Mediagazer: Biden's press secretary Jen Psaki on not letting the briefing room become a “platform for propaganda”, engaging with right-wing media, dealing with leaks, more (Steve Inskeep/NPR)

2:15 PM ET, December 31, 2020

Top News:

David Folkenflik / NPR:

Boards of RFE/RL and Radio Free Asia and their chairman Michael Pack have added binding contractual agreements that they can't be removed for the next two years — Michael Pack's stormy tenure over the federal agency that oversees government-funded broadcasters abroad — including Voice of America — appears to be coming to a close.

Discussion: @urielepshtein, @mollymckew, @mandacollins, @anneapplebaum, @digiphile, @npr, @davidfolkenflik and @petersoa840

Brian Schwartz / CNBC:

Letter signed by leaders of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's news division and editorial board says Michael Pack appointed a board of “inexperienced” partisans — - Leaders of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty blasted the Trump-appointed CEO of the U.S. federal media agency.

Discussion: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, @davidfolkenflik, @gkates, @27khv, @kevinrothrock, @nprinskeep, @joshgerstein, @micheleberdy, @ckummer, @schwartzbcnbc, @schwartzbcnbc and @nickschifrin

Michael J. de la Merced / New York Times:

Alden says it is bidding for full control of Tribune Publishing, in which it has a ~32% stake, with an offer that values the newspaper chain at about $520.6M — Alden Global Capital, which is already Tribune's biggest shareholder, valued the company at about $520.6 million.

Discussion: Axios, MediaPost, @fenitn, @laurakeeney, @ctguild, @megreenwell, @kdoctor, @courantguild, @kbui1, @royalpratt, @scottshanenyt, @dicktofel, @w_katz1, @pwoodreporter, @robillard and @marcatracy

Wall Street Journal:

Sources: Alden Global is seeking to buy Tribune Publishing, in which it already owns a 32% stake — Hedge fund already owns 32% of the Chicago Tribune publisher — A hedge fund that owns a big stake in Tribune Publishing Co. is seeking to buy the newspaper chain behind titles including …

Discussion: Media Nation, Talking Biz News, @thenewsan, @mattdpearce, @carriemelago, @cerconejeff, @vellastrations, @andrewgiambrone, @garywhite13, @benbradleytv, @fineout, bookforum.com and The Wrap

About Amazon:

Amazon plans to acquire podcast network Wondery, which will join Amazon Music — We've signed an agreement to acquire Wondery, a top-rated podcast creator and producer that entertains and educates listeners. — We're pleased to announce that Wondery—an innovative podcast publisher …

Wall Street Journal:

Top nine streaming services to end 2020 with combined US subscribers up 50%+ YoY; US households now subscribe to 3.1 services on average, up from 2.7 in 2019 — From Hulu to Disney+, largest streaming services are expected to end the year with 50% more U.S. subscribers

Discussion: Business Insider, @wsj, @jbflint, @drewfitzgerald, Fast Company, New York Post and Context is King

Christopher Palmeri / Bloomberg:
Over Christmas holiday, Apptopia says HBO Max had ~554K app signups; Sensor Tower says Disney+ had ~2.3M global app installations, up 28% from prior weekend

Discussion: ScreenRant, The Desk, DIRT, The Streamable, TechCrunch and @edmundlee

Steve Inskeep / NPR:

Biden's press secretary Jen Psaki on not letting the briefing room become a “platform for propaganda”, engaging with right-wing media, dealing with leaks, more — Toggle more options — President-elect Joe Biden's choice for White House press secretary says she will restore a tradition.

Discussion: Al Jazeera, @mr_mxyplyzyk, @jrpsaki, @mbaram, @aravosis, @jayrosen_nyu, @jayrosen_nyu, @austan_goolsbee, @nprinskeep, @nprinskeep, @quintforgey, @lisasabinwilson, @redeye11055 and @blakehounshell

Todd Spangler / Variety:

ESPN Plus is raising the annual subscription for new subscribers by 20%, from $49.99 to $59.99, and increasing the price of UFC pay-per-view events to $69.99 — UFC fans are going to pay more to catch the promoter's premiere fights on Disney's ESPN Plus streaming sports package next year.

