Top News:
Jacob Kastrenakes / The Verge:
Twitter announces Super Follow feature to let users charge for tweets, and a Communities feature to let users create and join groups based on specific interests — It's also planning a groups feature — Twitter announced a pair of big upcoming features today: the ability for users to charge …
Discussion:
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Joseph Choi / The Hill:
WaPo national editor denounces “racist, sexist, and ill-informed attacks” on reporter Seung Min Kim after she showed a Neera Tanden tweet to Sen. Lisa Murkowski — The Washington Post on Thursday denounced online abuse that targeted one of its reporters after a photo of her speaking …
Discussion:
@kriscoratti, @grace_panetta, @maggienyt, @stevenjay, @anniekarni, @hypatiadotca, The Guardian, @seungminkim, @philiprucker, @emzanotti, @maggienyt, @mspicuzzamjs, @vilkviktorya, @gtconway3d, @emilyctamkin, @tedhesson, @myhlee, @lawoftd, @dlind, @farnazfassihi, @ryangrim, @williams_paige, @ecgreaves, @asteadwesley, @asteadwesley, @mattyglesias, @seungminkim, @tedlieu, @nancook, Mediaite and The Daily Beast
Joe Pompeo / Vanity Fair:
Exit interview with retiring WaPo Executive Editor Marty Barton, on Trump, diversity in newsrooms, the Snowden leaks, and the future of newspapers — Stars from Hollywood (Spielberg, Schreiber) and the news biz (Baquet, Blitzer) toasted the legendary editor, who recalls angry calls from Trump …
Brian Steinberg / Variety:
AMC Networks had Q4 net income of $94.7M, up from $8.58M a year ago, on revenue of $780.3M, and says it has 6M+ subscribers to its various streaming services — AMC Networks said it swung to a profit in the fourth quarter despite a decline in revenue as it narrowed losses in its international …
Discussion:
MediaPost, The Wrap and Hollywood Reporter
Nathan Bomey / USA Today:
Gannett reports Q4 net loss of $122.2M, down from $95.1M a year ago; revenue fell 17% YoY to $875.4M; online subscriptions rose 29% YoY to 1.1M — Gannett reported a year-over-year decline in fourth-quarter revenue and a wider net loss, but the company beat its earlier estimates for the period …
Discussion:
@kerrymflynn
Cynthia Littleton / Variety:
AT&T and PE firm TPG reach a deal to make DirecTV a standalone company with TPG owning 30%; the deal is valued at $16.25B, includes DirecTV, AT&T TV, U-verse — The sides have been in talks for months as AT&T has sought to find a solution to the problem of DirecTV's subscriber losses dragging …
Discussion:
CNN, @sherman4949, Dallas Morning News, Business Wire, The Wrap, CNBC, @robpegoraro, @benthompson, @sherman4949, @tvmojoe, @karlbode, @franklinavenue, @sherman4949, @pkafka, @pkafka, @gerryfsmith, @pkafka, Awful Announcing, Yahoo Finance, New York Times, New York Post, Gizmodo, Los Angeles Times, Light Reading, nexttv.com, MediaPost, The Streamable, Ad Age, FierceVideo, WORLD SCREEN and Cord Cutters News, more at Techmeme »
Alex Kantrowitz / Big Technology:
Without news, Facebook can be friendlier and less toxic, and without Facebook, publishers can form relationships with users who trust and want to hear from them — An amazing thing happened last week when Facebook banned links to news articles in Australia.
Discussion:
Splice, @evelyndouek, @filip_struharik, @kantrowitz, @kantrowitz, @kantrowitz, @venkatananth, @kantrowitz, @filip_struharik and @jpmarthoz
Mike Butcher / TechCrunch:
Cision, a media monitoring company that is the parent of PR Newswire, buys online consumer intelligence and social media analytics service Brandwatch for $450M — Online consumer intelligence and social media listening platform Brandwatch has been acquired by Cision, best known …
Discussion:
@znh, @zelkovavc and @mattnavarra
Better News:
How The Arizona Republic re-engaged readers after realizing that 42% of its digital-only subscribers weren't reading a single article per month — John Adams and Alia Beard Rau, USA Today Network, February 24, 2021 — Here's an idea to steal and adapt: If you want to maximize …
Discussion:
@jbenton, @pkedrosky and @jbenton
Ashley Carman / The Verge:
Wynn Resorts invests $3.5M in sports podcasting network Blue Wire to help promote sports betting business WynnBet, and will build a podcast studio in Las Vegas — Podcast network Blue Wire will promote WynnBet, a sports betting subsidiary of Wynn Resorts — Podcast studios are now a Las Vegas attraction.
Discussion:
Awful Announcing, @ads4podcasts, @mr_kevinjones, @duransports and @wynnbet
Angela Fu / Poynter:
The States Newsroom, a nonprofit network of 20 outlets focused on statehouse coverage, is launching a free syndication service and five new outlets this year — States Newsroom, a network of outlets focused on statehouse coverage, has rapidly expanded since its launch in 2017
Discussion:
Men Yell at Me, @qpyoungnews, @poynter, @aprilcore and American Press Institute
Laura Snapes / The Guardian:
Former editors of British music monthly Q magazine, which shuttered in 2020, are launching The New Cue, a weekly Substack publication, for £5/month or £55/year — After the Bauer Media music title's pandemic-triggered demise last July, Q's former staff are launching a weekly direct-to-inbox publication