Mediagazer: The Correspondent meets its crowdfunding goal of $2.5M and will launch a newsletter in January, hire staff starting in February, and launch site in mid-2019 (Ernst Pfauth/The Correspondent)

Top News:

Robert Channick / Chicago Tribune:

Source: Tribune Publishing ends talks to sell the company to McClatchy, with potential antitrust issues in Florida derailing a deal — A bundle of Chicago Tribune newspapers comes off the press May 16, 2016, at the Tribune's Freedom Center printing plant in Chicago.

Discussion: Bloomberg, New York Post, BloombergQuint, @ruppelsive and Los Angeles Times

Ken Doctor / Nieman Lab:

Sources say that negotiations between Tribune and McClatchy ended mainly because McClatchy was offering $16.50/share and Tribune wants at least $18/share — What stopped the almost-done McClatchy purchase of Tribune Publishing? Two familiar words: Michael Ferro.

Discussion: @laura_nelson, Ad Age, The Wrap and @megjameslat

New York Times:

Behind the secret $9.5M CBS settlement with actress Eliza Dushku, who was written off the show Bull after her complaints about star Michael Weatherly's comments — In March 2017, Eliza Dushku, an actress known for her work on “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” signed on to play a major role …

Oliver Darcy / CNN:

The Weekly Standard will publish its last edition on December 17 and shut down after 23 years — New York (CNN Business)The Weekly Standard, the magazine that espouses traditional conservatism and which has remained deeply critical of President Donald Trump, will shutter after 23 years …

Discussion: Commentary, Mediaite, Adweek, The Hill, The Wrap, @jpodhoretz, @stephengutowski, @jpodhoretz, @oliverdarcy, HuffPost, PR Newswire, @oliverdarcy, The Week and @cjane87

Bloomberg:

Sources: Medium CEO Ev Williams had preliminary talks about buying New York Media, parent of New York Magazine; source said talks are “unlikely to progress” — - The Twitter co-founder says he wants to invest in media in '19 — Magazine publisher has been exploring its options this year

Discussion: @business, @surfbordt, @chaykak, @ggreeneva, @rafat, @codybrown and @ggreeneva, more at Techmeme »

Dominic Patten / Deadline:

FX study: 2018 saw the release of 495 scripted original TV shows, with online streamers like Netflix accounting for the majority of them with 160 shows — Though down by a notch from FX boss John Landgraf's prediction earlier this year that there would be 520 scripted original shows in 2018 …

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, Observer and Vanity Fair

Peter Kafka / Recode:

Sources: Facebook is in talks with pay TV channels, including HBO, Showtime, and Starz, about selling their streaming TV services on its platform — The world's biggest social network wants to get into the pay TV business — by taking a page from Amazon. — Facebook is readying …

Discussion: Quartz, @edmundlee, Business Insider, @natjarv, @awallenstein, @aagave, Digital TV Europe, The Wrap and TechCrunch, more at Techmeme »

Ernst Pfauth / The Correspondent:

The Correspondent meets its crowdfunding goal of $2.5M and will launch a newsletter in January, hire staff starting in February, and launch site in mid-2019 — We will start publishing by mid-2019 — Ernst PfauthBlockedUnblockFollowFollowing — Dear founding members,

Discussion: HuffPost, @robwijnberg, @ejpfauth and @jayrosen_nyu

Eriq Gardner / Hollywood Reporter:

In a case that could serve as a warning to media, a district court judge rules Esquire's use of a photo of Trump crashing a wedding party was not fair use — Judge rejects proposition that personal images posted on social media are free grist for use by media companies.

link.nbcnews.com:

Sources: Verizon's Oath division will be laying off employees starting in Q1 2019; cuts will be 10% of Oath's 11.5K-person workforce — Verizon chief Hans Vestberg has set in motion a plan to start cutting jobs at his Oath media business in the first quarter of next year, two sources with knowledge of the company's plans tell me.

Discussion: @dylanbyers

Tom Winter / NBC News:

Source: Trump was present in August 2015 when National Enquirer's David Pecker met with Michael Cohen and offered to help suppress stories about Trump and women — A source confirms to NBC News that the “other member of the campaign” present when Michael Cohen and David Pecker agreed to silence women was Donald Trump.

Discussion: ABC News, @rgoodlaw, ABC News, Vanity Fair, Fox News Insider, Slate, Washington Post, @peterstris, @ronanfarrow, The Week, @dafnalinzer, @tom_winter, The Guardian and Business Insider

Paul Farhi / Washington Post:

Mixed results follow Australian gag order on Vatican official's conviction: AP, Reuters didn't report, Apple News took down WaPo story, social posts circulated — An Australian court's gag order and the forces of the Information Age collided on Thursday in a largely futile effort to keep news …

Discussion: @lauriegnyt, @meslackman, @sulliview, @fionaba47662575, Slate, The Week, Washington Post and New York Post

Nellie Andreeva / Deadline:

WarnerMedia names Kevin Reilly head of content and strategy for its streaming service; he will remain president of TBS, TNT, and CCO of Turner Entertainment — Kevin Reilly, President of TBS and TNT and Chief Creative Officer for Turner Entertainment, is expanding his role at WarnerMedia …

Discussion: Variety, The Wrap and @richbtig

Cecilia D'Anastasio / Kotaku:

Wiki site Fandom says it will acquire Curse Media, which runs gaming wiki site Gamepedia, from Twitch, which bought Curse Media parent Curse in Aug. 2016 — Wiki site Fandom announced yesterday that they will acquire Curse Media, which runs gaming wiki site Gamepedia, from Twitch.

Discussion: Gamasutra and Neowin, more at Techmeme »

Ted Johnson / Variety:

Nexstar settles with DOJ over the sharing of ad price rates among TV station owners that let them manipulate prices; six other groups settled last month — - National Enquirer Parent Admits to Making Karen McDougal Payments to Help Trump in 2016 Election — WASHINGTON — Nexstar Media Group …

Discussion: Broadcasting & Cable