Mediagazer: Forbes says two of its editors testified about two old stories in front of a New York grand jury investigating Trump, after fighting subpoenas for months (Randall Lane/Forbes)

10:50 PM ET, December 18, 2021

Top News:

NYT fires a Wirecutter editor for “repeatedly invoking the NYT's name in an unprofessional way” in messages she allegedly sent to a gun rights advocacy group — Erin Marquis, a staffer for the popular product-review site, had also lashed out at a gun-rights organization on Twitter.

Discussion: @jeffjarvis, @jeremymbarr, New York Post, The Hill, Mediaite and Talking Biz News

Randall Lane / Forbes:

Forbes says two of its editors testified about two old stories in front of a New York grand jury investigating Trump, after fighting subpoenas for months — Almost three months ago, I was subpoenaed by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. to appear before the grand jury investigating Donald Trump.

Discussion: Mediaite, @chasewithorn, @spj_tweets, @dianesbaker1, @randalllane, @randalllane, The Hill, Axios, Talking Biz News, Daily Herald and Raw Story

The Streamable:

Disney fails to reach a deal with YouTube TV, removing 17+ channels including ABC, Disney, ESPN, Freeform, and FX; YouTube TV drops its price to $49.99/month — After a year of bitter disputes with its partners, YouTube TV just took a gut-punch from one of the entertainment world's biggest titans.

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

Pew Research Center:

Analysis of news tweets from 500 US adults shows a focus on entertainment, politics, and sports; only 2% of news tweets had a hashtag, down from 34% in 2015 — Most Americans who use Twitter get news on the platform, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey.

Discussion: @pewjournalism, @jenmercieca, @pewjournalism, @pewresearch, @killedbygoogle, @jamcnn, @pewresearch, @spj_tweets, @pewjournalism and @asmitch

Rasmus Kleis Nielsen / Nieman Lab:

The news industry has neglected R&D and staff development for decades; Malaysiakini and South Africa's The Daily Maverick show how to do long-term investments — “The furniture industry seems able to invest in its future. Maybe we can, too?” — The news industry is a technology …

Discussion: @jayrosen_nyu, @risj_oxford, @rasmus_kleis, @kimpittaway, @corinnecolbert, @prempanicker, @robertobernabo, @risj_oxford, @mkraidy, @dw_innovation, @olivermathenge, @shoq, @ruffoamy2, @rasmus_kleis and @nisalahe

Jonathan Burgos / Forbes:

BandLab, a Singapore-based music creation platform letting artists collaborate and engage with fans, raises a $53M Series B at a $303M post-money valuation — BandLab—a Singapore-based digital platform for music creators—said it raised $53 million from a funding round that will help …

Discussion: Music Business Worldwide, @forbesasia, Tech in Asia, Caldecott Music Group, digitalmusicnews.com, AllAccess.com, Music Ally and Music Industry Blog

The Citizen Lab:

The phone of an exiled Egyptian TV news host was compromised in June using Cytrox's Predator spyware via a single-click link in a WhatsApp message — Key Findings — Two Egyptians—exiled politician Ayman Nour and the host of a popular news program (who wishes to remain anonymous) …

Discussion: @ryp__, @dr_ulrichsen, @laughing_mantis, @sarahleah1, @ngleicher, @evacide, Cyber Defence News …, TechCrunch, Futureprotech, NPR, ScreenRant, The Register, Gizmodo, Wired, Bloomberg, The Guardian and The Daily Beast

Dan Froomkin / Press Watch:

Interview with former NYT reporter Nina Bernstein on traditional news media's “tics and timidities” that impoverish reporting out of a fear of taking sides — Nina Bernstein was covering homelessness for the New York Times in 1999 when then-mayor Rudolph Giuliani announced …

Discussion: @jayrosen_nyu, @bruno_j_navarro, @martinsfp, @zimbalist, @alexanderrusso, @shanfaraa, @lisalibrarian, @sewellchan, @rauchway, @jamesgleick, @brianbeutler, @shoq, @ninabernstein1, @crusher92, @joanespositochi, @froomkin, @froomkin and @froomkin

