Top News:
Benjamin Mullin / Wall Street Journal:
Source: Mic Network has agreed to sell to Bustle Digital Group for about $5M, a fraction of Mic's valuation of $100M based on its investment round in April 2017 — Struggling digital publisher lays off most of its staff ahead of sale — Digital publisher Mic Network Inc. has agreed …
Discussion:
@benmullin, New York Post, The Wrap, Digiday, @jeremysliew, The Real Deal New York, @mikkipedia, @mikeisaac, @benmullin, Variety, @mathewi, @davidsrudin, @mattdpearce, @dfnssr, @abu_zafar, @clarajeffery, @karnythia, @dmedin11, @angryblacklady, @awolfeful, @sophiekleeman, @mikkipedia, @ptrmsk, @kelseymsutton, @daviduberti, @ahylton26, @chrstphr_woody, @shanedkavanaugh, @mattdpearce, @yashar, @trengriffin, @noahshachtman, @jeremysliew, @johndiesattheen, @rafat, @zzzzaaaacccchhh, @maxwellstrachan, @shaig, @alexisohanian, @emilybell, @rafat, @kylepope, Adweek, MediaPost and HuffPost
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Peter Kafka / Recode:
Mic has laid off a majority of its 100-person staff ahead of Bustle acquisition; publisher Cory Haik has already left, sources say the cofounders will remain — The publisher is trying to sell the remainder of the company to Bustle Digital Group. — Mic is laying off the majority off …
Discussion:
@dabeard, @kelseymsutton, @levinejonathan, HuffPost, @kelseymsutton, Nieman Lab, Columbia Journalism Review, @chronotope, @cityofthetown, Crain's New York Business, @niemanlab, @journalistslike, @levinejonathan, @wblau, @zzzzaaaacccchhh, @amyharvard_, @alexsteigrad, @s_m_i, @playoffs_dr_lic, @thomaspagemcbee, @jamilsmith, @jessicalessin, @susanarendt, @maghielse, @mathewi, @chappelltracker, @madderka, @lukeoneil47, The Wrap, Fast Company, Variety, The Hill, Adweek, @lukeoneil47, Splinter, Gothamist, CNN, @tribranchvo, @joshsternberg, @kifleswing, The Information, @ingridostby, @saschasegan, @kelseymsutton, @jamesfdennin and Recode
Sheila Dang / Reuters:
AT&T says it's considering selling its Hulu stake to help reduce its $183B debt and that WarnerMedia's streaming service will have three price tiers — (Reuters) - AT&T Inc (T.N) said on Thursday it has committed to cutting its heavy debt load next year through a variety of measures …
Discussion:
Bloomberg, Deadline, Multichannel News, CNN and Deadline
US Day One Blog:
Apple Music will be available on Amazon Echo devices beginning the week of December 17 — Apple Music is coming to Echo devices in the coming weeks. — Music has always been one of Alexa's most popular features and today we're excited to announce that Apple Music will be available on Echo devices beginning the week of December 17.
Discussion:
Business Insider, VentureBeat, TechCrunch, Engadget, MacRumors, Music Business Worldwide, Fortune, 9to5Mac and AllAccess.com, more at Techmeme »
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
A Nielsen report says US viewers spend nearly 8B hours per month streaming content via connected devices like Roku, Apple TV, and Amazon Fire TV — With the rise of streaming services and the trend toward cord cutting, the way U.S. consumers are watching video is also changing.
Discussion:
Nielsen, MediaPost, @jonsteinberg and Peter O'Kelly's Reality Check, more at Techmeme »
Mark Sweney / The Guardian:
Unionized Financial Times journalists passed a vote of no confidence in the FT's CEO, John Ridding, citing lack of transparency, high executive pay — NUJ chapel passes vote saying Ridding has not acknowledged or addressed serious concerns — Journalists at the Financial Times have passed …
Discussion:
Press Gazette and Talking Biz News
Matt Taibbi / Rolling Stone:
Opinion: As Facebook clamps down on fake news, Russian trolls and Nazis, it has also banned innocent people, proving it can't be trusted to regulate itself — In its effort to clamp down on fake news, Russian trolls and Nazis, the social media giant has also started banning innocent people …
Discussion:
@normative
Keith J. Kelly / New York Post:
AMI is trying to raise $450M to refinance multiple loans, including a $100M loan that was used to buy Bauer Publishing's celebrity titles — National Enquirer and Us Weekly publisher American Media Inc. is attempting for a second time in four months to refinance its mountain of debt.
Sahil Patel / Digiday:
Food52 becomes the ninth food channel on free video streaming service Xumo; distribution is free as publishers provide content and collect ad revenue — Food52 is looking to establish a presence on over-the-top streaming video environments. — The commerce-driven food publisher is launching …
David Skok / Nieman Lab:
Canada's $595M journalism aid package will distort the market unless it supports subscriptions smartly, creates an impact fund, factors in the CBC, and more — I anguished over whether to weigh in on the Canadian government's new $595 million government-aid package for journalism, because it's deeply personal for me.
Discussion:
@iangarrickmason, @niemanlab and @niemanlab
Alex Hern / The Guardian:
Facebook will exempt ads from eligible news outlets from its political ad archive in the UK, a policy it plans to extend to the US and Brazil pending UK tests — Social network to act against ‘dark adverts’ with compulsory disclaimers saying who paid — Every political advert on Facebook …
Felicia Sonmez / Washington Post:
The CEO of the US Agency for Global Media, which oversees VOA and other US government media, apologizes for a Radio Martí show that attacked George Soros — The head of a U.S. government agency has apologized to George Soros and his Open Society Foundations for the airing of a program …