Mediagazer: Punchbowl News acquires Electo Analytics, a deal sources say values Punchbowl at $100M+, and plans to raise Punchbowl's annual subscription by $50 in January (Benjamin Mullin/New York Times)

5:20 PM ET, December 14, 2023

Top News:

James Bennet / The Economist:

Ex-NYT editor James Bennet chronicles how fewer jobs for young reporters, the NYT's business model, and new ideals have led to “illiberal bias” at the paper — America's media should do more to equip readers to think for themselves — Are we truly so precious?

Wall Street Journal:

Putin says he hopes to “find a solution” regarding the detention of WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich, who lost another court appeal on December 14 for his release — Russian president says he hopes to ‘find a solution’ regarding Gershkovich and Paul Whelan, who are both in Russian custody

Discussion: The Moscow Times, The Desk, Voice of America, Talking Biz News, HuffPost, CNN, The Detroit News, New York Times, CBS News, NPR, UPI, WKYC-TV, Bloomberg, The Sun, The Hill, The Wrap and New York Post

Wall Street Journal:

Some publishers estimate that Google's Search Generative Experience will cut referral traffic by 20% to 40% if the final version works like current iterations — Tech giant's AI-powered search product is being tested on roughly 10 million users; publishers rely on Google for traffic and see a gathering storm

Discussion: @carnage4life@mas.to, Max Hogan on LinkedIn, Digital Content Next, Patrick Biltgen on LinkedIn, Decrypt and One Man & His Blog

Cristina Criddle / Financial Times:

UK regulator Ofcom investigates TikTok over concerns the company supplied “inaccurate” information about its parental controls; TikTok blames a technical issue — Ofcom's investigation comes amid intensified efforts to protect children from harmful online material

Discussion: The Guardian, Ofcom and BBC, more at Techmeme »

Jaspreet Singh / Reuters:

Sensor Tower: 51 of the top 100 US advertisers on Twitter in October 2022, when Elon Musk bought the company, have ceased ad spending on X as of November 2023 — Big U.S. companies including Walt Disney and Comcast increased advertising spending on Instagram after pausing commercials on X last month …

Discussion: The Wrap, Los Angeles Times, Social Media Today, New York Post, @2xaught7.bsky.social, @carnage4life@mas.to and National Review, more at Techmeme »

Katie Robertson / New York Times:

Mother Jones and the Center for Investigative Reporting plan to merge in early 2024 with Monika Bauerlein as CEO and Clara Jeffery leading the combined newsroom — The combined newsroom will have more than 70 people. — Mother Jones and the Center for Investigative Reporting will merge next year …

Discussion: Mother Jones, Nieman Lab, @davidcorn1@threads.net, @dicktofel@threads.net and @_lizweil@threads.net

Joseph Pimentel / Spectrum News 1:

Over half of nearly 125 members of the SCNG Guild planned a one-day strike Thursday amid protracted contract talks with Alden's Southern California News Group — LOS ANGELES, Calif. — The union representing Southern California newspaper reporters, photographers and others plans to hold …

Discussion: @jeongpark52, @regjeffcollins, @jim_alexander, @katieporteroc@threads.net, SCNG Guild, SCNG Guild, @hansgutknecht, @themindyschauer, @mattdpearce, @katieporteroc, @scngguild, @carleighbee and The NewsGuild

Emma Roth / The Verge:

YouTube updates its TV app to show longer but less frequent ad breaks, after testing since September 2023, and adds a countdown timer in the bottom-right corner — The next time you sit down to watch YouTube on your TV, you might notice fewer ads breaking up the video you're watching.

Discussion: Radio & Television …, The Messenger and 9to5Google, more at Techmeme »

CNBC:

Nelson Peltz's Trian nominates him and former Disney CFO Jay Rasulo to Disney's board as the fund wages its proxy battle with the media giant — - Trian Fund Management said it was nominating Nelson Peltz and former Walt Disney CFO Jay Rasulo to the media company's board.

Discussion: Radio & Television …, Los Angeles Times, CNN, New York Times, Financial Times, Reuters, The Messenger, Deadline, The Information, The Wrap, Variety, Wall Street Journal, The Hollywood Reporter and Cord Cutters News

Parker Molloy / The Present Age:

Two letters, both signed by dozens of Substack writers, criticize and defend the platform's approach to hosting and monetizing Nazis and white nationalists — Last month, The Atlantic published a piece by Jonathan Katz titled “Substack Has a Nazi Problem.”