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: @jeremymclellan, @business, @gerryfsmith, @loudmouthjulia, @loudmouthjulia, @loudmouthjulia, @loudmouthjulia, @loudmouthjulia, Gizmodo, The Streamable, @awallenstein, @pnjaban, TVNewser, @neoavatara and @juwanthewriter

Gavin Bridge / Variety:

A record 1,923 original series were released across TV and streaming services in 2021, beating the previous high of 1,628 in 2019 — - 2021 saw a record number of original series across TV & streaming — Subscription streaming is now the platform with the largest number of original shows

Discussion: @sportstvratings, @variety and The Streamable

Daniel Tilles / Notes From Poland:

Polish parliament passes a bill that limits foreign ownership of media, affecting Discovery-owned TVN; the president hinted he may veto the bill — A bill to restrict foreign ownership of Polish media was unexpectedly passed by parliament today. The proposed law is seen to be aimed …

Discussion: Bloomberg, @mooonlightbby, @ecpmf, @notesfrompoland, @globalfreemedia, Politico, C21Media, The Hollywood Reporter, Reuters, DW.COM, Deadline and Variety

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More News:

William Turvill / Press Gazette:
Sources: Google delayed the US launch of News Showcase, live in 14 countries, to at least Q1 2022 as pubs find the offers underwhelming and doubt its efficacy

Discussion: @glenngabe, @simonowens, @newsalliance, @davidclinchnews, @pressgazette, @tomnamako and @simonowens, more at Techmeme »

Erik Larson / Bloomberg:
Judge lets Dominion proceed with its Fox lawsuit because Fox had “countervailing evidence of election fraud” and says “hyperbolic” rhetoric can be defamatory

Discussion: @benyt, Hollywood Reporter, @timobrien, @obarcala, @obarcala, @svdate, @deanobeidallah, Raw Story, Washington Post, NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth, TVNewser, CNN and MediaPost

Katie Kilkenny / Hollywood Reporter:
Vice Media and its employee union reach a three-year deal that sets minimum salaries of $63K and annual raises, institutes anti-harassment measures, and more

Discussion: @greenhousenyt, Writers Guild of America …, Deadline and bookforum.com

Natasha Lomas / TechCrunch:
Researchers find evidence suggesting that IAB Europe's TCF lets many adtech vendors track and profile users even when they've rejected personalized ads

Discussion: @johnnyryan, @weareconfiant, @kfranasz and @jason_kint

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

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

Earlier Picks:

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

Sara Fischer / Axios:
Spotify acquires Australian company Whooshkaa, which helps radio broadcasters and others turn existing content into podcasts and sell ads around them

Discussion: @podnews, @spotifynews, Spotify, TechCrunch, Radio & Television …, insideradio.com, @thedavidrindexp, @sarthakgh, Hollywood Reporter, Whooshkaa, Radio Today, Mumbrella, Engadget, The Verge, Adweek, Futureprotech, Variety and RAIN News

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

Discussion: Acast, MediaPost and insideradio.com

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

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

Discussion: Washington Post, @sulliview, American Press Institute, @buffaloguild, Columbia Journalism Review, @hunterw, @ericzorn, The Rural Blog, @sarafischer, @sarafischer, Associated Press and Pew Research Center

From Techmeme:

Wall Street Journal:
Apple removes WhatsApp, Threads, Signal, and Telegram from its App Store in China, after orders from the country's regulators citing national security concerns

Foo Yun Chee / Reuters:
Sources: EU may accept Apple's proposal to open its NFC payments tech to rivals, and may close its antitrust probe in May, letting Apple avoid hefty fines

Ryan Morrison / Tom's Guide:
Microsoft researchers introduce VASA-1, an AI model that can create a realistic talking face video from a portrait photo and an audio file, in research preview

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