Top News:
Belinda Luscombe / TIME:
Time names Bob Iger Businessperson of the Year following Disney's Fox acquisition, box office success, and Disney+ launch — Not since somebody figured out that you could attach two black plastic disks to a skull cap and make everyone look like Mickey Mouse has a pair of ears sent such a buzz through a media executive.
Discussion:
CNBC, Talking Biz News, @therock, @ithacacollege, @time, Adweek, The Playlist, TVWeek.com, MediaPost, Hollywood Reporter and Business Insider
Matthew Strauss / Pitchfork:
Netflix is developing a scripted TV show about the creation of Spotify, inspired by the book Spotify Untold — The scripted series will tell the story of Spotify's creation — Netflix is developing a scripted TV series about the creation of Spotify, the company announced today (December 11).
Discussion:
Bloomberg, Netflix Media Center, @jonasleijon, @svenaxel and Gizmodo
Claire Atkinson / NBC News:
Sinclair axes Boris Epshteyn, its chief political analyst who was once a Trump aide, to add time for “critical and relevant issues” and investigative journalism — Sinclair, which owns 193 stations in the U.S., said it wants to focus on local news and investigative journalism.
Discussion:
Poynter, Hollywood Reporter, CNN, Politico, @newsalliance, @sdkstl, @awallenstein, @brianstelter, @bluegal, @davidbix, @lynn_henning, @green_footballs, @danmcgowan, @tomgara, @klasfeldreports, @robpegoraro, @redpainter1, @jasonabbruzzese, @helenkennedy, @edbott, @pashulman, HuffPost, Washington Post, Variety, Mediaite, Broadcasting & Cable, The Hill, The Wrap and Deadline
Greg Sterling / Search Engine Land:
Google says it is changing mobile search results for news topics, adding more carousels of stories, starting in the US and rolling out later internationally — Google is changing how it presents news stories in its search results. When people search for news, they typically see two top stories …
Discussion:
The Keyword, @vambenepe, 9to5Google, Search Engine Journal, Engadget and VentureBeat, more at Techmeme »
Joshua Benton / Nieman Lab:
Over 400 staffers of Tribune Publishing signed a petition to the company's board, seeking investment in newsrooms, consideration of good purchase offers, more — It was late in the day November 19 that employees of Tribune Publishing's newspapers got word: Its troncked-up former chairman Michael Ferro …
Discussion:
Talking Biz News, @saragregory, WGN-TV, @amykpoulter, @marywizchicago, @ctmirror, @borjaechevarria, @scmitchp, @ygetachew2, @ctguild and @jbenton
Caroline Porter / Shorenstein Center:
A case study of Mother Jones' revenue strategy: prioritizing investigative journalism, following reader preferences, effective campaign messaging, and more — Case Study co-published by the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School and the Institute for Nonprofit News.
Discussion:
@steve_katz, @shorensteinctr, @clarajeffery, @andrecarothers, @rebleber, @ehansen02, @bridgebotelho, @clarajeffery, @motherjones and @clarajeffery
Freddy Mayhew / Press Gazette:
Newsquest will not pursue layoffs for its titles in Scotland after journalists threatened to strike and eight staff left the Glasgow newsroom voluntarily — Newsquest has dropped the threat of compulsory redundancies on its titles in Scotland after journalists voted in favour of strike action this week …
Discussion:
National Union of Journalists and BBC
RELATED:
Kristen Hare / Poynter:
Local news is in trouble, but it's not dying; growth has happened for nonprofits and partnerships, and local broadcast newsroom staffing remains steady so far — We started 2019 with Gannett layoffs at local newspapers, we're ending 2019 with Gannett layoffs at local newspapers …
Discussion:
Columbia Journalism Review, @phillipadsmith, @kylehopkinsak, @edunbarmpr, @dicktofel, @joshfarley, @poynter, @kristenhare, @kristenhare, @blogpalmsprings, @sbenkelman, @cislmunc, @davidhulen, @davidhulen, @jeffelgie, @atlantic57, @davidhulen, @skonradb, @davegehring, @pulitzercenter, @mskibinski, @jimiovino, @byclaycarey, @rosental and @wendi_c_thomas
Jim Waterson / The Guardian:
A look at Apple News' power in the UK election: editorial curation remains opaque despite big influence on news outlets and the delivery of millions of alerts — Service has around 11m users a month in UK but faces much less scrutiny that other outlets — On Monday night …
Discussion:
@rasmus_kleis, @marklittlenews, @pollycurtis, @s_m_i, @kiranstacey, @zamirarahim, @elanazak, @niemanlab and @jimwaterson
Ryan Deto / Pittsburgh City Paper:
At the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Newspaper Guild members have withheld bylines for 3 weeks amid a labor battle; 20 guild members and 9 managers have left in 2019 — Removed: Model Carolina Loyola-Garcia demonstrates a city without a daily newspaper. — Three weeks into a byline strike …
Discussion:
@ryandeto, @gabrieljr, @pgnewsguild, @peternickeas, @ryandeto, @jeffreylkatz, @brotheroneill, @ryandeto, @trashyleesuh, @ryandeto, @ryandeto, @jbenton, @jbenton, @jbenton and Pittsburgh City Paper
New York Times:
Lawyers say Harvey Weinstein and The Weinstein Company board reached a tentative $25M settlement with most of his alleged victims; $12M+ would pay legal costs — After two years of legal wrangling, Harvey Weinstein and the board of his bankrupt film studio have reached a tentative $25 million …
Discussion:
The Guardian, Fox News, Slate, The Independent, @heathr, @slack2thefuture, @nycjim, @reneeygraham, @michaelsayman, @oliviamesser, @bbcr4today, The Week, @boutrousted, @complex, @xeni, @sivavaid, @vrsvirginia, @deandettloff, TheJournal.ie, @ellenbarkin, @laurenarankin, @ecmclaughlin, @nancyleegrahn, @emilylhauser, @drvox, @kate_kelly_esq, @jane__bradley, @morninggloria, @timesupnow, @jodikantor, @davidnagler, @gerryconway, @taraeanderson, @sophiekleeman, @therealjenblue, The Wrap, CBS 4, Fortune, Breitbart, UPROXX, Vanity Fair, Page Six, TMZ.com, Variety, Mediaite and Washington Free Beacon
Gerry Smith / Bloomberg:
Since September, BuzzFeed has expanded affiliate business to Brazil, India, five others; commerce revenue made up 21% of total rev in 2019, up from 9% in 2017 — - Publisher introduces ‘affiliate’ posts in seven more countries — BuzzFeed on pace to generate over $300 million in 2019 revenue