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WaPo suspends Felicia Sonmez after she tweeted a story about a rape allegation against Kobe Bryant, responded to criticism, and uploaded abuse sent to her email — Felicia Sonmez (right), who covers national politics for The Washington Post, posted a link to a story about the Kobe Bryant rape case …
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TMZ.com, Mediaite, The Outline, @davidklion, The Hill, The Desk, The Guardian, @petersterne, The Wrap, @marlownyc, @dylanmatt, @oneunderscore__, @heerjeet, @markdistef, @libbycwatson, @libbycwatson, @libbycwatson, @matthewkeyslive, New York Post, @davidklion, @maxwelltani, @elongreen, @travelfish, @davidklion, @lam_barrett, @jbenton, @katzonearth, @chanders, @chadloder, @mattgertz, VICE and Mothership.SG
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Pompeo accuses NPR's Mary Louise Kelly of lying in setting up interview, claims post-interview exchange was off the record; NPR CEO says it won't be intimidated — One day after a contentious interview followed by an expletive-filled verbal lashing of NPR host Mary Louise Kelly …
Discussion:
@mikepompeo, Washington Post, New York Times, Washington Post, Poynter, American Press Institute, The Guardian, @nprextra, United States Department …, @ewong, The Atlantic, VICE, @pressfreedom, @nickkristof, @davidfolkenflik, @davidfolkenflik, The Week, @jamesfallows, @mazmhussain, @assalrad, @defensebaron, @davidfolkenflik, @jchaltiwanger, Washington Post, @connieschultz, @preantediluvian, @npr, @harrymccracken, @theatlantic, @sstossel, @sagaftra, @karlahult, @jayrosen_nyu, @aminorjourney, @npr, @blakehounshell, @chuckatwbhm, @funk4congress, USA Today, Axios, NBC News, The Daily Beast, Reuters, Mother Jones, BuzzFeed News, ABC News, Business Insider, Newser, Mediaite and The Week


Emily Ramshaw and Amanda Zamora, who stepped down from Texas Tribune in November, launch the 19th, a new media outlet focused on women, with $5M in funding — The idea of creating a new media outlet focused on women came to Emily Ramshaw four years ago during her maternity leave.
Discussion:
Nieman Lab, PR Newswire, @eramshaw, @eramshaw, @projomike, @eugene_scott, @edokeefe, @ericazucco, @jbenton, @terri_rupar, @jmsummers, @cindi_leive, @eramshaw and @amzam


Politico launches AgencyIQ, a new B2B product covering the FDA, with subscriptions costing $25K-$75K/year and plans to expand coverage to agencies like FTC, FCC — Politico is chasing after more subscription revenue by starting on Monday a new business-to-business product covering the Food and Drug Administration called AgencyIQ,
Discussion:
Talking Biz News, @raju and @gbrotman


ESPN plans to air more than 500 live original shows across its digital platforms and social media this year, more than doubling its output since 2018 — With a new social media star and a fresh studio dedicated to its digital programming, ESPN is upgrading online game viewing.
Discussion:
The Streamable and @mathewi


Founder of right-wing Christian site TruNews, who has made anti-Semitic comments, says the White House gave five TruNews staffers press credentials for Davos — The White House granted TruNews, a right-wing Christian site, press credentials for the president's Davos trip after its founder's remarks calling impeachment a “Jew coup.”
Discussion:
@nebraskamegan, @miriam2626, @markszaidesq and @gadyepstein


A look at various challenges Afghan female journalists face while reporting in a deeply patriarchal country, where 1,700 out of 10K in its press corps are women — Women reporters aim to remain at the forefront of their stories; now international media outlets need to hire them
Discussion:
@zoramag, @zoramag, @morganjerkins, @medium and @niemanlab


Inside game streaming wars, where Ninja reportedly got paid $20M to $30M to move to Mixer and streamers with 10K concurrent views on Twitch can get $10M+ offers — New York (CNN Business)When Jeremy Wang started streaming on Twitch in 2016, he was an unknown twenty-something with a few coding internships under his belt.
Discussion:
@shannon_liao and @kerrymflynn, more at Techmeme »


From appeals for investment from wealthy people to union organizing, newspaper journalists are trying to save jobs as investors wring profits from the industry — As hedge funds take a greater role in newspaper chains, journalists at the Chicago Tribune and elsewhere are sending out an S.O.S.
Discussion:
@baltsunguild, @royalpratt, @mattdpearce and @amlwhere


Sources: MGM has held preliminary talks with a number of companies, including Apple and Netflix, to gauge whether they're interested in acquiring it — - Apple, Amazon, AT&T, Comcast, Disney and Netflix may be a new “Big 6” among global media companies. — MGM has held preliminary talks …
Discussion:
The Streamable, @dylanbyers, @sherman4949, @sherman4949 and @mattrosoff


Meredith sees its celebrity-led magazines sold at newsstands as the analog version of a digital paywall, which can then be marketed as a subscription product — Meredith is drawing from a well of celebrities and influencers to subsidize its print business.


Philip Jacobson, the US editor for Mongabay who was detained in Indonesia over alleged visa violations, has been released from jail and will likely be deported — The authorities had threatened a yearslong prison sentence for Philip Jacobson, who was jailed for three days.
Discussion:
Conservation news, @andreasharsono, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times and The Jakarta Post