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Washington Post:
Sean Hannity's on-air angst reflects the tumult inside Fox News, as it faces a dip in January ratings and renewed scrutiny from the Murdoch family — Since Donald Trump's election loss in November, Sean Hannity seems to have been working through a process, live and on camera …
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The Daily Beast, CNN, @brianstelter, TVNewser, @oliverdarcy, @jeremylittau, @dabeard, CNN, @thetowncrier, @riegerreport, @joshuahol and @chrispolpsych
J. Clara Chan / The Wrap:
Gizmodo senior editor Alex Cranz says she was fired for involvement in a union letter and for false claims about performance; Gizmodo calls her claims meritless — Gizmodo's senior consumer tech editor, Alex Cranz, said she was fired from the company last Friday for her involvement …
Discussion:
@alexhcranz, @kellybourdet, @bcmerchant, @jetscott, @alexhcranz, @cecianasta, @jasonschreier, @xoxogossipgita, @lisaeadicicco, @charlespulliam, @briannawu, @film_girl, @joemfbrown, @k_trendacosta, @samrutherford, @whitsongordon, @paleofuture, @annamerlan, @davegershgorn, @halophoenix, @krichbutler, @bombur, @katiecollins, @xoxogossipgita, @vicmsong, @chrisvelazco, @itsdavidford, @harrisonweber, @vksmith, @jlnwrites, @outonalumb, @ballaban and @jasonschreier
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Spotify says it had 2.2M podcasts in Q4, up from 1.9M in Q3, 25% of total MAUs engaged with podcast content, and podcast consumption nearly doubled YoY in Q4 — Spotify packed in a strong end to the year roiled by the pandemic, topping forecasts for Premium subscribers to reach 155 million …
Discussion:
@kerrymflynn, @kerrymflynn, @kerrymflynn, @xpangler, Bloomberg and Podcast Business Journal
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Anne Steele / Wall Street Journal:
Spotify reports Q4 results: 345M MAUs, up 27% YoY, as paying subscribers grew to 155M, up 24% YoY, topping expectations; revenue was up 17% YoY to €2.17B — But streaming giant offers conservative outlook for the current year as new sign-ups could ebb
Discussion:
9to5Mac, @kerrymflynn, @dylanbyers, The Verge, @kerrymflynn, Spotify and @kerrymflynn, more at Techmeme »
Elaine Low / Variety:
YouTube reports $6.89B in Q4 ad revenue, up 46% YoY from $4.7B, as it more than doubled the number of advertisers on YouTube through its TrueView ad format — Google parent Alphabet handily topped fourth-quarter forecasts, with Google Search and YouTube driving up total revenue for the internet giant.
Katie Robertson / New York Times:
Patrick Steel, CEO of Politico since 2017, tells staff he will leave the company this summer: it's “the right time to start the next chapter of my career” — Patrick Steel, the chief executive of Politico since 2017, said on Tuesday that he will leave the company this summer.
Discussion:
Talking Biz News, @dylanbyers and @raju
Hannah Ellis-Petersen / The Guardian:
Nine journalists in India who published or tweeted about stories that say police shot a protesting farmer have had criminal cases filed against them — At least nine senior Indian journalists are facing criminal charges for reporting allegations that Delhi police fatally shot a farmer …
Chase DiFeliciantonio / San Francisco Chronicle:
Hearst releases its first US diversity and inclusion report, says 78% of employees who were managers or above, and 73% of its US employees were white — Hearst, the owner of The Chronicle, released its first U.S. diversity and inclusion report on Tuesday. — CEO Steven Swartz …
Mike Masnick / Techdirt:
Any US legislation to ban anonymity online will be unconstitutional, will not work, and most importantly will put many marginalized/vulnerable people at risk — There's an idea that pops up every so often among people who are upset about misinformation online but don't actually understand …
Discussion:
@mmasnick, @senatorshoshana, @jeffjarvis, @casuallaw and @dispositive
The COVID Tracking Project:
The COVID Tracking Project, founded by three journalists and supported by The Atlantic, says it will issue its final update on March 7 and close in May — After a year of collecting, analyzing, and interpreting COVID-19 data for the United States, we're ending our data compilation work in early March.
Discussion:
@covid19tracking, Fast Company, @alexismadrigal, @drhypercube, @rastrau, @friedrichhayek, @erictopol, @karaoehler, @yayitsrob, @ericuman, @covid19tracking, @thejoshklein, @covid19tracking, @alexismadrigal, @alexismadrigal, @alexismadrigal, @covid19tracking, @kottke, @peterj_walker, @covid19tracking, @jburnmurdoch, @kissane, @emilybell, Why is this interesting? and Crain's New York Business
Sara Fischer / Axios:
Henry Blodget says Business Insider is folding into the Insider brand, as Insider expands globally and into new verticals beyond business and tech — Beginning Tuesday, Business Insider's logo will no longer appear on Insider.com's website, the publication's CEO and founder Henry Blodget tells Axios.
Sara Fischer / Axios:
After growing steadily for the past decade, 493 new scripted TV series were produced in 2020, according to data from cable network FX, down ~7% from 532 in 2019 — The number of new original scripted series finally declined last year, after growing steadily for the past decade to over 500 new shows in 2019.
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