Top News:
Katherine Chiglinsky / Bloomberg:
Berkshire Hathaway to sell its BH Media unit and its 30 daily newspapers to St. Louis Post-Dispatch publisher Lee Enterprises for $140M in cash — Warren Buffett is getting out of the newspaper business. — Berkshire Hathaway Inc. sold its BH Media unit and its 30 daily newspapers …
Discussion:
Nieman Lab, Wall Street Journal, The Buffalo News, New York Times, Associated Press, Poynter, Lee Enterprises, MediaPost, @niemanlab, @jbenton, @will_bunch, Politico, @brockvergakis, @gerryfsmith, @ginger_clark, @ckrewson, @ljkawa, @buffaloscribe, @colindabkowski, @imillhiser, @k_chiglinsky, @specnewsbuffalo, @dianabhenriques, @dankennedy_nu, @hadas_gold, @maxabelson, @davidjoachim, @pwthornton, @markpoloncarz, @keithboykin, @nickreisman, @allisonprang, @froomkin, @abgutman, @raju and @dkiesow
Peter Kafka / Vox:
Casino operator Penn National Gaming buying 36% stake in Barstool Sports; deal values Barstool at $450M and lets Penn National buy a controlling stake later — Barstool Sports co-founder Dave Portnoy in 2018 | Penn National Gaming is buying the online publisher — which can thank sports betting, and the Supreme Court for the deal.
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, Variety, Crain's New York Business, Penn National Gaming, MediaPost, The Wrap, Awful Announcing, Adweek, CNN, RAIN News, Business Insider, @carlhendy, @alexweprin, @jimmweber, @onlyinbos, @joemilord, @pkafka, @alexweprin, @claytravis, @tomkrazit, @darrenrovell, @pkafka, @m_sunderland, Fortune, @pkafka, @alexweprin, @jgsiegel, @jaycodon and @iamtoddytickles
Ted Johnson / Deadline:
WaPo reinstates reporter Felicia Sonmez after her suspension following her tweets about a rape allegation against Kobe Bryant and her response to backlash — The Washington Post said it has reinstated political reporter Felicia Sonmez, who was suspended for a series of tweets about Kobe Bryant …
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Jon Allsop / Columbia Journalism Review:
Felicia Sonmez's suspension exposes the tyranny of newsroom social media policies, which often read like hamfisted attempts to reconcile competing impulses
Discussion:
@walldo, @haleysswenson, @jeremydgoodwin, @stephaniemlee, @jeremydgoodwin, The Independent, @davpjor, @_cingraham, @fenitn, @daveyalba, @lainnafader, @jon_allsop and Washingtonian
News Corp:
News Corp launches Knewz, a news aggregation platform covering more than 400 publishers that uses AI and human editors, available on the web, iOS, and Android — Groundbreaking News Platform Free of Filter Bubbles Launches in Beta; — Features Headlines from Publishers Large & Small, Left & Right, Here, There & Everywhere
Discussion:
Variety, Deadline, Fox News, @sarafischer, @sokane1, @hardin, @sternbergh, @andybcampbell, @jaycaruso, @alexweprin, @isaacdovere, @ginnymarvin, @jaredbkeller, @onceupona, @rachellarris, @drewcurtis, @variety, @_cooper, @markdistef, @pkafka, @hshaban, @abeaujon, @thenikkibus, @raju, @jpbrammer, @jillkrajewski, @dgisserious, @drewharwell, @drewcurtis, @drewcurtis and @backlon
Jim Waterson / The Guardian:
The Guardian says it will no longer accept ads from companies that extract fossil fuels, becoming the first major news organization to institute such a ban — Move follows efforts to reduce carbon footprint and increase reporting on climate crisis — The Guardian will no longer accept advertising …
Discussion:
The Guardian, Adweek, Nieman Lab, The Drum, The Hill, @gretathunberg, @bulletinatomic, @leilanimunter, @dzarrilli, @dpcarrington, @jimwaterson, The Daily Caller, @greenpeaceuk, @vanessa_vash, @rasmus_kleis, @kathviner, @adamvaughan_uk, @chrchristensen, @sethrudetsky, @chloefarand, @amywestervelt and @markriceoxley69
Mary Louise Kelly / New York Times:
Journalists don't interview senior government officials to score political points, but rather to share the answers to tough questions when the stakes are high — Journalists are supposed to ask tough questions, then share the answers — or lack thereof — with the world.
