Mediagazer: Sports podcast company Blue Wire, which hosts 140+ podcasts, raises $5M Series A; it focuses on minority and female voices, and 35% of its podcasters are POC (Sara Fischer/Axios)

10:40 AM ET, December 15, 2020

Top News:

LAT Executive Editor Norman Pearlstine, who announced in October that he planned to retire, steps down, as a search for his replacement continues — The Los Angeles Times' leadership transition has accelerated with the departure of Norman Pearlstine, who served as executive editor for two and a half years.

Discussion: VICE, Poynter, @davidfolkenflik, @davidfolkenflik, @davidfolkenflik, @davidfolkenflik, @vice, @palewire, @sulliview, @marcatracy, @brianstelter, @laurawags, @sewellchan, Mediaite and New York Times

Freedom of the Press:

Report: arrests of journalists in the US grew to ~117 in 2020, up 1,200% YoY; the week of May 29 to June 4 had more arrests than previous three years combined — Promoting press freedom in the 21st century — Today, Freedom of the Press Foundation is releasing a report on the unprecedented number …

Discussion: GEN, Committee to Protect …, The Guardian, Committee to Protect …, @pressfreedom, @pressfreedom, @tekaldas, @pressfreedom, @bethnakamura, @trevortimm, @pressfreedom, @graysonclary, @freedomofpress, @freedomofpress, Forbes and The Hill

Lauren Feiner / CNBC:

FTC orders Amazon, ByteDance, Facebook, Snap, YouTube, and others to share info on how they collect and use personal data, including how they measure engagement — - The Federal Trade Commission is requiring nine tech companies to share information about how they collect and use data from their users, the agency announced Monday.

Jessica Bursztynsky / CNBC:

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle sign an exclusive multiyear deal to host and produce podcasts for Spotify via their production company Archewell Audio — - The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are getting into podcasting. — Spotify announced Tuesday it has signed a multiyear deal with Prince Harry …

Discussion: Axios, CNN, Variety, The Wrap, Fast Company, Bloomberg, Hollywood Reporter, @jbursz, The Verge and Spotify

New York Times:

As ratings hit new highs, executives and journalists at CNN and MSNBC say they are uneasy about a post-Trump future bereft of drama and scandal — Ratings have hit new highs, but executives and journalists at both networks are uneasy about the year ahead. — CNN and MSNBC thrived during …

Discussion: TVNewser, Vanity Fair, @clancyreports, @grynbaum, @adityasood, @ajitgeorgesb, @hotlinejosh, @davidsess, @aghamilton29, @rossbarkan, @frankconniff, @hotlinejosh, @chrisreimer, @ethannichtern, @jrichlive, Columbia Journalism Review and Wall Street Journal

Brian Steinberg / Variety:

CNBC let correspondents like Rick Santelli speak their minds on issues in the past but may now require rules of decorum as it becomes a part of NBCU News Group — Rick Santelli, the veteran CNBC correspondent, recently got into an on-air spat with one of his longtime colleagues.

Discussion: @bristei and @jbflint

Axios:

Sources: PMC plans to merge back end operations of Rolling Stone, Billboard, and Vibe, including ad sales, marketing, and brand partnerships — Penske Media Corp. (PMC) is planning to merge the back end functions of three of the top music news publishers in the U.S., according to two sources familiar with the company's plans.

Brett Samuels / The Hill:

Voting machine company Smartmatic issued legal notices to Fox News, Newsmax, and OANN, demanding retraction of claims that its machines flipped votes to Biden — Florida-based electronic voting system company Smartmatic on Monday demanded three conservative media outlets retract their claims …

Discussion: Smartmatic.com, Mediaite, @benyt, Forbes, @oliverdarcy, @mikiebarb, @jayshams, @kimmasters, @jamessurowiecki, @ewerickson, @brendannyhan, @mmasnick, @slpng_giants, @willsommer, @fpwellman, @oliverdarcy, @brianstelter, @oneunderscore__, @jaketapper, @benyt, Axios, CNN and Mediaite

Sara Fischer / Axios:

Sports podcast company Blue Wire, which hosts 140+ podcasts, raises $5M Series A; it focuses on minority and female voices, and 35% of its podcasters are POC — Blue Wire, a sports podcast company, has raised $5 million in its series A round, founder Kevin Jones tell Axios.

Eben Novy-Williams / Sportico.com:

DAZN has sold Sporting News, of one of US's oldest sports publication, to Pax Holdings and several other soccer news sites for $100M+ to a group backed by TPG — Sports streaming service DAZN has sold Sporting News, one of America's oldest sports publications, to British family office PAX Holdings.

Discussion: Awful Announcing

Ben Paviour / VPM:

A columnist who also works for Dominion Energy wrote some of at least seven unsigned editorials in The Virginian-Pilot and Daily Press about Dominion this year — The Virginian-Pilot and the Daily Press published a handful of unsigned editorials related to Dominion Energy this year written …

Discussion: @bpaves, Daily Updates …, @ileech, @bpaves, @ben_inskeep, @bpaves, @coreyhutchins, @davidpomerantz and @myvpm

Todd Spangler / Variety:

NBCU says the first two seasons of The Office will stream on Peacock's ad-supported free tier and other seasons will stream on subscription tiers — “The Office” is flying back home to NBCUniversal — after it leaves Netflix at the end of 2020 — to alight exclusively on Peacock …

Discussion: Bloomberg, CNBC, @dianelyssa, @vanthebrand, @pkafka, @lucas_shaw, @stevekopack, @pierce, @ashtonlattimore, Business Insider, Reuters, The Week, MediaPost, Light Reading, Cord Cutters News, The Verge, /Film, UPROXX, Adweek, The Streamable, IndieWire and Bloomberg

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Local Government Reporter, IA — The Gazette

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