Company are due today, with Killer Content believed to be among the bidders — The Weinstein Co. sale process is heating up with the first round of bids due on Wednesday, according to industry sources. Last month, the studio revived …
Discussion:
The Wrap
Anthony Ha / TechCrunch:
IAB data shows digital ad spending during first half of 2017 grew 23% YoY to $40.1B, as mobile ad revenue reached $21.7B or 54% of the total — Digital ad spending continued to grow during the first six months of 2017, according to the latest Internet Advertising Revenue Report.
Discussion:
IAB