Discussion: The Future, Now and Then, @thorncoyle.bsky.social, @davekarpf.bsky.social, The Racket, @marisakabas.bsky.social, @kevinmkruse.bsky.social, The Elysian, @lindseyromain.bsky.social, @hormiga.bsky.social and @carynrose.bsky.social

Dan Primack / Axios:

Vivendi is weighing splitting into three businesses: pay TV platform Canal+, ad agency Havas, and an investment firm that would include publisher Lagardère — French media and entertainment group Vivendi said that it's weighing a split into three separate businesses.

Discussion: Financial Times, Broadband TV News, Reuters and Wall Street Journal

Umar Shakir / The Verge:

Google plans to test Tracking Protection and blocking third-party cookies on January 4 for ~1% of Chrome users globally, ahead of a phased rollout in H2 2024 — Google is about to launch its grand plan to block third-party cookies in Chrome that many websites use to track your activity across the web for profit.

Discussion: MarTech, Social Media Today, The Keyword, Gizmodo and 9to5Google, more at Techmeme »

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More News:

Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
Film discussion and review app Letterboxd adds showtimes for paying members in the US, the UK, Australia, Canada, and more, using aggregator Assemble's data

Discussion: Letterboxd and Variety

Benjamin Mullin / New York Times:
Punchbowl News acquires Electo Analytics, a deal sources say values Punchbowl at $100M+, and plans to raise Punchbowl's annual subscription by $50 in January

Discussion: Anna Palmer on LinkedIn

Drew Harwell / Washington Post:
A Pew survey of US adults finds that ~38% support a federal TikTok ban, down from 50% in March 2023; Republicans' rate of support for a ban fell from 60% to 50%

Discussion: Vox, Fox Business, Pew Research Center, The Hill and New York Times

Lili Bayer / The Guardian:
Ten Hungarian media outlets warn that a new law creating a Sovereignty Protection Authority with broad investigatory power could severely restrict press freedom

Discussion: Associated Press and Radio Free Europe/Radio …

Andrew Deck / Rest of World:
How the rise in the US of Japanese news aggregator SmartNews, valued at $2B in 2021, came to a halt in 2023, leading to CEO Ken Suzuki's departure in November

Discussion: @restofworld and @restofworld@threads.net, more at Techmeme »

Luke Bouma / Cord Cutters News:
WBD and YouTube announce that Max's ad-free tier is now available for $15.99 per month via YouTube's Primetime Channels in the US and includes access to CNN Max

Discussion: Marina Abayev on LinkedIn, Jill Stephenson on LinkedIn, TechRadar, Digital Trends and Next TV

Earlier Picks:

Emma Roth / The Verge:
Twitch now allows some previously prohibited sexual content, including “deliberately highlighted breasts, buttocks or pelvic region”, with a sexual themes label

Discussion: Gizmodo, UPROXX, Music Ally, @arilovetv, @infernoomni, @alexia_moi_voss, @twitch, @faaairlydecent, @keyokku, @madkurious, Dexerto, Engadget, Boing Boing, Dexerto, TweakTown, Dexerto, Dexerto, TechCrunch, Dot Esports, The Messenger, Variety and Know Your Meme, more at Techmeme »

Isaac Chotiner / New Yorker:
Q&A with Committee to Protect Journalists President Jodie Ginsberg on why the Israel-Hamas war has been so dangerous for the press, the Ukraine war, and more

Discussion: Reuters Institute, @trevoremetcalfe, Agence France-Presse, Reporters Without Borders and Next TV

Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
An interview with The Guardian Head of Audio Nicole Jackson on the outlet's daily news podcast Today in Focus, competition, newsroom collaboration, and more

Discussion: Media Voices

Gene Meyer / Eugene L. Meyer:
A Washington Post alumnus who took a 2003 buyout shares rumors that 2023 cuts will end all local columns and that half the education reporters are leaving

Discussion: @capitolhunters.bsky.social, @steverhodes.bsky.social, @jennifermromig.bsky.social, @froomkin.bsky.social and @froomkin.bsky.social

John Eggerton / Next TV:
The FCC votes for considering a rule that would end early termination fees for TV subscriptions; cable operators say the rules would hurt their competitiveness

Discussion: MediaPost, Boing Boing, CNBC, @alex@masto.digittante.com, Tv Technology, Accountable US, The Desk, CNN, Cord Cutters News and Public Knowledge

From Techmeme:

Bloomberg:
Sources: Canadian authorities arrest Alexander “Connor” Moucka, who is allegedly behind the June and July 2024 hacks of up to 165 Snowflake users including AT&T

Juli Clover / MacRumors:
iOS 18.2's second developer beta shows a “daily limit” for free access to “advanced” ChatGPT via Siri and an option to upgrade to ChatGPT Plus in Settings

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple is exploring a push into smart glasses by conducting an internal study, codenamed Atlas, to gather employee feedback on products on the market

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