Mediagazer: Competing theories emerge on how National Enquirer obtained intimate texts between Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez, with its ties to Trump figuring prominently (Washington Post)

9:05 AM ET, February 6, 2019

Top News:

Peter Kafka / Recode:

Spotify buys Gimlet Media, a podcast producer and network, sources say for ~$230M, and Anchor, which makes it easier for users to record and distribute podcasts — Daniel Ek says he wants to spend up to $500 million on acquisitions this year — Spotify is a streaming music company that wants to become a podcast company, too.

Stuart Dredge / Music Ally:
Spotify reports Q4 revenue of ~€1.5B, up 30% YoY, operating profit of €94M, says it has 207M MAUs, up 29% YoY, including 96M premium subscribers, up 36% YoY

Discussion: VentureBeat and Spotify, more at Techmeme »

New York Times Company:

In Q4, The New York Times added 265K digital subscriptions, bringing total number of digital subs to 3.4M but profit decreased to $74.7M from $90.5M a year ago — NEW YORK—(BUSINESS WIRE)— The New York Times Company (NYSE: NYT) announced today fourth-quarter 2018 diluted earnings per share …

Discussion: New York Times, @adamgoldmannyt, @ericliptonnyt, @jeffjarvis, @brianstelter and @gerryfsmith

Kyle Pope / Columbia Journalism Review:

Craig Newmark donates $10M to Columbia Journalism School to endow Newmark ethics center and $5M to Poynter to create another ethics and leadership center — For many of the past few decades, the rules around journalism ethics have been largely settled. We know the appropriate ways to treat sources …

Discussion: Poynter, Columbia, Poynter, @kellymcb and @emilybell

Joan E. Solsman / CNET:

YouTube CEO says the number of channels with 1M+ subs nearly doubled and the number of creators who earned five or six figures grew 40%+ in the last year — In a post on Tuesday about her 2019 goals, YouTube Chief Executive Susan Wojcicki touted several milestones Google's massive video site surpassed …

Discussion: YouTube Creator Blog, Variety, Music Ally, TechCrunch, @susanwojcicki and Adweek, more at Techmeme »

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
YouTube says its experimental Instagram-like Explore tab has expanded beyond the iOS app to more devices and now suggests smaller, up-and-coming creators

Discussion: Social Media Today, Digital Trends and Gizchina.com

Jon Levine / The Wrap:

Leaked audio: Vice news chief Josh Tyrangiel says Vice is nearing a deal with Hulu for a new show, and revenue loss after end of HBO show contributed to layoffs — “We now have paper. We now have pens. The pens are not on paper," Vice executive Josh Tyrangiel says of the deal

Discussion: Digiday, @levinejonathan, @tomhbunting and @plbarghouty

Anjali Robins / CNBC:

Disney beats estimates with Q1 net income of $2.79B on revenue of $15.3B vs. $15.14B expected; media networks revenue increased 7% YoY to $5.9B — - Investors and analysts are looking for new details on the company's direct-to-consumer plans and an update on its pending $71.3 billion acquisition …

Discussion: The Wrap, Variety, The Wrap, @stevekovach, AdExchanger, Awful Announcing, The Walt Disney Company and Yahoo! Finance

Chris Welch / The Verge:
Disney says ESPN+, its standalone subscription streaming service that launched in April, has 2M+ users, up from 1M in September

Discussion: CNBC, more at Techmeme »

Josh Constine / TechCrunch:

Sources: Reddit is raising $150M to $300M in a Series D led by Tencent at a $2.7B pre-money valuation — Reddit is raising $150 million to $300 million to keep the front page of the Internet running, multiple sources tell TechCrunch. The forthcoming Series D round is said to be led …

Discussion: @dhh, @shiruken, @carnage4life, @badlogicgames, @joshconstine and Business Insider, more at Techmeme »

Owen S. Good / Polygon:

Machinima is now officially closed, two weeks after it went offline, with layoffs of 81 people but a “select number” remaining to work at AT&T's Otter Media — Parent company confirms shutdown two weeks after everything went offline — Machinima is officially no more.

Discussion: MediaPost, Deadline, @matthewmercer, @robgabel, @xpangler and @utxjgthedon

Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:

FT launches Sifted, a new site targeting young European entrepreneurs, running on part subscription and part sponsorship to keep it free for its target audience — The Financial Times has backed a news website for the European start-up world, which its founder has said will tap into a …

Amanda Darrach / Columbia Journalism Review:

Amid buyouts and possible layoffs, McClatchy's board increased CEO Craig Forman's monthly stipend for travel, housing, and security from $5,000 to $35,000 — BuzzFeed, HuffPo, Gannett, Vice. This has already been a ruthless year for layoffs in digital journalism.

Discussion: @byrosenberg, @samthielman, Miami New Times, @levinecarrie, @aodespair, @chrispreperato, @byrosenberg, @moorehn, @aliciak2010, @sarahesmith23, @cmonstah, @ssuttell, @tess_novotny, @maryannetalbott, @scottleadingham, @alex_burness and @moorehn

Greg Dool / Folio:

American Media, publisher of National Enquirer, Us Weekly, and Men's Journal, has acquired TEN: Publishing's 14 brands in its Adventure Sports Network — National Enquirer publisher American Media has acquired TEN: Publishing's Adventure Sports Network, a group of 14 action sports brands …

Discussion: Forbes, MediaPost, Pinkbike.com and SGB Online

Washington Post:

Competing theories emerge on how National Enquirer obtained intimate texts between Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez, with its ties to Trump figuring prominently — When the National Enquirer published explicit text messages between Amazon founder Jeffrey P. Bezos and the woman he was having an affair with …

Discussion: Business Insider, @blairreeves, @amyjbrittain and @connortryan

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Nick Martin / Splinter:
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Casey Newton / The Verge:
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Kim Severson / New York Times:
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The New York Times Company:
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BuzzFeed News:
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Earlier Picks:

Laura Hazard Owen / Nieman Lab:
Researchers at Medill Local News Initiative analyzed 13TB of subscriber data from local papers, found high correlation between regular reading and sub retention

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Jaclyn Peiser / New York Times:
Around one-third of the content published by Bloomberg News uses some form of automated technology, with more news outlets beginning to rely on AI

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Washington Post:
The Washington Post adds International Women's Media Foundation and James W. Foley Legacy Foundation to Press Freedom Partnership

Sara Fischer / Axios:
The New York Times is offering free online subscriptions to 3M+ students, made possible by 30,000 contributions from readers

Discussion: What's New in Publishing, @tjdoyle and @sarafischer

Washington Post:
Former Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke told police that a Washington Post reporter caused a fracas outside his house but there was no reporter there

Discussion: @vermontgmg, @thadeusgreenson and @eilperin

From Techmeme:

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple is working on a smart doorbell system with advanced facial recognition that can wirelessly connect and unlock third-party smart locks

Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
Donald Trump announces that Sriram Krishnan, until recently a general partner at a16z, will serve as senior policy advisor for AI at the White House OSTP

Financial Times:
Sources: Palantir and Anduril are in talks with OpenAI, SpaceX, and more to form a consortium to bid for US defense contracts and plan to announce it in January

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