Top News:
Katie Robertson / New York Times:
Brian Calle, CEO of LA Weekly owner Street Media, has acquired The Village Voice, plans to restart its website in January, and also plans quarterly print issues — The owner of LA Weekly, another independent publication, plans to restart The Voice next month.
Discussion:
@rosiegray, @jenn_swann, @mcastimovies, @raju, @conroyforreal, @minkowitz, @awolfeful, @stevekandell, @spbphd, @elinashatkin, @passionweiss, @sowmyak, @marcissist, @passionweiss, @allegraehobbs, @krisvire, @jayrosen_nyu, @ibogost, @mattdpearce, @media_evan, @jesshopp, @matthewwells, @david_j_roth, @scott_tobias, @willow_catelyn, @zzzzaaaacccchhh, @jsmooth995, Mediaite and Wall Street Journal
Ruti Levy / Haaretz:
Sources: Israeli content recommendation company Taboola is in talks to merge with ION group's SPAC that raised $259M in October — 'There's no company with revenues of $100 million that's not considering going public,' source says after massive deal falls apart three months ago
Discussion:
Sifted
Gene Maddaus / Variety:
Sen. Thom Tillis unveils a draft bill to revise the DMCA, requiring “service providers” to ensure that infringing material stays removed and does not reappear — Sen. Thom Tillis on Tuesday unveiled an overhaul of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which is intended to make it easier to stamp out pirated content online.
Jessica Jerreat / Voice of America:
Two bills Congress OK'ed would limit powers of USAGM's Michael Pack; Pack announced new heads at Radio Free Asia and Middle East Broadcasting Network on Tuesday — Two bills approved by Congress awaiting President Donald Trump's signature would limit the powers of Michael Pack …
Discussion:
@w7voa, @schwartzbcnbc, @yatesdcia, @simonmarksfsn, @simonmarksfsn, @davidfolkenflik, @davidfolkenflik and USAGM
Keach Hagey / Wall Street Journal:
Unredacted Google antitrust suit: execs referred to attempts to undermine header bidding and force publishers back onto their ad server as the “Holy Grail” — Accusations by Texas and nine other states give ground to publishers' frustrations that the digital-ad economy is rigged
Discussion:
Ad Age, @stevekovach, @slayser8, @catthekin, @wsj, @kylemunson, @keachhagey, @acfou, @paulnemitz, @repkenbuck, @johnwilander and CNBC
RELATED:
Wall Street Journal:
Draft lawsuit filed last week says Facebook and Google agreed to help each other in case of investigation of their pact to work together in online advertising
Draft lawsuit filed last week says Facebook and Google agreed to help each other in case of investigation of their pact to work together in online advertising
Discussion:
Washington Post, @rmac18, @bigblackjacobin, @karaswisher, @moorehn, @pierce, @matthewstoller, @heynottheface, @histoftech, @mathbabedotorg, @hawleymo, @senmikelee, WWD, @mattyglesias, @gavinsbaker, The Media Nut, The Verge, Breitbart, @jeffhorwitz, @jesselehrich, Engadget, CNBC, AppleInsider, New York Post, National Review and Business Insider
Sara Fischer / Axios:
NewsGuard: 17% of engagement among the top 100 news sources on social media in 2020 was with sources NewsGuard considers unreliable, compared to 8% in 2019 — Unreliable news websites significantly increased their share of engagement among the top performing news sources on social media this year …
Discussion:
@mattsheffield, @pchdigital, @shawnarchen, @jimwarren55 and @crovitz
Jon Allsop / Columbia Journalism Review:
A look at current ideas for federal journalism funding, including a revival of the New Deal Federal Writers' Project to hire journalists to capture this moment — In 1937, Sterling A. Brown, a poet and literature professor at Howard University, published a forthright essay charting the history …
The Pulitzer Prizes:
NYT has withdrawn its 2019 entry in international reporting for Caliphate, and the Pulitzer Prize Board rescinded the entry's designation as a Pulitzer finalist — New York, NY (Dec. 22, 2020) — The New York Times has withdrawn its 2019 entry in International Reporting.
Discussion:
The Wrap, @doctoryasmin, New York Times and Fox News
Substack Blog:
Explaining its content moderation policy, Substack says it will “resist public pressure to suppress voices that loud objectors deem unacceptable” — As Substack grows, there is increasing interest in the stance we take on content moderation. It's a complicated issue …
Discussion:
@jaycaruso, @kerrymflynn, @wexler, @nickconfessore, @timmarchman, @hotlinejosh, @codytfenwick, @melissamcewen, @jessesingal, @jessesingal, @mantzarlis, @timmarchman, @peterbale, @mantzarlis, @anildash, @jayrosen_nyu, @nayafia, @sonnybunch, @allegraehobbs, @sonnybunch, @kantrowitz, @taylorlorenz, @nic__carter, @sethbannon, @jessesingal, @peterbale, @cathyreisenwitz, @carnage4life, @jessesingal, @scottnover, @scottnover, @wesleylowery, @timmarchman, @johnghendy, @justin_hart, @substackinc, @rwabigwi, @codytfenwick, @ericnewcomer, The Verge and TechCrunch, more at Techmeme »
Angelique Jackson / Variety:
Blumhouse won a bidding war and will team up with NYT for a film or series based on a story about a Mexican mother who tracked down her daughter's killers — Rodriguez — who went on to become a prominent human rights activist, helping to imprison 10 members of the local cartel in San Fernando …
Discussion:
Hollywood Reporter, The Wrap, @marclacey, @jason_blum, @lucas_shaw, @sethabramovitch, Deadline and Context is King
Joe Pompeo / Vanity Fair:
Sources: WaPo's Marty Baron indicated to colleagues he may step down soon but not before staff can return to the newsroom, which is June 1 at the earliest — Kevin Merida? Steven Ginsberg? Sources insist the paper hasn't officially started the search for a new leader …
Discussion:
@mollyemccluskey, @yashar, @raju and @joepompeo
The Wire:
Ofcom fines Indian TV channel Republic Bharat £20K for hate speech against Pakistani people in a program hosted by EIC Arnab Goswami and broadcast last year — New Delhi: British TV regulatory authority Ofcom has imposed a £20,000 fine on Republic Bharat, Republic TV's Hindi channel …
Discussion:
@jawharsircar, The Economic Times, Times of India, @svaradarajan, @bombaywallah and The Hindu