Top News:
Meg James / Los Angeles Times:
Soon-Shiong family denies WSJ reports about plans to sell LA Times, and both Union-Tribune's COO and publisher say no plans exist to sell the San Diego paper — Los Angeles Times owner Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong on Friday reaffirmed his commitment to the news organization.
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Lukas I. Alpert / Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Patrick Soon-Shiong is exploring a sale of LA Times and considered transferring management of The San Diego Union-Tribune to Alden's MediaNews Group — Patrick Soon-Shiong seeks exit after less than three years at the helm, as losses mount — Billionaire biotech investor Patrick Soon-Shiong …
Discussion:
@katie_robertson, @latguild, @maxwelltani, @jacobrubashkin, @brenden_tucc, @rasmus_kleis, @robenfarzad, @daviddebolt, @kenbensinger, @drpatsoonshiong, Insider, Los Angeles Magazine, @sewellchan, @chaykak, @katie_robertson, @edmundlee, Media Nation, @brooklynmarie, @suhaunah, @doree, @bigblackjacobin, The Wrap, @edmundlee, @edmundlee, @anniesciacca, @elanazak, @jimfriedlich, @sewellchan, @ckrewson, @pottsmark, @mattdpearce, @marcosantana, @petersterne, @edmundlee, @jeffjarvis, @pauledroberts, @ggreeneva, @timmarchman, @seungminkim, @bobshrum, @johnjcook, @alex_roarty, @loisbeckett, @mollymotoole, @johnmyers, @froomkin, @benfritz, @benfritz, @karavoght, @jbenton, @sarahsholder, @hshaban, @nycsouthpaw, @kenli729, @jbflint, @jbenton, @maxwelltani, @mikeisaac, Esotouric's Secret Los Angeles, Mediaite, The Hill and Reuters
Los Angeles Times:
Investigation finds non-profit HFPA, which runs Golden Globes, makes substantial payments to members, as questions persist about its ethics and legitimacy — It appeared to be a moment of triumph in the long, tumultuous story of the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn.
Discussion:
@juliaturner, Los Angeles Times, @jackshafer, Insider, @jacoboller, @markharrisnyc, @juliaturner, @juliaturner, @farhip, @juliaturner, @mchenryjd, @juliaturner, Hollywood Reporter, @markharrisnyc, @dangillmor, @latimes, Always Be Watching, Variety, @joshuahorowitz, The Wrap, @sarafischer, IndieWire, The A.V. Club, The Week and @davidfolkenflik
Ben Smith / New York Times:
Russian investigative journalism is flourishing alongside “probiv”, the buying of data on phone calls, cell location, or air travel off Telegram or the dark web — A new wave of news outlets has used conventional, and unconventional, methods to pierce the veil of Putin's power.
Elaine Low / Variety:
Discovery reports Q4: revenue of $2.9B, beating estimates, and Discovery+ has 11M subscribers after launching in January — The company reported earnings of 76 cents per share and revenue of $2.889 billion, vs. Street projections for per-share earnings of 72 cents on revenue of $2.83 billion.
Discussion:
The Wrap, Discovery Communications, The Wrap and The Streamable
Hanaa' Tameez / Nieman Lab:
Fort Worth Report, a nonprofit news outlet, will launch in the spring and start with coverage of education, government accountability, and arts and culture — Fort Worth, Texas is a special place. — Cowtown, as its lovingly known among residents, is an hour west of Dallas and is a city of just under a million people.
Discussion:
@azirulnick, @chriscobler, @spj_tweets, @niemanreports, @hanaatameez, @niemanlab, @sarahscire, Poynter and Columbia Journalism Review
Alex Barker / Financial Times:
Microsoft says it will work with Europe's four largest news publishing lobbying groups to “mandate payments” for content used by “gatekeepers” — Seattle-based company aligns with press industry and exploits difficulties of rivals — Microsoft has joined forces …
Discussion:
@carolinwehrhahn, @benedictevans and Marketing BS …
Sarah Stonbely / Columbia Journalism Review:
Study of New Jersey's local news finds communities in the lowest income bracket are twice as likely to be news deserts as news oases — EXECUTIVE SUMMARY — The findings below are simplified for the purpose of clarity; please see the full paper for definitions and variable operationalization.
Discussion:
@sarahstonbely, @vwpickard, @cjr, @nikkiusher, @ga_adamson, @fionamorgan, @vwpickard, Columbia Journalism Review, @nancysolomon2, @joshuadarr, @kljdavis, @cjr, @niemanlab, @niemanreports, @jgksf, @centercoopmedia, @jesseholcomb, @emilybell, @mediathoughts, @cjr, @emilyroseman1, @jmhaigh, @sarahstonbely and @sarahstonbely
Margaret Sullivan / Washington Post:
Defector, the employee-owned site that began after a staff walkout at Deadspin, is doing surprisingly well and is financially self-sustaining six months in — Mahatma Gandhi didn't actually say “Be the change you want to see in the world,” but if he had, he probably wouldn't have been thinking …
Discussion:
@sulliview, @ashleyfeinberg, @drewmagary, The Muffin por Mauricio …, @emmabaccellieri and @sulliview
Ian Carlos Campbell / The Verge:
App Annie: Australian Broadcasting Corporation's news app was briefly the most downloaded app on the AU App Store after Facebook's news ban and is now second — Readers may be going directly to the source — The Australian Broadcast Company's ABC News app shot to the top of Apple's App Store charts …
Discussion:
@lucasofri, @umabp, The New Daily, @mumbletwits, @matthewstoller, @caseynewton, @glenngabe, @jason_kint, @nathanblawrence, Vox, @neerajka, @rustyshelf, @digiphile, @javierpallero, @caseynewton, @cameronwilson, @brooklynmarie, @threatresearch, @brianboyer, @parismarx, @dhh, @karlbode, @umabp, @umabp, @jbenton, @rasmus_kleis and Known Knowns
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Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
Splice, which makes tools for musicians and offers royalty-free samples, raises $55M at a ~$500M valuation, bringing its total raised to $150M — Growing up in County Cavan, Ireland, Shane Codd dreamed of performing at huge nightclubs on the Spanish island of Ibiza, the global epicenter of electronic music.
Discussion:
Music Ally, @mpinc, @lucas_shaw, @lucas_shaw, @lucas_shaw and @daniburgz, more at Techmeme »
Georg Szalai / Hollywood Reporter:
Dish Network reports Q4: $4.56B revenue, up from $3.24B YoY, as pay TV subs dropped by 133K, down from 194K YoY; Sling TV added 16K subs, down from 203K in Q3 — The company, led by chairman Charlie Ergen and CEO Erik Carlson, posts its latest results and records fourth-quarter growth in Sling TV subs.
Discussion:
The Streamable, MediaPost and Dish
Nilay Patel / The Verge:
Interview with CNBC anchor Jon Fortt on the GameStop news cycle and countering a crystallizing narrative, framing financial news for viewers, and more — On this week's Decoder, I sat down with CNBC anchor Jon Fortt to talk about GameStop, how the media covered it, what happens next for the market …
Discussion:
@reckless
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