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Sara Fischer / Axios:
Sources: WBD CEO David Zaslav met with Paramount Global CEO Bob Bakish on December 19 to discuss a possible merger; Zaslav has also spoken with Shari Redstone — Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav met with Paramount Global CEO Bob Bakish on Tuesday in New York City to discuss a possible merger …
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Emily Schmall / New York Times:
A look at the hurdles for women in journalism in India, where they face family resistance, harassment, and increasingly, legal threats under the Modi government — Journalists have been targeted for harassment, and some women are only allowed to speak to the press if they have a male chaperone.
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Business Insider:
Ozy Media sues Ben Smith, Semafor, and BuzzFeed, alleging Smith used the failed BuzzFeed/Ozy merger to sabotage Ozy and steal its business model for Semafor — - A dishy lawsuit from Ozy accuses Ben Smith of killing the company only to steal its business model for Semafor.
Discussion:
@jeremymbarr
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Sources: Byron Allen offers Paramount $3.5B to acquire BET Media Group, including the BET cable channel, VH1, BET Studios, and BET+; he offered $2.7B earlier — On Tuesday, Allen, who is founder and CEO of Allen Media Group, emailed Paramount Global senior executives and board …
Discussion:
The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline, The Wrap and Cord Cutters News
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Lauren Forristal / TechCrunch:
Medallion, a blockchain platform for artists to connect with fans, raised a $13.7M Series A, after launching music NFTs in the UK, Australia, and Germany — Medallion is a platform for artists to have a dedicated digital hub for promoting album releases, tour dates and merch drops …
Discussion:
Billboard
Katherine Blunt / Wall Street Journal:
Rebecca Smith, a longtime Wall Street Journal reporter who exposed Enron's financial deceit and co-wrote a book about the energy company's collapse, dies at 68 — Smith worked at The Wall Street Journal for more than 20 years covering the electricity industry
Patrick Coffee / Wall Street Journal:
Most big brands haven't yet created AI-specific roles despite many marketers fearing AI will change their jobs; Coca-Cola promoted two execs to new AI roles — Many marketers believe artificial intelligence will change their jobs forever. But most big brands haven't created roles to oversee that process …
Gina Chua / Semafor:
Semafor's Executive Editor details building and experimenting with custom bots to explore how newsrooms could leverage generative AI to improve their work — The Scene — The big news — albeit somewhat old news — is that large language models can work with small data.
Cliff Harvey Venzon / Bloomberg:
The Philippines suspends the Duterte-linked Sonshine Media Network International's radio and TV shows for 30 days over allegations of violating its franchise — - Regulator acted on Congress resolution on Sonshine Media — SMNI show regularly features former President Duterte
Discussion:
Rappler, CNN Philippines, Inquirer News and Inquirer News
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
Copenhagen-based Podimo, a $5/month or $7/month podcast platform publishing 350 weekly shows, raised €44M led by the EIFO, taking its total funding to €244M+ — We are fast approaching half a billion people listening to podcasts, and today one of the independent players hoping …
Discussion:
Mehul Fotedar on LinkedIn, FinSMEs, PodcastingToday, Silicon Canals, Tech Funding News, EU-Startups and Podnews
Elsa Keslassy / Variety:
French TV network TF1 plans to launch AVOD TF1+ on January 8; the service will include Top Chrono, an AI-powered feature that creates summaries of sports games — As CEO of Canal+ for more than a decade, Rodolphe Belmer pushed the pay TV giant to make original scripted content …
Discussion:
Broadband TV News and Advanced Television
Morgan Sung / TechCrunch:
A look at the first annual VTuber Awards, a five-hour, live awards show for virtual YouTubers, hosted from an enclosed green box in WePlay's Los Angeles studio — Anime cat girls are at the forefront of tech innovation — On stream, Filian took the stage at the center of a colossal arena …
Discussion:
@origamisdh, @munshipremchnd, @beemportugal, The Messenger, Anime News Network, Anime Trending and Sportskeeda
Will Sommer / Washington Post:
A reporter's departure from The Dallas Morning News and a front-page retraction prompt a union grievance and suspicion that managers bowed to political pressure — At the Morning News, a sarcasm-drenched email interview with the county district attorney led to a rare and humiliating front-page retraction of a story.
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