Mediagazer: CTA survey of 2,084 US people aged 13+: user-generated content accounts for 39% of weekly media consumption, and about 7% monetize content in some way online (Todd Spangler/Variety)

2:50 PM ET, January 7, 2022

Top News:

Sara Fischer / Axios:

NYT has agreed to acquire The Athletic in an all-cash deal valuing the startup at $550M; co-founders Alex Mather and Adam Hansmann will stay on after the deal — The New York Times has agreed to acquire The Athletic in an all-cash deal valuing the sports media startup at $550 million …

Peter Kafka / Vox:

The NYT-Athletic deal is a big bet with significant risk, as growth slows for The NYT and profit remains elusive for The Athletic — A big bet with real risk and reward. — The New York Times wants more subscribers. The Athletic has lots of subscribers but loses money.

Discussion: The Ringer, Awful Announcing, Financial Times, @pottsmark, Defector, @markberman, @ylichterman, @shanbow, @arctictony, @shanbow, Talking Biz News, @sizpatel, MediaPost, @byscottpowers, @ringer, @davidgura, Poynter, @bryancurtis, @profblackistone, @mattzeitlin, @jeffschultzatl, @scohensea, @oliviawitherite, @thegridkid, @jessegranger_, @tybatiste, @travonne, @melissalockard, @aarongleeman, @zpathletic, @electricalwsop, @liam_twomey, @aarongleeman, @ken_rosenthal, @adamlefkoe, @bydavidgardner, @vosdscott, @willystaley, @maxjrosenthal, @conordougherty, @sbienkowski, @thegridkid, @gintautasd, @rafat, @freightalley, @rafat, @pkafka, @cnyari, @mathewi, @pkafka, @pkafka, @mikeorren, @nw3, @pkafka, @rasmus_kleis, @brettkollmann, @tvgrimreaper, @rafat, @danprimack, @danprimack, @nichcarlson, @rafat, @jeremylittau, @jeremylittau, @jeremylittau, @mattietk, @ericliptonnyt, @jeremylittau, @jeremylittau, @jeremylittau, @daryrezvani, @keganreneau, @john_p_carvalho, @jeremylittau, @jeremylittau, @jeremylittau, @rafat, @freddiecampion, @arashmarkazi, @jeffveillette, @chrisryan_nj, @_zeets, @mathewi, @katie_martin_fx, @dylanbyers, Defector, UPI, Sportico, Deadline, The Spun, Financial Times, Nieman Lab, The Wrap and The Hill

Todd Bishop / GeekWire:

Amazon's Audible discontinued its daily audio digests of stories from The NYT, WSJ, and WaPo, directing users to its podcast lineup — Audible, the audiobook service owned by Amazon, has discontinued its daily audio digests of stories from The New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Washington Post.

Discussion: @robertmaguire_

Reuters:

Two journalists were killed in Haiti on Thursday after suspected gang members shot at a group of reporters who'd arrived to interview the leader of a rival gang — Two Haitian journalists were killed Thursday on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince after suspected gang members opened fire …

Discussion: CNN, Al Jazeera, France 24 and Committee to Protect …

Committee to Protect Journalists:

Authorities in Kazakhstan have detained at least eight journalists reporting on protests since January 4 and blocked at least two news sites — Kazakhstan authorities must allow journalists to report freely on ongoing protests in the country and ensure their safety from officials and protesters …

Discussion: @tommywalkerco, The Diplomat, @pressfreedom and USAGM

Todd Spangler / Variety:

CTA survey of 2,084 US people aged 13+: user-generated content accounts for 39% of weekly media consumption, and about 7% monetize content in some way online — Americans now spend nearly as much time streaming user-generated videos on YouTube, TikTok and other online platforms as they do watching traditional TV.

Discussion: FinalScore, Simon Owens's Media Newsletter and Marketing Dive

Gita Jackson / VICE:

Image Comics workers win an NLRB election and become the first unionized comics company, with the Communications Workers of America — After management failed to voluntarily recognize the union, Image workers have won an NLRB election to become the first unionized comics company. — GJ

Discussion: @lizshuler, Hollywood Reporter, @grantthethief, @laurenkgurley, @samred, AIPT and ScreenRant

The Wire:

Modi's BJP uses an app called Tek Fog to harass journalists: of 4.6M Twitter replies received by 280 women journalists, 18% were from Tek Fog managed accounts — The Wire investigates claims behind the use of ‘Tek Fog’, a highly sophisticated app used by online operatives to hijack major social media …

Discussion: @thewire_in, @kunalpurohit, @vijaytal, @thewire_in, @svaradarajan, @asadowaisi, @rasmus_kleis, @caseynewton, MediaNama, @pawankhera and @rohini_sgh

New York Times:

How Tucker Carlson, condoned by Fox management, plus right-wing podcasts and others, revised the history of January 6 to deflect blame from Trump — How revisionist histories of Jan. 6 picked up where the “stop the steal” campaign left off, warping beliefs about what transpired at the Capitol.

Discussion: Politico, CNN, Media Matters for America, The Daily Beast, @nytimes, @jimrutenberg, Today's Edition Newsletter, Washington Post, Florida Phoenix, Raw Story and Wall Street Journal

Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:

Scott Rosenberg, the head of Roku's platform business who oversaw the launch of the Roku Channel and the move into content, is stepping down in the spring — Roku CEO Anthony Wood said Rosenberg was “ready for his next professional challenge.” … In a statement, the company suggested …

Discussion: Adweek, Deadline and @timsteno

Ben Schoon / 9to5Google:

Google says Android TV and Google TV have over 110M monthly active devices combined, up 30M from May 2021 — While Roku and Amazon's Fire TV are often the first thing people think of when it comes to home entertainment platforms, Google's Android TV OS is growing quickly.

Discussion: The Streamable and Light Reading

Ananya Mariam Rajesh / Reuters:

BuzzFeed names Christian Baesler as COO, filling a role vacant since Jon Steinberg stepped down in 2014; Baesler will also continue as CEO of Complex Networks — BuzzFeed Inc (BZFD.O) on Thursday named Christian Baesler as chief operating officer, filling a role that has remained vacant …

Discussion: Tubefilter, BuzzFeed and Variety