Top News:
Wall Street Journal:
Sumner Redstone, the mogul who transformed National Amusements into a media empire that included Viacom, Paramount Pictures, and CBS, has died at 97 — Mr. Redstone built empire of TV, movies and radio that became focus of power struggle — Sumner Redstone, who turned his family's movie-theater company …
Discussion:
Variety, New York Times, New York Times, Deadline, Variety, Mediaite, Radio & Television …, @brianstelter, Forbes, NPR, @irin, @editorialiste, The Week, KIFI-TV, New York Post, NBC News, CNBC, Hollywood Reporter, @davidenrich, Rolling Stone, @emilybell, @brianstelter, @sherman4949, @eriqgardner, Decider, @sarahw, @claireatki, @emilybell, @nymag, @mathewi, Business Wire and @loulumenick
The Information:
Sources: AT&T is in talks to sell Crunchyroll, its anime streaming service, to Sony, but its $1.5B asking price is a sticking point — AT&T is in discussions to sell WarnerMedia's Crunchyroll Japanese anime-streaming service to Sony, according to three people familiar with the situation.
Discussion:
@zhugeex, @pessimism and @zhugeex
Sara Guaglione / MediaPost:
Bustle Digital Group names Kathy Lee editorial director of women's style site The Zoe Report — Bustle Digital Group has hired Kathy Lee as editorial director for women's style site The Zoe Report. — Lee was previously accessories director at Hearst's Fashion Group, where she styled content across brands.
Discussion:
WWD and @kerrymflynn
Natasha Khan / Wall Street Journal:
Hong Kong media baron Jimmy Lai was released on bail on Wednesday morning, along with the other nine people who were arrested on Monday — Supporters of outspoken newspaper founder waved copies of his Apple Daily as he left police station — HONG KONG—Pro-democracy media baron Jimmy Lai …
Discussion:
Al Jazeera, The Guardian, @newley, Committee to Protect …, Hong Kong Free Press HKFP, The Independent and The Week
Hollywood Reporter:
As part of WarnerMedia's layoffs, most of the staff of the streaming service DC Universe have been laid off, as well as top execs and editors of DC Comics — The majority of staff of the streaming service DC Universe has been laid off, as has editor-in-chief Bob Harras and multiple other executives on the publishing side.
Anthony Ha / TechCrunch:
Scribd buys SlideShare from LinkedIn for an undisclosed sum; SlideShare has a content library of 40M presentations and 100M monthly unique visitors — SlideShare has a new owner, with LinkedIn selling the presentation-sharing service to Scribd for an undisclosed price.
Discussion:
@leeodden, @sameerpatel, @scribd, @jboutelle, @amitranjan, @randfish, @marktraphagen, @martinsfp, Scribd Blog, Beyond Search and ZDNet, more at Techmeme »
Meduza.io:
Russian embassy says journalist for Russian outlet Meduza, who was beaten and arrested by police while reporting from a protest in Belarus, has been released — Meduza special correspondent Maxim Solopov, who was beaten and arrested by riot police while reporting from a protest in Minsk on Sunday night …
Discussion:
@meduza_en and Reporters Without Borders
Patricia Nilsson / Financial Times:
After a six month break, Time Out plans to resume its print edition only in Madrid, Barcelona, and London and is unlikely to do so in the US or Portugal — Group to exit US and cut jobs in focus on food markets and digital after pandemic — Time Out has published its first magazine following …
Discussion:
@secondhusk, @petergriffiths_, @plitter, @1000timesyes, @bfishbfish and @zencudosaas
Nicole Sperling / New York Times:
The musical Diana will premiere on Netflix ahead of its opening on Broadway as New York theaters will remain closed until 2021 — The show will be filmed in the empty Broadway theater where it had been playing in previews, and still plans to open in May 2021.
Discussion:
Variety, Deadline, The Wrap, @ayannaprescod, @sarahshevenock, @dianaonbroadway and The Playlist
Bloomberg:
CuriosityStream, a streaming service for documentaries on science and history, has agreed to go public through a ~$330M merger with Software Acquisition Group — CuriosityStream, a streaming platform for documentaries on science, history and other topics, has agreed to go public through …
Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian / Axios:
The Grayzone, founded by Max Blumenthal, has become a favorite of China's state media and government as it denies crimes against humanity affecting Uighurs — A website called The Grayzone has made a name for itself by denying China's campaign of cultural and demographic genocide in Xinjiang.
Discussion:
@sashru88, @davidpaulk, @yair_rosenberg, @im_pulse, @jayshams, @alex, @20committee, @bethanyallenebr and @josh_hammer
Isaac Stanley-Becker / Washington Post:
Researchers find network of 178 hyperpartisan low-quality news sites whose underlying purpose is to collect and sell email addresses and other personal info — The reality curated by “The Bearded Patriot” and “The Wolf of Washington” is dismal. — The websites tell of nonstop riots and “crazed leftists.”