Top News:
Washington Post:
India has taken extraordinary measures to prevent citizens from seeing the BBC's Narendra Modi documentary, including cutting electricity and detaining students — NEW DELHI — The film had already been banned, the social media posts censored. Now, the students huddled without light …
Discussion:
TIME, Al Jazeera, Reuters, CBS News, Quartz, @gerryshih, Scroll.in, @iamcouncil, @sagarikaghose, @pbhushan1, @pierreprakash, Rolling Stone, Foreign Policy and The Indian Express
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Newley Purnell / Wall Street Journal:
Twitter reinstates some Hindu nationalist accounts popular in India, including some denigrating Muslims, and blocks links to a BBC documentary on Narendra Modi — Human-rights groups say they have seen a rise in anti-Muslim material on the platform — Elon Musk's Unconventional Management Style: Former Employees Share Stories
The Guardian:
Margaret Sullivan, former Washington Post columnist and New York Times public editor, joins The Guardian US as a media, politics, and culture weekly columnist — GNM press office — Beginning this week, Margaret Sullivan, one of America's leading journalists and media commentators …
Discussion:
@sulliview, @guardianus, @markfollman, @parkermolloy, @jaredlholt, @lrozen, @vivian, @heerjeet, @hugolowell, @timjgraham and @jamesrbuk
Bryce Elder / Financial Times:
FT Alphaville closes its Mastodon server and reflects on why running a social media site is a bad idea, including due to reputational, legal, and security risks — Extinction looms for FTAV's Mastodon presence — A few months ago, FT Alphaville thought it might be fun to host a Mastodon server.
Discussion:
Talking Biz News, @katienotopoulos, @katebevan, @gabrielmilland, @jessesheidlower, @jamesrbuk, @angeljimenez, @webdevlaw, @senatorshoshana, Reuters Institute, @jeffjarvis, @mattnavarra, @smtuffy, @anthony, @financialtimes, @frgx, @janinegibson, @ricardoharvin@mstdn.social, @smtuffy, @shiraovide and @carnage4life, more at Techmeme »
Bloomberg:
Sinclair Broadcast's Diamond Sports Group heads toward an $8.6B debt restructuring in bankruptcy court and bets on its new direct-to-consumer streaming service — America's largest owner of local sports channels is heading toward a complex $8.6 billion debt restructuring in bankruptcy court …
Discussion:
The Streamable and @dbrauer
Sarah Scire / Nieman Lab:
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette strike, the first prolonged newspaper strike in decades, still has no end in sight after 100 days and four negotiating sessions — When staff at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette walked off the job in October, they became the first newspaper to strike in decades.
Discussion:
@julianrouth, @niemanlab, @bobbatzjr, @laurahazardowen, @mattdpearce and @hanaatameez
Variety:
US short seller Hindenburg Research says Adani Group, India's largest corporation and aspiring media empire, is “pulling the largest con in corporate history” — Hindenburg Research, a firm that engages in short-selling of company stocks in anticipation of a share price decline …
Discussion:
Hindenburg Research, Fast Company, Bloomberg, Insider, Reuters, @hindenburgres, Bloomberg, @qcmfunds, @adanionline, Associated Press, Observer, @rssurjewala, Fortune, New York Post, @iamcouncil, CNBC, @poonamkachanddd, @pbhushan1, @soulefacts, @akm1410, CNN, Quartz, @ktrbrs, Free Press Journal, Reuters, The Indian Express, New York Times, @adityakalra, @rafat, @schandillia, @schuldensuehner, @anthony, @rpollard, Financial Times and Scroll.in
Justin Baragona / The Daily Beast:
DirecTV drops Newsmax after carriage fee negotiations hit a standstill and the current contract expired on January 25; Newsmax was on cable in ~50M households — The conservative cable outlet was cut loose after the two sides failed to agree on terms, taking away a chunk of Newsmax's cable footprint.
Discussion:
The Wrap, Next TV, TVNewser, Mediaite, The Hill, The Daily Beast, Newsbusters, CBS News, Deadline, MediaPost, The Hollywood Reporter, @tom_basile, @justinbaragona, @justinbaragona, @matthewkeyslive, @justinbaragona, @thedailybeast, @jessiejaneduff, @richardgrenell, @cgasparino, @justinbaragona, @matthewkeyslive, @justinbaragona, @adityasood, @robcarson, @justinbaragona, New York Daily News, The Desk, The Streamable, Boing Boing, FTVLive and Los Angeles Times
New York Times:
Rupert Murdoch withdraws his News Corp and Fox Corp merger plan after significant investor pushback; James Murdoch questioned the deal in letters to both boards — News Corp, one of his companies, said Rupert Murdoch had determined that a merger was “not optimal for shareholders of News Corp and Fox at this time.”
Discussion:
News Corp, The Wrap, CNBC, @davidfolkenflik, Axios, TVNewser, Media Matters for America, Insider, MediaPost, Talking Biz News, @benmullin, Financial Times, Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal, Quartz, The Hollywood Reporter, BBC, Associated Press, @benmullin, @richlightshed, @loudmouthjulia, @jeremymbarr, @bristei, The Daily Beast, Washington Post, Australian Financial Review, Bloomberg, Crikey, Los Angeles Times, Observer, Fortune, The Guardian, Sydney Morning Herald, Mumbrella, The Hill, The Wrap, Variety, Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter and Reuters
Alex Ritman / The Hollywood Reporter:
Vice Media Group signs a deal to create bespoke, Arabic-language content and offer training for Saudi-owned MBC Group; Vice opened a Riyadh office in April 2021 — The youth media brand will create bespoke Arabic content for the government-owned Middle East behemoth.
Andrew Hutchinson / Social Media Today:
Twitter launches a Search Keyword Ads option that lets advertisers place Promoted Tweets within specific search results, allowing targeting based on user intent — Twitter has launched a new ad option that will enable advertisers to place Promoted Tweets within specific search results …
Discussion:
@mgsiegler and @glenngabe
Reed Richardson / GIJN:
Reporters Shield, a legal support and defense fund for investigative journalists and outlets worldwide, launches with $9M from USAID and $2M in private support — Between 2015 and 2000, Poland's daily newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza received more than 55 legal threats as a result of its work …
Discussion:
@gijnafrica and @gijn