Mediagazer: Google loses a court appeal in Russia and faces daily fines following a lawsuit to unblock a YouTube account of a TV channel owned by a sanctioned Putin ally (Henry Meyer/Bloomberg)

8:05 AM ET, December 17, 2021

Top News:

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, Poynter, @bmorrissey, @millie, @stephengutowski, @justupthepike, @drewsav, @dellavolpe, @budkennedy, @sewellchan, @chuckrossdc, @jbenton, @pressgazette, @alexthomp, @daviduberti, @joshsternberg, @ylichterman, @genepark, @walldo and @asharma

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: Spotify, TechCrunch, insideradio.com, Whooshkaa, @podnews, @spotifynews, @sarthakgh, @thedavidrindexp, Engadget, Mumbrella, The Verge, Adweek, Futureprotech, Variety, Hollywood Reporter, Radio Today and RAIN News, more at Techmeme »

Sara Fischer / Axios:

Alden sues Lee Enterprises, arguing Lee's board infringed on 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, Associated Press, @ericzorn, @hunterw, Columbia Journalism Review, @sarafischer, @sarafischer and Pew Research Center

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 …

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Spotify rolls out a podcast ratings system that will let users rate a show from one to five stars only after listening to it — 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 …

Discussion: Word of Mouth, Spotify, @ashleyrcarman, @anchor, Gizmodo, MediaPost, Hollywood Reporter, TechCrunch, Spotify for Podcasters, The Verge, Engadget and Tubefilter, more at Techmeme »

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, @atrupar, emptywheel, @joannelipman, @freedomofpress, @bhweingarten, @davidcorndc, @rcfp, @thedailybeast, UPROXX, @adamgoldmannyt, @bgrueskin, @pnjaban, @frates, @nytimesbusiness, Raw Story and bookforum.com

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: Federal Trade Commission, TheXchange, @profcarroll, Adweek, MediaPost, TechCrunch, @garettsloane and @lmoses

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: @mauracunningham, @williamyang120, @amonck, @tknoll209k, @jgriffiths, Fortune and Agence France-Presse

David Stanway / Reuters:
Hu Xijin announces his retirement as editor-in-chief of Global Times, which is published by CCP outlet People's Daily, but will stay on as a commentator

Discussion: New York Times and Techdirt

Suzanne Vranica / Wall Street Journal:

Talent agency UTA acquires marketing and media consulting firm MediaLink, whose clients include NBCUniversal, 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 …, @michaelmiraflor, @joshsternberg, @megancgraham, Tubefilter, @digitalshields, MediaPost, Variety, Deadline and Los Angeles Times

Gerry Smith / Bloomberg:

CNN plans to pull its original series off HBO Max and put them on its own streaming service, CNN+, which a source says has a planned March debut for $5.99/month — - News channel eyes $5.99 price and March launch date for CNN+ — CNN plans to pull its original series off HBO Max and put …

Discussion: @gerryfsmith, @neoavatara, @business, @pnjaban, @juwanthewriter and @awallenstein

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

Henry Meyer / Bloomberg:

Google loses a court appeal in Russia and faces daily fines following a lawsuit to unblock a YouTube account of a TV channel owned by a sanctioned Putin ally — - Google lost an appeal over suit to unblock a YouTube account — U.S. technology giant says it's complying with U.S. sanctions

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, @killedbygoogle, Tubefilter, @mathowie, Bloomberg, Gizmodo, Fortune, Deadline, Adweek, @hoctopi, Variety, The Register, @jebus911, @noondlyt, @carnage4life, 9to5Mac, @mikeisaac, Fast Company, Insider, iMore, Protocol, CoinDesk, The Verge and Futureprotech

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Oil Reporter, Singapore — Bloomberg

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State Government Reporter, WA — Seattle Times

Climate Crisis Columnist — Prospect UK

Multimedia Journalist, CA — Paramount

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More News:

Andrew Beaujon / Washingtonian:
Washingtonian Editor Michael Schaffer is leaving to write a weekly Politico column as a senior editor; Sherri Dalphonse becomes interim Washingtonian editor

Discussion: @abeaujon, @abeaujon, @michaelkruse, @lucasfleischer, @michaelschaffer, @dankois, @abeaujon and @brfreed

Reuters:
Warner Music Group acquires 300 Entertainment, the music label for Megan Thee Stallion, Fetty Wap, and Mary J. Blige, source says for about $400M

Discussion: Billboard, Variety and Forbes

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

Alistair Gray / Financial Times:
Lord Rothermere secures enough shareholder votes to take Daily Mail and General Trust private at an £885M valuation

Discussion: Wall Street Journal

Earlier Picks:

Alexander Sammon / American Prospect:
Lobbyists for major companies and trade groups covered by DC-based Punchbowl News attended a Washington Football Team game as guests in the outlet's skybox

Discussion: @coreyhutchins, @bendreyfuss, @drvolts, @theprospect, @alex_sammon, @davidsirota, @ddayen, @andrewperezdc, @theprospect, @ddayen and @froomkin

Amanda Silberling / TechCrunch:
TikTok is testing TikTok Live Studio, a Windows app that lets users stream directly to TikTok Live from their computer

Discussion: Gizmodo, Engadget, BetaNews, Futureprotech, The Verge, PCMag UK, @bdsams, @joshconstine and Music Ally, more at Techmeme »

Meg James / Los Angeles Times:
Australia nominates Gina Cass-Gottlieb, a lawyer with strong ties to Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch, for new chairwoman of its competition watchdog agency

Discussion: Australian Financial Review, @mrkrudd, @vanbadham, @markdistef, @margaretsimons, @ljayes, @megjameslat, @strom_m, @richardaob, @latimes, @megjameslat, @jeffjarvis, @jbenton, Crikey, The Wrap and The Guardian

Rachel Connolly / Financial Times:
Listeners flock to “friendship podcasts” built on rapport among hosts, who are monetizing them via live shows, merchandising, and even album releases

Discussion: @byyourlogic, American Press Institute, @rachelconnoll14 and @donetodeath

From Techmeme:

Kent Walker / The Keyword:
Google says the DOJ's “wildly overbroad proposal goes miles beyond the Court's decision”, would hurt US consumers, and jeopardize the US' global tech leadership

Paige Smith / Bloomberg:
The CFPB will supervise tech companies with digital wallets, like Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Venmo, with 50M+ annual transactions, treating them more like banks

Brady Dale / Axios:
SEC chair Gary Gensler will step down on January 20; it has been traditional for SEC chairs to resign if the administration changes in the middle of their term

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