Top News:
Wall Street Journal:
UN officials call for further investigation into the alleged hacking of Jeff Bezos' phone in 2018 by Saudi's MbS, targeting Bezos “principally” as WaPo's owner — Phone allegedly began leaking data shortly after being sent a video file from WhatsApp account linked to Prince Mohammed
Discussion:
Washington Post, @dnvolz, @jeffbezos, @alexstamos, Fast Company, Business Insider, Mediaite, @davidakaye, @alexstamos, @alexstamos, @pressfreedom, ARTICLE 19, @article19org, @dnvolz, @josephfcox, @miekeeoyang, @africatechie, @ragipsoylu, VICE, @johnbattelle and @jmalsin, more at Techmeme »
RELATED:
The Guardian:
Sources: analysis shows a message from Saudi Crown Prince MbS' WhatsApp account to Jeff Bezos in 2018 included file “highly” likely to have hacked Bezos' phone
Discussion:
@saudiembassyusa, VICE, Financial Times, New York Times, OHCHR, New York Times, CNN, @bernstein, Boing Boing, @tomgara, The Daily Beast, @akiperitz, @mazmhussain, @sheeraf, Business Insider, Wall Street Journal, New York Post, ZDNet, Fortune, @jaketapper, Business Insider, @tomgara, @camillefrancois, @bing_chris, USA Today, BBC, The Guardian, @iyad_elbaghdadi, Wired, Talking Points Memo, New York Times, @glennkesslerwp, The Verge, @heerjeet, @chrislhayes, The Week, Politico, @gchaslot, @david_hemond, @kashhill, @mikko, @stevekopack, Engadget, @chrislhayes, The Next Web, @pkafka, Observer, @skynewsbreak, GeekWire, Techdirt, @amy_siskind, @dnvolz, @nickconfessore, @markdistef, @aodespair, Slate, @hyzaidi, @pkafka, @rafsanchez, @khalafroula, The Hill, TechCrunch, @jentaub, @bcappelbaum, @rafsanchez, Letters from an American, @clarajeffery, @financialtimes, @nickconfessore, @karenattiah, @hxhassan, @wajahatali, @iyad_elbaghdadi, @mattgarrahan, @iyad_elbaghdadi, @iyad_elbaghdadi, @xor, @skirchy, @dylanbyers, MediaNama, @pressfreedom, @thedailybeast, @selectedwisdom, @niubi, @dinabass, @kazweida, @meridithmcgraw, @kantrowitz, @paulvieira, The Wrap, Softpedia News and Ars Technica, more at Techmeme »
Benjamin Mullin / Wall Street Journal:
Source: Serial Productions, the company behind the true-crime podcast Serial, is exploring a sale, with The New York Times among potential buyers — Serial Productions has one of the best-known brands in digital audio; New York Times considered a potential suitor
Discussion:
@benmullin, @alexweprin, @lucas_shaw, @asharma and @jyarow
Hamish McKenzie / Substack Blog:
Substack rolls out new publishing tools for teams including multi-admin access, support for multiple bylines, and author profile pages — Today, we're expanding what's possible on Substack by introducing new tools to allow groups of writers to work together on publications.
Discussion:
TechCrunch, @substackinc, twobossydames, @noahchestnut, @noahchestnut, @hamishmckenzie and @andrewchen
CityAM:
Report: BBC will announce significant cuts to its news operation as reforms are pushed through before next DG's appointment; BBC News channel will be unaffected — The BBC is said to be on the brink of announcing a wave of job cuts in its news division as it looks to revamp its output before the next director general takes the reins.
Discussion:
@mattkmoore, The Times, @markdistef, @charliebeckett, @mechanonplacet, @markdistef, @c_crampton, @birdyword, @josephstash, @janemerrick23 and @kate_day
Kristen Hare / Poynter:
22 newspapers form the North Carolina News Collaborative, aiming to share content and resources for increased coverage of the news deserts in the state — Last summer, a group of editors in North Carolina gathered in a conference room for some brainstorming. — They covered one wall at the News & Observer with Post-It notes.
Discussion:
@kristenhare, @buzzfeedben, @jayrosen_nyu, @poynter, @poynter, @rctuck1224 and @poynter
Marc Tracy / New York Times:
Profile of David Sirota, a former journalist and now a senior adviser for the Bernie Sanders campaign, who amplifies its consistent focus on criticizing media — David Sirota's job is to remind the candidate's supporters why he dislikes the news media. — When the first in-house newsletter …
Discussion:
@tedrall, @krystalball, @davidsirota, @kerrymflynn, @meredithshiner, @davidsirota and @ghostpanther
Anna Nicolaou / Financial Times:
Amazon says Amazon Music has 55M users across six different price tiers, including a free tier, “nearly all” of which are paying subscribers — Amazon's music streaming service has eclipsed 55m users, making the ecommerce group a serious contender in the market that has been historically dominated by Spotify and Apple.
Discussion:
The Amazon Blog, RAIN News, The Verge, TechCrunch, @ingridlunden, @stevekopack, @whatthebit and @annaknicolaou, more at Techmeme »
The Information:
Sources: Quibi's CEO Meg Whitman, in an internal meeting, compared reporters' friendly rapport with their sources to how sexual predators groom their targets — Quibi CEO Meg Whitman lashed out against the media at an “all-hands” staff meeting last Thursday, drawing an analogy between reporters …
Discussion:
@kantrowitz, @nickwingfield, @ranimolla, @yoda, @seldo, @joemccann, @teddyschleifer, @bborrman, @eliotwb, @yoda, @yoda, @jason_kint, @brooksbarnesnyt, @amir, @alexeheath, @sherman4949, @jaketapper, @ahhensel, @zoesaintbernard, @rmac18, @mollyjongfast, @rafat and @peterhimler, more at Techmeme », Thanks:@beet_tv
Claire Atkinson / NBC News:
Sinclair launches 2020 Live, a news channel on its streaming platform STIRR, to carry unfiltered presidential campaign events with no commentators or anchors — With a record $10 billion in political advertising at stake, the news industry is expanding operations to all corners …
Discussion:
Mediaite
Freddy Mayhew / Press Gazette:
Journalists say police in Northern Ireland are putting them at risk by failing to share enough details about immediate threats from terrorists and criminals — Police in Northern Ireland are failing to share enough details about immediate threats to journalists from terrorists and criminals …
Simon Van Zuylen Wood / Wired:
Behind the scenes at Rotten Tomatoes, whose Tomatometer is run by 12 “curators” who read just about every review from a pool of about 4,500 approved critics — Humans, not algorithms, determine those ubiquitous scores. Good ingredients, imperfect recipe.
Mark Jacob / Local News Initiative:
Q&A with Salt Lake Tribune's Jennifer Napier-Pearce about IRS approval to become a nonprofit, why it's an option local newspapers should explore, and more — The Salt Lake Tribune announced in November that it had received Internal Revenue Service approval to become the nation's first legacy newspaper to go fully nonprofit.
Discussion:
American Press Institute and Poynter
Michael M. Grynbaum / New York Times:
Journalists faced tough restrictions on the first day of Trump's impeachment trial, and the government controlled the only TV cameras in the Senate chamber — With the government in control of the production, “the emotion” of Tuesday's session was missing, said Chris Wallace of Fox News.
Discussion:
YouTube, @suzannenossel, @jimrutenberg, @rachelbitecofer, @ericboehlert, @grynbaum, @nytmedia and CNN
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Spotify is testing a new Stories feature on iOS and Android, that will allow select influencers to incorporate video elements into their public playlists — Spotify is testing a new Stories feature that will allow select influencers to incorporate video elements into their public playlists …
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