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, @jeremysliew, The Wrap, @mikkipedia, @mikeisaac, The Real Deal New York, @benmullin, @annalikestweets, @mattdpearce, @mikkipedia, @daviduberti, @ahylton26, @mattdpearce, @trengriffin, @jeremysliew, @mathewi, @chrstphr_woody, @karnythia, @angryblacklady, @awolfeful, @kelseymsutton, @davidsrudin, @dfnssr, @sophiekleeman, @abu_zafar, @dmedin11, @ptrmsk, @noahshachtman, @clarajeffery, @yashar, @shanedkavanaugh, Variety, @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
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
Discussion:
@dabeard, @kelseymsutton, @levinejonathan, Digiday, HuffPost, Washington Post, @kelseymsutton, Nieman Lab, @chronotope, Columbia Journalism Review, @laurahazardowen, Splinter, @cityofthetown, @niemanlab, @levinejonathan, @wblau, @journalistslike, @amyharvard_, @zzzzaaaacccchhh, @alexsteigrad, @s_m_i, @playoffs_dr_lic, @thomaspagemcbee, @jamilsmith, @jessicalessin, @susanarendt, @maghielse, @mathewi, @chappelltracker, @madderka, @lukeoneil47, The Wrap, Fast Company, @lukeoneil47, Variety, The Hill, @tribranchvo, Adweek, @joshsternberg, Splinter, Gothamist, CNN, @kifleswing, @ingridostby, @saschasegan, @kelseymsutton, @jamesfdennin, The Information and Recode
Carl Meyer / National Observer:
Vice reporter Ben Makuch loses his case at the Supreme Court of Canada, which upholds an order to turn over his conversations with a source to the police — #87 of 87 articles from the Special Report: — Vice Media reporter Ben Makuch has lost his case at the Supreme Court of Canada …
Discussion:
VICE News, JSource, Motherboard, CBC News and @elamin88
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.
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 …
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, FierceVideo, MediaPost, @jonsteinberg and Peter O'Kelly's Reality Check, more at Techmeme »
Tavi Gevinson / Rookie:
Rookie magazine is folding, writes Editor-in-Chief Tavi Gevinson, though the site will remain up for a few more months — It is with a very full heart that I write that this is the last post on Rookie. The site will stay up for at least a few months, the shop will stay up until the end of the year, but the publication is folding.
Discussion:
PAPER, @tavitulle and @stgramophone
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
Jon Lafayette / Broadcasting & Cable:
VAB report: 73% of adults who stream video watch ad-supported OTT video, 90% of adults 25-34 stream video, up 18% since 2016, but only 10% of homes are OTT only — New report points to added reach and improved outcomes — With over-the-top becoming the shiny new thing catching advertisers' eyes …
Discussion:
Adweek
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.
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
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