Top News:
Om Malik / On my Om:
The decline of Wired, once a magazine that inspired hope in technology's future, illustrates a broader loss of necessary optimism among tech writing communities — On January 2nd, 1993, Wired burst onto the scene, and let me tell you, it transformed the way many of us looked at technology and its impact on our future.
Sara Fischer / Axios:
Sources: conservative media and business execs met with Jimmy Finkelstein at Mar-a-Lago on January 3 to discuss acquiring a 51% stake in The Messenger for $30M — A group of conservative media and business executives met with The Messenger founder Jimmy Finkelstein on Wednesday to discuss acquiring …
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Benjamin Mullin / New York Times:
Sources: The Messenger made ~$3M in revenue in 2023 and told potential investors it had $1.8M in cash on hand at the end of December after losing ~$38M in 2023 — The company, which debuted last year with big plans to disrupt journalism, generated only $3 million in revenue by the end of December.
Discussion:
@ckrewson, @emilybell, @royprice, @benmullin and @emilybell
Casey Newton / Platformer:
Substack wants to be seen as a pure infrastructure provider, akin to Cloudflare, but a platform can't claim to be simple software when it recommends content — Some thoughts on platforms and Nazis — Most days, this column looks at controversies unfolding on other tech platforms.
Discussion:
@seldo@alpaca.gold, @fivetonsflax@tilde.zone, @anildash.com, @PlinyTheOlder@sfba.social, @cooperlund.bsky.social, @cooperlund.bsky.social, @lissaharris.bsky.social, @anildash.com, @crumbler@threads.net, @ben.werdmuller@threads.net, @jonlipeny@threads.net, @bretcarmichael@mastodon …, @ernie@writing.exchange, @marisakabas.bsky.social, @dangillmor@mastodon.social and @ben@werd.social, more at Techmeme »
The Information:
Sources: OpenAI offered some media firms $1M to $5M per year to license news articles for model training; Apple offers more but wants to use content more widely — OpenAI has offered some media firms as little as between $1 million and $5 million annually to license their news articles …
Ben Mullin / @benmullin:
Sources: Axios names Holly Moore as Axios Local executive editor, replacing Jamie Stockwell; staff were told local ad revenue rose 40% in 2023 — Scoop: Holly Moore — formerly of USA Today and currently head of local innovation Hub for Axios —named exec ed for local. Jamie Stockwell, current exec editor, leaving for a new gig. Staff told eight cities now have 100,000 (unpaid) subs. Local ad revenue was up 40% last year.
Discussion:
@jmhaigh
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Andrew Beaujon / Washingtonian:
Sources: Jamie Stockwell, who had been Axios Local executive editor, will oversee Washington Post local coverage, replacing Mike Semel, who has been promoted — Jamie Stockwell previously oversaw Axios Local's expansion to dozens of metro regions. — Jamie Stockwell, who was the executive editor …
Nancy Tartaglione / Deadline:
Gower Street estimates the global box office reached $33.9B in 2023, up 30.5% on 2022 but 15% below the 2017-2019 average; China rose 83% YoY to ~$7.7B in 2023 — Global box office is estimated to have reached $33.9B for 2023, a 30.5% gain on 2022, according to Gower Street Analytics.
Discussion:
The Hollywood Reporter
Sara Fischer / Axios:
Eric Newcomer, founder of the Newcomer newsletter on startups and VCs, says he made $1M+ in 2023 revenue from events and subscriptions and has hired a reporter — Eric Newcomer, the founder and author of Newcomer, an independent newsletter covering startups and venture capital …
Discussion:
@ericnewcomer, @ericnewcomer, @maddierenbarger, Newcomer, Talking Biz News and The Guardian
Jacob Feldman / Sportico:
Marie Donoghue, vice president of global sports video at Amazon's Prime Video and a former top ESPN executive, is leaving the company — Five years after being tapped by Amazon to lead its global sports programming efforts, Marie Donoghue is leaving the company, a spokesperson confirmed.
Discussion:
The Wrap, Variety, Barrett Media, @jacobfeldman4, Awful Announcing and @andrewmarchand
Andrew Marchand / New York Post:
YES and MSG Network partner to launch Gotham Advanced Media and Entertainment, a 50/50 venture that aims to capitalize on their streaming services — YES and MSG Network are partnering on a new venture that eventually could lead to a direct-to-consumer streaming service that offers the Yankees …
Brian Steinberg / Variety:
VideoAmp founder Ross McCray steps down as CEO as the company prepares to lay off nearly a fifth of its staff; Peter Liguori will serve as executive chairman — The founder of VideoAmp, a measurement-technology start-up that has been vying with Nielsen and others to create a new means …
Discussion:
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