Top News:
Sara Jerde / Adweek:
Quartz to search for new editor-in-chief as Kevin Delaney steps down; co-founder Zach Seward to replace Delaney and Jay Lauf as CEO, Katie Weber named president — Kevin Delaney is leaving the business media organization — Quartz co-CEO and editor in chief Kevin Delaney …
Discussion:
Quartz, @raju, @jbenton, @jbenton, @emilybell, @pkafka, @zseward, Talking Biz News and MediaPost
RELATED:
Marc Tracy / New York Times:
Filings: Quartz lost more than $16M on $12M in revenue through the first six months of this year — Kevin Delaney co-founded the digital publication in 2012. — Kevin Delaney, the editor in chief of Quartz and one of the digital publication's co-founders is stepping down as part of a shake-up of the company's leadership.
Discussion:
@tomgara, Talking Biz News, @johngapper, @jbenton, @tomgara and @rafat
Wall Street Journal:
Group Nine has agreed to acquire women's lifestyle publisher PopSugar; sources say the all-stock deal is worth $300M and values Group Nine at more than $600M — All-stock deal values women-focused publisher PopSugar at $300 million; follows recent acquisitions involving Vox Media, Vice Media
Discussion:
Axios, @benjlerer, The Wrap, @wsj, The Drum, @kerrymflynn, @rafat, Adweek and TechCrunch
Nellie Andreeva / Deadline:
NBC Entertainment co-chairman George Cheeks shifts to vice chairman of NBCUniversal Content Studios in major restructure, leaving Paul Telegdy as sole chairman — NBCUniversal is making sweeping changes, restructuring its broadcast, studio and digital operations and assigning new roles …
Discussion:
Variety, Broadcasting & Cable and Observer
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Lesley Goldberg / Hollywood Reporter:
Matt Strauss to run NBCU's Peacock, replacing Bonnie Hammer, who now oversees Content Studios, a consolidation of Universal TV and Universal Content Productions
Matt Strauss to run NBCU's Peacock, replacing Bonnie Hammer, who now oversees Content Studios, a consolidation of Universal TV and Universal Content Productions
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, Adweek, @awallenstein, MediaPost, The Wrap, @lucas_shaw and @ballmatthew
Hollywood Reporter:
China's censors reportedly scrub South Park clips, episodes, and online discussions from streaming services, social media after critical “Band in China” episode — After the “Band in China” episode mocked Hollywood for shaping its content to please the Chinese government …
Discussion:
Joe Tsai, New York Times, New York Times, Washington Post, ESPN, Scroll.in, Hong Kong Free Press HKFP, CNN, Breitbart, The Guardian, Fox News, The Federalist, ScreenRant, VICE, Deadline, The Daily Caller, The Week, Variety, The Wrap, Gothamist, Business Insider, New York Post, Los Angeles Times, @adammatthew, Mediaite, @caroljsroth, Insider, NBC News, Breitbart, VICE, /Film, Rolling Stone, Reason, The Hill, NME, The Week, FOX59 and Just Jared
Financial Times:
Sources: Apple has recently approached big music labels about bundling together Apple Music and Apple TV+ for one flat monthly fee — Apple's hopes of creating a super-bundle of media content for one flat monthly fee have run into early opposition, with some record labels nervous …
Discussion:
The Next Web, @loudmouthjulia, Business Insider, MacRumors, BGR, CNET, @kantrowitz, The Streamable, Music Business Worldwide, 9to5Mac and hypebot, more at Techmeme »
Ronan Farrow / New Yorker:
First excerpt from Ronan Farrow's Catch and Kill describes how private investigators working for Harvey Weinstein surveilled Farrow and NYT's Jodi Kantor — How two operatives tasked with surveilling reporters became embroiled in an international plot to suppress sexual-assault allegations against Harvey Weinstein.
Discussion:
@ronanfarrow, The Daily Beast, The Independent, @michaelluo, @razhael, @janemayernyer, @rohded, @newyorker, @kaibiermann, @josephfcox, @will_bunch, @rohded, @brianstelter, @dabeard, @seanlavery, Variety and The Week
Eriq Gardner / Hollywood Reporter:
Facebook agrees to pay $40M in proposed settlement with several advertising agencies that claimed the company misstated video metrics by 150-900% — Advertisers would collect the bulk of the money after alleging Facebook inflated the average time users viewed video on the platform.
Discussion:
Variety, Ad Age, MediaPost, @willoneill, @jmrivera02, @chronotope, @clapifyoulikeme, @necrosofty, @3l3v3nth, The Week, @cjane87, @joshtpm, @futterish, @broderick, @dansolomon, @matthewacherry and Fortune, more at Techmeme »
Pema Levy / Mother Jones:
John Solomon, a former columnist at The Hill whose work helped push Ukraine-related conspiracies and was mentioned in whistleblower complaint, joins Fox News — For months, opinion columnist John Solomon has played a central role in stoking right-wing conspiracies about Ukraine's role …
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, @mikebrestdc, @jkbjournalist, @maxwelltani and Mediaite
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Nicole Sperling / New York Times:
ESPN to make a daily sports highlights show for Quibi, expected to debut alongside the platform in April; ESPN will license the content but retain ownership — LOS ANGELES — Quibi's latest partner is ESPN. — The sports network, part of the Walt Disney Company, has agreed to join the likes …
Discussion:
@garystriewski, @grahamstarr, The Wrap, The Streamable and @loudmouthjulia
Margaret Sullivan / Washington Post:
As interviewers get more insistent, the White House isn't sending their usual representatives to Sunday shows, instead seeking to get their message out via ads — On Sunday's “Meet the Press,” NBC News moderator Chuck Todd was insistent. — He had asked Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) …
Discussion:
@markfollman, Politico, @stuartemmrich and NBC News
The Daily Beast:
RealClear Media, owner of “non-partisan” news site RealClearPolitics, secretly runs a conservative Facebook page with ~800K followers pushing far-right memes — RealClearPolitics has carefully cultivated a non-partisan image—while in the shadows its parent company pushes images …
Discussion:
Gizmodo, @noahshachtman, @murshedz, @davidklion, @jbenton, @downwithtyranny, @joshuahol, @rexhuppke and @thedailybeast
Li Yuan / New York Times:
How China is using social media and films to stir patriotism and get communist party propaganda enthusiastically embraced by young people — Leveraging celebrities, the know-how of tech companies and images built for social media, the Communist Party can effectively stir patriotism among the youth.
Discussion:
Quartz, @stevenleemyers, @liyuan6, @nytimesbusiness, @motokorich, @nytimes, @nkfinney, @liyuan6, @jianglilily, @liyuan6, @franklangfitt and @liyuan6