Mediagazer: Tim Davie says police asked the BBC to pause its investigation into a suspended male presenter as officers decide if a criminal investigation would be justified (Jim Waterson/The Guardian)

6:15 PM ET, July 11, 2023

Top News:

Texas A&M weakened its offer to a University of Texas professor to revive its journalism program, after backlash about DEI and her NYT past; she's staying at UT — The university celebrated its decision to hire Kathleen McElroy to revive its journalism program.

Wall Street Journal:

Sources: Disney is exploring strategic options for its Star India business; Media Partners Asia estimates Disney+ Hotstar could lose 15M subscribers in FY 2023 — Talks are a sign of how Star India's fortunes have changed since Disney's purchase of Fox entertainment assets

Discussion: @jtoonkel, @scottgustin and @rwhelanwsj

Jim Waterson / The Guardian:

Tim Davie says police asked the BBC to pause its investigation into a suspended male presenter as officers decide if a criminal investigation would be justified — Corporation's director general reveals request as officers consider if there is reason for a criminal inquiry

Discussion: Press Gazette, Deadline, @adambienkov, The Week, @snowleopardess, The Hollywood Reporter, BBC and BBC

BBC:

A young person says the BBC presenter at the center of a scandal sent them threatening texts after they alluded online to naming and having contact with him — A young person has told BBC News they felt threatened by the BBC presenter at the centre of a row over payment for sexually explicit photos.

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Variety:

Top Hollywood executives are working on a plan to call in federal mediators to try to avert a SAG-AFTRA strike, which could happen as early as July 13 — A group of CEOs and senior executives, including Disney chief Bob Iger, Warner Bros. Discovery's David Zaslav and Netflix's Ted Sarandos …

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Georg Szalai / Hollywood Reporter:

The BBC reports record BBC Studios revenue up 28% YoY to £2.09B in 2022-2023, EBITDA rose 6% YoY to £240M, and returns to the BBC reached a record £362M — Thanks to hit content, such as ‘Happy Valley,’ 'Bluey, and ‘Dancing With the Stars,’ the commercial arm …

Discussion: Press Gazette, Deadline, Broadband TV News, Variety and WORLD SCREEN

Jake Kanter / Deadline:
The BBC says total talent pay rose by £10M to £139.8M in 2022-2023, the highest since 2020; salaries for presenters earning £150K+ totaled £23.4M, up 15% YoY

Discussion: BBC and The Guardian

Naman Ramachandran / Variety:
The BBC reports a £120M deficit and a £5.7B record income in 2022-2023, up from £5.33B a year ago; license fee payments were £3.74B, down from £3.8B a year ago

Discussion: BBC and BBC

Charlie Nash / Mediaite:

Filings show Vice executives' $700K+ salaries and collective bonuses totaling $1M+ on April 28, one day after layoffs and two weeks before the bankruptcy filing — Vice senior staff writer Joseph Cox shared the eye-popping payments made to Vice Media executives who “led VICE to bankruptcy” on Monday.

Discussion: @josephfcox, @annacod, @sanasaeed, New York Post, @macwbishop, @janusrose, @brooklynmarie, @viceunion, @michaelmalice and @lindsaykatai

Nitish Pahwa / Slate:

A volunteer contributor for Twitter's Community Notes details checking rampant spam and disinformation across the site and says the tool is far from sufficient — Twitter's “Community Notes” volunteers are supposed to make the platform “the most accurate source of information about the world.”

Discussion: @alphabetworkers, @ikepigott.com, @iethics, @shepgo@mastodon.social, @sharylattkisson, @nitishpahwa.bsky.social and @pahwa_nitish

Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:

The Financial Times leans into its B2B business with an FT Professional rebranding, citing that its B2B subscriptions account for 75% of its paying readers — B2B subscriptions account for 75% of the FT's paying readers. — The Financial Times is targeting growth in its B2B division …

Discussion: @mediaevan, @nsmgmedia, @danfaggella, @seangriffey, Media Voices, @pressgazette, @pressgazette, City A.M. and Talking Biz News

Reuters:

Syria cancels the media accreditation of two local journalists working for the BBC over what the information ministry calls “false” and “politicized” coverage — Syria's information ministry said on Saturday it had cancelled the accreditation of two local journalists working …

Discussion: BBC, Associated Press, @annie_sparrow and Committee to Protect …

Washington Post:

The Washington Post becomes the first major national newspaper to join Verizon's +play subscription aggregation hub; new Post subscribers get three months free — The Washington Post announced today that it has joined Verizon's +play - giving Verizon customers an exclusive three-month subscription …

Discussion: The Desk

Hanaa' Tameez / Nieman Lab:

The LAT debuts De Los, a free, standalone vertical for English-dominant Latinos on its website, Instagram, and TikTok; the paper has 547K+ digital subscribers — “There is no future for the L.A. Times without Latino subscribers, because that's who lives here.”

Discussion: Axios, Los Angeles Times, @maxwelltani, @yvonnewingett, @sarahscire, MediaPost, Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times and Los Angeles Times

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