Top News:
Elizabeth A. Harris / New York Times:
FBI arrests Filippo Bernardini, an Italian citizen who works in publishing, in a scheme that targeted authors and others to steal unpublished book manuscripts — Filippo Bernardini, an Italian citizen who worked in publishing, was charged with wire fraud and identity theft for a scheme …
Jem Aswad / Variety:
The Grammy Awards show, planned for January 31 in Los Angeles' Crypto.com Arena, has been postponed indefinitely due to concerns over COVID-19 — As expected, the Grammy Awards have been postponed indefinitely due to coronavirus-related concerns, an Academy spokesperson has confirmed to Variety.
Discussion:
GRAMMY.com, NPR, Billboard, @claireatki, TheGrio, CNET, WWD, UPI, TVLine, The Guardian, @variety, The Wrap, @amandasalas, Collider, @jennifer_su, The A.V. Club, Adweek and CBS New York
Shraddha Chakradhar / Nieman Lab:
Longform.org shuts down its nonfiction article recommendations service, but will continue to publish new weekly episodes of its Longform Podcast — Loyal readers of Longform, the nonfiction podcast and website dedicated to curating and recommending nonfiction articles …
Discussion:
@longform, @bettinamak, @viajoshhunt, @olivianuzzi, @jaycaspiankang, @francescamari, @maxlinsky, @bombur, @meagan_flynn, @elongreen, @pamelacolloff, @davidwolman, @longreads, @pappademas, @patcaldwell, @jduffyrice, @zachbaron, @thrasherxy, @dave_schilling, @thebrowser, @bobbie, @craigmod, @stevekandell, @taffyakner, @harrymccracken, @jacobfeldman4, @everettcook, @karenkho, @samdiss and @nbj914
Katie Robertson / New York Times:
NPR's All Things Considered host Audie Cornish is leaving, following exits by other prominent NPR hosts of color, including Noel King and Lulu Garcia-Navarro — Audie Cornish, a host of NPR's “All Things Considered,” is leaving her job, becoming the latest prominent person of color to leave the public broadcaster.
Georg Szalai / Hollywood Reporter:
AMC Networks buys anime streamer and distributor Sentai, including its anime-focused Hidive subscription streaming service, Anime Network, and Sentai Studios — The deal includes the anime-focused HIDIVE subscription streaming service. — AMC Networks, the company behind …
Discussion:
Variety, @vamptvo, @loudmouthjulia, @loudmouthjulia, @loudmouthjulia and The Wrap
Stuart A. Thompson / New York Times:
Analysis of about 1,500 episodes from 20 popular political podcasts between the 2020 election and the Jan. 6 riot finds about half contained election misinfo — A new study analyzed nearly 1,500 episodes, showing the extent to which podcasts pushed misinformation about voter fraud.
Eli Tan / CoinDesk:
Quentin Tarantino says he will proceed with selling NFTs based on Pulp Fiction screenplay excerpts, defying a Miramax copyright lawsuit — The famed director is moving forward with his Secret Network NFT sale later this month. — After being sued for copyright infringement …
Discussion:
New York Times, Business Wire, IndieWire, ScreenRant, @morgan_chittum, The A.V. Club and Insider
Sara Fischer / Axios:
Justin Smith will be CEO of the new venture, which will focus on digital consumer subscriptions and premium advertising, and Ben Smith will lead its newsroom — Calling legacy media “almost paralyzed,” two of journalism's top disrupters — Bloomberg's Justin Smith and Ben Smith of the New York Times …
Discussion:
@sarafischer, @sarafischer, @craigsilverman, @sarafischer, @samro and @jrubinblogger
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David Gelles / New York Times:
Ben Smith is leaving the NYT to start a global news organization with Justin Smith for the “200M people who are college educated, who read in English”
Ben Smith is leaving the NYT to start a global news organization with Justin Smith for the “200M people who are college educated, who read in English”
Discussion:
