Mediagazer: Jessica Lessin and others reflect on 10 years of The Information, which has 65 full-time employees, 475K active readers, and expects revenue growing 30% in 2023 (Charlotte Klein/Vanity Fair)

6:35 PM ET, December 5, 2023

Top News:

The Sun publisher News Group Newspapers pays out “substantial damages” to a group of celebrities and apologizes over unlawful information-gathering practices — News Group Newspapers apologised to the claimants, who include Mel C and Catherine Tate.

Discussion: Reuters, Mediaite and NPR

Tom Symonds / BBC:

Lawyers for News UK and former UK Cabinet minister Chris Huhne reach a settlement in a phone hacking case that Huhne says includes a “six figure sum” in damages — The publisher of the Sun and the News of the World has agreed a “six figure” settlement to a phone-hacking claim from a former government minister.

Discussion: The Guardian, Byline Times, @peterjukes, @bgrueskin, @brianstelter, @davidfolkenflik, @uvuume, @peterjukes and Hacked Off

Drew Richardson / CNBC:

Disney investor Ancora urges other Disney shareholders to put Nelson Peltz on the board and blasts the existing board for “sustained value destruction” — - Activist investor Ancora issued a letter to Disney shareholders urging the company to add Nelson Peltz to its board.

Discussion: Business Wire, The Information, @ernie.tedium.co, Yahoo Finance, Axios and The Wrap

Charlotte Klein / Vanity Fair:

Jessica Lessin and others reflect on 10 years of The Information, which has 65 full-time employees, 475K active readers, and expects revenue growing 30% in 2023 — As the tech website turns 10 this week, its editor in chief reflects on building a sustainable subscription business off Silicon Valley scoops …

Discussion: Simon Owens's Media Newsletter, @tomgara, @kantrowitz, @jaycodon, @theinformation, @mvpeers, @lessin, @brianstelter, @jessicalessin, @charlottetklein, @lessin and @theinformation

Wall Street Journal:

The US State Department says Russia rejected a “significant” proposal to release The WSJ's Evan Gershkovich; sources: the offer involved trading prisoners — U.S. seeking to win freedom for Evan Gershkovich and Paul Whelan, State Department spokesman says

Discussion: BBC, The Hill, Fox News, Mediaite, Agence France-Presse, CNN, Associated Press, CBS News, The Messenger, Talking Biz News and Voice of America

Andrew Beaujon / Washingtonian:

Over 700 Washington Post staffers plan to strike on December 7 over stalled contract talks amid cost cuts; by last week, 36 newsroom employees accepted buyouts — More than 700 employees plan to walk off the job for 24 hours. — More than 700 Washington Post employees plan to walk off the job Thursday for a 24-hour strike.

Discussion: Washingtonian, @sarafischer, The Messenger and Talking Biz News

Axios:

FazeWorld, a production studio that creates shows for TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and others, raised a $750K seed round at a $7.5M valuation — FazeWorld, a production studio that's created viral TikTok shows, has raised a $750,000 seed round at a $7.5 million valuation from a slew of big names in media …

Dade Hayes / Deadline:

Telemundo names former Noticias Telemundo president Luis Fernández as chairman, replacing Beau Ferrari, who will become an adviser with NBCUniversal News Group — - Spectrum-Disney Deal “Absolutely” Created Blueprint For Future Carriage Deals, Charter CFO Says; Q4 Broadband Subscriber Loss Warning Hits Stock

Discussion: Variety, Adweek, The Wrap, Radio & Television …, The Hollywood Reporter and WORLD SCREEN

Jake Kanter / Deadline:

Amazon fails to renew its live English Premier League rights deal, as part of Sky and TNT's new £6.7B UK TV rights deal for four soccer seasons from 2025/2026 — - BBC Names Royals Accused In Omid Scobie Book Of Commenting On Skin Color Of Harry & Meghan's Son

Paul MacInnes / The Guardian:
The English Premier League signs a new deal with Sky and TNT Sports under which the soccer competition will receive £6.7B over four years for its UK TV rights

Discussion: Sports Business Journal, Broadband TV News, Awful Announcing, @robharris, @willohara, @simonlester24, @david_conn, @tariqpanja, @skysports, @sistoney67, BBC and Sky News

Sara Guaglione / Digiday:

The New York Times, The Boston Globe, and CNN are seeing engagement grow on Threads, while the BBC, the Guardian US, and others stopped posting on the platform — This editorial series examines industry trends across the media, media buying and marketing sectors as 2023 closes and the new year begins.

