Mediagazer: Political reporter Robert Costa is leaving The Washington Post to become a full-time TV journalist at CBS News but will keep collaborating on some Post projects (Michael M. Grynbaum/New York Times)

4:45 PM ET, January 20, 2022

Top News:

Journalists covering Olympics say they'll be using burner phones and laptops as they assume surveillance by the government intent on controlling China's image — Journalists covering the Winter Olympics next month say they'll do their work in Beijing on brand-new cellphones and laptops.

Discussion: The Citizen Lab, New York Post, USA Today, The Guardian, @yaqiu, @chrisbohjalian, Insider, @jsrailton, @julesboykoff, @mbgelman, Reclaim The Net and ScreenRant

Andy Hall / ESPN Front Row:

ESPN, which planned to send four reporters to the Winter Olympics in China, says it won't send any personnel due to COVID-19 concerns and related restrictions — Robust remote coverage plans will kick off prior to start of competition — Due to concerns about COVID-19 …

Discussion: nexttv.com, Awful Announcing, @darcymaine_espn, @wyshynski and @espnpr

Christine Brennan / USA Today:

NBC Sports says it won't send any Winter Olympics announcing teams to Beijing due to COVID-19 but still plans “a large presence on the ground” — As the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games approach and COVID-19 concerns mount, NBC Sports will not send any of its announcing teams to China …

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Netflix reports Q4 revenue of $7.71B, up 16% YoY, net income of $607M, 222M paid subscribers, and $30B in 2021 revenue, up 19%; stock down 15%+ on weak guidance — Netflix ended 2021 with a slightly lower-than-expected subscriber gain in the fourth quarter, and its stock took a dive with a weak Q1 outlook.

Discussion: CNBC, The Wrap, @dfriend, Netflix, Wall Street Journal and Hollywood Reporter, more at Techmeme »

Michael M. Grynbaum / New York Times:

Political reporter Robert Costa is leaving The Washington Post to become a full-time TV journalist at CBS News but will keep collaborating on some Post projects — The longtime Washington Post political reporter will take an on-air role covering campaigns and elections.

Mahira Dayal / The Information:

TikTok says it is testing letting creators charge subscriptions for their content — TikTok is testing the idea of allowing its creators to charge subscriptions for their content, a spokesperson told The Information. Earlier Wednesday, rival Instagram announced it was offering paid subscriptions to a small group of influencers.

Discussion: TechCrunch, The Mac Observer, IGN, 9to5Mac, Observer, Wall Street Journal and Variety, more at Techmeme »

A.J. Katz / TVNewser:

Memo: David Firestone, NBC News Digital's executive editor and a former NYT reporter and editor, plans to retire in May after 45 years in journalism — NBC News Digital executive editor David Firestone is retiring in mid-May after 45 years in the journalism business, the last five of them at NBC.

Discussion: @david_ingram, @d_arkin, @gingergibson and @philmccausland

Tom Jones / Poynter:

Q&A with NBC News president Noah Oppenheim about advocacy journalism, the future of the NBC News NOW streaming service, what makes Dateline addictive, and more — 'We are ferociously defending the traditional approach to journalism ... that it's possible to hold the middle ground and be objective and nonpartisan.'

Discussion: TVNewser, @poynter, @nbcnewspr, @jmacnyc, @oliverdarcy and Mediaite

Michael Malone / nexttv.com:

Peacock launches 24/7 local news channels for NBC-owned stations, starting with Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston, and Miami; the channels won't be geo-targeted — WMAQ Chicago, WCAU Philadelphia, WBTS Boston and WTVJ Miami have debuted on streaming platform — Peacock is launching 24/7 local …

Discussion: The Streamable, Cord Cutters News, Media Play News, Robert Feder and Daily Herald

Mark Mulligan / MIDiA Research:

Research: global music subscribers hit 523.9M in Q2 2021, up 26.4% YoY; Spotify had 31% market share; Apple Music, 15%; Amazon Music, 13%, and YouTube Music, 8% — MIDiA's annual music subscriber market shares report is now available here (see below for more details of the report).

Discussion: 9to5Google, @johnkoetsier, The Verge, @mintroyale, JOMO, @mark_mulligan, @mark_mulligan, 9to5Mac, AppleInsider, Forbes, Complete Music Update and Music Ally, more at Techmeme »

Lydia Moynihan / New York Post:

Sources: TikTok ousted its marketing chief Nick Tran after he went “rogue” with plans like TikTok Kitchen, NFTs by Lil Nas X and others, and TikTok Resumes — TikTok's marketing chief has been ousted after blindsiding top management with a series of increasingly bizarre campaigns, The Post has learned.

