Top News:
Elaine Woo / Los Angeles Times:
Joan Didion, whose career spanned traditional reporting, screenwriting, cultural criticism, and fiction, dies of complications from Parkinson's disease at 87 — Joan Didion, the celebrated prose stylist, novelist and screenwriter who chronicled American culture and consciousness with cool detachment …
Discussion:
The Atlantic, The Paris Review, Vogue, New York Times, @markharrisnyc, @juliaccarpenter, @yassmin_a, @alexanderchee, @jayrosen_nyu, @adriennelaf, @andersen, @stevesilberman, @monicalewinsky, @brickhousecoop, @gustavoarellano, Reuters, The Week, @connorasheets, @daveyalba, UPI, @rrrrnessa, @chimeracoder, @paperhaus, @latimes, @jfmclooney, @nytimes, @kimjnews, Electric Literature, @elisewho, Insider, @lindseyboylan, @dastageermuska, IndieWire, @latimes, @parisreview, @sarayasin, @pattmlatimes, @kimjnews, @margaretsimons, Washington Post, @johnmyers, @racheldonadio, Hollywood Reporter, @mckenziewark, @moppyopps, The Guardian, SlashFilm, The Wrap, @hannahcwiley, @mathewi, @4thestatebooks, @condelibrary and @the_60s_at_60
Jill Goldsmith / Deadline:
The European Commission grants antitrust clearance for Discovery's proposed acquisition of AT&T's WarnerMedia; Discovery expects the deal to close in mid-2022 — Discovery, announced today that the European Commission has granted unconditional antitrust clearance of the company's proposed acquisition …
Discussion:
The Hollywood Reporter, Broadband TV News, C21Media and Variety
Sapna Maheshwari / New York Times:
Brands are flocking to TikTok with dedicated ad campaigns, attracted by its 1B users and its algorithm that can make an ad seem like just another video — Brands are flocking to the platform like never before, drawn by its more than 1 billion users and its algorithm, which can make an ad seem like just another video.
Discussion:
@nytimesbusiness, @sapna, American Press Institute, @frankpasquale, @katherinemiller, @migold, Fast Company, Insider and Gizmodo
Andy Kroll / Rolling Stone:
Two Georgia election workers sue OANN and a network correspondent for defamation over false claims they manipulated ballots; they earlier sued Gateway Pundit — Rudy Freeman and Wandrea Moss claim pro-Trump media outfit and Trump lawyer defamed them and “bear responsibility for ... partisan character assassination”
Discussion:
Politico and Associated Press
Florian Mueller / FOSS Patents:
The Coalition for App Fairness loses its best advocate as Horacio Gutierrez, Spotify's Chief Legal Officer, leaves for The Walt Disney Company — Yesterday I saw on LinkedIn that Horacio Gutierrez is leaving Spotify. He served as Spotify's Head of Global Affairs and Chief Legal Officer …
Discussion:
The Walt Disney Company and Business Wire, more at Techmeme »
Rebecca Davis / Variety:
Studio executives, producers, and others predict China will decouple from the global film industry in 2022 as the country turns inward under Xi Jinping — The tea leaves aren't difficult to read: China and Hollywood can bid adieu to any attempts at in-depth cultural collaboration …
Discussion:
Variety, @fy4chan, @penamerica, @darksecretplace, @chineseciv and @sonnybunch
Byron Kaye / Reuters:
Australia adds what appears to be a fake news site to the register of companies that can negotiate licensing deals with Meta and Google — Australia's ground-breaking law forcing platforms like Google and Facebook to pay local publishers for news faces an unlikely test case …
Jon Caramanica / New York Times:
A look at TikTok's biggest stars, including Charli and Dixie D'Amelio, Noah Beck, and Addison Rae, expanding to other platforms, often with mixed results — This year, the app's biggest stars — Charli and Dixie D'Amelio, Noah Beck, Addison Rae and others — leapt from the phone screen …
Reuters:
Belarus adds Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty to its list of extremist organizations, meaning that Belarusian subscribers could face six years in prison — Belarus' interior ministry said on Thursday it has added United States broadcaster Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty to its list of extremist organisations.
Kristina Davis / San Diego Union-Tribune:
US judge orders a podcast to turn over unaired interviews, ruling the defendants' rights to due process outweigh the podcast producers' First Amendment rights — Lawyers for six naval officers want the recordings to help defend their clients against criminal bribery charges
Discussion:
@tomwrightasia, @tomwrightasia, @tomwrightasia, @tomgara, @katie_rcfp, @benyt, @bradleyhope, @davecbenoit, @rcfp, @tomwrightasia and @nickochsnerwbtv
Ari Paparo Dot Eth / @aripap:
[Thread] For media and advertising, Web3's focus on decentralization and tokenization solves few, if any, problems and is the last thing ad tech needs — This web3 shit is starting to annoy me, so here's a thread with my opinions on the relevance to media and advertising. 1/21 🧵
Discussion:
@r2rothenberg, @tkawaja, @matvelloso, @aripap, @zachcoelius, @aripap, @bznotes, @aripap, @aripap, @rafat, @tswirly, @aripap, @aripap, @aripap, @aripap, @aripap, @aripap, @myles_younger, @aripap, @hakosam, @aripap, @aripap, @aripap, @aripap, @aripap, @aripap, @aripap, @aripap, @aripap, @aripap, @aripap, @aripap, @bd2k, @eric_seufert, @modestproposal1 and @hisamblake
BBC:
Jon Snow, who led the UK's Channel 4 News for 32 years, signs off as lead presenter; the channel says he'll front longer-form projects and focus on charities — Jon Snow has presented his final edition of Channel 4 News after 32 years at the helm of the programme.
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