Top News:
Joe Pompeo / Vanity Fair:
Sources: NYT told Lauren Wolfe, who had a temporary position, that her name and NYT's name were in headlines after her “chills” tweet, and “we can't have that” — The paper of record's treatment of a freelance editor getting “chills” on Twitter drew accusations …
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Joe Flint / Wall Street Journal:
NBC's Peacock signs a deal for exclusive streaming rights for WWE Network content in the US from March; source says the deal runs five years and is worth $1B+ — World Wrestling Entertainment content will move to Peacock starting March 18 in deal worth more than $1 billion
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Archie Bland / The Guardian:
Forbes drops plans for a trip to Bermuda for 75 people on its “30 under 30” list, meant to provide an escape from pandemic “gloom”, after facing criticism — Invitation for people on magazine's ‘30 under 30’ list is dropped hours after Guardian inquiry
Margit Wennmachers / Andreessen Horowitz:
a16z plans to launch a “new and separate media property” later this year focused on “the future” and names ex-CNN editor Maggie Leung executive editor — We embraced speaking directly to our audience — from the builders of the future to the tech-curious — right as the firm was started in 2009.
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Lukas I. Alpert / Wall Street Journal:
Insider Inc. says it was profitable in 2020 and added 200 jobs as revenue grew 30% YoY; sources: it generated $150M+ in revenue as subscribers doubled to 100K+ — Business-news site generated 30% revenue growth in 2020 despite Covid-19 crisis thanks to subscriptions, automated ads
Russell Contreras / Axios:
Ex-CNN exec S. Mitra Kalita and PA radio exec Sara Lomax-Reese launch URL Media, a newsletter seeking to expand local news on Black and brown communities — Former CNN executive S. Mitra Kalita and Philadelphia radio executive Sara Lomax-Reese have launched a newsletter seeking to expand local news …
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Katie Robertson / New York Times:
Rupert Murdoch says free speech is being suppressed by an “awful woke orthodoxy” and says he is “far from done” — Mr. Murdoch of News Corp, who spoke in a video, has been relatively quiet publicly in recent years. He called conformity on social media “a straitjacket on sensibility.”
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Alexander Gladstone / Wall Street Journal:
AMC Entertainment says it signed deals for $917M in funding to survive the COVID-19 pandemic for months and avoid bankruptcy — World's largest movie theater chain buys time with debt and equity deals as it continues to burn cash during the Covid-19 pandemic
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Robert P. Baird / Columbia Journalism Review:
An in-depth look at Laurene Powell Jobs' Emerson Collective, which a source says has spent $250M on journalism, buying stakes in The Atlantic, Axios, and others — With the Emerson Collective, Laurene Powell Jobs is becoming a force in American media. What is she trying to achieve?
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Alex Weprin / Hollywood Reporter:
Nexstar to rebrand its national cable channel WGN America as NewsNation, positioning it as a “fact-based and unbiased” competitor to CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC — As part of the rebrand, NewsNation will add two hours of live coverage from 6-8 p.m. hosted by Nichole Berlie and Joe Donlon, respectively.
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Politico:
White House says it will work with WHCA to develop new standards for media passes and won't tolerate outlets trafficking in conspiracy theories and propaganda — Some Trump loving members of the press corps are eager to get access to the Biden White House.
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Issie Lapowsky / Protocol:
Facebook says it will give researchers targeting data on 1.3M social issue, electoral, and political ads from August 3 through November 3, 2020 — Facebook announced the news in a blog post Monday, following years of requests from academics. Until now, Facebook has only publicly shared data …
Nathan Ingraham / Engadget:
Spotify says it is testing a pilot of audiobooks on the platform, with nine public-domain titles read by well-known names like Hilary Swank — Initial titles include ‘Frankenstein,’ ‘Great Expectations’ and ‘Jane Eyre.’ — Spotify's aggressive move into content beyond music continues today …
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