Top News:
CNN:
In an about-face, Fox Corp says it will let its streaming platform Fox Soul do the traditional pre-Super Bowl presidential interview, after “initial confusion” — Hours after the White House said Fox had called off its pre-Super Bowl interview with President Joe Biden, the network said the president was still welcome.
Discussion:
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Taylor Lorenz / Washington Post:
Report: ads next to tweets from 10 extremist Twitter accounts restored by Musk generate enough engagement to likely bring in $19M in ad revenue annually — Ads from major brands are running alongside hateful content and dangerous conspiracy theories from far right Twitter users, group claims
Christopher Palmeri / Bloomberg:
Sources: Fox turned down $2B+ unsolicited offers for Tubi, which the company acquired for $440M in 2020; Tubi lost ~$50M in Q4 and grew sales 25% YoY to $200M+ — Fox Corp. has turned down unsolicited offers of more than $2 billion for its Tubi streaming service, over four times …
Discussion:
The Streamable, @tsoh_investing, @tvgrimreaper, Media Play News, The Wrap, @carlquintanilla and Insider
Alex Williams / New York Times:
Marianne Mantell, who co-founded Caedmon, a groundbreaking label that issued recordings of writers reading their words, the precursors to audiobooks, dies at 93 — In her early 20s she co-founded the groundbreaking spoken-word record label Caedmon, which had a hit with Dylan Thomas's “A Child's Christmas in Wales.”
Discussion:
@penamerica, @susannahfox, @edoballerini and @libraryamerica
New York Times:
After a three-month strike, the HarperCollins union and the company reach a tentative deal that includes increasing minimum salaries and a one-time $1,500 bonus — After a three-month strike, the two parties reached a tentative deal that includes wage increases and a one-time bonus.
Discussion:
Vox, @mclendaniel, @bonesleopard, Publishers Weekly, @maureenjohnson, @hcpunion, @liz_a_harris, Gothamist, Associated Press, Wall Street Journal and The Bookseller
Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
News Corp plans to cut its headcount by ~5%, or ~1,250 positions, by the end of 2023 and says the company is still in talks to sell its digital real estate unit — The owner of The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones was impacted by a difficult economic environment.
RELATED:
Jenna Burrell / Poynter:
Journalists must challenge the notion that AI will replace humans; ChatGPT proves that finding the truth is trickier than pairing data with the right algorithm — Don't let these tools dazzle you beyond reason. Don't anthropomorphize them. Ask hard questions about what they're purported to do.
Discussion:
@jennaburrell, MediaPost, Boing Boing, @mike_salter, @spj_tweets, @poynter and @datasociety
New York Times:
An excerpt from an upcoming book on the Redstone family and its media empire: how Shari Redstone took control of Paramount, which emerged from CBS and Viacom — Her father doubted her much of her career. Les Moonves launched a bid at CBS to overrule her. That was before sexual misconduct allegations came to light.
Discussion:
@jamesstewartnyt, @benmullin, @craigsilverman, @nytimes and Bloomberg
Pluralistic:
Creators tend to see copyright as a strong defense, including against generative AI, but it won't protect them from odious contracts imposed by monopolists — The media spectacle of generative AI (in which AI companies' breathless claims of their software's sorcerous powers are endlessly repeated) …
Discussion:
@anniezaidi and @jbaert
Manish Singh / TechCrunch:
Sources: Amazon is in talks with Times Internet to acquire MX Player, a top VOD streaming service in India; Times Internet acquired MX Player for $140M in 2018 — Amazon is engaging with Times Internet to explore the acquisition of MX Player, one of the largest on-demand video streaming services in India …
Discussion:
The Information and Cord Cutters News, more at Techmeme »
Donie O'Sullivan / @donie:
CNN's Donie O'Sullivan returns to Twitter to cover Twitter, after being suspended in December 2022 for tweeting about Elon Musk and deleting the offending tweet — https://twitter.com/...
Discussion:
@gavinsblog and @julibriskman
Harry Lambert / New Statesman:
A look at the UK's Evening Standard and Independent under owner Evgeny Lebedev; while the Indy is profitable, the media outlets have lost £150M over 11 years — Buying British newspapers gave the Lebedevs clout in Tory high politics. Over a decade on, it remains unclear what they hope to achieve.
Discussion:
@newstatesman, @harrytlambert, @newstatesman, @newstatesman and @peterjukes
NBC News:
White House Communications Director Kate Bedingfield plans to step down at the end of February 2023; Obama administration veteran Ben LaBolt will succeed her — Another core Biden veteran is leaving the administration but the communications director is expected to consult a re-elect campaign.
Discussion:
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