Top News:
Benjamin Mullin / New York Times:
In an email, Cheddar furloughs at least some employees, effective immediately, and bars them from further work, blaming unforeseen internal and external factors — The “post-cable” news network said “unforeseen internal and external factors” caused the sudden work stoppage.
Discussion:
Adweek, New York Post, Variety, The Desk and @sherman4949
Benjamin Mullin / New York Times:
Source: The Messenger is expected to lay off roughly two dozen out of ~300 employees this week; the company says it is “in the midst of a second-round raise” — The company, an aggressive entrant to the digital news space, is expected to cut roughly two-dozen employees later this week.
Discussion:
New York Post, The Information and @benmullin
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Justin Baragona / The Daily Beast:
Richard Beckman, president of The Messenger, announces his resignation, citing health problems, and says January 31 will be his last day — The troubled “non partisan” news startup has seen a staff exodus over the last few months. — Richard Beckman, hard-charging president of the news site The Messenger, has resigned.
Discussion:
Richard Beckman on LinkedIn
Kelly Garrity / Politico:
Donald Trump plans to forgo the CNN's GOP primary debate in favor of a town hall on Fox moderated by Fox anchors Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum — The former president has yet to debate other Republican primary candidates. — Former President Donald Trump will participate …
Discussion:
CNN, Adweek, The Hill, Mediaite, Axios, Bloomberg, Washington Post, CBS News, Breitbart, The Desk, Forbes, @brianstelter, New York Post and Fox News
Adam Chitwood / The Wrap:
USC study: women directed 12.1% of 2023's top films, up from 2022's 9%; Universal led with four top films directed by women, followed by Lionsgate and Disney — A USC Annenberg report finds that only 12.1% of the year's top films were directed by women — While Greta Gerwig's “Barbie” …
Discussion:
Variety, @Lilith111@mastodon.social and ScreenRant
Ben Jiang / South China Morning Post:
A look at the rise of mini TV series, typically 100+ one-to-five-minute episodes, with the first ~10 free to watch, on Chinese short video platforms like Douyin — On November 21, the hit Chinese web series Rise of the Dark Lotus, which had racked up millions of views in less than a week, disappeared from the country's internet.
Reuters:
Hong Kong tycoon, pro-democracy advocate, and Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai pleaded not guilty in his landmark trial; prosecutors laid out key allegations — Hong Kong tycoon and pro-democracy advocate Jimmy Lai pleaded not guilty on Tuesday in his landmark trial, where he is accused …
Discussion:
Hong Kong Free Press HKFP, Deutsche Welle, @xinqisu, Hong Kong Watch, @lauraharth, @thecfhk, @safeguarddefend, The Guardian, Voice of America, Wall Street Journal, BBC, @benedictrogers, @natalieben, @mbrookerhk, @miriammlex, @benedictrogers, @mbrookerhk, UPI, CFHK Foundation, @xinqisu, Associated Press, @hkfp, Le Monde.fr, New York Times, Bloomberg, @hkdc_us, @ipacglobal, Bloomberg, @holmeschan_, @marksimonhk, @jchengwsj, @lukedepulford, Globe and Mail, @hk_watch and @finnlau_cd
Nic Fildes / Financial Times:
How Bluey, an Australian animated TV show for kids, became a global hit, in part due to partnerships between its production company Ludo and public broadcasters — The offbeat television show about an animated family of cattle dogs has fast become the country's most important cultural export
Joe Mandese / MediaPost:
Omnicom closes its $900M acquisition of Flywheel Digital from Ascential; ex-Ascential CEO Duncan Painter will lead Flywheel as a practice area within Omnicom — Omnicom this morning confirmed it has closed on its $900 million acquisition of Flywheel Digital from Ascential plc …
Discussion:
Omnicom Group Inc.
Pamela McClintock / The Hollywood Reporter:
Comscore: US and Canada box office revenue rose 20% in 2023 to cross $9B but was still below the $10B+ in 2009 and the $11B+ in every year from 2015 to 2019 — If Hollywood isn't setting off huge fireworks in celebration, it's because revenue is still down from pre-COVID times while worry looms …
GhoulsWhoCode:
Hoodline, a local news service acquired in 2020 by PR agency owner Impress3 Media, seems to have fake people of color bylining stories with automated content — Hoodline.com/Chicago appears to be using AI to generate fictional people of color to re-write aggregated news, often directly pulled from existing news sources or PR agencies.
Discussion:
@so_treu
J. Edward Moreno / New York Times:
The lawsuits against tech companies could shape what copyright means for AI, or simply serve as leverage for plaintiffs to secure more favorable licensing deals — The use of content from news and information providers to train artificial intelligence systems may force a reassessment of where to draw legal lines.
Discussion:
TechCrunch, @davidclinchnews, Music Ally, @random_walker, Axios, @sarthakgh, @barrymosk, Press Gazette, @toddbigphoto, @walterisaacson and @carnage4life@mas.to
Ben Schoon / 9to5Google:
X posts with link previews now display titles or headlines in the bottom left corner of the image, but the text size is small and long headlines get cut off — X, the platform better known as Twitter, removed headlines from posts with links a few months ago, but is now bringing them back in a new format.
Discussion:
The Hill, The Verge, New York Post, @crumbler@threads.net and Bloomberg, more at Techmeme »
Chris Roush / Talking Biz News:
G/O Media names Dan Hirschhorn as editor-in-chief of Quartz; Hirschhorn most recently worked for The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and The Philadelphia Inquirer — Dan Hirschhorn, an experienced editor and digital newsroom leader, has been named editor in chief of Quartz, effective immediately.
Discussion:
Dan Hirschhorn on LinkedIn and @danhirschhorn1
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