Mediagazer: North Equity, which owns Popular Science, Saveur, and other brands, is acquiring Domino Media, a home design magazine and digital outlet, from Multiply Media (Sara Fischer/Axios)

9:35 AM ET, January 26, 2021

Top News:

Sara Fischer / Axios:

Twitter buys newsletter platform Revue, plans to lower its cut of paid newsletter revenue to 5% and let writers host conversations with subscribers on Twitter — Twitter on Tuesday said it has acquired Revue, a newsletter platform for writers and publishers.

Discussion: Twitter, @sarafischer, New York Times, Reuters, TechCrunch, The Verge, @modestproposal1, @jackmarshall, Engadget, @pkafka, @benedictevans, @ourielohayon, @gavinsblog, @martinsfp, @ivanthek, @richlightshed and Bloomberg, more at Techmeme »

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.”

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Verizon Media hit $2.3B in Q4 revenue, up 11.4% YoY, its first YoY revenue gain since buying Yahoo in 2017, and reported a net loss of $119M from HuffPost sale — In announcing Q4 earnings Tuesday, Verizon said the results included a net loss of $119 million “primarily related to the disposition of the HuffPost business.”

Discussion: @alex, Verizon, Light Reading and @kerrymflynn

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 …

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

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 …

Discussion: Telegraph, About Facebook, Press Gazette, The Guardian, Gyaan from Vinyas, What's New in Publishing, @mattnavarra, @mikeisaac, @sofus_d, @sarafischer, @stephenlepitak, inews.co.uk, The Verge, HoldtheFrontPage, Behind Local News UK and Engadget, more at Techmeme »

Alana Wise / NPR:

White House press briefings will now include an American Sign Language interpreter; Trump administration was sued over accessibility of its briefings — The White House on Monday announced that its regular press briefings will now include an American Sign Language interpreter.

Discussion: @evelynpr and @seemiaroll

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

Discussion: Washingtonian, @olivianuzzi, @matthewkeyslive, @mrjohnnicolson, @ccadelago, @ccadelago and @oliverdarcy

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

Discussion: @jamesjonesfilm and @scottygb

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 …

Sara Fischer / Axios:

North Equity, which owns Popular Science, Saveur, and other brands, is acquiring Domino Media, a home design magazine and digital outlet, from Multiply Media — North Equity, a venture equity firm that acquires and invests in media brands, is acquiring Domino Media Group …

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, NABJ, Robert Feder, The Wrap, @megjameslat and @phil_rosenthal

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, @benshapiro, @jrubinblogger, @bmarchetich, Townhall, Raw Story and Mediaite

Politico:

Former NYT op-ed editor James Bennet has been hired by The Economist as a visiting senior editor for one year, writing mostly on foreign policy — DRIVING THE DAY — We've done some digging and pieced together who occupies most of the offices on the first two floors of the West Wing.

Discussion: Mercury News, Just Security, Real Clear Politics, @nkulw, @dylanbyers, The Week, FiveThirtyEight, WTOP, Raw Story and Uphill

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

Discussion: @rachel, @serrotnai, @tarahaelle, @kerrymflynn, @harrybaker_md, @alexandrianeas, @caredunton, @timothynoah1, @kaylapekkala, @davejorgenson, @unlandedgentry, @perlberg, @archiebland, @archiebland, @mathewi, @thrasherxy, @chick_in_kiev and Business Insider

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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EU Technology Reporter, Brussels — Bloomberg

Breaking News Reporter, NY — Guardian US

Harrisburg Reporter, PA — PCBC

Senior Editor - Styles, NY — NYT

Part-time Editor, Remote — Techmeme

Home & Travel Reporter, Ireland — Newsweek

Assistant Digital Editor, MA — Boston Globe

Senior Editor - Visuals (Temporary), DC — NPR

Copy Editor, Remote US — ProPublica

Markets Reporter, NY/CA — Sherwood Media

Staff Writer, MI — Watershed Voice

Food Reporter, CA — SF Standard

Staff Writer, NV — Las Vegas Weekly

Pharma Editor, Remote — Endpoints

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Politics Reporter, Brussels — Politico

