Top News:
The New York Times Company:
WaPo's David Fahrenthold, who won the 2017 Pulitzer for an investigation into Trump's charitable giving, will join NYT's DC bureau as an investigative reporter — David is joining The Times's Washington bureau as an investigative reporter. Read more in this note from Elisabeth Bumiller.
Discussion:
@farhip, @fahrenthold, The Wrap, The Hill, @fahrenthold, @agearan, @rkellett, @jdawsey1, @petersagal, @jonathantamari, @dataeditor, @evanasmith, @jeremybowers, @mikiebarb, @shearm, @colbyitkowitz, @wesleylowery, @ericmgarcia, @chelsea_janes, @edokeefe, @levinecarrie, @cliffordlevy, @vivian, @seungminkim, @philiprucker, @bgrueskin, @markberman and @fahrenthold
Ben Smith / New York Times:
After leaving Meta, Brandon Silverman, co-founder of Facebook-acquired CrowdTangle, has helped craft a bipartisan bill to boost social networks' transparency — The co-founder of CrowdTangle has been working with Congress on legislation to make tech companies disclose their inner workings.
Discussion:
@daveyalba, @dmccabe, @benyt, @digitalshields, @apmckay, @dangillmor, @elipariser, @kombiz, @sillyrobin, @donie, @karaswisher, @revkin, The Full Belmonte, @justinhendrix, @daveyalba, @nytimes and @adrielhampton, more at Techmeme »
Gideon Lichfield / Wired:
Wired will merge its US and UK websites, while still publishing two separate print editions, as it vows to reject “the optimist and pessimist views of tech” — The future begins here—again. — In the next few decades, virtually every financial, social, and governmental institution …
Discussion:
CNN, @glichfield, @derektmead, @lpramsey, @kharijohnson, @gmochkofsky, @wired, @jtemple, @joonian, @michaelzimmer, @glichfield, @jeffjarvis, @glichfield, @jeremywired, @jeffjarvis, @jeffjarvis, @kerrymflynn and @bmorrissey
Helen Davidson / The Guardian:
Citizen News, an independent Hong Kong news outlet, will close on Tuesday, citing the deteriorating media environment, following the raid on Stand News — Independent online news portal to cease operations amid ‘worsening environment for media’ in city — The Hong Kong independent news …
Heidi Chung / Variety:
2022 media trend predictions: subscription video streaming and global digital ad revenue will likely remain growth stories, and the M&A fever will rage on — Though the economy wasn't completely shut down in 2021, life and business were hardly normal. Despite those less-than-normal conditions …
Pamela McClintock / Hollywood Reporter:
Comscore: North American box office revenue rose to $4.5B in 2021, up 101%+ YoY but nearly 60% behind 2019, as movies with youth appeal fueled the recovery — Revenue at the North American box office jumped 101 percent over 2020 but still lagged far behind pre-pandemic levels.
Discussion:
The Wrap, @pdergarabedian, @mattdentler and The Wrap
Jem Aswad / Variety:
David Bowie's estate sells the singer's publishing catalog to Warner Chappell Music, sources say for more than $250M — The catalog spans six decades and includes such songs as “Heroes,” “Changes,” “Space Oddity,” “Fame,” “Let's Dance,” “Rebel Rebel,” “Golden Years,” “Ziggy Stardust,” …
Discussion:
Billboard, The Wrap, The Guardian, New York Times, Deadline, Hollywood Reporter, Music Business Worldwide and Rolling Stone
Jennifer Jenkins / Duke University School of Law:
Books, movies, and songs published in 1926 and an estimated 400,000 sound recordings published before 1923 enter the US public domain as copyrights expire — On January 1, 2022, copyrighted works from 1926 will enter the US public domain, 1 where they will be free for all to copy, share, and build upon.
Discussion:
Fast Company, @doctorow, The Land of Random, Memex 1.1, Internet Archive Blogs, @neville_park, @norightturnnz, @laurahelmuth, @craigtimes, Everybody's Libraries, @thepublicdomain, Rolling Stone, @grok_, The Verge, Boing Boing, Associated Press, RouteNote Blog, The Motley Fool, @glennf, @glennf, @glennf and @glennf
Associated Press:
IFJ: 45 journalists and media workers were killed doing their jobs in 2021, one of the lowest death tolls in 30 years and down from 65 killed in 2020 — BRUSSELS (AP) — A total of 45 reporters and media workers were killed doing their jobs over the last year, the highest number among …
Discussion:
@spj_tweets and @juanlozano70
Catalin Cimpanu / The Record:
Impresa, the largest media conglomerate in Portugal, gets hacked and extorted by the Lapsus$ ransomware gang — The Lapsus$ ransomware gang has hacked and is currently extorting Impresa, the largest media conglomerate in Portugal and the owner of SIC and Expresso, the country's largest TV channel and weekly newspaper, respectively.
Discussion:
@runasand, @aitorehm and @campuscodi
Jana Winter / Yahoo News:
US CBP and congressional committees are reviewing a secretive CBP division that ran database checks to investigate as many as 20 journalists — U.S. Customs and Border Protection is conducting a review of a secretive division that uses some of the country's most sensitive databases …
Discussion:
@weinbergersa, Reclaim The Net, @buddjenn, @isikoff and @davidlarter
The Moscow Times:
Russia's media regulator adds Netflix to its “audio-visual services” register, requiring it to offer 20 major Russian federal TV channels starting in March 2022 — Russia's state media watchdog will require Netflix to offer state television channels to its Russian customers …
Discussion:
@emmalbriant and @michaeldweiss
CNN:
Sudanese security forces raid two broadcasters, confiscate equipment, and assault and detain staff, trying to censor coverage of mass anti-military protests — (CNN)At least four people were shot dead by Sudanese security forces during anti-coup demonstrations near the capital Khartoum on Thursday …
Discussion:
@moehash1
Lindsey Ellefson / The Wrap:
Fox News ends 2021 as the top-rated basic cable channel for the sixth straight year with an average of 1.3M daily viewers, followed by MSNBC, CNN, ESPN, HGTV — End-of-year ratings are in and Fox News finished off 2021 as the top-rated basic cable channel for the sixth straight year, netting a lot of other wins along the way.
Discussion:
@mmasnick, @jayrosen_nyu, @bungarsargon, Washington Times, Forbes, Variety, Deadline and Fox News