Discussion: @gigold.social and @mkarolian@threads.net

Press Gazette:

Editors at the UK's biggest commercial regional news publishers call for the BBC to stop “suffocating” their businesses and ditch its rollout of 34 local sites — In a rare joint public statement, senior editors at the UK's five biggest commercial regional news publishers …

Discussion: @iancarterim, Paul Rowland on LinkedIn, @pressgazette and HoldtheFrontPage

Committee to Protect Journalists:

In 10 days in November, eight Mexican journalists were abducted or shot at in four separate incidents; three regularly report on crime, security, and politics — Mexico City, December 4, 2023 - The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by a spate of violent abductions and attacks …

Discussion: @pressfreedom

Jordan Moreau / Variety:

Three Pixar movies released solely on Disney+ during the pandemic will come to theaters in 2024: Soul on January 12; Turning Red, February 9; and Luca, March 22 — The three movies will come to theaters nationwide in 2024, with tickets going on sale Jan. 2.

Discussion: SlashFilm, The Wrap, ScreenRant, The Hollywood Reporter, IndieWire, SlashFilm, @chrisharihar, Bloomberg, The Verge, Engadget, The Playlist and The Walt Disney Company

Archived Page Info:

This is a snapshot of Mediagazer at 6:35 PM ET, December 5, 2023.

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Who's Hiring in Media?

Commissioning Editor - Practical Law — Reuters

Energy Markets Reporter, London — WSJ

Oil Reporter, Singapore — Bloomberg

Newsperson - State Govt. & Politics, CA — AP

Business Reporter, SC — Post & Courier

State Government Reporter, WA — Seattle Times

Climate Crisis Columnist — Prospect UK

Multimedia Journalist, CA — Paramount

Community Engagement Mgr., DC — Freedom Forum

Staff Writer - Business, NY — WIRED

Editor, MA — Nieman Reports

Team Editor - Breaking News, ON — Toronto Star

Senior Reporter & Event Host, NY/CA — Newcomer

Climate & Weather Reporter, MN — Star Tribune

Senior Tech Editor, Remote US — The Verge

News Reporter, MA — Berkshire Eagle

Multimedia Journalist, PA — Observer-Reporter

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Private Credit Reporter, NY — Debtwire

Legislative Reporter, CA — Sacramento Bee

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More News:

Jody Rosen / New York Times:
Behind the scenes of a Sunday Night Football broadcast, which is one of the most inventive and artful uses of the TV medium

Discussion: @fordm, @jodyrosen, @canonusa, @brianstelter, New York Post and Awful Announcing

Timmy Shen / The Block:
Sources: as part of its January 2023 merger with CryptoSlam, Forkast Labs laid off the majority of its editorial staff and suspended operations in November

Discussion: Web3 is Going Just Great

Will Sommer / Washington Post:
Ex-Fox News employee Andrew Delancey sues the network and top producer Justin Wells over an alleged sexual assault; Wells now works on Tucker Carlson's X show

Discussion: CNN, HuffPost, New York Times, Media Matters for America, The Messenger, Rolling Stone, Business Insider, Variety, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Mediaite, The Daily Beast and Boing Boing

Perry Bacon Jr / Washington Post:
MSNBC should be careful not to become the TV arm of the Democratic Party leadership, as shown by some of its recent moves, like canceling Mehdi Hasan's show

Discussion: Poynter, @kenhuur, @drericding, @jayrosen_nyu and @froomkin

Ashley Carman / Bloomberg:
Spotify plans to cancel the Gimlet Media podcasts Heavyweight and Stolen after their current seasons, as the company retreats from in-house productions

Earlier Picks:

Max Tani / Semafor:
An interview with Megyn Kelly about co-hosting the Dec. 6 GOP presidential primary debate on NewsNation, her pivot to audio, being “un-cancellable”, and more

Discussion: Associated Press, Variety, al.com, Los Angeles Times, @stevekrak, @jeremymbarr, Mediaite, The Hill, New York Post and Poynter

Carl Franzen / VentureBeat:
NYC-based generative AI video startup Runway partners with Getty Images on an AI video model, shipping in the coming months for use in Hollywood and advertising

Discussion: WinBuzzer, PetaPixel, The Decoder and Runway

Catharine Tunney / CBC News:
CBC/Radio-Canada plans to cut ~10% of its workforce, or 600 workers, and cut CA$40M in programming over the coming year to cope with a CA$125M budget shortfall

Todd Spangler / Variety:
Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos says the company didn't see much of an “interruption” from Hollywood's strikes and is still targeting a $17B content budget for 2024

Discussion: The Desk, Media Play News, @tvgrimreaper, MacRumors, The Wrap and The Hollywood Reporter, more at Techmeme »

From Techmeme:

David Pierce / The Verge:
Google releases a free Gemini app for iOS, letting users ask questions, chat via text, voice, or their camera, and use the conversational mode Gemini Live

Financial Times:
Sources: the US FTC plans to investigate allegations that Microsoft is abusing its market power in productivity software to prevent customers from leaving Azure

Tony Romm / Washington Post:
Sources: the CFPB moves to place Google under formal federal supervision, an extraordinary move that may lead to regular inspections; Google fiercely resisted

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