Discussion: The Streamable, Sports Business Daily, @trentreinsmith, @seansheehanba, @jevan_bay, @mrmwellsart, @yoda, @thenotoriousmma, @yay_yee, Gizmodo, The Verge, Awful Announcing and Engadget, more at Techmeme »

Lisa Richwine / Reuters:

Nielsen: Fox News tops all news and basic cable channels for the fifth consecutive year, averaging 1.9M viewers/day; CNN had its most-watched year in history — LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Ratings for Rupert Murdoch's Fox News Channel topped all news and basic cable channels for a fifth straight year in 2020 …

Discussion: TVNewser

Jeremy Barr / Washington Post:
Interviews with 15 longtime Fox News loyalists on why they switched to Newsmax, often seeking programming that denies Joe Biden's victory

Discussion: Mediaite, @seanspicer, @dcdianadc, @kirktousaw, @evilgalprods, @kimmasters, @chessninja, @poniewozik, @elise_jordan, @donal_okeeffe, @ericbolling and @jayrosen_nyu

Ken Symon / Insider.co.uk:

JPI Media, owner of The Scotsman and other newspapers, has been sold for £10.2M, or around $13.9M, to a new group set up by industry veteran David Montgomery — The sale takes place after JPI Media has seen a turbulent two years with its predecessor company going into administration

Discussion: The Guardian, BBC and Yorkshire Post

Reuters:

Reuters cameraman Kumerra Gemechu has been detained in Ethiopia without charge; police say they are investigating allegations of spreading false information — NAIROBI (Reuters) - Reuters cameraman Kumerra Gemechu has been held in solitary confinement for nearly a week without charge …

Discussion: @reuterspr

Eriq Gardner / Hollywood Reporter:

Judge rules Viacom shareholders can pursue claims of fiduciary duty breach against Shari Redstone and board members representing Viacom in the merger with CBS — A Delaware Chancery judge rejects a motion to dismiss after reviewing Shari Redstone's role in the transaction.

Discussion: The Wrap, @eriqgardner, Deadline and Variety

Byron Tau / Wall Street Journal:

Acting attorney general says WSJ reporter Daniel Pearl's accused killer could be prosecuted in the US if Pakistani courts fail to keep him in jail — If Pakistanis fail to keep suspect imprisoned, U.S. stands ready, acting attorney general says — The U.S. Justice Department on Tuesday raised …

Discussion: @bgrueskin, @rohded, @jessepesta, @schoofsfeed, @alanmillernlp, USA Today, CBS News, Reuters, Al Jazeera, The Hill and Associated Press

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More News:

Elizabeth A. Harris / New York Times:
Association of American Publishers: audiobooks revenue is up 17%+ YoY, e-book sales are up 16%+; NPD BookScan says US print book sales are up ~8% in 2020

Discussion: @hermionehoby, @sejorg, @nytimesbooks, @pamelapaulnyt, @likaluca, @fidmart85, @bobproehl, @jldelbourgo, @scalzi, @magiciansbook, @mariskreizman and bookforum.com, more at Techmeme »

John Hopewell / Variety:
Comscore: global box office fell between 57%, in the Netherlands, and 76%, in UK, vs. 2019, depending on length of closure and strength of local movie industry

Discussion: Variety

Dave Lee / Financial Times:
FactSet: Amazon's “other” business unit, which is made up almost entirely of its ads business, will make $21B in revenue in 2020, up 47% YoY

Discussion: @raju, @financialtimes, @tonytassell, @read_cap, @juokaz and @hughhewitt

Earlier Picks:

Wall Street Journal:
Unredacted draft version of the lawsuit filed by 10 states earlier this month details a Google-Facebook ad deal that allegedly constituted illegal price fixing

Discussion: @bowknowsbiz, @greglinden, @phyllisstein, @bowknowsbiz, @johnvoorhees, @repkenbuck, @jonspaihts, @bikehugger, @moonalice, @halsinger, @jason_kint, @jason_kint, @jason_kint, @jason_kint, @jason_kint and New York Post

Inside Radio:
Univision sale to Searchlight Capital is formalized, and Wade Davis becomes CEO; FCC granted an exception to a cap on foreign ownership, as Televisa holds 36.1%

Discussion: Variety, The Wrap, Awful Announcing and Radio & Television …

DW.COM:
A sustained cyberattack over Christmas forced several German newspapers published by The Funke Media Group to cancel or curtail editions; the attack is ongoing

Discussion: @davidgerard

From Techmeme:

CNBC:
The Nasdaq falls 6%+, with Apple down 7%+, Nvidia down 8%+, and Meta down 7%+, as the White House confirms that Trump's tariffs on China now total 145%

Wayne Ma / The Information:
A look at the internal chaos behind Apple's Siri failure, in part due to poor leadership, with John Giannandrea's AI/ML group dubbed “AIMLess” internally

Emanuel Maiberg / 404 Media:
Meta says LLMs have historically leaned left and wants to remove that bias with Llama 4 to “understand and articulate both sides of a contentious issue”

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