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 …
Discussion:
Jezebel, @wolfe321, @miriamelder, @joepompeo, @yashar, Washington Post, @feliciasonmez, The Guardian, @froomkin, @mikeloukides, @b52malmet, @fawfulfan, @davidklion, @arusbridger, @themarysue, @weareyourfek, @wajahatali, @kendrawrites, @aaschapiro, @miriamelder, @markhalperin, @sethabramson, @meredthsalenger, @laurarbelin, @jayrosen_nyu, @froomkin, @brianstelter, @joshgerstein, @mlcalderone, The Hill, @tvietor08, @jeremyhobson, Today in Tabs and Vox
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
Margaret Carmel / BoiseDev:
Idaho News Guild says Idaho Statesman's top editor was fired over her tweet advocating for staff resources in a protest letter sent to McClatchy management — Idaho's largest daily newspaper abruptly changed editorial leadership Monday. — As of Monday, the Statesman's top editor …
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.”
Discussion:
Vanity Fair, Mediaite, Vanity Fair, @dylanbyers, @caslernoel, @edmundlee, @billybragg, @mattgertz, @meridithmcgraw, @janemayernyer, @donmoyn, @peterjukes, @benyt, @scout_finch, @billbarnwell, @oliverdarcy, @markberman, @slpng_giants, @safimichael, @dylanbyers, @lukeoneil47, @mariskreizman, @mattgertz, @jasonhirschhorn, @richardhanania, @parkermolloy, @katie_robertson, @rschooley, @edmundlee, Rolling Stone and The Hill
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
Facebook News launches in the UK, partners with Axel Springer and Samsung owned Upday for curation; announces new partnerships and payments for some publishers — As the United Kingdom prepares to sharpen its focus on how it regulates big tech companies, Facebook is taking a big step …
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
Brian Steinberg / Variety:
CBS Television Stations President Peter Dunn and SVP of News David Friend have been placed on leave, after an LAT report alleging racism and misogyny at work — Peter Dunn, president of the CBS Television Stations, and David Friend, senior vice president of news for the stations were placed on the leave …
Discussion:
Los Angeles Times, @rverrier, The Wrap, @megjameslat, @phil_rosenthal and Los Angeles Times
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.
Discussion:
@smc90, Business Insider, @panzer, @wennmachers, @panzer, @kantrowitz, @asalyers3, @chaykak, @ricmac, @a16z, @julesyoo, @jessicalessin, @cityofthetown, @naithanjones, @saschasegan, @jessicalessin, @thekenyeung, @andrewchen, @bhorowitz, @vijaypande, @taylorlorenz, @obrien, @mathewi, @panzer, @sarthakgh, Bloomberg and Talking Biz News, more at Techmeme »
Maxwell Tani / The Daily Beast:
Sources: 100+ Politico staffers sent a letter to Allbritton criticizing the decision to publish Ben Shapiro and calling out EIC Kaminski's internal response — More than 100 Politico staffers signed onto a letter sent to publisher Robert Allbritton, expressing disgust with allowing right …
Discussion:
The Daily Beast, Yahoo News, Townhall, Mediaite, Raw Story and @bmarchetich
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
Discussion:
Variety, The Wrap, Variety, Digital TV Europe, @sherman4949, Hollywood Reporter, @arashmarkazi, CNBC, @jonalba, @henereyg, Business Insider, The Desk, @davidcandersen, @austinkarp, @idjweddings, @wrestlinggary, @cevalloslaw, @earlwgardner, @wrestlenomics, @chriswelch, @lucas_shaw, @lucas_shaw, @notsam, @perlberg, @xpangler, @vishal1mehra, @ourand_sbj, Too Much TV Newsletter, Power-Wrestling, Sports Business Daily, Front Office Sports, Sports Illustrated, CNET, Adweek, PR Newswire, Forbes, /Film, Ad Age, Awful Announcing, Sports Illustrated, The Wrap, The Verge, Cord Cutters News, MediaPost, The Week, nexttv.com, Bloomberg, TVLine, Axios, The Wrap and The Streamable
Alex Sherman / CNBC:
Sources: Group Nine's SPAC is eyeing ~20 targets, including BuzzFeed with its ~$300M in annual revenue, for an acquisition, as it wants $500M+ in annual revenue — - Bustle Digital Group, Vice Media, Vox Media, Group Nine and Buzzfeed have had recent talks about going public via a SPAC …
Discussion:
@sherman4949, @michaelmiraflor, @sherman4949, @megancgraham, Forbes, @deepbagchee, AdExchanger, @sherman4949 and @sherman4949
Tara Conlan / The Guardian:
Sky UK says it is increasing the number of original British shows by 50% and releasing a new, exclusive movie every two weeks to compete with streaming services — Exclusive: TV company aims to be releasing a new film every week by 2022, with 30 due this year
Matthew Keys / The Desk:
Survey: the average American household spent $47 a month on streaming in 2020, up from $34 a month in 2019; 81% of US households used Netflix at the end of 2020 — The average American household dropped more money on streaming television services in 2020 compared to the previous year …