Top News:
Wall Street Journal:
Documents and sources: WaPo execs weigh how to attract young readers and expand features content as the outlet faces a slump in readership and subscriber growth — News outlet's audience is down sharply, amid sector-wide declines; subscription growth has stagnated as readers look beyond politics
Discussion:
@benmullin, @alexbruell, @stephengutowski, @chuckrossdc, @alexthomp, @walldo, @millie, @justupthepike, @ylichterman, @genepark, @daviduberti, @bmorrissey and @asharma
Andy Greene / Rolling Stone:
Billboard report: Bruce Springsteen sells his publishing catalog to Sony Music and Sony Music Publishing for $500M — Bruce Springsteen has sold his publishing catalog to Sony for a reported $500 million, as Billboard reports. — The musician has sold his masters to Sony Music …
Discussion:
Billboard, Variety, New York Times, @schwarz, Variety, Reuters, @pollytics, @dontboreus, @scotthech, @hurryband, @newley, @fitzysa, @nytimesmusic, @sisario, @jasonisbell, Music Business Worldwide, @film_girl, @shortformernie, @eddietrunk, @brandonwenerd, @peterlattman, @jbflint and TMZ.com
Sara Fischer / Axios:
Alden sues Lee Enterprises, arguing Lee's board infringed company bylaws by denying Alden's request to nominate three board members due to paperwork issues — Alden Global Capital, a hedge fund known for consolidating local news companies for profit, is suing local newspaper company Lee Enterprises …
Discussion:
Washington Post, @sulliview, Poynter, @buffaloguild, @ericzorn, @sarafischer, @hunterw, @sarafischer, Columbia Journalism Review and Pew Research Center
Garett Sloane / Ad Age:
Ad exchange OpenX agrees to pay $2M to settle FTC claims it collected data from children and users who chose not to be tracked; OpenX says it was unintentional — Regulatory action puts spotlight on real-time internet ad markets, data sharing and children's privacy
Discussion:
Adweek, Federal Trade Commission, TheXchange, TechCrunch, @garettsloane, MediaPost and @lmoses
Sara Fischer / Axios:
Spotify acquires Australian company Whooshkaa, which helps radio broadcasters and others turn existing content into podcasts and sell ads around them — Spotify on Thursday said it acquired Whooshkaa, a podcast technology platform that specializes in technology for radio broadcasters to turn existing content into podcasts.
Discussion:
TechCrunch, Mumbrella, Spotify, Variety, Whooshkaa, Adweek, Engadget, The Verge, @sarthakgh, @thedavidrindexp, Futureprotech, Hollywood Reporter and RAIN News, more at Techmeme »
Han Zhang / The Guardian:
Profile of Hu Xijin, editor of the Global Times, a nationalistic tabloid dubbed “China's Fox News”, as he becomes China's most famous propagandist on Twitter — Hu Xijin is China's most famous propagandist. At the Global Times, he helped establish a chest-thumping new tone …
Discussion:
@tknoll209k, @mauracunningham, @jgriffiths, @amonck, @williamyang120, Fortune and Agence France-Presse
RELATED:
Inside Radio:
Survey of 2,000 US adult podcast listeners finds 52% increased listening time in the past six months, 76% listened to ads, and 73% took an action after an ad — Podcast listening is on the rise according to a new study from Acast in partnership with Nielsen.
Discussion:
MediaPost, Acast, insideradio.com and RAIN News
Washington Post:
The NYT's Project Veritas reporting has now been restrained for 28 days, 14 more than for the Pentagon Papers, although a judge on December 14 gave some leeway — Stephen J. Adler, who recently retired as editor in chief of Reuters, is chairman of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press …
Discussion:
New York Times, New York Times, @joannelipman, @freedomofpress, @davidcorndc, @rcfp, @thedailybeast, UPROXX, @adamgoldmannyt, @bgrueskin, @frates, Raw Story, @nytimesbusiness and bookforum.com
Reddit:
Reddit confidentially files its S-1 with the SEC for an IPO; the number of shares to be offered and the price range have yet to be determined — Reddit, Inc. today announced that it has confidentially submitted a draft registration statement on Form S-1 with the Securities and Exchange Commission …
Discussion:
MediaPost, @reddit, Bloomberg, Tubefilter, @killedbygoogle, 9to5Mac, The Register, Deadline, @hoctopi, Adweek, Fortune, @mathowie, Gizmodo, Fast Company, @jebus911, @noondlyt, Insider, @carnage4life, @mikeisaac, iMore, Protocol, CoinDesk, The Verge and Futureprotech, more at Techmeme »
Suzanne Vranica / Wall Street Journal:
Talent agency UTA says it has acquired marketing and media consulting firm MediaLink, whose clients include NBCU, AT&T, and Unilever, for $125M — The Hollywood talent firm is buying the influential media consulting company as UTA seeks to grow its burgeoning marketing practice
Discussion:
Ad Age, The Wrap, Junghoon’s Direct Media …, @megancgraham, @joshsternberg, @michaelmiraflor, Tubefilter, @digitalshields, MediaPost, Variety, Deadline and Los Angeles Times
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Spotify rolls out a five-star ratings system for podcasts that will only let users rate a show after listening — Spotify is borrowing a page from rival Apple with the addition of a five-star user ratings system for podcasts — a new tool for sorting through the more than 3.2 million podcast titles …
Discussion:
Spotify, Word of Mouth, MediaPost, @ashleyrcarman, TechCrunch, Hollywood Reporter, CNET, The Verge, @anchor, Futureprotech, Engadget, Tubefilter and Spotify for Podcasters, more at Techmeme »
New York Times:
For over a year, female journalists in India were targets of an elaborate online scam offering work at Harvard, but who was targeting them and why is unknown — For over a year, prominent women in India, including journalists, were reeled into a labyrinthine online scam, offering work with Harvard University.
Discussion:
@anubhabhonsle, @bainjal, @jiten_jain, @zhaoyinfeng, @sandeepparekh, @counternotions, @nidhi, @nidhi, @virsanghvi, @sudarshanema, @amitoj, @lorenzofb, @kateconger, @svaradarajan, @dhanyarajendran, @daveweigel, @malpani, @nidhi, @dhm, @maneeshchhibber, @jiten_jain, @sub8u, @rodrikdani, @ellenbarrynyt, @nidhi, @reallyswara, @kateconger, @alexvtunzelmann, @jyotiyadaav and @cricketwallah
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