Mediagazer: How Axios used Mike Allen and distilled news to become influential quickly, with 260K+ newsletter subscribers and more; source says Axios AM fetches ~$75K/week (Steven Perlberg/BuzzFeed)

5:25 PM ET, January 25, 2018

Top News:

Dave McNary / Variety:

Casey Affleck, accused of sexually abusive conduct in 2010, withdraws from customary role of prior year's best actor presenting best actress award at Oscars — Casey Affleck has withdrawn from presenting the best actress award at the March 4 Academy Award ceremonies.

Discussion: Deadline, Hollywood Reporter, The Wrap, The Guardian, The New York Observer, Fast Company, Mediaite, NPR, New York Times, Rolling Stone, Business Insider, Vox, Vanity Fair, Consequence of Sound and The Daily Caller

Steven Perlberg / BuzzFeed:

CNN is closing Beme and Casey Neistat is leaving following 2016 buyout, which sources say valued it at $20M+; CNN will continue to develop some of its products — CNN acquired Beme in late 2016 with hopes that it would become a major piece of its digital business. Now Neistat's leaving the company.

Discussion: YouTube, TechCrunch, Ad Age, Forbes, The Wrap, The Daily Caller, Mediaite, Variety, @srabil, Tubefilter, @alyssabereznak, @niemanlab, The Verge, @rrhoover, Mashable, Hollywood Reporter, Business Insider, Engadget and Gizmodo, more at Techmeme »

Steven Perlberg / BuzzFeed:

How Axios used Mike Allen and distilled news to become influential quickly, with 260K+ newsletter subscribers and more; source says Axios AM fetches ~$75K/week — Every morning, Washington wakes up to Axios AM — Mike Allen's top 10 stories of the day, filled with short bits of breaking news …

Discussion: @iansams, @mathewi, @erica_pandey, @mzinshteyn, @katieglueck, @katherinemiller, @edmundlee, @katherinemiller, @mattmittenthal, @tomgara, @mr_berman, @rosiegray and @wajahatali

Reuters:

Sources: Viacom CEO Bob Bakish and CBS CEO Leslie Moonves held “exploratory” discussion on merging companies; boards expected to discuss merger in coming weeks — (Reuters) - Viacom Inc (VIAB.O) Chief Executive Bob Bakish and CBS Corp (CBS.N) CEO Leslie Moonves …

Kim Masters / Hollywood Reporter:

Analysis of behind-the-scenes maneuvers to merge Viacom and CBS and the futures of CEOs Bob Bakish and Leslie Moonves, as Shari Redstone pushes for scale — The mogul faces a delicate negotiation with CBS CEO Leslie Moonves, who wants to be at the helm of the united company.

Ryan Glasspiegel / The Big Lead:

Source: ESPN is exploring options for FiveThirtyEight, including a potential sale to an outlet like The Atlantic or moving the site under ABC News — By the time mid-term election season really heats up, Nate Silver and FiveThirtyEight will in all likelihood have a different platform than ESPN.

Discussion: Variety, The Wrap, @bmorrissey, @danwolken and @mylesudland

Selina Wang / Bloomberg:

Sources: Twitter is working on a Snapchat-style tool to more easily share videos and photos on the network, but its design and launch aren't yet finalized — Social network is experimenting with new products to woo users — Company seeks to streamline process of posting photos, videos

Discussion: Mashable, Daily Mail, Business Insider, Los Angeles Times, Engadget, The Verge, MacRumors, New York Magazine, Fast Company, 9to5Mac and TechCrunch, more at Techmeme »

Chris Roush / Talking Biz News:

Reports: Kimi Yoshino, business editor at the LA Times and an editor on the Pulitzer-winning Bell corruption scandal stories, was suspended for two days — Kimi Yoshino, the business editor of the Los Angeles Times, has been suspended for two days, according to multiple reports.

