Top News:
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” — The departing Times media columnist and former editor-in-chief of BuzzFeed News wants to push the envelope but isn't yet ready to say just how.
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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, @jrubinblogger, @craigsilverman, @sarafischer and @samro
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”
Discussion:
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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
Discussion:
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Shraddha Chakradhar / Nieman Lab:
Longform.org says it is shutting down its article recommendations service, but will continue the weekly Longform Podcast — Loyal readers of Longform, the nonfiction podcast and website dedicated to curating and recommending nonfiction articles, learned Wednesday that the article-recommendation component is no longer.
Discussion:
@longform, @bettinamak, @jaycaspiankang, @francescamari, @maxlinsky, @bombur, @meagan_flynn, @longreads, @pappademas, @patcaldwell, @bobbie, @taffyakner, @karenkho and @nbj914
Ashley Carman / The Verge:
Sources: ill-suited or blocked programmatic ads are airing on some podcasts, showing that early trust between networks and ad tech providers could break — This story is part of a group of stories called — The podcast industry is working up to something big; you can see it in the acquisitions.
Discussion:
@marcoarment, @marcoarment, @profcarroll, @marcoarment, @stephenrobles, AdExchanger, @ismh, @ashleyrcarman and RAIN News
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, TechCrunch, nexttv.com, The Wrap, Bloomberg, Media Play News, Cord Cutters News and Deadline
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Amazon says it has sold over 150M Fire TV devices worldwide — Amazon is touting a major milestone for Fire TV, claiming it has sold more than 150 million of the streaming devices worldwide. And it announced deals with Ford Motor Co. and Stellantis to bring Fire TV to the automakers' in-car entertainment systems.
Discussion:
TechCrunch and Amazon Fire TV, more at Techmeme »
Jeff Baumgartner / Light Reading:
MoffettNathanson: US pay-TV services lost 637,000 subscribers in Q3 as gains from digital distributors failed to make up for cable and satellite provider losses — The US pay-TV industry shed another 637,000 subscribers in the third quarter of 2021 as gains from virtual multichannel video …
Discussion:
@crupicrupicrupi, @sportswatch, @tvgrimreaper, @sportstvratings, @aagave, Fierce Video, The Streamable and nexttv.com
Katie Robertson / New York Times:
Audie Cornish, a host of NPR's “All Things Considered”, is leaving her job, following recent exits by other prominent NPR hosts of color, including Noel King — 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.
Discussion:
Washington Post, insideradio.com, @farhip, @audiecornish, @audiecornish, HuffPost, Current and The Hill
Alec Karakatsanis / @equalityalec:
[Thread] How the NYT used spin from the LAPD to run a sympathetic profile of a “good guy” cop that killed a teenager in an LA clothing store dressing room — THREAD. What's happening at the New York Times is disturbing. Many people pointed out the headline about a mysterious bullet that killed a 14-year-old girl, but some interesting things emerge when you look closely at the article itself. https://www.nytimes.com/...
Discussion:
@mmasnick, @thepacketrat, @bloodjetpoetry and @jfslowik
Jim Waterson / The Guardian:
Court docs: Mail on Sunday will pay Meghan Markle just £1 for invading her privacy, on top of confidential sums for infringing her copyright; MoS won't appeal — Newspaper accepts defeat and will pay additional unspecified sum for infringing her copyright
Discussion:
Gawker, The Independent, Daily Mail, UPI, The Daily Beast and Insider
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
TikTok partners with Atmosphere to bring curated TikTok videos to Atmosphere's TV streaming service for commercial venues — TikTok — the hugely popular mobile video app with more than 1 billion users — has been taking its first steps to break into a new screen, the TV screen …
Discussion:
Adweek, more at Techmeme »
Priya Anand / Bloomberg:
Popcorn Time, an open-source streaming service for pirated content launched in 2014, shuts down; in 2015, Netflix warned investors about Popcorn Time's rise — The tool made stealing movies and TV shows a little too easy and drew fury from Hollywood. — Popcorn Time, the once-popular app …
Discussion:
Plagiarism Today and @zerobeta, more at Techmeme »
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