Top News:
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, The Streamable, CNBC, About Amazon, The Wrap, Ad Age, ZDNet, FierceVideo, Ars Technica, Cord Cutters News and Gizmodo, more at Techmeme »
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
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
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:
@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:
@dankennedy_nu, @craignewmark, @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:
Variety, Ad Age, Axios, @gerryfsmith and MediaPost
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 …
Alex Weprin / Hollywood Reporter:
CBS News launches See It Now Studios, led by former President Susan Zirinsky, to create documentaries and more for Paramount+, ViacomCBS brands, and others — The former CBS News president will lead the news and doc studio, which will create programming for ViacomCBS and other networks and streaming services.
Discussion:
Talking Biz News, The Wrap, Variety, TVNewser, @angeliquefiske, @bristei, @enrique_acevedo, ViacomCBS Press Express 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 and @lachcartwright
Eoin Higgins / The Flashpoint:
The Guardian removed a section of a Judith Butler interview comparing anti-trans feminists to fascists; sources say Guardian pulled a series on trans issues — On Tuesday, British newspaper The Guardian published an interview with Judith Butler—and then removed a section …
Discussion:
VICE, @eoinhiggins_, PinkNews, @evan_greer, @lithub, @socialrepro, @ibjiyongi, @eoinhiggins_, @mrbenjaminlaw, @laelaps, @annamerlan, @alyssam_infosec, @eoinhiggins_, Patreon, @davidpaisley, @ggreenwald, @xoxogossipgita, @pennypentan, @parkermolloy, @janusrose, @emanuelmaiberg, @ameliahorgan, @natachakennedy, @ayocaesar, @socialrepro, @andybcampbell, @alexpaknadel, @eoinhiggins_, @eoinhiggins_, @eoinhiggins_, @ben_hr, @socialrepro, @eoinhiggins_, @tristangrayedi, @oliviasolon, @oliviasolon, The Guardian, @healthuntodeath, @sinangag_engels, @hexpositive, @junodawson, @emme_lund, @jasebyjason, @illwilleditions, @rozkaveney, @eoinhiggins_, @mlothianmclean, Press Gazette, Garbage Day and bookforum.com
Nieman Lab:
Of 73 EICs at award-winning college newsrooms in Spring 2021, ~10% were Latinx and under 6% were Black, an underrepresentation of schools' student populations — In 2012, Marissa Evans wanted to make history when she applied to be editor-in-chief at Marquette University's student newspaper, the Marquette Tribune.
Discussion:
@janicekchen, @risj_oxford, @msrikris and Pew Research Center
Dominic Patten / Deadline:
HFPA's board of directors has elected Helen Hoehne as its new president; Hoehne served as vice president since 2020 and was on the board from 2012-2019 — Fighting to stay alive, the beleaguered Hollywood Foreign Press Association has elected a nearly 20-year veteran to lead the group into what may or may not be better days.
Discussion:
The Wrap, Hollywood Reporter and Variety
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