Top News:
Bloomberg:
Source: digital payments company Square has held talks to acquire music streaming service Tidal, which Jay-Z acquired for $56M in early 2015 — - Streaming music platform has struggled to keep up with Spotify — Dorsey has met with Jay-Z multiple times during the pandemic
David Folkenflik / NPR:
In the corrective episode of Caliphate, The Daily's Michael Barbaro failed to reveal that two of The Daily's producers also worked on Caliphate — Toggle more options — Late last week, The New York Times issued one of its biggest mea culpas in years. The nation's leading newspaper returned …
Nadezhda Tsydenova / Reuters:
Russian lawmakers pass a bill allowing authorities to block or restrict websites like YouTube if they “discriminate” against Russian media, like RT — MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's lower house of parliament voted on Wednesday to pass legislation allowing authorities to block …
Discussion:
@fatimatlis, @jason_kint and Interfax-Ukraine
Washington Post:
A study using 96,000 searches found that Google News put far more national news outlets than local outlets at the top of search results, even for local queries — Our audit reveals that Google News sends readers — and advertising dollars — away from local news outlets.
Discussion:
@gillesbruno, @pilhofer, @pilhofer, @gillesbruno, @annenbergpenn, @ylelkes, @donlday, @nickcharles61, @pilhofer and @mariekshan
Molly Blackall / The Guardian:
Experts say UK Channel 4's deepfake video of the Queen, meant as a “warning” about fake news, makes it seem like deepfakes are more widespread than they are — Broadcaster says video, showing digitally-altered monarch reflecting on Prince Harry, intended as warning about fake news
Discussion:
@mollyblackall
Julia Alexander / The Verge:
2020 has been the beginning of major streaming exclusivity plays, forcing users to pay for four or five services as big studios prioritize their own platforms — End-of-year turnover is always rough, and it's going to get worse — Two of the biggest movies people want to talk about this week …
Discussion:
Context is King, @starfire2258, @stevie_mat, @reckless, @sachgau, @backlon, @themeganpurdy, @emmahouxbois, @charlie_l_hall, @samitsarkar, @hshaban, @crs_one, @jlbarrow, @loudmouthjulia and Polygon
Reuters Institute:
Survey of news consumption by women in 11 countries, including US and UK, finds more interest in health and education news and higher use of TV news than men — In March 2020, as COVID-19 spread around the world and political leaders began to realise that an immediate response to the pandemic …
Giles Turner / Bloomberg:
Filing: ByteDance says TikTok UK had sales of $20M in 2019, with a loss of $119.5M, driven by advertising and marketing expenses of $109M — - Chinese owner ByteDance has not disclosed global figures — Video-sharing app has been rapidly expanding in U.K.
Rebecca Rubin / Variety:
Warner Bros. announces theatrical release dates for three movies in 2023, suggesting next year's hybridized release strategy is indeed a “unique one-year” model — Warner Bros. has announced release dates for three of its upcoming films: George Miller's “Mad Max: Fury Road” …
Discussion:
Engadget
Brooks DuBose / Baltimore Sun:
Trump signs Fallen Journalists Memorial Act into law, authorizing planning and fundraising for a Washington memorial to honor those who died reporting the news — President Donald Trump signed into law Wednesday a bipartisan bill authorizing a national monument to honor slain journalists …
Discussion:
@lisamccray, @ron_cassie, @chrisvanhollen, @billrehkopf and @elizabethgchang
Ryan Gallagher / Bloomberg:
A coalition of human rights and press freedom groups, including Reporters Without Borders, file an amicus brief in support of WhatsApp in its NSO Group lawsuit — - Filing of brief follows similar move by technology giants — NSO Group's product can secretly access phone's contents
Discussion:
@marietjeschaake, @accessnow and @rj_gallagher
Sarah Ellison / Washington Post:
Profile of Fox News anchor Maria Bartiromo and her transformation from a serious business reporter to Trump cheerleader, most recently in a friendly interview — Maria Bartiromo is the solo host of more than 16 hours of television every week on sister networks Fox News and Fox Business.
Discussion:
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