Top News:
Ranjan Roy / Margins:
Facebook's corporate comms have felt combative and sloppy since late 2018, and now even rank and file employees are facing public vilification — Ranjan here, writing about how Facebook's communication operations feel completely broken and wondering whether the company's rank and file are okay with becoming the villains.
Discussion:
@glovink, @jasonabbruzzese, @cwarzel, @robaeprice, @dhh, @rmac18, Breitbart, Poynter, Washington Post and Gizmodo, more at Techmeme »
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Joan Summers / Jezebel:
Source: Teen Vogue's editorial team was not aware that sales would be publishing the Facebook election safety advertorial — On Wednesday, Teen Vogue found itself in the crosshairs of the internet when an article entitled “How Facebook is Helping Ensure the Integrity of the 2020 Election …
Discussion:
@moonalice, @pkafka, @baekdal, @yoda, @dchieng, @pkafka, @aurabogado, iMediaEthics, VICE, Breitbart, @rachelabramsny, The Drum, Newser, Boing Boing and The Verge
Ryan Glasspiegel / The Big Lead:
In a letter to the union, G/O CEO says G/O plans to relaunch Deadspin in Chicago as an Onion property and is suspending negotiations over editorial independence — The entire staff of Deadspin walked away from the site in late October, and there have been no stories published there since November 4th.
Discussion:
@benmullin, Nieman Lab, @maxwelltani, Adweek, @wgaeast, Awful Announcing, @annamerlan, @annamerlan, The Daily Beast, @lemieuxlgm, The Wrap, @connorsouthard, @mattdpearce, @bruce_arthur, @whet, @cd_hooks, @byjoelanderson, @davidbix, @amandamull, @diamonde, @mariabustillos, @weishampel, @albertburneko, @david_j_roth, Mediaite, @annamerlan, @jaywillis, @brianmfloyd, @lindseyadler, @genefortexas, @gabrielsnyder and The Hill
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Trump's allies are trying to raise $250M for a bid for One America News Network, in an effort to shake up conservative media dominated by Fox News — Hicks Equity Partners, a family investment firm tied to Republican National Committee co-chair Thomas Hicks Jr., is pitching GOP donors on possible deal
Discussion:
@brianstelter, @johnzaremba, @rexhuppke, @rebeccaballhaus, @kenvogel, @svdate and @asharma
Peter Kafka / Vox:
Sources: the Chernin Group is in advanced talks to sell a majority stake in Barstool Sports to casino operator Penn National Gaming — Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy at a Harrah's casino event in Atlantic City, New Jersey, in 2019. Tom Briglia/ Getty Images
Deanna Ting / Digiday:
Bloomberg News switched from WhatsApp to Telegram in December and now sends daily updates to 27K+ subscribers, following WhatsApp's ban on bulk messaging — On Telegram, the preferred messaging app for the privacy conscious, Bloomberg News is attempting to draw new subscribers and build …
Discussion:
Talking Biz News and @jonrussell
John Koblin / New York Times:
FX research estimates 532 scripted shows were made in 2019, the first time the 500-show threshold has been crossed, a 7% rise YoY, 153% jump since 2009 — The number of original series continued to swell in 2019, with Apple and Disney adding to the glut. When will the bubble pop?
Discussion:
Hollywood Reporter, Bloomberg, The Playlist, @bretisrael, CNN and Axios
Rory O'Neill / World IP Review:
Chinese court rules that a work generated by Tencent's automated news writing program, Dreamwriter, qualifies for copyright protection — A Chinese court has ruled that AI-generated works are entitled to copyright protection, in a win for tech giant Tencent.
Discussion:
ecns, VentureBeat, CHINAdaily and @grady_booch
Georg Szalai / Hollywood Reporter:
Discovery CEO says the company is “looking hard at” launching its own streaming service and that the company can't grow by staying on its existing platform — David Zaslav says that the company has exceeded its goal of $3 billion in annual free cash flow ahead of schedule and will roll out HGTV in 12 new markets.
Discussion:
@thr
Damien Cave / New York Times:
Murdoch-owned Australian media outlets echo messages from social media bots and trolls and continue to say climate change policy would have no impact on fires — Critics see a concerted effort to shift blame, protect conservative leaders and divert attention from climate change.
The Information:
Sources: Quibi's projections from 2019 show the upcoming streaming service is expected to spend ~$1.5B in its first year; Quibi has raised $1.4B so far — If there's one thing to be said for Quibi, the short-form streaming service coming from Jeffrey Katzenberg and Meg Whitman this spring …
Discussion:
@alexeheath, @amir, @caseynewton, @jessicalessin, @barakgila and @gerryfsmith, more at Techmeme »
James Pogue / The Baffler:
How the booming book-to-film market has distorted long-form writing, prioritizing drama over insight, style, investigative reporting, or any other factor — The decline of nonfiction in the IP era — IN EARLY 2018, I was spending a warm West Hollywood Sunday evening on the balcony …
Discussion:
@xpatriciah, @erinedmison, @lifewinning, @ggarciaroberts, @awinston, @samknightwrites, @joolsd, @adrianeq, @midimyers, @mathewi, Simon Owens's Tech …, @maxseddon, @tristandross, @joolsd, @manvbrain, @xlorentzen, @kait_tiffany, @katykelleher, @chaykak, @chaykak, @katykelleher, @katykelleher, @emilygould, @sabramboyd, @sidhubaba, @sidhubaba, @nichcarlson, @sidhubaba and @emilyctamkin