Top News:
Alexandra Bruell / Wall Street Journal:
Entertainment Weekly, InStyle, EatingWell, Health, Parents, and People en Español will cease printing after April, becoming digital brands and cutting ~200 jobs — The publications, which IAC's Dotdash acquired when it bought Meredith last year, will live on as digital-only brands
Discussion:
New York Times, Variety, Axios, The Wrap, Protocol, Nieman Lab, @natalieabrams, @jbflint, @benpershing, Too Much TV Newsletter, Digiday, @jeffjarvis, @thehrh, @sarahjaeleiber, @jessewashington, @danpriceseattle, @jensantamaria, @mikeroe, @jensantamaria, @dabearsblog, @lmoses, @shanellegenai, @tinajordannyt, @jmdornbush, @richardlnewby, @hiattb, @casey_mink, @tvmojoe, @jeffjarvis, @marcatracy, @heykmenz, @froomkin, @daniellenuss, @jaredbkeller, @ml_boardman, @terri_schwartz, @ericrennerbrown, @film_girl, @rgay, @markstenberg3, @jmrivera02, @ambernoelle, @kasie, @jowrotethis, @kod, @chrisvfeil, @jensantamaria, @azalben, @samontv, Daily Front Row, Los Angeles Times, MediaPost, Christopher Six's Pick Six, The Hill, WWD, New York Post, TheStreet, Al Jazeera, Ad Age, The Hollywood Reporter and Deadline
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Disney beats Q1 estimates with 129.8M Disney+ subscriptions worldwide, up 37% YoY, and $21.82B in revenue, up 34% YoY; stock up 7%+ — Disney Plus powered to a strong year-end finish, with the media giant's flagship streaming business blowing past expectations to hit almost 130 million users.
Discussion:
CNBC, Fast Company, The Streamable, The Walt Disney Company, Wall Street Journal, The Wrap, @cnbc, Deadline, Digital Trends, @scottygb, Deadline, Digiday, @fedprom, ABC7, MediaPost, @ldignan, Ad Age, Hollywood Reporter, @xpangler, Decider, Axios, Junghoon's Direct Media …, @xpangler and New York Post
Georg Szalai / Hollywood Reporter:
Filing: Discovery says its merger with AT&T's WarnerMedia received US antitrust clearance, following European Commission approval in December — The mega-deal is expected to close in the second quarter.
Discussion:
Axios, Variety, Digital TV Europe, @brianstelter, @brianstelter, @axios, @dcnorg, @roncharles, @alexweprin, The Week, @alexweprin, Los Angeles Times, CNN, New York Post, Media Play News, New York Times, The Hill, The Verge, The Wrap and Deadline
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Brian Steinberg / Variety:
Sources: Discovery sees Zucker's departure as an opportunity for a reset at CNN to make it less opinionated; ratings have declined noticeably in recent months — Ever since Jeff Zucker seized the reins at CNN in early 2013, the cable-news network has been one of loudest voices in media circles.
Discussion:
@jayrosen_nyu, @soledadobrien, @emilytvproducer, @froomkin, Mediaite, @bristei, @bristei, @bristei and Poynter
Joshua Benton / Nieman Lab:
The bitcoin-related arrest of a writer who posted 47 times on Forbes.com highlights earlier use of Forbes' contributor network for scams, PR, or bad journalism — That “rapper” accused of billions in crypto fraud was also a Forbes contributor. Is it finally time to move past the contributor network?
