Top News:
Wall Street Journal:
Source: JPMorgan Chase is acquiring The Infatuation, a restaurant discovery service that bought Zagat from Google in 2018 — Deal is the bank's latest effort to cater to big spenders who like to travel and dine out — America's biggest bank is buying the company behind the Zagat brand.
Discussion:
@iateitmyway, @swodinsky, @swodinsky, @caleweissman, @tanyadua, @schmooey, @tomgara, @houseofstang, @swodinsky, @silviakillings, @zachhonig, @bmorrissey and @mediaevan, more at Techmeme »
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Amazon launches the Fire TV Omni Series, its first smart TVs, starting at $410 and shipping in October — Amazon is officially in the TV set business. — After years of selling Fire TV devices that plug into third-party HDTVs and teaming with TV makers for Fire TV-based products …
Discussion:
TechCrunch, CNBC, Ad Age, About Amazon, The Streamable, The Wrap, TV Technology, ZDNet, Gizmodo, Ars Technica, @lanceulanoff, FierceVideo and Cord Cutters News, more at Techmeme »
Jake Kanter / The Times:
Sources: BBC is expected to confirm ex-HuffPost UK editor Jess Brammar to the top news role overseeing BBC's domestic and international channels — The BBC is expected to confirm the appointment of Jess Brammar, a former deputy editor of Newsnight and editor of HuffPost UK …
Discussion:
The Independent, @josephstash, @edmorrish, @pickardje, @aljwhite and @matt_walsh
Sara Fischer / Axios:
Ozy Media names investor and board member Marc Lasry as chairman; Lasry intends to grow its investor base and pursue acquisitions — Marc Lasry, the billionaire businessman and co-owner of the Milwaukee Bucks, has been named chairman of OZY Media, the digital-first media and entertainment company founded in 2013 by CEO Carlos Watson.
Discussion:
@sarafischer
Sarah Scire / Nieman Lab:
Institute for Nonprofit News launches a consortium of more than 50 newsrooms to cover issues in rural America, starting in 2022 and lasting at least two years — The Institute for Nonprofit News regularly surveys its member newsrooms about their needs. What their members say they need most?
Discussion:
@sarahscire, @bridgetthoreson, @adriana_lacy and @attorneynora
Heidi Legg / USA Today:
Examining political donations of top media owners, executives, board members, and investors: tracking is incomplete, and information about lobbying is opaque — We are in desperate need of a real-time database for super PAC spending, along with transparency on which media and platform owners fund lobbyists.
Discussion:
@craignewmark, @dankennedy_nu, @heidilegg and @heidilegg
Gerry Smith / Bloomberg:
NBC says it has nearly sold out of its Super Bowl ad units, with some spots going for a record $6.5M, a sharp increase from last year's price of $5.6M — - Cryptocurrency among new sponsor categories for February game — Super Bowl ads last year sold for an average of $5.6 million
Discussion:
New York Post, Variety, Ad Age, Axios, @gerryfsmith and MediaPost
Brian Steinberg / Variety:
ESPN has hired Marcel “Celly” Chappell and acquired the social media accounts tied to his company, BallerVisions, which is known for high-school sports content — ESPN viewers regularly tune in to hear about the exploits of national teams like Green Bay Packers, Los Angeles Lakers and St. Louis Cardinals.
Richard J. Tofel / Second Rough Draft:
Vice touts its reader demographics and traffic figures, but seems to have lost its edgy editorial vision, making it sound like a run-of-the-mill media business — Revisiting what David Carr saw, and why it may have been lost. — Welcome to Second Rough Draft, a newsletter about journalism in our time …
Discussion:
@blackamazon and @dskok
Joshua Yaffa / New Yorker:
Russian journalists labeled foreign agents by the state discuss their uncertainty about whether to leave the country, hopelessness, and the future of their work — Since April, ten media outlets and twenty journalists have been targeted by the state. — The journalists at Proekt had expected some sort of state-sanctioned attack.
Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
Filing: BuzzFeed's revenue rose by 50%+ in Q2 2021, and its planned acquisition of Complex Networks plus its planned merger with a SPAC remain on track for Q4 — Advertising revenue rose compared to the pandemic-hit quarter a year ago. — BuzzFeed says that its revenue rose by more than 50 percent …
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, @buzzfeedpr, Business Wire and Deadline
Andrew Beaujon / Washingtonian:
WaPo's Tokyo bureau chief Simon Denyer is leaving the paper; he's reportedly the person referred to in Felicia Sonmez's suit as sexually harassing a colleague — Tokyo bureau chief Simon Denyer will leave the Washington Post, the publication's foreign desk announced in a terse note Thursday.
Discussion:
The Daily Beast, @lachcartwright and @lachcartwright
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