Mediagazer: How Russell Brand built an army of fans with his conspiracy-minded podcast, whose guests, like Tucker Carlson, remain loyal even after the sexual assault claims (Matt Flegenheimer/New York Times)

BBC:

The BBC says five complaints have been made about Russell Brand's behavior while he hosted radio shows between 2006 and 2008 — The BBC has said a total of five complaints have been made about Russell Brand's behaviour while he hosted radio shows between 2006 and 2008.

Discussion: Variety, Sky News, Metro.co.uk, Daily Mail, The Sun, RTÉ, London Evening Standard, The Mirror, Deadline, BBC, Daily Record and The Irish Sun

Matt Flegenheimer / New York Times:

How Russell Brand built an army of fans with his conspiracy-minded podcast, whose guests, like Tucker Carlson, remain loyal even after the sexual assault claims — The British entertainer built an army of fans with his conspiracy-minded podcast. Now, amid sex-assault claims against him, they've become his whole world.

Discussion: @mattfleg

Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:

The NUJ says 70% of BBC Local members voted to accept a new BBC offer, covering “jobs, income protection, and workload”, after ~1,000 journalists went on strike — BBC local journalists have taken part in three days of strike action this year. — Hundreds of BBC journalists …

Discussion: @nickwebb2017, @nujofficial and National Union of Journalists …

Discussion: Media Voices, @matlockhare, @mslaura_brown, @davidlloydradio and @nickfromupnorth

Alexandra Bruell / Wall Street Journal:

Henry Blodget steps down as Insider CEO, replaced by Barbara Peng; Insider changes its name back to Business Insider to focus on business and technology news — Publisher changes name back to Business Insider, with Barbara Peng to succeed Blodget as CEO — Henry Blodget, one of the early pioneers …

Discussion: Press Gazette, Reuters, Insider, @meghanemorris, @keithmccullough, @louwhiteman and @thestalwart

Matthew Belloni / Puck:

Source: after a backlash on social media, Warner Bros. Discovery plans to let the filmmakers of Coyote vs. Acme shop the movie to other potential distributors — In a surprising about-face, Warner Bros. executives will allow the filmmakers of Coyote vs. Acme, a $70 million live action/CGI …

Mo Abbas / NBC News:

Palestinian journalists in Israel, working for outlets including Sky News Arabia, the BBC, and RT, say they were questioned or assaulted by Israeli police — Reporters from at least three news outlets said they were questioned or assaulted by Israeli police, while others contend with pressure and pushback from the country's leaders.

Discussion: Talking Biz News

Discussion: The Times of Israel

Axios:

The Block sells an 80% stake to Singaporean VC Foresight Ventures, valuing the crypto outlet at $70M and freeing the business from its financial ties to FTX — Crypto media company The Block sold a majority stake to Singaporean venture capital firm Foresight Ventures in a deal valuing the crypto outlet at $70 million.

Discussion: @jamesplloyd, @jasonyanowitz, @show4653, @mdudas, @seangriffey, @foresightven, @lhm1, @basedkarbon, @poordart, Financial Times, @sarafischer, @lawmaster, The Information, CoinDesk, TechCrunch and Talking Biz News

Davey Alba / Bloomberg:

YouTube plans to require users to disclose when they upload realistic-looking manipulated or synthetic content, including videos made using its tools, in 2024 — Site's creators who repeatedly fail to disclose AI use will face penalties — YouTube, the video platform owned by Alphabet Inc.'s Google …

Discussion: CNN, The Verge and YouTube Official Blog, more at Techmeme »

Justin Baragona / The Daily Beast:

Jason Donner, a former Fox News Capitol Hill reporter, sues the network, alleging he was fired for opposing Fox's “false coverage of the January 6 insurrection” — Donner, who spent 12 years at Fox News, is now suing the network under D.C.'s human-rights statutes, alleging wrongful termination.

Discussion: @justinbaragona, @justinbaragona, The Desk, New York Times, @jordanonrecord, Associated Press and Mediaite

Reuters:

Tencent Music reports Q3 revenue down 10.8% YoY to ~$900M, vs. ~$865M est., net profit up 15.6% YoY to ~$173M, and paying users up 20.8% YoY to 103M — China's Tencent Music Entertainment (1698.HK) beat estimates for third-quarter revenue on Tuesday, helped by steady growth in paid subscriptions on its music streaming platform.

Discussion: Variety and Tencent Music

John Koblin / New York Times:

CBS says scripted series will return in mid-February 2024, becoming the first network to lay out post-strike scheduling plans after the tentative agreement — The announcement is the first from a network about its plans since a tentative agreement was reached last week to end Hollywood's strikes.

Discussion: The Hollywood Reporter

Bron Maher / Press Gazette:

Analysis: in 2022, Mail Online had the most partially and fully upheld IPSO complaints, with seven, followed by The Times, Express, and Mirror, with three each — However IPSO's annual report, using a different timeframe, puts Times and Telegraph top. — Mail Online had the most upheld …