Mediagazer: Analysis: in 2023, media outlets in the UK, the US, and Canada cut at least 7,900 jobs and only made 361 announcements for new positions (Press Gazette)

6:25 AM ET, January 5, 2024

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.

Discussion: @johnnylaird, @keithgrossman, @spencerreiss, Steve Makofsky on LinkedIn, @joelmathis.bsky.social and The Rebooting

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: @royprice, @benmullin, @ckrewson, @emilybell and @emilybell

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 …

Discussion: @bgrueskin, @cmseeberger, @bencjacobs, @jbenton, @peterschorschfl, @justinbaragona, @aysrick, @amandabecker, @drewsav, @jbenton, @seangriffey, @taraemcg, @jbenton, @jbenton, Andy Barr on LinkedIn, Sara Fischer on LinkedIn and @johnbattelle@threads.net

Sara Fischer / Axios:
Sources: The Messenger is seeking to raise around $20M amid layoffs and financial struggles; it launched in 2023 after a $50M raise

Discussion: @themaxburns, @rolandsmartin, @henryporters, @scottnover, @jasonshevrin, @simondowens@threads.net, Julie Westfall on LinkedIn, Defector, The Wrap, @ernie.tedium.co, New York Post, The Daily Beast and Semafor

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: @anildash.com, @lissaharris.bsky.social, @jonlipeny@threads.net, @bretcarmichael@mastodon …, @ben@werd.social, @dangillmor@mastodon.social, @anildash.com, @cooperlund.bsky.social, @PlinyTheOlder@sfba.social, @seldo@alpaca.gold, @ben.werdmuller@threads.net, @crumbler@threads.net, @fivetonsflax@tilde.zone, @cooperlund.bsky.social, @marisakabas.bsky.social and @ernie@writing.exchange, more at Techmeme »

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

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 …

Press Gazette:

Analysis: in 2023, media outlets in the UK, the US, and Canada cut at least 7,900 jobs and only made 361 announcements for new positions — Biggest headcount losses proposed at BCE Inc and CBC in Canada, as well as News Corp and Reach. — More than 7,900 journalism industry job cuts throughout 2023 …

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

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 …

Discussion: SiliconANGLE, Thomas Kramer on LinkedIn, @blairmacgregor, Bloomberg, @garymarcus, @alex, Nicholas Yanes on LinkedIn, MediaPost, The Verge, New York Post, Rafael Brown on LinkedIn, Neil Katz on LinkedIn and Thurrott, more at Techmeme »

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, @jacobfeldman4, @andrewmarchand, Barrett Media, Variety and Awful Announcing

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: @maddierenbarger, @ericnewcomer, @ericnewcomer, Talking Biz News and Newcomer

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: MediaPost and Ad Age

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Who's Hiring in Media?

Energy & Commodities Editor, Tokyo — Bloomberg

Politics Reporter, TX — Texas Tribune

Consumer Brands Reporter, GA — AJC

Deputy Editor - Health Care, VA — Politico

Product Editor, CA — CalMatters

Indigenous Affairs Editor, Sydney — Guardian US

China Markets Correspondent, Shanghai — Reuters

Bangor Reporter, ME — Bangor Daily News

Commerce Editor - Health, Remote US — Yahoo

Sports Editor, MI — Detroit News

Managing Editor, Remote US — Velo

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Brian Steinberg / Variety:
Amazon names Jeremy Helfand vice president and head of sales for Prime Video; he had been EVP for advertising for Disney's interactive businesses

Discussion: Ad Age, The Information, Advanced Television, Adweek and The Wrap

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

Discussion: Sphere Entertainment Co., @stegensurvivor, @tim_bays, @aagave, @yesnetwork, @mattzeitlin, @loudmouthjulia, @lucas_shaw, @ncostanzo24, @andrewmarchand, @pitchforkedpuck, Front Office Sports, Awful Announcing, Next TV, The Streamable, The Hollywood Reporter and Sportico

Ralph D. Russo / Associated Press:
The NCAA and ESPN announce a $920M, eight-year agreement that will give ESPN rights to 40 championships, including the Division I women's basketball tournament

Wall Street Journal:
As Google restricts third-party cookies for 1% of Chrome users, marketers, adtech companies, and publishers say Google has not done enough to prepare the market

Brian Steinberg / Variety:
GroupM forms a consortium with Disney, Roku, NBCU, YouTube, and others to push for standardized measurements and ad formats for use across streaming services

Discussion: AdExchanger, Tubefilter, Next TV, Adweek, GroupM, Ad Age and Deadline, more at Techmeme »

Earlier Picks:

Agence France-Presse:
Tunisian authorities arrest Al Jazeera reporter Samir Sassi, one week after the arrest of Tunisian journalist Zied el-Heni, who criticized a minister

Discussion: Committee to Protect … and IFJ

Michael M. Grynbaum / New York Times:
RedBird IMI invests in Media Res, the independent studio behind “The Morning Show”; Jeff Zucker plans to take a seat on the studio's board

Discussion: Variety, The Wrap and The Hollywood Reporter

Paul Sandle / Reuters:
Layered Reality announces Elvis Evolution, an AI, AR, and holographic-based show, launching in London in 2024 before traveling to Las Vegas, Tokyo, and Berlin

Discussion: @michaelsocolow, Breitbart, Billboard, The Guardian, BBC, The A.V. Club, Digital Music News, Rolling Stone and Variety

Bloomberg:
Sources: TikTok aims to grow TikTok Shop US' merchandise volume tenfold to $17.5B in 2024 and plans to increase merchant fees to 6% of each sale in April 2024

Discussion: CBS News, @herrmanndigital, @rishabhmjain, @alejandrochahin, @yohaas, MediaPost, TechCrunch, Semafor, Digital Music News, @carnage4life@mas.to, WWD, Forbes, Insider Intelligence and The Information

Aditya Kalra / Reuters:
Sources: Disney and Reliance executives signed a non-binding term sheet in December and both have hired law firms to do antitrust due diligence for their merger

Discussion: Variety

From Techmeme:

Samantha Subin / CNBC:
The Nasdaq falls 4%, with Meta closing down 7%, Nvidia down 6%, Amazon down 5%, and Apple down 4% as the White House say Trump's tariffs on China now total 145%

Reuters:
The cybersecurity industry is mostly quiet after Trump canceled SentinelOne's security clearances for hiring Chris Krebs; SentinelOne says it will cooperate

Maxwell Zeff / TechCrunch:
OpenAI updates ChatGPT with a memory feature that references past chats for answers, rolling out to ChatGPT Pro and Plus subscribers, but not in the UK and EEA

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