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:
New York Times, Washington Post, @mlcalderone, @jeffjarvis, McClatchy Co, CNN, Poynter, USA Today, Axios, The Wrap, @w7voa, @jeffjarvis, @facttank, @pewresearch, @mathewi, @underoak, @vickiringer, @dbrauer, Bloomberg Law, Nasdaq, @ivanthek, @migold, @rj_baird, @dankennedy_nu, @melaniesill and @cahnemily
Katherine Rosman / New York Times:
Profile of Dan Peres, who edited the men's magazine Details for 15 years and whose new memoir gives a first-person account of Condé Nast culture in the aughts — The memoirs of Dan Peres and other ex-employees of the magazine company reveal mess behind the gloss of the aughts.
Discussion:
@katierosman, @alexandrajacobs, @markberman, @bgrueskin, @odannyboy, @om, The Wrap, @beijingpalmer, @andrewjpridgen, @frynaomifry, @loudmouthjulia, @editorialiste, @jessmknoll, @genepark, @espiers, @sarahw, @bradesposito, @amandamull, @shiraovide, @irin, @nishachittal, @cocodavies, @bimadew, @clarajeffery, @mathewi, @inkookang, @_cooper, @dylanmatt, @joypress, @aterkel, @jane__bradley, @karenmcgrane, @steven_hyden, @jeffjarvis, @heyydnae, @nataliapetrzela, @dodaistewart, @juliareinstein, @amandamull, @thunderwooddd, @margeincharge, @doree, @tylercoates, @dparvaz, @tannenbaumr, @drrramina, @steverousseau, @jenist, @taylorlorenz, @taylorlorenz, @kerrymflynn, @taylorlorenz, @pkafka, @pkafka and Bookninja
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:
Wall Street Journal, The Drum, Condé Nast, MediaPost and Highsnobiety
Freddy Mayhew / Press Gazette:
Yahoo Sports lays off its entire six-person UK team to focus on US sports coverage — Yahoo Sports has made its entire UK editorial team redundant as it focuses on US sports coverage. — Press Gazette understands six editorial staff have left as a result including head of sport Raj Mannick who joined from ITN in 2018.
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:
@jessreports, Axios, The Hill, NBC News, @leedevito, @jessreports, @joshkadden, @kslane, @jessreports, @derektmead, @jessreports, @rachelholliday, @vivekprabhu1, The Week, Boing Boing, @oneunderscore__ and Mashable
Mollie Walker / New York Post:
NBC Sports parts ways with Jeremy Roenick, who was suspended in December for sexually suggestive comments about coworkers during a Barstool Sports podcast — Hockey analyst Jeremy Roenick is out at NBC. — Roenick, who was suspended indefinitely without pay over a month ago …
Discussion:
@jeremy_roenick, Midway Minute, @k_cimini, @_loukanikos, @nolanolegal, @catmsilverman, Associated Press, Deadline, The Big Lead, The Wrap, Variety and Sports Illustrated
Kevin Roose / New York Times:
Carlos Maza, who calls YouTube “unethical and reckless”, on becoming a full-time creator: “I'm going to use the master's tools to destroy the master's house” — Carlos Maza, a socialist who calls YouTube “deeply unethical and reckless,” is trying to bolster the video site's left wing.
Discussion:
Business Insider, @kevinroose, @pinkhairedcyn, @bendwalsh and @timcast
Daniel Frankel / NextTV:
The nationwide launch of AT&T TV, a streaming version of DirecTV, is set for Feb. 27; the service requires a two-year contract and offers multiple price tiers — Replacement for DirecTV satellite TV now set to launch nationwide February 27 — AT&T TV, the streaming version …
Discussion:
Cord Cutters News, @danielpmcdermot and Cord Cutters News
Daniel Holloway / Variety:
Sources: ViacomCBS is planning two rounds of layoffs, the first as early as February 26 affecting around 100 people and a second set of cuts at the end of March — ViacomCBS is preparing for the first of two rounds of layoffs, Variety has learned. According to multiple sources with knowledge …
Discussion:
The Wrap
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, Digital Content Next and The Guardian
Jem Aswad / Variety:
Research: over the past year, 95M people in the US used a major streaming service, 25M had a family plan, 13M had a free trial, and 10M+ were sharing a login — Over the past year, 95 million people in the U.S. used a major streaming service, 68 million were self-paying …
Pew Research Center:
Pew: adults who rely on social media for election news are less confident the public will accept election results than those who rely on TV, print or news sites — Want to see more data on these questions? — Visit the interactive tool and access the dataset.