Mediagazer: NBC's decision to spend $7.75B on Olympics rights through 2032 looks shaky after Beijing, a buzz-free, hermetically sealed event, saw viewers staying away (Associated Press)

7:10 AM ET, February 22, 2022

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Discussion: @localmediaassoc, Local Media Association …, Knight Foundation, Word In Black, @ramsammy, @raju, @localmediarocks, @frankwords, @larrylee916, @pennyriordan1, @knightfdn and @larrylee916

Katie Robertson / New York Times:

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Associated Press:

NBC's decision to spend $7.75B on Olympics rights through 2032 looks shaky after Beijing, a buzz-free, hermetically sealed event, saw viewers staying away — NEW YORK (AP) — There were many reasons to think NBC made a savvy business deal in 2014 when it locked up the American media rights …

Helen Davidson / The Guardian:

Foreign Correspondents' Club of China criticizes reporting conditions at the Winter Olympics, saying reporters were tailed and manhandled despite IOC assurances — Foreign Correspondents' Club of China says reporters tailed and manhandled by security despite assurances from Games officials

Discussion: @johnsimpsonnews, @glynmoody, @sharrond62 and The Hill

James Fallows / Breaking the News:

After Dean Baquet dismissed criticism from “unnuanced voices on Twitter”, The New York Times urgently needs to re-hire a public editor to avoid future missteps — For the New York Times, that means a public editor. — This post started out several days ago as a follow-up to …

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Dan Froomkin / Press Watch:

Dean Baquet is unable to acknowledge major flaws undermining his newsroom, casting himself as a savior of journalism against Twitter critics and young staffers — Even in the most unrevealing interviews, New York Times editor Dean Baquet's arrogance, cluelessness, and complete disregard for his critics …

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Andrew Kersley / Press Gazette:

ABC report: The Economist's digital subscribers grew 14% YoY to 995,228 in 2021, accounting for nearly half of all digital magazine subscriptions in the UK — The Economist retained its spot as the UK magazine with the largest digital edition circulation, reaching nearly one million subscribers in 2021 …

Discussion: abc.org.uk

Timothy McLaughlin / The Atlantic:

Profile of Ronson Chan, chairman of the Hong Kong Journalists Association and an editor of Stand News, which closed after two editors were charged with sedition — In the summer of 2019, Ronson Chan, then an editor for the independent news outlet Stand News, took a delayed honeymoon to Germany with his wife.

Discussion: @tmclaughlin3, @stand_with_hk, @jeffreygoldberg, @tmclaughlin3 and @theatlantic

Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:

Swiss outlets were excluded from an investigation, involving 47 publications, into Credit Suisse to protect them from the vague wording of a banking secrecy law — Switzerland-based news organisations were excluded from the Suisse Secrets investigation into Credit Suisse's banking practices over fears of punitive legal punishment.

Discussion: The Guardian, Euractiv and OCCRP

Ben Quinn / The Guardian:

After an acrimonious departure from GB News, Andrew Neil will host a 10-week show on Channel 4; Neil once described C4 as the “broadcasting arm of the Guardian” — Live programme is Neil's first major return to broadcasting following departure from GB News

Discussion: Telegraph, Broadcast, @jujuliagrace, @kevin_maguire, The i Paper, @pressgazette, @writesbright, @mehdirhasan, @carolecadwalla, The Independent, @themichaelmoran, Daily Mail, @louisa_compton, London Evening Standard, @mr_considerate and @hkesvani

Bloomberg:

Sources: Reliance and Viacom are in talks to add Lupa and Comcast to a consortium bid for Indian Premier League TV telecast, expected to cross $5.3B — Mukesh Ambani's conglomerate is bringing together a consortium aiming to outbid entertainment giants Amazon.com Inc. …

Discussion: @unnique and @pranavmukul

Bron Maher / Press Gazette:

Interview with Luca Sofri, founder of Italy's Il Post, an outlet that is member- and ad-funded like the Guardian, with 50K members and a €400K profit in 2020 — Luca Sofri, the founder of Italy's Il Post news website, told Press Gazette how, 12 years after launch …

Discussion: @pressgazette, @gpaccardo, @pressgazette and @pressgazette