Top News:
Michael Wolff / New York Magazine:
Book excerpt recounts Trump's interactions with various media figures including Roger Ailes, who encouraged him to float rumors of a TV network, and Murdoch — One year ago: the plan to lose, and the administration's shocked first days. — Election Night: It “looked as if he had seen a ghost.”
Discussion:
Bloomberg, Washington Post, Mediaite, Mother Jones, Axios, The Guardian, The Wrap, New York Times, National Review, NPR, @mlcalderone, @gregorykorte, The A.V. Club, The Daily Caller, Splinter, @kendilaniannbc, Fortune, @jenniferjjacobs, CBS Boston, Politico, @davidnather, @axios, CNN, @philiprucker, Vanity Fair, Variety, Arkansas Blog, Arkansas Times, Newser, AOL, Boing Boing, @brianstelter, France 24, Mashable, theGrio and The Savage Nation
Dan Primack / Axios:
Sources: Spotify confidentially filed IPO documents with the SEC at the end of December; indications are the company wants to list in Q1 — Music streaming giant Spotify confidentially filed IPO documents with the SEC at the end of December, Axios has learned from multiple sources.
Discussion:
Bloomberg, CNBC, RAIN News, TechCrunch, USA Today, CNBC, Deadline, Silicon Valley Business …, Business Insider, The Wrap, @chrismessina, @juddgreenstein, SiliconANGLE, Cult of Mac, Rolling Stone, Wall Street Journal, AOL, The FADER, The Next Web, The Guardian, @pkafka, Fortune, GeekWire, 9to5Mac and hypebot, more at Techmeme »
RELATED:
Eriq Gardner / Hollywood Reporter:
Spotify faces new copyright lawsuit from Wixen Music that suggests up to 21% of Spotify songs are unlicensed; plaintiff seeks $1.6B+ in damages
Spotify faces new copyright lawsuit from Wixen Music that suggests up to 21% of Spotify songs are unlicensed; plaintiff seeks $1.6B+ in damages
Discussion:
Axios, The New York Observer, RAIN News, Mashable, Gizmodo, Rolling Stone, Music Ally, The Drum, Tech Times, Android Police, hypebot, Variety, The A.V. Club, TechCrunch, The Verge, 9to5Mac, The FADER, The Wrap, WHDH-TV and Rolling Stone, more at Techmeme »
Michael M. Grynbaum / New York Times:
Showtime's political documentary series The Circus will return in April without Mark Halperin; he is being replaced by CBS news anchor Alex Wagner — The Showtime political documentary series “The Circus” is set to return in April, minus its most recognizable star: Mark Halperin …
Emily Smith / Page Six:
Sources: Today Show co-anchor Hoda Kotb is earning $18M less than her predecessor Matt Lauer, with a $7M/year deal, underlining huge wage disparity at NBC News — Hoda Kotb made history by officially landing Matt Lauer's former “Today” show job — but she is still being paid around $18 million less per year …
RELATED:
Eun Kyung Kim / TODAY.com:
Hoda Kotb, who filled in for Matt Lauer since his firing, is named co-anchor of the Today show
Hoda Kotb, who filled in for Matt Lauer since his firing, is named co-anchor of the Today show
Discussion:
CNNMoney, People.com, Vanity Fair, E! Online, Mediaite, The Daily Beast, Business Insider, USA Today, New York Times, AOL, ABC News, The Wrap, TVNewser, Showbiz411, The Daily Caller, Rolling Stone, TVLine, thecut and Mashable
James Risen / The Intercept:
James Risen recounts his struggles with the government and his NYT editors as he reported on US pre-war intelligence on Iraq and the NSA domestic spying effort — I was sitting in the nearly empty restaurant of the Westin Hotel in Alexandria, Virginia, getting ready for a showdown …
Margaret Sullivan / Washington Post:
The New York Times, constantly under attack from all quarters, often resorts to “both-sides” reporting that fails to properly challenge those with power — When most newspapers get a new publisher, few people know or care. It gets a shrug, except by those directly affected.
Discussion:
@sulliview, @jayrosen_nyu, Politico, Splinter and The New York Observer
CNBC:
Sources: Amazon in talks with Clorox, Procter & Gamble, others about product promotion on Echo; some discussions focus on sponsorship options within skills — - Ads will focus on sponsorship opportunities within skills or use data about a buyer's shopping history to suggest products.
Discussion:
Fast Company, The Verge, Voicebot, @sallyshin, @chrissyfarr, Gizmodo, Slate, Axios and Search Engine Land
Elisabeth Bumiller / The New York Times Company:
Memo: The New York Times appoints Lara Jakes as a deputy editor of its Washington bureau, overseeing coverage of foreign policy — Lara Jakes has been named a deputy editor in Washington, overseeing the coverage of foreign policy. Read more in this note from Elisabeth Bumiller: — Great news.
Tim Lockette / Anniston Star:
Former publisher and chairman of the company that publishes the Anniston Star, H. Brandt Ayers, accused of forced spanking staffers in the newsroom in the 1970s — A former Anniston Star reporter says that H. Brandt Ayers, chairman of the company that publishes the paper, sexually assaulted her in the 1970s in The Star's newsroom.
Alicia A. Caldwell / Wall Street Journal:
National Press Club and others are advocating for Mexican journalist Emilio Gutierrez Soto, denied asylum and arrested after fleeing to US ~10 years ago — Emilio Gutierrez Soto, recently denied asylum and arrested after an initial appeal was rejected, says he and his son will be killed if they return to Mexico
Discussion:
@snfettig
Lucia Moses / Digiday:
News Corp CEO Robert Thomson says the company is in constant talks with Facebook and Google, praises Google CEO Sundar Pichai — This article appears in the latest issue of Digiday magazine, a quarterly publication that is part of Digiday+. Members of Digiday+ get access to exclusive content …
Brian Steinberg / Variety:
CNN anchor Brooke Baldwin launches American Woman, an eight-part digital series profiling eminent women like Ava DuVernay and Sheryl Crow — Brooke Baldwin kicked off 2018 by anchoring CNN's raucous late-night New Year's Eve coverage with colleague Don Lemon.
Discussion:
CNN