Top News:
Wall Street Journal:
BuzzFeed is planning layoffs that could affect around 250, or 15% of the jobs across the company, in the news and business units — Layoffs could affect about 250 jobs across the company — BuzzFeed is planning to lay off about 15% of its workforce, according to people familiar with the situation …
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Recode:
In email to staff, CEO Jonah Peretti says BuzzFeed will make a 15% overall reduction in headcount next week, will share more about its future structure soon
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CNBC:
Verizon Media Group, which owns Yahoo and AOL, plans to cut 7% of its global workforce, according to an email to employees from CEO Guru Gowrappan — Independent Programming Subscribe to CNBC PRO Licensing & Reprints Join the CNBC Panel Advertise With Us Closed Captioning Digital Products Privacy Policy Internships
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Steven Hsieh / Phoenix New Times:
Two laid off at The Arizona Republic, sources say, as Gannett cost cutting hits newspapers in Indianapolis, Knoxville, TN, Asheville, NC, and more — The Arizona Republic laid off two staffers on Wednesday as part of a national cost-cutting effort by Gannett, the paper's parent company, according sources in the newsroom.
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The Atlantic:
Four additional men accuse Bryan Singer, director of X-Men and Bohemian Rhapsody, of seducing or raping them as minors — Over the past two decades, Bryan Singer's films—The Usual Suspects, Valkyrie, Superman Returns, four of the X-Men movies—have earned more than $3 billion at the box office …
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The Daily Beast:
The writers of the report on sex allegations against Bryan Singer say Hearst killed the story; source says Hearst Magazines President Troy Young made decision — The Atlantic published the work of two writers at Esquire after they say Hearst bigwigs spiked their exposé on one of Hollywood's biggest directors.
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Chris Welch / The Verge:
After Netflix price hikes, Hulu will lower its base, ad-supported subscription plan to $6/mo, down from $8/mo, and hike its Live TV service to $45/mo on Feb. 26 — The core service is getting cheaper, but live TV now costs more — Hulu just announced that it will lower the price of its base …
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Maxwell Tani / The Daily Beast:
Reporters Maya Kosoff and Anna Breslaw leave the new Gawker after Bustle Digital Group refused to oust editorial director Carson Griffith over offensive remarks — The new site's only two full-time writers exited Wednesday in protest of editorial director Carson Griffith's offensive remarks about everything from race to penis size.
Brian Steinberg / Variety:
Fox News is launching “Hannity on Air”, a look at the opening monologue of Sean Hannity's radio show, on its Fox Nation video streaming service next week — Sean Hannity sometimes tells younger colleagues at Fox News Channel that he is “the bridge between two generations of Fox” …
Discussion:
CNN, @jeremymbarr, Broadcasting & Cable, TVNewser and Mediaite
Meg James / Los Angeles Times:
After a three-year court battle, judge affirms the view of Sumner Redstone's family that he understands what's going on around him, appoints guardian ad litem — The titanic battle over media mogul Sumner Redstone's mental state ended with a whimper in a nearly empty Los Angeles courtroom Wednesday.
Discussion:
Awful Announcing and Hollywood Reporter
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Cheddar launches on PlayStation Vue, is now available on all US over-the-top subscription services; CEO projects the company will be profitable in Q4 — Video-news startup Cheddar is launching its live-streaming news networks on Sony's PlayStation Vue, making it the first content provider …
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Cheddar, @alexeheath, Cheddar, Engadget, Cord Cutters News and Talking Biz News
Facebook:
Facebook to launch Page Quality tab for admins, showing when content is removed for policy violations and when post distribution is reduced due to fact-checking — We're taking new steps in how we handle Page content that goes against our policies. First, starting tomorrow people who manage …
Discussion:
Gizmodo, Fortune, Adweek, Mashable, VentureBeat and The Verge, more at Techmeme »
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Sheila Marikar / Fortune:
How Quibi's Jeffrey Katzenberg and Meg Whitman are landing top talent in entertainment and media ahead of the mobile video platform's launch by year's end — The movie mogul (Disney, DreamWorks Animation) and tech executive (eBay, Hewlett Packard) are aiming for short-form glory with the well-funded Quibi.
Lucinda Southern / Digiday:
The Economist will launch The Intelligence, a 20-minute daily news podcast on Jan. 29, which has taken a year to create and is supported by eight new staffers — The Economist is the latest publisher to launch a daily news podcast in order to broaden its reach in audio and ultimately drive people to subscribe.
Discussion:
Journalism.co.uk, MediaPost, RAIN News and Talking Biz News
Margaret Sullivan / Washington Post:
Trump-era press briefings are exercises in futility and lying, but we need them anyway so reporters can probe and pressure the administration — There's an old joke, recounts Woody Allen's character Alvy Singer, in the movie “Annie Hall.” — Two elderly women are at a Catskills mountain resort …
Discussion:
@sulliview, @erikwemple, @jayrosen_nyu, @timobrien, @gjbarb and @dpotternews
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John Wagner / Washington Post:
On Twitter, Trump says he told Sarah Sanders “not to bother” with press briefings, citing his belief that the press covers her “rudely and inaccurately”
Discussion:
@realdonaldtrump, @whca, @kaitlancollins, CNN, Mediaite, Fox News Insider, @cebergstrom, @jayrosen_nyu, @jbview, @brianstelter, Political Wire and New York Times
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