Mediagazer: The CBS blackout is the 213th one in 2019 while only eight blackouts occurred in 2010 as reliance on retransmission fees makes negotiations more strained (Brian Steinberg/Variety)

Top News:

Maxwell Strachan / HuffPost:

Lessons from the fall of Mic, the millennial-focused, Facebook-dependent site which left staffers exhausted, distrustful of leadership, and financially insecure — “I don't need a pair of Nikes. I need a 401(k)" — and other lessons from the death of a venture-backed, Facebook-dependent, millennial-focused news site.

Max Willens / Digiday:

Bustle Digital Group acquires Inverse, a science- and geek culture-focused site, which was founded by Bleacher Report cofounder Dave Nemetz and had raised $6M — Bustle Digital Group has made another acquisition in an attempt to grow beyond its female-focused audience.

Discussion: Variety, Business Insider, Adweek, @davenemetz, @timmulk and @joshuatopolsky, Thanks:@kerrymflynn

Christine Schmidt / Nieman Lab:

Pew survey of 10,618 Americans from last fall: 61% say the news media intentionally ignores important stories, 19% say media is biased or focused on opinions — It's not just the media institutions — Americans' trust in the federal government, and each other, is dropping.

Discussion: @lrainie, Pew Research Center, @baekdal, @marklittlenews, @pewresearch, @pewresearch, @pewresearch and New York Times

Ruth Graham / Slate:

Air Mail, Graydon Carter's new weekly email newsletter that costs $50 annually, is a big glossy magazine stuffed awkwardly into your inbox — Carter's old-school editorial mode might not be in tune with the medium he now occupies. — The Author of a Wildly Popular Manifesto on Abstinence …

Discussion: @arifleischer, @publicroad, @slate and bookforum.com

Brian Stelter / CNN:

A look at the work of Puerto Rican news nonprofit CPI, whose publication of texts sent by the governor has partly sparked protests demanding his resignation — New York (CNN Business)Puerto Rico's Center for Investigative Journalism has broken many, many stories in the past eleven years.

Discussion: @brianstelter, @frances_sola, @brianstelter and @julito77

Mark Sweney / The Guardian:

Zenith: online advertising forecast to grow by 10% globally next year, the lowest level since 2001, as big brands seek risk-free placement in traditional media — Sector to be outpaced next year by cinema ads as big companies raise fears over digital scandals

Discussion: @guykawasaki and AdExchanger

Brian Steinberg / Variety:

The CBS blackout is the 213th one in 2019 while only eight blackouts occurred in 2010 as reliance on retransmission fees makes negotiations more strained — Among media companies, “going dark” was once a matter of last resort. Now it's an option that is seeing more light.

Discussion: The Streamable and @davezatz

James Walker / Press Gazette:

EU allots €1.5M to responding to press freedom violations, like providing “tangible protection for journalists,” as part of €4.2M in funding for media projects — The European Union has opened up €4.2m (£3.8m) in funding for projects supporting media freedom …

Hannah Ellis-Petersen / The Guardian:

Libel trial opens against Maria Ressa, the editor of Philippine news site Rappler and critic of President Rodrigo Duterte — Maria Ressa faces prison term if convicted under criminal cyberlibel law — A libel trial against the editor of Rappler, a Philippine news site critical of the regime …

Discussion: @ericwishart, The Straits Times, @jostevenslabour, Asian Correspondent and RAPPLER

Lucinda Southern / Digiday:

News UK halved the number of podcasts it produces to 22 last year and saw double the downloads and triple the ad revenue — In an effort to focus its resources with fewer, more specific shows, News UK cut the number of podcasts it produces in half, to 22 last year.

Lucinda Southern / Digiday:

Newly profitable, Axel Springer and Samsung's news aggregator app Upday plans to launch on other platforms and introduce a podcast aggregator this year — Axel Springer's line of defense against the duopoly, news aggregator app Upday, is now profitable and gearing up to scale further and drive more revenue.

Discussion: @upday_press

Laura Hazard Owen / Nieman Lab:

Study of 4M+ tweets during 2017 elections: the ratio of links to professional news sources vs. “junk news” was 7:1 in France, 5:1 in UK, and 4:1 in Germany — In the EU, junk is replacing news from the government, not news from the mainstream media.