Top News:
Kali Hays / WWD:
Media holding company Attention Capital buys Sophia Amoruso's Girlboss, which was valued at $13M in 2018; Amoruso will remain CEO — It's the first acquisition for recently founded Attention and the start of a new phase for Girlboss. — Girlboss founder and ceo Sophia Amoruso at the 2018 Girlboss Rally.
Discussion:
Ad Age, Variety, Fast Company, TechCrunch, Axios and @sophiaamoruso
Sara Jerde / Adweek:
Bustle Digital Group launches Input, a consumer tech news site, with no advertisers and a custom CMS that it says will be used across its brands by June 2020 — Why BDG thinks its new CMS will draw readers and entice advertisers — Bustle Digital Group has a reputation of swooping …
Discussion:
WWD, @joshsternberg, @jasonwagenheim, @adweek, @joshsternberg, @ryanvailbrown, @snazzyq, Boing Boing and Input
Sara Fischer / Axios:
Facebook is funding a free 45-minute online Reuters course for journalists on spotting and handling manipulated media, now in English, French, Spanish, Arabic — Facebook is spending six figures to fund a course on manipulated media and deepfakes for newsrooms, executives tell Axios.
Discussion:
@jbenton, @reuterspr, @oneunderscore__, @drewharwell and @emilybell
CNBC:
Vox Media to end contracts of hundreds of freelancers to comply with CA's new AB5 law, which will forbid non-employees from submitting over 35 articles a year — - Hundreds of Vox Media freelancers will lose their jobs in the coming months. — Vox Media is preparing for a California law …
Discussion:
American Press Institute, SBNation.com, Hot Pod News, Los Angeles Times, @laurawags, New York Times, Hollywood Reporter, Reason, bookforum.com, @ag_conservative, @notwokieleaks, @lonestarball, @ericboehlert, @markos, @nowyousieme, @matthewkeyslive, @jenniferleechan, @nbj914, @cjmcginnis, @geekgirldiva, @nowyousieme, @gilesferrell, @joemullinax, @pellybottoms_up, @joshuakusnick, Golden State Of Mind, Awful Announcing, Mavs Moneyball and The Wrap
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Audible announces founder Dan Katz will step down from CEO role on January 2, to be replaced by former Dun & Bradstreet executive Bob Carrigan — Audible, the Amazon-owned seller and producer of audiobooks and spoken-word entertainment, hired media and publishing veteran Bob Carrigan as CEO.
Discussion:
Publishers Weekly and RAIN News
Agence France-Presse:
Reporters Without Borders: 49 journalists killed in 2019, the lowest death toll since 2003; ~389 imprisoned, up 12% YoY; and 57 are being held hostage — Belfast residents pass a mural featuring murdered journalist Lyra McKee, whose death sparked a new round of political talks chaired by the British and Irish Governments, in May 2019
Joe Flint / Wall Street Journal:
Netflix shares detailed overseas subscriber numbers for the first time in a filing, and says 90% of total subscriber growth came from outside the US since 2017 — Streaming service is disclosing detailed subscriber information by region for operations outside of the U.S. for the first time
Discussion:
Variety, Engadget, Variety, @wsj, @xpangler, The Wrap, Reuters, CNET, MarketWatch, Los Angeles Business Journal, The Wrap, The Streamable, Hollywood Reporter, MediaPost, Deadline, Bloomberg and Financial Times, more at Techmeme »
Janko Roettgers / Variety:
Luminary now lets Alexa users subscribe to its podcast service or start a free trial via simple voice commands and pay using Alexa payments — Premium podcast service Luminary has started to enlist Amazon's Alexa to facilitate subscription sales: Owners of Amazon's Echo smart speakers …
Discussion:
TechCrunch, more at Techmeme »
Mónica Marie Zorrilla / Adweek:
Stuart Emmrich, who spent ~17 years as The New York Times' Styles editor, named editor of Vogue.com, a newly created role that reports to Anna Wintour — He will oversee digital content and report directly to Anna Wintour — Condé Nast said today it has named Stuart Emmrich as Vogue.com's first editor.
Discussion:
@stuartemmrich, The Cut, Fashionista and WWD
Tom Balmforth / Reuters:
Maria Butina, who was convicted of being a foreign agent in the US and deported to Moscow, has been hired by RT to host an online show — MOSCOW (Reuters) - A Russian woman jailed in the United States for working as a foreign agent and deported to Moscow has been hired by Russia's state-funded RT television …
Patrick Frater / Variety:
UK's Cineworld agrees to buy Canadian cinema operator Cineplex for $1.65B, would become largest North American operator combined with its 2017 Regal purchase — U.K.-based movie theater chain Cineworld is to acquire Cineplex, Canada's leading cinema chain.
Discussion:
MobileSyrup, Canadian Press, Reuters, BNN, Daily Hive, Telegraph, Telegraph, Financial Times, CTVNews, Barron's Online, Screen, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, The Times and Deadline
Tiffany Hsu / New York Times:
Even as Netflix resists ads, it's finding ways to work with brands, such as partnerships, where no money changes hands, that aim to create interest in its shows — Tide Pod shout-outs onscreen. Flirtatious exchanges with companies on Twitter. Netflix may not run ads, but it has become a coveted marketing platform.
Discussion:
@nytimesbusiness, @nytmedia, @jrreed and @tiffkhsu