Mediagazer: Kansas City Star publishes a review of its 140-year history, finding coverage “disenfranchised, ignored, and scorned generations of Black Kansas Citians” (Mike Fannin/The Kansas City Star)

5:20 PM ET, December 21, 2020

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Dominick Mastranglo / The Hill:

Newsmax claims it “has not reported as true certain claims” made by “various guests, attorneys and elected officials” on air about Smartmatic and Dominion — Conservative media outlet Newsmax issued a clarification on Monday about recent claims made by guests …

Ben Smith / New York Times:

Voting machine companies including Smartmatic have hired high-powered libel lawyers and, legal experts say, have strong cases if they sue Fox, Newsmax, and OAN — Voting machine companies threaten “highly dangerous” cases against Fox, Newsmax and OAN, says Floyd Abrams.

Stephanie Clifford / Elle:

Profile of ex-Bloomberg reporter Christie Smythe, who quit her job and divorced her husband after she fell in love with the man she was covering, Martin Shkreli — Why did Christie Smythe upend her life and stability for Martin Shkreli, one of the least-liked men in the world?

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Mike Fannin / The Kansas City Star:

Kansas City Star publishes a review of its 140-year history, finding coverage “disenfranchised, ignored, and scorned generations of Black Kansas Citians” — Today we are telling the story of a powerful local business that has done wrong. For 140 years, it has been one of the …

David Shepardson / Reuters:

The COVID-19 relief bill includes a provision to expand forgivable government loans to additional struggling local news outlets — WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Congressional leaders said on Sunday that lawmakers agreed to expand forgivable government loans to additional struggling local news outlets …

Discussion: New York Times and The Hill

Jem Aswad / Variety:

Congress' COVID-19 relief deal includes the Save Our Stages Act to give ~$15B in relief to independent music venues and movie theaters shut due to the pandemic — “We can finally report what our nation has needed to hear for a very long time,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell …

Discussion: Mediaite, /Film, @variety, Reuters, CNBC, New York Times, Politico, Reason, The Hill, Crain's New York Business, Business Insider, @winston_fisher1, @matthaneysf and New York Post

Mike Masnick / Techdirt:
The omnibus funding bill Congress is set to vote on contains the controversial CASE Act, which may ratchet up copyright trolling, and the Felony Streaming Bill

Discussion: Politico, @chrismessina, @zfdigivagrant, The Verge, @sbjohnsrpi, @ovenotter, @mmasnick and @xirzon, more at Techmeme »

Cecilia D'Anastasio / Wired:

Cyberpunk 2077's developer hamstrung reviewers by forcing NDAs and sending copies just days before launch to prevent players from seeing the buggy mess — Video game companies are increasingly putting restrictions on what reviewers can show, widening the gap between expectations and reality.

Washington Post:

The Washington Post announces expansion plans for 2021: new foreign bureaus in Sydney and Bogotá, breaking news hubs in London and Seoul, and more — The Washington Post will take new steps in 2021 to become a more global newsroom by creating breaking-news hubs in Europe and Asia.

Discussion: MediaPost, @karlaadam, Press Gazette, @davidmackau, @raju, @annemariebridy, @jamesrbuk, @chaneyj, @jensaltman, @guinnesskebab, @defensebaron, @kwoodsome, @jehld, @ewong and @travislylesnews

Margaret Sullivan / Washington Post:

Despite a few bright spots in local journalism like Charlotte Agenda, bought by Axios, and Daily Memphian, 55 news outlets have closed amid the pandemic — You would think that Adam Ganucheau would be feeling upbeat about the state of local journalism. — After all, Mississippi Today …

Elaine Low / Variety:

Fox Broadcasting and Sinclair strike a multi-year deal to let Sinclair keep broadcasting NFL and other live sports through Fox affiliates across 25 US markets — Fox Broadcasting Company and Sinclair Broadcast Group have struck a multi-year deal to renew Fox network affiliations …

Discussion: @jbflint and @jonmhamm

The Guardian:

Citizen Lab: iPhones of dozens of Al Jazeera journalists were hacked using software from NSO Group in an attack likely ordered by Saudi Arabia and UAE — Citizen Lab researchers say cyber-attack using NSO Group software likely ordered by Saudia Arabia and UAE

Erik Wemple / Washington Post:

Sources: NYT reporters criticized editors over handling of Callimachi's “Caliphate” in a meeting, arguing warning signs had been clear for years with no action — In December 2014, renowned terrorism reporter Rukmini Callimachi unearthed what appeared to be a striking scoop.

Discussion: @walldo, @amelscript, BBC, And another thing, @paulvieira, @erikwemple, @nycjim, @lizsly, @juliacarriew, @lailalalami, @ggreenwald, @hatr, @maxabrahms, @mlcalderone, @ozkaterji, Fox News and Jezebel

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Sarah Whitten / CNBC:
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Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
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Eriq Gardner / Hollywood Reporter:
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Kristen Chick / Columbia Journalism Review:
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Pranshu Verma / New York Times:
Documents: Michael Pack, CEO of USAGM, is seeking to cut funding for its nonprofit Open Technology Fund, limiting internet access in tightly controlled places

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Earlier Picks:

Linda Solomon Wood / Nieman Lab:
National Observer EIC predicts Canada's philanthropic sector will lean in further to fund journalism in 2021, and new companies will continue to launch and grow

BRANDED:
Adalytics: brand safety technology from companies like Grapeshot and Moat marked 30.3% of NYT, 21.4% of The Economist, and 51.7% of Vice articles as “unsafe”

Discussion: @swodinsky

Mark Jacob / Local News Initiative:
An analysis puts the overall increase in digital circulation for news outlets in 138 markets at 51.2%, from Nov. 2019 to Nov. 2020; print circulation fell 12.9%

Discussion: @tomrosenstiel, @timafranklin and @ctguild

Pranay Prabhat / NYT Open:
A look at the NYT's first-party data program for its direct-sold ads; NYT says ad campaigns that used it performed as well as those using third-party data

Discussion: @nytopen

Charles Kaiser / The Guardian:
Interview with Arthur Sulzberger Jr, who retires as NYT chairman this month, and AG Sulzberger about turning around the paper, keeping it in the family, more

Discussion: @vivian, @ckummer, @meslackman, @jayrosen_nyu, @jeffjarvis, @jswatz, @michaelluo, @andrewlavallee, @jswatz, @eckholm and @raju

From Techmeme:

Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
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The Information:
Sources: OpenAI considered developing a browser, discussed deals to power AI features on Samsung devices and search on sites and apps from Condé Nast and others

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
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