Top News:
Rick Porter / Hollywood Reporter:
Univision and Mexico's Televisa unveil a $4.8B deal to merge, partly financed by a $1B Series C led by SoftBank's Latin American Fund — The two companies announce a plan to combine media, production and content assets. — Two of the biggest Spanish-language media companies in the world are planning to merge.
Sara Fischer / Axios:
Air Mail, former Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter's media venture, expects to employ 40 people by year's end, up from 30 now, and has added an e-commerce shop — Former Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter's new media venture, Air Mail, expects to employ 40 people by year's end …
Discussion:
@rickgamesnow, @niemanlab, @simonowens, @airmailweekly, @tomgara, @rafat, @sarafischer and The Flack on Stack
Paul Resnikoff / Digital Music News:
Spotify has now removed 42 episodes of The Joe Rogan Experience podcast, offering no explanations for the removals — Spotify is continuing to remove episodes of The Joe Rogan Experience as part of their $100 million exclusive relationship, with more nixed shows discovered this week.
Discussion:
The Desk, The Wrap, @seyitaylor, “Questioni d'o …, @naithanjones, @roberthaisfield, @rightwingwatch, @thekenyeung and Insider
Helen Davidson / The Guardian:
Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai writes to his Apple Daily staff ahead of his sentencing for participating in a protest: “Freedom of speech is a dangerous job” — Media mogul writes from prison that ‘freedom of speech is a dangerous job’ but journalists must uphold justice
Discussion:
@penamerica, @freedomofpress, @kenroth, @rasmus_kleis, @forfreemedia and Hong Kong Free Press HKFP
Katie Robertson / New York Times:
Over 650 tech workers at the NYT announce they have formed a union to be represented by the NewsGuild of New York and are seeking union recognition from the NYT — Tech workers at The New York Times announced on Tuesday that they had formed a union and would ask the company to recognize it.
New York Times:
Swiss billionaire Hansjörg Wyss, who joined with Stewart Bainum in the top Tribune bid, has ties to a group pushing progressive political policies and Democrats — The Swiss billionaire Hansjörg Wyss helped build a sophisticated behind-the-scenes operation that attacked Republicans and promoted Democratic causes.
Discussion:
@kenvogel, @hopnotes, @coreyciorciari, @teddyschleifer, @curtishouck, @harrysiegel, @kenvogel, @hughhewitt and @mattdizwhitlock
Joe Flint / Wall Street Journal:
Sources: CBS News President Susan Zirinsky is nearing a deal to step down from the role and sign a wide-ranging production partnership with ViacomCBS — Longtime CBS News producer expected to sign production partnership with parent ViacomCBS — CBS News President Susan Zirinsky is nearing …
Discussion:
Variety, @davidclinchnews, @dylanbyers, @bristei, The Hill, New York Post, Mediaite and The Wrap
James Risen / The Intercept:
High-tech government leak investigations threaten modern investigative reporting, but reporters need to keep working with sources, being honest about risks — When I became a reporter, I was surprised to discover a trait that I had never before recognized in myself. — People liked to talk to me.
Discussion:
@bgrueskin, @theintercept, @stellamoris1, @facoalition, @froomkin, @skirchy, @sarcasmstardust and @kgosztola
self.inc:
Analysis: Apple TV+ has the highest average IMDb score for its titles (7.24), but has fewer than 70 titles to choose from — It seems every few months there is a new TV streaming service asking us for a monthly subscription or confirming a price increase for the existing service.
Discussion:
The Streamable, AppleInsider and 9to5Mac
Rick Edmonds / Poynter:
A look at the damage already done to Tribune's nine metro papers: since Alden acquired a 32% share, NewsGuild says staff fell 30.4% in one year — Employees and local readers are concerned that Alden would make deep cuts to Tribune if it bought the company. But it seems that's already happening.
Discussion:
@poynter, @nbj914, @daverdman, @toddlighty, @poynter, @danvock, @raju and @courantguild
Oversight Board:
Facebook Oversight Board will now accept appeals to remove content from Facebook and Instagram; previously, users were only able to appeal to restore content — From today, users will be able to appeal content to the Oversight Board which they want removed from Facebook and Instagram.
Discussion:
@oversightboard, About Facebook, @guyro, @emilybell, TechCrunch, @klonick, @guyro, @guyro, @christianna_j, @guyro, @dangainor, @chinmayiarun, @foxcahn, @skollfoundation, @guyro, @savasavasava, @guyro, @flexlibris, @vivian, Ars Technica, Mashable, Gizmodo, Adweek, Bloomberg, The Verge, Axios and Engadget, more at Techmeme »
Tim Peterson / Digiday:
Ad agency Dentsu says it has developed a tool to consolidate audience-based buys across TV networks via a single source of viewership data provided by VideoAmp — Traditional TV's adoption of digital's audience-based ad targeting is underway, but it remains ensnared by a lack of standardization.
Discussion:
@dentsuusa and Business Wire