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Sources detail the tumult inside Spotify's podcast division, which is yet to release any shows from marquee deals with Ava DuVernay and others after over a year — - Spotify inked deals with Ava DuVernay, Jordan Peele, and more but many of them have released no podcasts.
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@exavierpope, @perlberg, @dlberes, @natjarv, @walthickey, @oliverdarcy, @thebenbergman and Engadget
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Sources: the value of Spotify's deal with Joe Rogan, which covers three and a half years, was at least $200M, twice the $100M that reports suggested at the time
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Rolling Stone, CNET, Curse of the I-5 Corridor, @rjcc, OutKick, Engadget, New York Post, Hollywood Reporter, MediaPost, Complete Music Update, 9to5Mac, @hotlinejosh, Barrett Media, Newser, @helenzaltzman, Hip-Hop Wired, The Fix, Webb Chatham Report, @maxkennerly, @bowl_of_worcel, Music Ally, iMore, Billboard, @ericboehlert, @mcclure111, insideradio.com, @awilkinson, @sanasaeed, AppleInsider, @daviddtss, @eoinhiggins_, @danrodricks, @ianmorris78, @zoecello, @gartenberg, @nicktheandersen, @nicktheandersen, @edmundlee, @rjcc, @rjcc, @internetryan, @robertwrighter, @hayesbrown, @marklgoldberg, @jljacobson, @rschooley, @mikeisaac, @katierosman, The Verge, Input, GIANT FREAKIN ROBOT, Forbes, The Wrap, TechSpot, Insider, Variety, Cracked Bowl, Protocol and Digital Music News


Q&A with Dean Baquet on star journalists, the rise of off-the-cuff opinionating in journalism, not caring about the “unnuanced voices on Twitter”, and more — Ahead of his expected retirement, the Times' executive editor reflects on his newsroom's unprecedented growth …


Len Blavatnik's Access Industries agrees to a $4.3B recapitalization of DAZN, clearing the streamer's debt, and subscribes to another $250M in new shares — Len Blavatnik has agreed a $4.3 billion recapitalization of DAZN, as the billionaire doubles down on his loss-making sports entertainment company …
Discussion:
Front Office Sports, Reuters, Financial Times, @ray__diggs and @fightoracle


Philadelphia NPR station WHYY has had 49% turnover since January 2021 as staff complain about poor communication, organization, and focus on short news pieces — Thirty-four WHYY journalists signed a letter to top managers last February complaining about how they were running the newsroom …
Discussion:
@andreawenzel, @andreawenzel, @jayrosen_nyu, @mollydeaguiar, @rw_briggs, @dpearsonphl and @phillyaflcio


How advertisers are dealing with Facebook ad price increases prompted by Apple's ATT changes, with some shifting their ad budgets to Google, Amazon, and TikTok — Privacy features prompt e-commerce businesses to slash ad spending; ‘Apple has changed the game’ — Facebook was long one of the surest bets in digital advertising.


In December 2021, 33% of Americans said they pay a “great deal” of attention to national news, down from 54% in November 2020 — Fewer Americans are paying attention to national news now than at any time since early 2018. In December 2021, a third of Americans (33%) said they pay …
Discussion:
@iohnsands and @marklittlenews


Netflix announces four comedy specials to be hosted and produced by Dave Chappelle, with a focus on other veteran comedians — The controversial comic will host and produce four comedy specials focusing on other veteran comedians. … The streamer announced Friday the release …


Digital media executive Sree Sreenivasan joins Arizona State University to lead CronkitePro, an education program for journalism and comms professionals — Sree Sreenivasan, an internationally acclaimed journalist, digital media executive and educator, will join Arizona State University's …


Postmedia, Canada's largest newspaper company, buys BNI, which publishes three daily newspapers and six weeklies in New Brunswick — Brunswick News Inc. is being sold for $7.5M in cash and $8.6M in variable voting shares of Postmedia — Brunswick News Inc., which publishes three daily newspapers …
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Postmedia, @aditrao, @jm_mcgrath, @dred_tory, @nadineyousif_, @alau2, @craigsilverman, @aditrao, @bransfieldrob and @trapdinawrpool


Journalists should tell their audiences that the media itself is in the crossfire of an information war, amid repeated alarms over a Russian invasion of Ukraine — “With Buildup on Land and Sea, Russia Closes Noose on Ukraine” (two columns, below the fold).
Discussion:
Metro.co.uk, @bettedam, @mbalter, The Daily Beast, Politico and @jon_allsop


A look at Gazeta Wyborcza, one of Poland's leading dailies with 280K digital subscribers and a premium tier offering direct contact with the editorial team — For any newspaper, 280,000 digital subscribers is a hefty achievement. It propels a title into the rarified ‘100K Club’ and for Gazeta Wyborcza …


Martin Tolchin, a former New York Times reporter and the founding publisher and editor of The Hill, dies at 93 — He covered Congress in the 1970s and '80s before heading up a successful Capitol Hill newspaper. — Martin Tolchin, a former reporter for The New York Times who covered Congress …
Discussion:
The Hill, Barrett Media, @wuerker, @kenvogel, @azi, @adamlashinsky, @rickberke, @jenseniorny and @harrispolitico