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Profile of Disney's powerful chief communications officer for 19 years, Zenia B. Mucha, who will leave in 2022; she was paid $4.9M in total 2020 compensation — For almost two decades, Zenia B. Mucha has been responsible for protecting the vaunted Disney brand and has held influence far beyond her official duties.
Discussion:
@brooksbarnesnyt, Variety, Deadline, @jpanzar, @ashleylcarter1, @jasonabbruzzese, @motormouthmedia, @blowryontv, @lucas_shaw, @evargastv, @ksheekey, @adamnagourney, @cityofthetown, @amy_disneypr, @sammy_roth, @kairyssdal, @natjarv, @richarddeitsch, @brentalang, @davidclinchnews, Los Angeles Times, @russpitts, @eva_palmer, @dylanbyers, @shelbygrad, @mattdpearce, @billzanetti and The Wrap


Emmy nominations: HBO and HBO Max gets 130, followed by 129 for Netflix and 71 for Disney+; NBC is the fourth most-nominated with only 46 nods — Netflix and the expanded world of HBO and HBO Max made it a duel this year in race to gather the most Primetime Emmy nominations overall.
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/Film, The Wrap, Mediaite, The Wrap, The Streamable, Variety, The Wrap, Variety, Variety, Variety, @variety, Los Angeles Times, MediaPost, /Film, @charlierivkin, @kerrywashington, @debramessing, IndieWire, @bluestein, Observer, The Week, New York Post and Adweek


Court documents show the Trump DOJ sought WaPo reporters' records in the last days of Barr's tenure, seeking to find sources of three stories in 2017 on Russia — Newly unsealed court documents show the Trump Justice Department sought a court order for the communications records …
Discussion:
New York Times, @kimzetter, @kenvogel, @matthewamiller and @katie_rcfp


DOJ charges 4 Iranian intelligence officials with conspiracy to kidnap a US journalist, citizen, and activist of Iranian origin and forcibly take her to Tehran — Accused men monitored and planned to kidnap US citizen of Iranian origin and take her to Iran, officials say
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New York Times, @alinejadmasih, @dojnatsec, Insider, The Week, Reuters, @ezraacohen, @yasmohammedxx, @samanarbabi, @elliecohanim, @bariweiss, @kambizf, Politico, @dy1anonymous, The Hill, @rayhanasat, @mollyjongfast, @jason_kint, @danieldimartino, @ksadjadpour, @baldingsworld, @reptenney, @alaneyre1, @nickkristof, @smohyeddin, @julietmosesnz, @omid_m, The Daily Beast, @mehdirhasan and The Indian Express


Sources: in an employee meeting, Atlantic CEO said the magazine lost $20M+ in 2020, was on track to lose $10M this year, and would turn a small profit in 2023 — Nicholas Thompson, the chief executive of The Atlantic, gave a presentation to employees last month in which he disclosed …


Sources: indie film and TV studio A24 recently explored a sale, floating an asking price of $2.5B-$3B; Apple was among the companies that talked with the studio — A24 recently explored a possible sale, with the indie film studio floating an asking price of between $2.5 billion to $3 billion.
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/Film, Hollywood Forever, @labuzamovies, 9to5Mac, @ryansgosling, @moderngurlzz, The A.V. Club, @variety, @variety, @jessehawken, @stellinitweets and @papapishu


Sources: LeBron James' entertainment business, SpringHill Company, is exploring a sale at a valuation that could reach $750M, and Nike is considering an offer — NBA superstar LeBron James' entertainment firm, SpringHill Company, is exploring a possible sale at a valuation that could reach $750 million …
Discussion:
Sportico, Variety, @awallenstein, @aagave, @lucas_shaw, @sizpatel, @lionelmedia, Business Wire and The Wrap


Substack to launch Substack Grow next month, a free six-session course over Zoom to help writers build a following and earn their first $1,000 — The top 10 publishers on Substack bring in more than $20 million a year in subscriptions, underpinning the newsletter platform's revenue growth.
Discussion:
LION Publishers, @rsingel, @bboy_izilla, @kyurieff, @norareed, @amir, @hamishmckenzie and @blackamazon


Q&A with Eric Nelson, executive editor of HarperCollins' conservative imprint Broadside Books, on campaigns to cancel the contracts of some conservatives, more — In recent years, the conservative imprints at the major New York publishing houses have been put under a microscope.


Netflix and Universal extend a deal giving Netflix exclusive rights in the US to Universal Filmed Entertainment Group's animated films after 4 months on Peacock — Netflix and Universal Filmed Entertainment Group are extending an agreement that will give the streaming giant exclusive rights …


Biden's EO encouraging the FTC to curtail noncompete clauses could affect TV journalists and high-profile print journalists, who are frequently faced with them — Noncompete contracts are fairly common among TV journalists, especially anchors, who are often forbidden from moving to stations in the same market.
Discussion:
@donlday, American Press Institute, @harrisonberry, @idahomarissa, @dangillmor, @markmaxwelltv, @kevinrichert, @grahamrhunter and @amandatvnews


The Observer plans a relaunch in the coming months with a new EIC, Meg Marco, formerly of ProPublica; the outlet has a staff of 10 and wants to hire eight more — The digital-only company is looking to hire around 8 people this year.
Discussion:
OBSERVER MEDIA, @matthewkassel, @meghann, @jeffjarvis, @lydiadepillis and Talking Biz News