Discussion:
@jbenton, @jppullen, @kantrowitz, @bgrueskin, @scottnover, @jackmarshall, @sir_ruffy, @jbenton, @lpolgreen, @josh_emerson, @brosandprose, @jeremy_borden, @dangillmor, @annatarkov, @bryanrolli, @pearseanderson, @paulbradleycarr, @niemanlab, @technollama, @lyssaslounge, @netculture, @anthony, @ckrewson, @caseynewton, @stephenbeck, @ckrewson, @kateconger, @mmasnick, @byrontau, @tprice504, @charliebeckett, @erinahennessy and @robinwigg
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Sarah Emerson / BuzzFeed News:
One of two people charged with conspiring to launder ~$3.6B in stolen bitcoin has been a consistent contributor at Forbes since late 2017 and at Inc. since 2016
One of two people charged with conspiring to launder ~$3.6B in stolen bitcoin has been a consistent contributor at Forbes since late 2017 and at Inc. since 2016
Discussion:
U.S. Department of Justice, Bloomberg, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, @sarahnemerson, @petersterne, @saradietschy, @dcseifert, Slate, @erenbali, @sheilahbirgen, Metacurity, @seldo, @malwaretechblog, @susanlitv, @blakersdozen, The Verge, @vickerysec, @dex_eve, @karlbode, @nktpnd, @aaschapiro, @johnatron4000, @szmarsupial, @kscottz, @stevekovach, @lalpert1, @sarahnemerson, @paldhous, @katienotopoulos, @alexdemling, @justinhendrix, CNET, Washington Post, Shelly Palmer, The Sun, Reuters, TechCrunch, MarketWatch, BroBible, ZDNet, NPR, Boing Boing and Forbes, more at Techmeme »
Erik Wemple / Washington Post:
In a deposition, James Bennet says that he included a direct apology to Sarah Palin in a response to CNN's questions, but the apology didn't make it past NYT PR — “America's Lethal Politics,” the June 14, 2017, editorial at the center of Sarah Palin's defamation lawsuit, is cause for apology.
Discussion:
@erikwemple, Nieman Lab, Politico, Washington Post, Associated Press, @davidfolkenflik, @froomkin, @davidfolkenflik, Deadline, Slate, @oliverdarcy, @julie_kelly2, New York Post, @mboorstein, The Daily Beast, CNN, Poynter and NPR
Andrew Kersley / Press Gazette:
The BBC will launch a new live team with 31 journalists to expand coverage beyond COVID-19, after its live pages collectively saw 1B+ visits during the pandemic — The pandemic has attached “rocket boosters” to news live blogs and led to more investment from publishers as sites try …
Discussion:
What's New in Publishing, @davidclinchnews, @stuartmillar159, @jasminecoleman, @ponniahkevin and Talking Biz News
Sara Fischer / Axios:
As ABC News, ESPN, Daily Mail, and other outlets amass over 1M TikTok followers, some suggest the surge is reminiscent of their growth on Facebook in 2015 — A handful of news media companies now have more than 1 million followers on TikTok, a testament to how much the viral video platform …
Discussion:
@jaysunsilver, Understanding TikTok, @_andersonbecca, @shannmclellan, @callingcaterina and @evanmcmurry
Kate Briquelet / The Daily Beast:
Vicky Ward disputes Isaac Chotiner's article about her 2003 Jeffrey Epstein profile and blames Graydon Carter for omissions; Carter calls her a serial liar — Ward released what she said were transcripts of conversations with Jeffrey Epstein and the Vanity Fair editor-in-chief, who called her a “serial liar.”
Discussion:
@kbriquelet, @vickypjward, @kbriquelet, @xeni, @vickypjward, @kbriquelet, @kbriquelet, @wardreporter, @thedailybeast, @kbriquelet, Vicky Ward Investigates, @runasand, @mathewi and @adrs
Nieman Lab:
A study of 430 local Seattle journalists from 2015-2021 finds ~40% had the same job after six years, ~30% left the industry, and 16% advanced in their careers — A bleak look at journalism careers in one U.S. city — It's been almost an entire generation since the recession …
Discussion:
@andrewgiambrone and @shirishmm
Etan Vlessing / The Hollywood Reporter:
James Murdoch and ex-Star India CEO Uday Shankar form Bodhi Tree with $1.5B from Qatar's wealth fund to invest in media and tech in SE Asia, particularly India — The alliance sees the launch of the platform, titled Bodhi Tree, with financial backing from the Qatar Investment Authority.
Discussion:
Variety, Deadline, @sarafischer, Los Angeles Times and TechCrunch
Bloomberg:
After crypto's recent plunge, FTX and Crypto.com seek new customers with Super Bowl ads; iSpot.tv data: $112.9M+ has been spent on US crypto TV ads since 2020 — It's a testing time for crypto exchanges to be making their Super Bowl ad debuts. — Recruiting new users can be simple when prices are skyrocketing.
Discussion:
@silvermanjacob, @gardnerakayla, @crypto and @ryanlawler