Discussion: The Verge, @joshsternberg, @alexeheath, @dinafierro_, Protocol, @bmorrissey, Pandaily, @markmilian, @caseynewton, @tomgara, @thedragonfeeder and MediaPost, more at Techmeme »

New York Times:

Journalist in Peru sentenced to prison and ordered to pay $100K in a defamation suit brought by a politician, part of a trend of using courts to punish media — The author of a book about a powerful politician has been sentenced to two years in prison. Media advocates say the case is part …

Discussion: @cathyrosegarcia, @nytimesworld, @melissajpeltier, @chrissabatini, @penamerica and @kenroth

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More News:

Sara Fischer / Axios:
Brat TV, which produces content aimed at teens, launches an ad-supported app that offers all of the shows it distributes via YouTube and on services like Tubi

Discussion: @sarafischer and @richlightshed

Jazz Tangcay / Variety:
FilmLA says Q4 2021 filming set a record 10,780 shoot days, 4% above the record set in Q4 2018, but pandemic slowdowns mean 2021 was below 2016, 2017, and 2018

Discussion: @rverrier, FilmLA, The Wrap, Los Angeles Times and Deadline

Sarah Scire / Nieman Lab:
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Makena Kelly / The Verge:
Democratic lawmakers unveil the Banning Surveillance Advertising Act, which would ban targeted ads but allow broad location-based and contextual ads

Todd Spangler / Variety:
Disney reorganizes its streaming business, including installing former head of Disney+ marketing and operations Joe Earley as president of Hulu

Discussion: The Walt Disney Company, The Wrap, Protocol, WORLD SCREEN, Broadband TV News, Reuters, @kateaurthur, @jbflint, @tim_bays, @seannyberg, The Verge, MediaPost, Adweek, C21Media, Los Angeles Times, Media Play News, TechCrunch, Deadline and nexttv.com

Earlier Picks:

Sara Fischer / Axios:
Three philanthropies invest $20M+ to launch an independent nonprofit news operation in Houston with about 40 journalists in late 2022 or early 2023

New York Times:
André Leon Talley, US Vogue's former editor-at-large and a rare Black fashion editor, dies at 73

Aisha Majid / Press Gazette:
Edelman: 67% of people globally say the media purposely tries to mislead, up from 59% in 2021; faith in the media fell in 15 countries and rose in nine

Discussion: @pressgazette, Axios, @paulwallbank, @ruthbenghiat, @russcontreras, @taraemcg, @axios, @jimvandehei, Insider and American Press Institute

David Roeder / Chicago Sun-Times:
Chicago Public Media's board approves the Chicago Sun-Times acquisition, set to close on or about January 31, which will convert the Sun-Times into a nonprofit

Discussion: Media Nation, MediaPost, @clarajeffery, Washington Post, The Illinoize, Talking Biz News, WBEZ Chicago, @thetedallen, @kschorsch, @pattonoswalt, @stevewarmbir, Arooj's Index, @kategrossman1, WBEZ Chicago, @chrishagan, @carlquintanilla, @chicagotribune, @tlangford, Wall Street Journal, The Wrap, @inkyamy, @youranonnews, @tananarivedue, @tracylbrown, @vabvox, @robertmccoppin, @walldo, @jpelzer, @asmamk, Current, @nprinskeep, @nprinskeep, @nprinskeep, @garveymcvg, @doctaj, @doctaj, @charlesjaco1, @ejdionne, @mizamudio, @msjanicemorris, @mgerrydoyle, @dmihalopoulos, @satchelprice, @stellinitweets, @lynnsweet, @suntimes, @jrichardoneill, @leighgiangreco, @robneyer, @seidelcontent, @nprinskeep, @patrickfinley, @michaelsobrien, @robertloerzel, @sdkstl, @jayrosen_nyu, @localnewsini, @localnewsini, @davidearllive, @mgerrydoyle, @billruthhart, @naderdissa and @davemckinney

From Techmeme:

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple has renewed discussions with OpenAI about using its technology to power some features in iOS 18; talks with Google on using Gemini remain ongoing

Ryan Vlastelica / Bloomberg:
Alphabet closes above a $2T market cap for the first time, reaching a valuation of $2.15T after rising 10% on April 26, its biggest one-day jump since July 2015

Dustin Volz / Wall Street Journal:
Sam Altman, Satya Nadella, Sundar Pichai, Jensen Huang, and others join a board for advising the DHS on deploying AI safely within US critical infrastructure

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