Discussion: @davidfolkenflik, LA Observed, @mattdpearce, @charlesornstein, @bymattstevens and @mattdpearce

Colin Deppen / The Incline:

Unionized Pittsburgh Press-Gazette employees, who haven't received raises for 12 years, begin byline strike amid contract negotiations with the paper's owners — Newsroom employees at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette are withholding their names from the articles they write and the news products …

Discussion: The NewsGuild - CWA, @lexibelc, @swernerpg and Pittsburgh City Paper

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:

Sources: Apple is working on a redesigned Books reading app that includes a Reading Now section, dedicated tab for audio books, and redesigned store — Company working on new digital book reader for iPhones, iPads — iPhone maker hires former Amazon, Barnes & Noble exec for unit

Discussion: Variety, TechCrunch, The Verge, AppleInsider, AppleInsider, Engadget, Ars Technica, MacRumors, Softpedia News, VentureBeat, 9to5Mac, AppAdvice.com, Fortune, Seeking Alpha and Peter O'Kelly's Reality Check, more at Techmeme »

John Biggs / TechCrunch:

NPD analysis: US print book sales rose by 1.9% in 2017, less than the 3% growth in 2013-2016, with few blockbusters to drive interest — In what amounts to faint praise for the strength of the physical book NPD reported that print book sales rose 1.9 percent in 2017, less than the 3 percent growth posted in 2013-2016.

Discussion: NPD Group and Publishers Weekly

Dan Monk / WCPO:

E.W. Scripps continues restructuring initiative as it looks to sell its 34 radio stations and reduce annual operating expenses by $30M — Cincinnati-based media chain trims $30M in costs — CINCINNATI — The E.W. Scripps Co. is looking to sell its 34 radio stations while tripling the size …

Discussion: @erikbilstadwtmj and @talkingnewmedia

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More News:

Ei Ei Toe Lwin / The Myanmar Times:
Interview with Ma Pan Ei, wife of reporter Wa Lone, one of two Reuters journalists still being held after more than a month on charges of taking state secrets

Discussion: @clarebaldwin and @journotopia

Bloomberg:
Sources: comScore is working with Goldman Sachs to explore strategic options, including a potential sale

more at Techmeme »

Associated Press:
Prosecutor credits Indianapolis Star probe for prompting victims of Larry Nassar to speak up: “We as a society need investigative journalists more than ever”

Discussion: @freep, CNN, CNN, Vox, @niallstanage, @kathyim59, Indianapolis Star, @farhip, @mikeelk, USA Today, Journalism News, @jmart181, @charlesminshew, @greggdoyelstar, @apcentralregion, @tonyleys, @lacolacioppo, @geostanley, @billshaikin, Deadspin and @sandrawthr

Ted Johnson / Variety:
Bipartisan group of senators introduces the Music Modernization Act, mirroring a House bill, to streamline music licensing on services like Spotify, Pandora

Discussion: Radio & Television …, Broadcasting & Cable, Tennessean.com and Billboard

Earlier Picks:

Washington Post:
How Madison Marriage, a journalist for the Financial Times, went undercover to report on harassment of hostesses at an exclusive London charity event for men

Discussion: The Guardian, Slate, France 24, @financialtimes, Business Insider, Press Gazette, Jon Slattery, Financial Times, @financialtimes, @benbrownbbc, @wblau, @nazirafzal, @emilybell, AOL, 444, BBC, Mashable, @postworldnews and Liz McKinnell

Jason Horowitz / New York Times:
Pope Francis condemns “fake news”, praises journalists as “protectors of news”, and lauds educational efforts aimed at helping people recognize misinformation

Discussion: The Guardian, vatican.va, The Hill, The Daily Caller, AOL, Politico, @sulliview, @jasondhorowitz, @kevinloker and @jcstearns

Todd Spangler / Variety:
YouTube says it will invest $5M in its Creators for Change program in 2018, aimed at YouTubers who “counter hate and promote tolerance”

Discussion: The New York Observer, YouTube Blog, Tubefilter and TechCrunch

From Techmeme:

Financial Times:
Sources: the US FTC plans to investigate allegations that Microsoft is abusing its market power in productivity software to prevent customers from leaving Azure

Maxwell Zeff / TechCrunch:
OpenAI says the ChatGPT desktop app for macOS can now read code from some developer-focused apps, including VS Code, Xcode, TextEdit, Terminal, and iTerm2

David Pierce / The Verge:
Google releases a free Gemini app for iOS, letting users ask questions, chat via text, voice, or their camera, and use the conversational mode Gemini Live

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