Top News:
Abbey White / The Hollywood Reporter:
Over 100 New York Times contributors and others call on the paper to stop “bias, fringe theories, and dangerous inaccuracies” in its coverage of trans people — Hannah Gadsby, Joey Soloway, Margaret Cho, Jameela Jamil, Lena Dunham, Jonathan Van Ness and Jazz Jennings were also among …
Discussion:
nytletter.com, Nieman Lab, Hell Gate, GLAAD, NPR, BuzzFeed News, HuffPost, The Hill, Mediaite, @glaad, @binarybits, @jessesingal, GLAAD, Forbes, @wfkars, @briannawu, @parkermolloy, @melissagira, @aridrennen, @binarybits, @melissagira, @kmele, Press Gazette, @msmagazine, @harronwawker, New York Daily News, The Wrap, @sasha_velour, @hollywoodintoto, @athertonkd, @alexanderchee, @nora_jsr, @owillis, @silviakillings, @sarahkateellis, @parkermolloy, @rgay, @muna_mire, @glaad, @thetonymorrison, @luxalptraum, @glaad, @shaneferro, Deadline, @budrykzack, @jmkliegman, @byjudedoyle, @lyzl, @bykatesmith, @mattyglesias, @parkermolloy, @melissagira, @discourse_blog, @isle_mcelroy, @alexkleeman, The Daily Beast, @parkermolloy, @markharrisnyc, @thefrankiedlc, @lpolgreen, @ggreenwald, @macfathom, @espiers, @mckinneykelsey, @hellgateny, @jfrejnyc, @jack_turban, @bykatesmith, @theradr, @tomcoates, @leximcmenamin, @nikostratis, @parkermolloy, @lyzl, @melissagira, @parkermolloy, @shiramstein, @joshgondelman, @elongreen, @femme_thoughts, @tabathasouthey, @_zeets, @natachakennedy, @rcolesworthy, @ericthurm, @davidklion, @leftistwriter, @sdkstl, @megrowler, @wcruz73, @tombevanrcp, @tithenai, @tithenai, @nikilsaval, @transscribe, @muna_mire and Rolling Stone
The Guardian:
France's BFMTV suspended presenter Rachid M'Barki last month and launched an internal investigation into news packages linked to an Israeli disinformation unit — Rachid M'Barki, one of channel's longest-serving hosts, suspended during inquiry into news packages linked to ‘Team Jorge’
Discussion:
The Guardian, @burke_jason, @paullewis, @manisha_bot, @david_conn and @emilybell, more at Techmeme »
Tiyashi Datta / Reuters:
Roku reports Q4 revenue of $867.1M, flat YoY, vs. $801.7M est., streaming hours up 23% YoY, and Q1 2023 revenue guidance above estimates; ROKU jumps 10%+ — Roku Inc (ROKU.O) forecast first-quarter revenue above analysts' estimates on Wednesday, betting on its streaming devices and content platform to drive growth.
Discussion:
The Streamable, The Wrap and Deadline, more at Techmeme »
Jessica Toonkel / Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Kristin Dolan, the wife of AMC Chairman James Dolan who runs a data analytics company, emerges as a candidate to become AMC network's CEO — Cable-TV company known for hits like ‘The Walking Dead’ has discussed potential deals with Roku, Sony and others; transition to streaming has been rocky
Discussion:
@jtoonkel, The Wrap, @patiencehaggin, The Hollywood Reporter, IndieWire, @bubbaprog and @pkafka
Matthew Yglesias / Slow Boring:
More competition has made mainstream media better than ever; Bari Weiss, Fox News, and others are incentivized to exaggerate the issues to sell their own wares — More competition means it's better than ever, but you hear more about the flaws — Fresh episode of Bad Takes is out today …
Carlos Greer / Page Six:
Sources: CNN last week terminated Federico Quadrani, Jake Tapper's executive producer, over a relationship with a subordinate, amid a separate HR investigation — It's been one year since former CNN chief Jeff Zucker resigned over his relationship with top exec Allison Gollust …
Discussion:
Mediaite, Fox News, @katiecouric and @johnnydollar01
Ava Benny-Morrison / Bloomberg:
After outlets sought the names of SBF's bail guarantors, a judge reveals Stanford Law emeritus dean Larry Kramer and Stanford computer scientist Andreas Paepcke — Two people who co-signed Sam Bankman-Fried's $250 million bail package have been have been publicly identified as a former dean …
Discussion:
New York Magazine, CoinDesk, Financial Times, Forbes, Fortune, Insider, @eamonjavers, @eamonjavers, @eamonjavers, @eriqgardner, @eriqgardner and The Daily Beast
Sara Fischer / Axios:
Twitter updates its policies to allow cannabis ads targeting US states where cannabis is legal, promoting brands or providing info but not offering direct sales — Twitter on Wednesday updated its advertising policies to allow cannabis ads to run on its service in states where cannabis is legal, in accordance with federal guidelines.
Discussion:
Politico, @junglejava1 and Twitter for Business
MPR News:
Star Tribune names Steve Grove, Minnesota's commissioner of employment and economic development and a former Google executive, as its publisher and CEO — The Star Tribune has tapped Minnesota's commissioner of employment and economic development to take the paper's top job.
Discussion:
@launchminnesota, Star Tribune and MediaPost
Stephen Battaglio / Los Angeles Times:
Newsmax is complaining on air and online about DirecTV dropping the channel; any new deal can affect the terms of Newsmax's pacts with other pay TV providers — Viewers who have tuned into the conservative news channel Newsmax in recent weeks may think they are watching a telethon.
Discussion:
CNN, @thetweetofjohn, @jayrosen_nyu, Next TV, IndieWire and The Desk
Brendan Coffey / Sportico:
Sinclair Broadcast's Diamond Sports Holdings skipped a $140M debt payment due on February 15, 2023, formally starting a 30-day grace period to resolve the debt — Regional sports network operator Diamond Sports Holdings has skipped a $140 million debt payment due Wednesday …
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
Vermont-based Superplastic, which creates “synthetic” influencers and characters, raised $20M led by Amazon's Alexa Fund and plans to work with Amazon Studios — Janky and Guggimon, ‘synthetic’ celebrities conceived in a studio and big on social platforms like TikTok and Instagram …
Discussion:
Forbes, Deadline, The Wrap, Variety, Fast Company, Insider and The Hollywood Reporter, more at Techmeme »