Investigations & Enterprise Ed., WI — Cap Times

Social Strategy Editor, NY — WSJ

Senior Narrative Editor, CA — Cloud Chamber

Editor-in-Chief, NY (flexible) — The 74

Housing Reporter, OK — The Frontier

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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

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Gene Maddaus / Variety:
Judge approves liquidation plan for the Weinstein Co., three years after it declared bankruptcy, including $17.1M fund for Weinstein's sexual misconduct victims

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, Reuters, The Wrap and Hollywood Reporter

Brody Ford / Bloomberg:
Vimeo raises $300M at a valuation of $6B, nearly doubling in value in less than three months, ahead of the unit's scheduled spinoff from IAC in Q2

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Reuters:
Sources: PE firm TPG is in the lead position to acquire a minority stake in DirecTV, which could value AT&T's satellite TV division at $15B+

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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

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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

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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

Discussion: Chicago Tribune, TVNewser, @alexweprin, Los Angeles Times, @azalben, @robhartwbbm, @triciaennis, @mepodmolik, @fraying, @jayrosen_nyu, @daveleeft and @vexedinthecity

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

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Earlier Picks:

Lloyd Grove / The Daily Beast:
Sources: David Pecker, who retired, is still calling the shots and picking covers at National Enquirer and Globe, amid mass layoffs across A360 Media's titles

Discussion: Columbia Journalism Review, @spytalker, @hollywoodspin and @oliverdarcy

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+

Chance Miller / 9to5Mac:
Apple launches Time to Walk for Apple Watch and Fitness+, offering 25- to 40-minute episodes of original audio from influential people, available today

Discussion: CNET, @jeffersongraham, Apple, @awilkinson, @reneritchie, @martinsfp, @raywongy, @chrismessina, @apollozac, @lanceulanoff, REALITY STUDIES, Podcast Business Journal and Engadget

Sara Fischer / Axios:
Google details its work on a privacy-conscious cookie substitute, called Federated Learning of Cohorts, claims ~95% effectiveness compared to cookie-based ads

Discussion: @natematias, @matthew_d_green, @jeremarketer, @mathewi, @sarafischer, @baekdal, Business Insider, TechCrunch and WTOP, more at Techmeme »

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

Discussion: @mitrakalita, American Press Institute, @russcontreras, @gregabedard, @karunanundy, @elizatalks, @sashak, @cande313, @amlwhere, @kainazamaria, @rosental, @ampalm, @ccmnewmarkj, @eramshaw, @schmalie, @raju and @dawnc331

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

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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

Discussion: @jackshafer, @cjr, @zunguzungu, @cjr, @_meher, @teddyschleifer, @pennyriordan1, @raju and @mathewi

Sara Fischer / Axios:
Content recommendation company Taboola says it has agreed to go public via a SPAC, valuing the company at $2.6B and raising $545M

Discussion: Business Insider, Bloomberg, @rhhackett, @jarroddicker, @rasmus_kleis, CNBC, @m_delamerced, @sam_baker, @sarafischer, @silvermanjacob, @mdudas, New York Times and MediaPost

From Techmeme:

Alex Heath / The Verge:
Meta details Llama 3: 8B- and 70B-parameter models, a focus on reducing false refusals, and an upcoming model trained on 15T+ tokens that has 400B+ parameters

David Pierce / The Verge:
Google announces a new Platforms and Devices team overseeing Pixel, Android, Chrome, Photos, and more, to integrate AI across its products, led by Rick Osterloh

Kris Holt / Engadget:
Meta cuts the price of the base 128GB Quest 2 from $249 to $199, its second permanent price cut in four months, after a drop from $299 to $249 in January

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