Discussion:
NPR, @nprextra, @nprkelly, Foreign Policy, Newser, @janearraf, @tomdreisbach, @dmrider, @ericampeterson, @soledadobrien and @carriecordero
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Julia Carrie Wong / The Guardian:
Investigation: in 2019 Trump spent ~$20M on 218K+ Facebook ads, with the media and its “fake news” the top topic mentioned at 18.25%, followed by immigration — A Guardian investigation of 218,100 ads reveals how the campaign's sophisticated social media machine targets conservative voters
Todd Spangler / Variety:
AT&T lost 219K AT&T Now customers and 945K premium TV subscribers in Q4, and reports revenues of $8.9B, down 3.3% YoY — AT&T's top line was stung by its investment in HBO Max in the fourth quarter of 2019 to the tune of $1.2 billion in “foregone licensing revenues.”
BBC:
BBC News to cut around 450 jobs as part of plans to reach its £80M savings target by 2022 — Around 450 jobs will be cut from BBC News under plans to complete its £80m savings target by 2022. — There will be a reduction in the number of films produced by Newsnight …
Discussion:
The Guardian, Financial Times, Press Gazette, Press Gazette, Variety, @jimwaterson, @hadas_gold, @genepark, CNN, @katebevan, @prospect_clark, @carljackmiller, @andycomfort, @charliebeckett, @guyadams, @hzbrandenburg, @markdistef, @jamesaalongman, @jimwaterson, @brianstelter, @markdistef, @damiancollins, @w7voa, @markdistef and @sport_simon
Charles Bethea / New Yorker:
A deep look at what gets lost when local newspapers dwindle or disappear, through conversations with residents and elected officials in rural Pollocksville, NC — In Jones County, North Carolina, and many other places around the country, local journalism has just about dried up.
Discussion:
@javeriasal, @aakar__patel, @rebeccaburns, @newyorker, @kenvogel, @theurbanologist, @jasonwbade, @jasonwbade, @kimlawson22, @newyorker and @jasonwbade
Kristen Hare / Poynter:
Investigative Editing Corps, a project to pair investigative editors with local newsrooms, launched last week, after a pilot with two newsrooms in 2017 — Like many people, Rose Ciotta has watched national news thrive while local news suffered. But Ciotta turned her worries into something that might help.
Discussion:
Investigative Editing Corps, @kristenhare, @doughaddix, @lebassett and @melaniesill
Peter Kafka / Vox:
Jonah Peretti says he expects BuzzFeed to turn a profit this year, but BuzzFeed News would still be operating in the red: “We don't need news to be profitable” — What Ben Smith's move to the paper of record says about digital media in 2020. — Ben Smith spent eight years …
Discussion:
@michellemanafy and @dcnorg
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Dylan Byers / NBC News:
EIC Ben Smith is leaving BuzzFeed in early March to join NYT to write the Media Equation column made famous by David Carr
Discussion:
@buzzfeedben, Press Gazette, @raju, Vanity Fair, @yayitsrob, @austinhunt, Breitbart, @peretti, @erinleecarr, Politico, @bernstein, @ggreenwald, Poynter, @gaberivera, @chanders, @pranavdixit and @fromedome
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Former HBO CEO Richard Plepler has acquired a stake in Luminary Media, a podcast-subscription service, and has taken a seat on its board — Richard Plepler has hopped on the podcast train. The former HBO chief executive has invested in Luminary Media, a podcast-subscription service, and taken a seat on its board.
Discussion:
The Wrap, Deadline, Business Wire and The Verge
Todd Spangler / Variety:
SEC filing: MoviePass parent company Helios and Matheson Analytics has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection — Helios and Matheson Analytics, which owns the defunct MoviePass cinema-subscription service, has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection. — The company disclosed the move …
Discussion:
Crain's New York Business, CNN, The Wrap, The Verge, @lamonicabuzz, @frankpallotta and @ercboxoffice
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