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:
New York Post, The Desk, @sherman4949, Adweek and Variety
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, Newser, Axios, Mediaite, The Hill, Washington Post, The Desk, Breitbart, Forbes, CBS News, @brianstelter, New York Post, Bloomberg, Adweek and Fox News
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:
@benmullin, New York Post, The Information, @benmullin and The Wrap
RELATED:
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
Stuart Dredge / Music Ally:
BPI: UK consumers streamed 179.6B audio tracks in 2023, up 12.8% YoY; women artists topped the UK's official singles chart for a record 31 of the 52 chart-weeks — British labels body the BPI has published its annual report on music consumption in the UK. — That means figures covering …
Discussion:
BPI, The Guardian, BPI, Music Week, Financial Times and Music Ally
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, ScreenRant, The Hollywood Reporter and @Lilith111@mastodon.social
Casey Newton / Platformer:
Casey Newton says Platformer will meet with Substack this week, hoping it will remove pro-Nazi content, and Platformer plans to leave if Substack fails to do so — A New York Times lawsuit won't be the last challenge to LLMs' free-riding. PLUS: A note on Substack and Nazis — ∙ Paid
Discussion:
@mmasnick.bsky.social, @reporterzoe@threads.net, @marisakabas@threads.net, @jacaranda7@threads.net, @johnbattelle@threads.net, @crumbler@threads.net, @marisakabas.bsky.social, @marc.e.elias@threads.net, @marisakabas@threads.net, @brianforrester8@threads.net, @nopipbutcpip.bsky.social and In the Writing Burrow
Sarah Krouse / Wall Street Journal:
Antenna: US customer cancellations at major streamers rose to 6.3% in November, up from 5.1% YoY; 24% of users canceled 3+ subscriptions over the past two years — Hulu, Netflix and other streamers are turning to bundles, discounts and ad-supported plans as customer defections rise
Discussion:
Digiday, @trengriffin, @danilo@hachyderm.io, The Streamable, New York Post, Dan Goman on LinkedIn and Breitbart, more at Techmeme »
Jay Peters / The Verge:
X launches a Basic tier for Verified Organizations at $200/month or $2,000/year, in addition to Full Access at $1,000/month and $50/month for each US affiliate — X (formerly Twitter) now has a “basic” tier for Verified Organizations, which gets you a gold checkmark badge (and a few other benefits) …
Discussion:
@verified and X, more at Techmeme »
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.
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.
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, 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, @holmeschan_, @marksimonhk, @jchengwsj, @lukedepulford, Globe and Mail, @hk_watch, @finnlau_cd, The Guardian and Bloomberg
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
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 Verge, New York Post, The Register, @crumbler@threads.net, The Hill 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
Output Producer, CA — 
China Markets Correspondent, Shanghai — 
Senior Assignment Editor, DC — 
Breaking News Editor, Tokyo — 
Senior Correspondent - Wealth, NY — 
Reporter - Ottawa Bureau — 
Local Government Reporter, IA — 
Research Director, CA — 
Immigration Enforcement Reporter — 
Presque Island Reporter, ME — 
Contributing Parks Ed. - SW, CA — 
AI Content Editor, WA — 
Legislative Reporter, TN — 
Editorial Assistant, Remote US — 
Elon Musk Reporter, NY or CA — 
Government & Politics Editor, WA — 
Business & GA Reporter. VT — 
Sports Reporter, WA — 
Energy Reporter, TX — 
Senior Reporter, SC — 
Trade & Climate Correspondent, DC — 
Reporter, WI — 
Political Newsletter Writer, CO — 
Jackson Reporter, MS — 
Music Editor, AZ — 
Breaking News Reporter, NV — 
Fearless Reporter/Producer, IA — 
Reporter II - Technology, Remote — 
Editor, Remote US — 
City Reporter, WA — 
Executive Editor, OR — 
Education & Budget Reporter, CA — 
Senior Writer/Editor, FL — 
Media Editor, Remote — 
