Top News:
Kevin G. Hall / McClatchy Washington Bureau:
McClatchy files for bankruptcy, ending family control; it hopes to shed much of its pension obligations and eliminate ~60% of its debt — McClatchy Co. filed for bankruptcy Thursday, a move that will end family control of America's second largest local news company and hand it to creditors …
Discussion:
Washington Post, @mlcalderone, Nieman Lab, New York Times, Poynter, @pkafka, Wall Street Journal, McClatchy Co, American Press Institute, @jeffjarvis, @sulliview, CNN, Breitbart, @jillgeisler, @pkafka, Bloomberg, @judywoodruff, Talking Biz News, @vickiringer, @jbenton, @ivanthek, @obrien, @migold, @obrien, The NewsGuild - CWA, @melaniesill, @facttank, @obrien, @w7voa, @jmarkockerbloom, @jimhandman, @obrien, @obrien, @rwpusa, @cahnemily, @shiplives, @jrreed, @obrien, @obrien, @scalzi, @underoak, @obrien, @dbrauer, @obrien, MediaPost, @jbenton, @rj_baird, @katebevan, @will_bunch, @kristen_the_ok, @jbenton, @willmanso, @katiephang, Nasdaq, @jbenton, Bloomberg Law, @obrien, USA Today, @pewresearch, @mathewi, @dankennedy_nu, @jeffjarvis, The Hill, The Desk, Axios and The Wrap
Maggie Haberman / New York Times:
Former WH Communications Director Hope Hicks is returning to the White House, leaving Fox to become “counselor to the president” and report to Jared Kushner — President Trump's former communications director will return as an aide to Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law and senior adviser.
Discussion:
Slate, CNN, Deseret News, VICE, Washington Post, Vanity Fair, National Review, @sarahhuckabee, ABC News, Talking Points Memo, @mlcalderone, @nedprice, Mediaite, @kurtbardella, Breitbart, Raw Story, The Stranger, @ivankatrump, @dfriedman33, @waltshaub, The Wrap, The Week and New York Post
RELATED:
Ted Johnson / Deadline:
Sean Spicer to host Spicer & Co., a daily news show on Newsmax TV, starting on March 3 — Former White House press secretary Sean Spicer is following up his gig as a special correspondent for Extra and contestant on Dancing with the Stars with a daily talk show for Newsmax TV.
Discussion:
Mediaite, TVNewser, The Wrap, Broadcasting & Cable and @garylegum
Taylor Lorenz / New York Times:
The Bloomberg campaign is working with Meme 2020, whose lead strategist is the CEO of Jerry Media, to create sponsored posts on influential Instagram accounts — A campaign of sponsored content for the candidate flourished suddenly on Instagram. A new outfit, called Meme 2020, is behind it.
Discussion:
The Verge, The Wrap, @jessreports, Mediaite, New York Post, Engadget, @taylorlorenz, VICE, Gizmodo, Breitbart, Mashable, @vivekprabhu1, @crislopezg, @jessreports, @taylorlorenz, @joshkadden, The A.V. Club, @jessreports, @taylorlorenz, The Next Web, @caro, The Week, @adamjohnsonnyc, @ranimolla, @pant_leg, @nbcpolitics, @jessreports, Gothamist, The Hill, @derektmead, @digiphile, @anildash, @rachelholliday, Boing Boing, @leedevito, @kslane, @oneunderscore__, NBC News and Axios, more at Techmeme »
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Condé Nast Entertainment to open studios for The New Yorker, Vogue, Vanity Fair, Wired, and GQ to develop TV, film, and podcast projects — Condé Nast Entertainment is upping its TV and film ambitions, announcing the formation of multiple “studios” dedicated to its major publishing brands.
Discussion:
The Drum, Wall Street Journal, Condé Nast, MediaPost and Highsnobiety
Dade Hayes / Deadline:
Roku reports Q4 revenue of $411M, up 49% YoY, net loss of $15.7M down from a profit of $6.8M YoY; active accounts up 4.6M QoQ to 36.9M; stock up 5%+ after hours — Roku beat Wall Street estimates for the fourth quarter, hitting new highs in active accounts and revenue per user …
Discussion:
Variety, Broadcasting & Cable, The Streamable, Roku, Reuters and @xpangler, more at Techmeme »
Monojoy Bhattacharjee / What's New in Publishing:
Ad Age report: since 2007, internet media jobs have risen from 8.6% of all media jobs to 36.4%, while newspaper jobs have fallen from 38.8% to 17.1% — AdAge's Marketing Fact Pack 2020 projects that the US online ad spend will rise to about 60% of all advertising outlay by 2022.
Discussion:
@ricmac
Juli Clover / MacRumors:
YouTube TV to end support for subscriptions through Apple in-app purchases on March 13 — YouTube today sent out emails to customers who are subscribed to its YouTube TV service through Apple's App Store, letting them know that App Store subscriptions are going to be discontinued in March.
Discussion:
CNET, Engadget, The Verge, Cord Cutters News and iMore, more at Techmeme »
Patrick Wintour / The Guardian:
UK panel on media protection recommends targeted sanctions on officials who restrict free expression, including freezing assets or withholding travel visas — Panel led by Amal Clooney wants targeted action against those who deny free expression — Officials and prosecutors …
Discussion:
@penamerica, @terryglavin and @rasmus_kleis
Neil MacFarquhar / New York Times:
Radio Sputnik, a propaganda arm of the Russian government, has started broadcasting on three Kansas City, MO, stations; it's been broadcasting in DC since 2017 — Radio Sputnik, a propaganda arm of the Russian government, began broadcasting on three Kansas City-area radio stations during prime drive time.
Sahil Patel / Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Instagram is considering increased funding of up to seven figures for multiple shows on IGTV, as it tests an ad product and a revenue-sharing program — The Facebook-owned company looks to pay more for videos on its IGTV app, though no formal funding program is in place
Lucinda Southern / Digiday:
The Guardian launches a puzzle app for £3.49 a month, as part of its goal to reach 2M paying subscribers by 2022; WSJ finds puzzles reduce likelihood of churn — In the quest to acquire more readers and increase customer retention, subscription publishers have long looked …
Discussion:
Twipe, The Guardian, Digital Content Next and @sarahmarshall