Top News:
Katie Roof / Bloomberg:
Sources: Clubhouse is in talks to raise funding from investors in a round valuing the business at about $4B, following its reported valuation of ~$1B in January — Clubhouse, the buzzy audio-based social network, is in talks to raise funding from investors in a round valuing the business …
Paul Farhi / Washington Post:
Up until this point, White House reporters have faced a lack of leaks from the Biden administration, a sharp contrast to Trump's tenure — After two and a half months of Joe Biden's presidency, something is missing from the news coverage of his administration: Leaks.
Discussion:
Insider, UPROXX, Raw Story, This Is a Newsletter, @erichaywood, @wilson__valdez, @brianstelter, @jayrosen_nyu, @froomkin, @drvolts, @davidnir, @asteadwesley and It's The Mileage
Joshua Benton / Nieman Lab:
English is the most spoken language in the EU, so UK-centric outlets dominate how the EU is represented; more English-language analysis by EU writers is needed — We've written often about the sense of dislocation brought about by the switch from local, analog news sources to national, digital ones.
Alexandra Bruell / Wall Street Journal:
eMarketer says that Amazon's share of the US digital ad market grew to 10.3% in 2020 from 7.8% in 2019 and estimates that revenue grew to $15.73B, up 52.5% YoY — Company chips away at market leader Google as its search ad business continues to grow — Amazon. com Inc.'s share …
David Bauder / Associated Press:
Kansas City's Northeast News received $3K+ in donations and new advertisers after printing a blank front page to show readers what they'd miss if it folded — NEW YORK (AP) — Stories are back on the cover of Kansas City's Northeast News this week after the newspaper intentionally printed …
Discussion:
@rebekahlsanders, What's New in Publishing and American Press Institute
Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
UK's Telegraph is creating 60 jobs in the first half of 2021 as it surpasses 600K subscribers and aims for 1M subscribers by 2023 — The Telegraph is investing millions of pounds in its newsroom, creating 60 jobs in the first half of 2021. — The investment comes after The Telegraph's …
Discussion:
@jasonbyephoto, @pressgazette, @hermida, @cotswoldeditor1, @jinnovationcity, @duncanhooper, @leindanny and @shonaghosh
Tim Peterson / Digiday:
Sources: Roku has been pitching ad agencies to sponsor Roku Recommends, 5-7 minute videos promoting programming available across its connected TV platform — Roku is preparing to debut a new promotional product that has not only piqued advertisers' interest but will also likely please streaming services.
Discussion:
@ericjhonsa
Business Wire:
Graham Holdings, owner of Slate and Foreign Policy, acquires Leaf Group, parent company of Livestrong.com, Well+Good, and others — ARLINGTON, Va.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Graham Holdings Company (NYSE: GHC) announced today that it has entered into an agreement to acquire all outstanding shares …
Discussion:
@rafat and @seangriffey
Committee to Protect Journalists:
At least 3 journalists, including CNN correspondent Matthew Chance, were briefly detained while covering the jailing of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny — “Detaining journalists who try to cover Alexei Navalny's imprisonment is a blunt effort to censor coverage of Putin's leading critic …
Discussion:
Mediaite, @mchancecnn, The Guardian, The Hill, @pressfreedom and @pressfreedom
Taylor Moore / Columbia Journalism Review:
A look at Empowerment Avenue, a program started in June 2020 to let incarcerated writers report on issues inside jails by pairing them with journalists outside — “We want to expose readers in every kind of publication to the incarcerated viewpoint.” — Rahsaan “New York” …
Jacob Kastrenakes / The Verge:
YouTube says that 18 out of every 10K views in Q4 2020 were of videos that violate its policies, down from 72 out of every 10K views in Q4 2017 — ‘Violative View Rate’ fell steeply after 2017 — YouTube wants the world to know that it's doing a better job than ever of enforcing its own moderation rules.
Discussion:
Washington Post, The Economic Times, YouTube Official Blog, Neowin and Variety, more at Techmeme »
Poynter:
Report for America says its partners raised ~$5M in local support in 2020, mostly from new donors, and 61% more per reporter than the year before — Communities lead the way in supporting local journalism and other causes, even when resources are fewer. — As Report for America embarked …
Discussion:
@ramsammy, @poynter, @report4america, @pennyriordan1, @poynter and American Press Institute
Washington Post:
How a campaign by reporters in Baltimore inspired a national effort to keep nearly a dozen Tribune newspapers from being bought by Alden Global Capital — Last year, as a group of Baltimore Sun reporters embarked on long-shot endeavor to find a new owner that could save their paper …
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Katie Robertson / New York Times:
Tribune says it has begun discussions about a sale to Bainum and Wyss' company Newslight, but won't terminate the Alden merger agreement for now
Tribune says it has begun discussions about a sale to Bainum and Wyss' company Newslight, but won't terminate the Alden merger agreement for now
Discussion:
Poynter, Nieman Lab, New Republic, @katie_robertson, @jimfriedlich, MediaPost, @david_hemond, Poynter, @timafranklin, @rickedmonds, @royalpratt, @niemanlab, Chicago Tribune, @amlwhere, @ckrewson, @brianstelter, @hayleighcolombo, @rolandsmartin, @whet, @mcallguild, @davidfolkenflik, Insider and @davidfolkenflik