Top News:
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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The Wrap, Variety, Awful Announcing, Variety, CNN, The Verge, Broadband TV News, The Guardian, @tvgrimreaper, Financial Times, @loudmouthjulia, @ralter, @loudmouthjulia, @sherman4949, @bradybrendan1, @sherman4949, @sherman4949, @mattbelloni, @fredsmith914, @eriqgardner, @brianstelter, @chx_rliex, @loudmouthjulia, @mattzollerseitz, @bristei, @sherman4949, @aagave, @gracegfreud, @sarafischer, @bristei, @itsmeglinehan, @tomgara, @richlightshed, @dylanbyers, UPROXX, Douglas Montgomery on LinkedIn, Business Insider, Puck, The Information, WHDH 7News, Graphic Policy, Front Office Sports, CNBC, Marin Independent Journal, Mediaite, TVLine, TrekMovie.com, @jscalzi@threads.net, @SPAM@infosec.exchange, Los Angeles Times, The Streamable, New York Post, Jo Redfern on LinkedIn, Next TV, IndieWire, SlashFilm, Andrew Cannizzaro on LinkedIn, @stevenrosenthal …, Sports Media Watch, Gizmodo, Barrett Media, The A.V. Club, Nate Norrish on LinkedIn, Media Play News, ComingSoon.net, The Hill, @LinuxAndYarn@mastodon.social, @Ductos@mastodon.social, @mgsiegler@threads.net, @imdavidpierce@threads.net, @lachstep.com, @ernie.tedium.co, @factcheckjeff@threads.net, The Desk, @alexhcranz@threads.net, @ernie@writing.exchange, Sara Fischer on LinkedIn, @Newmy@writing.exchange, @jeffjarvis@threads.net, ScreenRant, New York Times, The Hollywood Reporter, Advanced Television, Consequence, Bloomberg, NBC 7 San Diego and Cord Cutters News, more at Techmeme »
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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Sonia Faleiro / Rest of World:
A look at high-profile Indian journalists who left mainstream outlets for YouTube and other social media platforms as Prime Minister Modi cracks down on media — As Narendra Modi's government clamps down on the free press, top journalists are going solo to report unbiased news. — • NEW DELHI, INDIA
Discussion:
@restofworld@restof.social and @sushubh@mastodon.social
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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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
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
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
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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