Top News:
Stephen Battaglio / Los Angeles Times:
ABC News suspends chief national correspondent Matt Gutman for wrongly reporting that all four of Kobe Bryant's daughters were on the helicopter that crashed — ABC News has suspended the correspondent who speculated on-air that all four of Kobe Bryant's daughters were on board the helicopter …
Discussion:
@mattgutmanabc, CNN, The Hill, The Daily Caller, @kiaspeaks, @raiklin, @williamrichjr, @mrmokelly, @strategicpio, @marcatracy, @nuuzz, @mr_jasonjones, Variety, Deadline, FTVLive, KTLA, TVWeek.com, Mediaite, Awful Announcing and TVNewser
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 — On Sunday—amid the wave of public eulogizing that followed the death of Kobe Bryant—many people on Twitter stressed …
Discussion:
New York Times, New York Times, @hshaban, @mims, The Guardian, @mattdpearce, @eshap, @max_read, @max_read, @nytopinion, @jeffgiesea, @taylorlorenz, @brosandprose, @aaronpcalvin, @cwarzel, @nytopinion, @lemieuxlgm, @brianstelter, @ma_franks, @clairecm, @asmamk, @wpjenna, @sarahmseltzer, @salhernandez, @pomeranian99, @froomkin, @cwarzel, @tomgara, @ericalg, @marcfennell, @chick_in_kiev, @bernstein, @walldo, @haleysswenson, @jeremydgoodwin, @stephaniemlee, @jeremydgoodwin, @daveyalba, @davpjor, @ellesep, @_cingraham, @fenitn, @lainnafader and @jon_allsop
Isaac Chotiner / New Yorker:
Q&A with Ben Smith on his move to NYT, his lack of doubt about publishing the Steele dossier, BuzzFeed's young union, and the merging of politics and media — On Tuesday, the New York Times announced that its new media columnist, a job most famously held by the late David Carr …
Discussion:
@yayitsrob, @mathewi, @rafat, @lisatozzi, @asankin, @atossaaraxia, @benmullin, @jbenton, @mairavz, @yoloethics, @michaelluo, @kurtsoller, @adriana_lacy and @adriana_lacy
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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, Simon Owens's Tech …, @raju, @michellemanafy, @niemanlab, @ichotiner, @reillyadam, @tomnamako, @dylanbyers, @ggreenwald, @chanders, @joepompeo and @austinhunt
Kate Knibbs / Wired:
A look at CollegeHumor's rise, from a scrappy startup to a digital media player, and its fall, as YouTube and Facebook made its business model obsolete — The company grew from a scrappy startup to a digital media player. Now it's clinging to life after mass layoffs.
Discussion:
@ashkan and @mschaubach
Eli Glasner / CBC News:
Canadian panel report recommends requiring that “media curators” like Netflix invest in local shows and that they ensure discoverability of Canadian content — Heritage minister has said legislation could be coming within the year — A sweeping new report on Canada's broadcasting …
Discussion:
@maximebernier, @sunlorrie, Reuters, Hollywood Reporter and Hashtag Trending
Reuters:
Verizon adds 790K phone customers in Q4, well above estimates of 525K subscribers, as it benefited from including Disney+ in some of its plans — Verizon Communications Inc on Thursday added more monthly mobile phone subscribers than expected as it benefited from including Disney+ streaming service with some of its plans.
Danielle Abril / Fortune:
Survey of 12,043 US adults: 59% distrust Facebook for political and election news, including 62% of Republicans and 59% of Democrats, while 48% distrust Twitter — Facebook and Twitter are a long way from instilling confidence after letting misinformation flood their services during recent elections, according to a new survey.
Discussion:
@danielledigest
American Press Institute:
Craig Newmark Philanthropies donates $388K to American Press Institute to develop a network of newsroom leaders and others to combat disinfo in 2020 election — The American Press Institute today announced a grant of $388,000 from Craig Newmark Philanthropies to build a real-time network …
Jon Allsop / Columbia Journalism Review:
France-Antilles, a trio of outlets in French Guiana, Guadeloupe, and Martinique, has been liquidated, making them the first regions of France without a daily — Three French territories situated some 4,000 miles from the country's mainland are about to lose their daily newspapers.
Sarah Manavis / The Guardian:
The BBC's inability to handle internet culture subjects and develop a presence on platforms like TikTok will exacerbate its failure to connect with under-30s — Young people want content shared on social media platforms they actually use. The BBC must keep up, or lose them
Discussion:
@dougalshawbbc, @charliehtweets, @tomb8man, @rosssemple, @sophiasgaler, @dinosofos, @vicderbyshire, @owswills and @sarahmanavis
Julie Reynolds / DFM Workers:
Alden Global Capital has acquired a $9.2M stake in Lee Enterprises, or 5.9%, based on an SEC filing made the same day Lee announced it will acquire BH Media — Cash from understaffed DFM papers was used to finance stock purchase — Alden Global Capital, the New York vulture hedge fund gutting Digital …
Discussion:
@mercnewsguild, @undeckedcrawdad, @jenwsheehan, @undeckedcrawdad and MNG Enterprises
RELATED:
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
Discussion:
@byjonharris, Marketplace, The Buffalo News, @will_bunch, @taralach, @kodacohen, @darrendcarroll, @johnnewsomnr, @johnnewsomnr, @mattdpearce, @hopnotes, @dankennedy_nu, @ajfriedenberger, @journospike, @jeanniemcbride_, @nicolefriedman, @niemanlab, @jbenton, @ckrewson, @raju, @froomkin, @brockvergakis, @imillhiser, @keithboykin, @allisonprang, @abgutman, @maxabelson, @lisaabramowicz1, @dianabhenriques, @specnewsbuffalo, @buffaloscribe, @markpoloncarz, @nickreisman, @colindabkowski, @pwthornton, @ginger_clark, @dankennedy_nu, @hadas_gold, @ljkawa, @k_chiglinsky, @dkiesow, @davidjoachim and @gerryfsmith
Josh Constine / TechCrunch:
Snapchat launches Bitmoji TV, 4-minute comedy cartoons with users' avatars, on a dedicated Snapchat Show page to which users can subscribe to get notifications — If you were the star of every show, would you watch more mobile television? Snapchat is betting that narcissism drives resonance …
Discussion:
Variety, more at Techmeme »
Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
Julian Knight named chairman of UK's Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport Committee; he has called for a shift from the BBC license fee to a subscription model — Damian Collins has been ousted from his role as chairman of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee after three years by a former BBC and Independent journalist.
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