Mediagazer: Seven UK higher education institutions adopted the methods of BBC's 50:50 Project so that journalism students can track gender balance as they learn to report (Charlotte Tobitt/Press Gazette)

Siva Vaidhyanathan / The Guardian:

Boycotting the NYT after Bret Stephens' column would be a mistake due to its important journalism; shaming is sufficient as the NYT cares about its reputation — Bret Stephens' article was ridiculous, eugenicist garbage. But calls to boycott the newspaper won't help

Discussion: Politico, Media Nation, @dannypage, @kengoldsholl, @notaaroncraig, @bruceholsinger, @lauramlippman, @jeffjarvis, @jonmalesic, @evanselinger, @shermandorn, @tmorris504, @harrymccracken, @sivavaid, Washington Post, Mediaite and New York Times

Scott Soshnick / Bloomberg:

Sources: Endeavor to buy luxury events biz On Location Experiences in a deal valued at $660M, name Paul Caine as CEO; NFL to boost stake in On Location to 20% — - NFL to boost stake in On Location as part of $660 million deal — Endeavor Group Holdings Inc., the talent agency …

Ben Casselman / @bencasselman:

[Thread] NYT reporter tracks his source list for gender and racial diversity, concludes the effort improved his journalism and forced him to be more thoughtful — One of my goals this year was to be more aware of the diversity (or lack thereof) of my source list. To that end, I've been tracking (as best I can) the gender and race of everyone I quote in my stories. In the interest of accountability, some stats:

Discussion: @tcwittes, @cmonique1023 and @asteadwesley

Jason Gurwin / The Streamable:

FuboTV drops Disney-owned NatGeo, FX, FXM, and FXX cable channels and the 21 regional sports networks that Fox recently sold to Sinclair — It's a tough way to start the year for fuboTV subscribers, the service not only has lost Disney-owned Fox networks (FX, FXM, FXX, and Nat Geo) …

Discussion: Cord Cutters News, MediaPost and Awful Announcing

Center for the Study of the Public Domain:

Books, movies, and songs published in 1924 are now free to use as copyrights expired; works include Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, Edith Wharton's Old New York — On January 1, 2020, works from 1924 will enter the US public domain,1 where they will be free for all to use and build upon, without permission or fee.

Discussion: itch.io, @dangillmor, @jeffspross, Techdirt, @heyheyesj, @john_overholt, @scottsantens, @jamesdleech, Hyperallergic, Memex 1.1, Slate and Boing Boing

Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:

Seven UK higher education institutions adopted the methods of BBC's 50:50 Project so that journalism students can track gender balance as they learn to report — The BBC is hoping to help improve the representation of women within student journalism by sharing its own methodology relating to on-air gender balance.

Discussion: @vivian

Ben Sisario / New York Times:

Q&A with Jimmy Iovine about music industry's reconciliation with tech in the last decade, why streaming music services are like utilities with low margins, more — The record executive who made the leap to Silicon Valley looks back on the decade in the music business, and sees a major problem on the horizon.

Discussion: @yangcliu, @alecstapp, @ineverglow, @ballmatthew and Lefsetz Letter

Meduza.io:

Russia Today says all 35 staffers of Sputnik Estonia have resigned due to the threat of prosecution from Estonia over EU sanctions against Russia Today CEO — The news agency Sputnik Estonia, which is owned by the Russian state media conglomerate Russia Today, has ground to a halt after every one of its 35 employees resigned.

Discussion: TASS, @meduza_en, ERR, @natashabertrand and Radio Free Europe/Radio …

Ida Bae Wells / @nhannahjones:

[Thread] NYT Mag writer who spearheaded the 1619 Project reflects on her struggle in newsrooms that hired her for diversity but didn't let her write about race — In 2009, I nearly left journalism. I was punished for wanting to write about race. My pitches were shut down and I could not get a story on the front page of my regional newspaper. Newsrooms were bleeding staff so I had nowhere to go. I felt had to quit or lose my sanity.

Discussion: @jeffbradynews, @joyannreid and @madfckingwitch

Jim Waterson / The Guardian:

Sources: BBC is seeking to settle potential equal pay cases ahead of Samira Ahmed verdict, to stop embarrassing details of its inner workings being made public — Broadcaster in apparent attempt to avoid repeat of tribunal embarrassment — The BBC has approached women who are bringing equal pay cases …

Discussion: @mrsnickyclark and @jennietweetz

Zoe Schiffer / The Verge:

In its first transparency report, TikTok says it received most requests for user data and content takedowns from India and USA, claims zero requests from China — The highest number of requests came from India and the US — TikTok released its first transparency report yesterday …

Discussion: 9to5Mac, Business Insider, MediaNama, TikTok and Newsroom | TikTok, more at Techmeme »

Shira Schoenberg / Union-News:

MA court rules that journalists are not liable for defamation when publishing police blotters, regardless of the accuracy of the claims in the police report — The editor of a University of Massachusetts student newspaper cannot be held liable for defamation for publishing information …

Discussion: @maureeneboyle1, @bzref, @ko_reporter, @bobmcgovernjr, @dankennedy_nu, @ko_reporter and Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly