Top News:
John Koblin / New York Times:
Richard Plepler, former CEO of HBO, signs a five-year deal with Apple through his company Eden Productions to produce films and shows exclusively for Apple TV+ — Ten months after he chafed under AT&T's takeover of the network, he reboots himself as a producer in a five-year deal with Apple TV Plus.
Discussion:
Variety, @koblin, The Wrap, @garrett_oh, @tedgioia, @jonesonthenba, @jakelahut, @felixgillette, @ericjackson, @hshaban, @joan_e, @dfriend, @9to5mac, The Verge, 9to5Mac, @richlightshed, @pkafka, @grynbaum, @taralach, @greta, @nicsperling and @jimwindolf
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 …
Discussion:
Variety, The Wrap and @keithgrossman
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, Columbia Journalism Review, @profcarroll, @dannypage, @kengoldsholl, @notaaroncraig, @lauramlippman, @profcarroll, @jeffjarvis, @megancarpentier, @jonmalesic, @shermandorn, @tmorris504, Media Nation, @bruceholsinger, @evanselinger, @sivavaid, @harrymccracken, Mediaite, Washington Post and New York Times
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:
@aservais1, @drgonzo123, @yangcliu, @ineverglow, @ballmatthew, @alecstapp and Lefsetz Letter
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
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:
Talking Biz News, @tcwittes, @cmonique1023 and @asteadwesley
Hamilton Nolan / The Guardian:
A retrospective look at a decade in journalism, from a Gawker alum who reported on media and is now unemployed after Splinter's closure — You won't make much money, your best stories will be forgotten, and you'll be doomed to constant disappointment and despair. I recommend it highly
Alex Barker / Financial Times:
Group M: spending on outdoor ads to overtake newspaper ad sales in 2020 for the first time, with $40.6B spent on outdoor ads, ~$4B more than on newspapers — Spending on outdoor advertising is set to overtake newspaper ad sales in 2020 for the first time since records began …
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:
Hyperallergic, @dangillmor, @jeffspross, @heyheyesj, @xor, @john_overholt, @scottsantens, @jamesdleech, @draglikepull, itch.io, Techdirt, Memex 1.1, Slate and Boing Boing
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:
The Wrap, @biwills, Deseret News, TikTok, Engadget, 9to5Mac and Newsroom | TikTok, more at Techmeme »
Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
Mail on Sunday published a correction after IPSO ruled an article about Labour's stance on capital gains tax was inaccurate, 10 days after UK's general election — The Mail on Sunday has corrected a story that could have wrongly led readers to believe a Labour Government would scrap …
Discussion:
@aaronbastani, @ruairiwood, @aaronbastani, @jfergie_photo, @owenjones84, @dawnhfoster and @hichamyezza
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