Poynter, @bgrueskin, @benyt, @dgelles, @emilybell, @reckless, @nhannahjones, @dylanbyers, @kindahagi, @felixsalmon, @sarafischer, American Press Institute, @daveleeft, @dangillmor, @juliacarriew, @rachel, @dcbigjohn, @jason, @zengerle, Indigenous Wire, @ashleyfeinberg, @ryanchittum, @laurenzcollins, @karaswisher, @richardgrenell, @benyt, @kampeas, @nprinskeep, @mayawiley, @jswatz, @om, @kazweida, @chaykak, @comfortablysmug, @apbenven, @bypatrickgeorge, @alexthomp, @jscros, @jscros, @maxwelltani, @jswatz, @kromandavid, @froomkin, @brianstelter, @rafat, @davidcorndc, @hunterw, @katie_roof, @froomkin, @buzzfeedben, @lebassett, @sethklamann, @alicialutes, @claireeshaffer, @meredithshiner, @rublekb, @mhbaskin, @ungarino, @esotericcd, @kerrymflynn, @rosiegray, @rosental, @digitalshields, @daveweigel, @lpolgreen, @claremalone, @justinhendrix, @parismartineau, @natalieweiner, @yair_rosenberg, @ralstonreports, @jakesherman, @ariehkovler, @clairevtran, @howardkurtz, @chanders, @tomgara, @tomgara, @hamiltonnolan, @robinwigg, @thekenyeung, @toley88, @bristei, @ashleyfeinberg, @ashleyfeinberg, @kerrymflynn, @s_m_i, @paperhaus, @joshsternberg, @davegershgorn, @tomscocca, @rmac18, @daisandconfused, @scottfeinberg, @michaelroston, @brianstelter, @edmundlee, @cliffordlevy, @susanpage, @jimwaterson, @lisatozzi, @pdmcleod, @ljkawa, @scottnover, @akarl_smith, @martinsfp, @carolynryan, @ezwrites, @mattnegrin, @tomgara, @samjmintz, @sonnybunch, @alexbruell, @patrickmcgee_, @jbflint, @jbflint, @kfile and New York Magazine
Clare Malone / New Yorker:
Q&A with Ben Smith on his new media venture, as plans like a launch date remain to be finalized: “We want to serve the highest common denominator”
Q&A with Ben Smith on his new media venture, as plans like a launch date remain to be finalized: “We want to serve the highest common denominator”
Discussion:
@newyorker, Puck, Today in Tabs, @davidmackau, @kantrowitz, @dabeard, @tombevanrcp, @hshaban, @nycsouthpaw, @ashleyfeinberg, Poynter, @meredithshiner, @banikarim, @froomkin, @natsfert, @davidshepardson, @getembedded, @lmoses, @tomgara, @scottnover, @alexthomp, @claremalone, @eliotwb and @hotlinejosh
Benjamin Mullin / Wall Street Journal:
Bloomberg Media CEO Justin Smith steps down effective immediately to found a media company “that serves unbiased journalism”; Scott Havens to replace him as CEO
Bloomberg Media CEO Justin Smith steps down effective immediately to found a media company “that serves unbiased journalism”; Scott Havens to replace him as CEO
Discussion:
Reuters, @justin_b_smith, Vox, @benmullin, Washington Post, The Rebooting, @sewellchan, @benmullin, @chriscillizza, @hunterw, @benmullin, @jbarro, @madisonoconn, @niketa, @jayrosen_nyu, @laurawags, @edmundlee, @mccarthyryanj, @carloslozadawp, @michaelluo, @digiphile, @lionelbarber, @richard_florida, @mattdpearce, @jkempenergy, @mattzeitlin, @marcbain_, @benmullin, @parryravi, @claremalone, @sub8u, @ryanlcooper, @robinwigg, @michaelroston, @jason_kint, @brianstelter, @davidfolkenflik, @seangriffey, @seangriffey, @jbflint, @pkafka and @pkafka
Tim Baysinger / The Wrap:
Paid Peacock subscribers will get access to live streams of all events at the Beijing Winter Olympics, scheduled February 2-20 — NBC is hoping another Olympics will give Peacock a boost. Ahead of the forthcoming Winter Games from Beijing next month, NBC announced that Peacock subscribers …
Discussion:
Deadline, The Streamable, Variety, Hollywood Reporter, @dougscripts, @thedragonfeeder, Awful Announcing and Adweek
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Amazon says it sold over 150M Fire TV devices worldwide, announces Ford and Stellantis deals to bring Fire TV to their in-car entertainment systems — Amazon is touting a major milestone for Fire TV, claiming it has sold more than 150 million of the streaming devices worldwide.
Discussion:
The Streamable and CNET News, more at Techmeme »
Georg Szalai / Hollywood Reporter:
AT&T CFO says HBO Max and HBO ended 2021 with about 73.8M subscribers, ahead of the company's forecast — The WarnerMedia streamer's fourth-quarter content slate included ‘Succession,’ ‘Dune’ and ‘Sex and the City’ sequel series ‘And Just Like That.’
Discussion:
Variety, The Verge, Forbes, TechCrunch, Media Play News, Cord Cutters News, Bloomberg, The Wrap and Deadline
Anousha Sakoui / Los Angeles Times:
Studios and production houses are delaying a return to filming as some cast and crew test positive for Omicron, to avoid costs tied to mid-shoot shutdowns — Tim Hillman was preparing to start work as location manager for the Fox Network show “9-1-1” in Los Angeles on Monday, but Omicron had other plans.
Discussion:
@rverrier
Max Goldbart / Deadline:
BAFTA merges its LA and New York entities into a single North America board, with Starz Original Programming President Kathryn Busby as its first chair — Starz Original Programming President Kathryn Busby is to chair BAFTA's new-look North America Board, with actor Elliot Knight and ThunderChild CEO Karl Stewart set as Deputy Chairs.
Discussion:
Variety, The Wrap and Hollywood Reporter