Top News:
A.J. Perez / Front Office Sports:
The Arena Group tells Sports Illustrated staff that it will be “laying off staff that work on the SI brand” since Authentic Brands revoked the SI license — Staffers at Sports Illustrated were notified on Friday of massive layoffs—some immediately, others in short time.
Discussion:
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Todd Spangler / Variety:
Filing: the Arena Group “failed to make a quarterly payment” of ~$3.75M on January 2 to Authentic Brands, the license holder of Sports Illustrated — Sports Illustrated has been hit with mass layoffs — which will potentially eliminate the entire editorial team of the nearly 70-year-old sports media brand.
Hollywood Reporter:
Authentic Brands says it will ensure that Sports Illustrated and its editorial arm “continues to thrive”; Arena Group says it is still in talks with Authentic — The cuts are arriving after Arena Group Holdings failed to make a licensing payment to Authentic Brands Group, according to a securities filing.
Discussion:
Awful Announcing, Business Insider, Bloomberg, New York Post, @xpangler and Associated Press
Axios:
Simplify Inventions' deal to buy a ~65% stake in Sports Illustrated owner Arena Group in August 2023 didn't close as expected by the end of 2023 — Sports Illustrated editorial staffers were warned on Friday that layoffs were coming that could affect the entire staff, according …
Discussion:
Awful Announcing, Sportico, @sarafischer and @sarafischer
Joe Lucia / Awful Announcing:
Ex-Arena Group CEO Ross Levinsohn resigns from the company's board, calling “the destruction of Sports Illustrated's storied brand and newsroom” the final straw — Ross Levinsohn during his time at Yahoo. — Former Arena Group CEO Ross Levinsohn has resigned his seat on the company's board …
Discussion:
Ross Levinsohn on LinkedIn, Barrett Media, @howardbeck, @rohannadkarni, @jerrybeach73, @cujorulesdtown9, @blakeruane and @rj_cfb
Julia Jacobs / New York Times:
A grand jury in New Mexico indicts Alec Baldwin on a charge of involuntary manslaughter in the shooting of a cinematographer on the set of “Rust” in 2021 — A grand jury in New Mexico indicted the actor in the shooting death of the cinematographer on the film “Rust,” …
Discussion:
Variety, SlashFilm, Los Angeles Times, The Hill, The Wrap, Mediaite, Vanity Fair, NME, @neilnevins, @sussexhenryviii, The Messenger, Boing Boing, E! Online, Associated Press, Sky News, Reuters, CNN, New York Daily News, TMZ.com, ComingSoon.net, ABC News, Fox News, Washington Post, Rolling Stone, New York Post, Hollywood Life, The A.V. Club, @ragland1836, Hollywood Reporter, @yashar and @steveweatherman
Meg James / Los Angeles Times:
The LA Times Guild calls for a one-day walkout on January 19 to protest planned cuts; sources: layoffs may affect at least 100 people, or ~20% of the newsroom — Los Angeles Times newsroom guild leaders called for a one-day walkout — Friday to protest planned cuts to offset steep financial losses …
Discussion:
The Wrap, Bloomberg, Politico, @katieporteroc, @erinblogan, @repjimmygomez, @kierafeldman, @alexpadilla4ca, @mattdpearce, @eleniforca, @byalexzaragoza, @austinnewsguild, @bokchoy_baobei, New York Post, @jason_koebler, @soudijimenez, Poynter, @smasunaga, The Messenger, @rokhanna, @latguild, @joshpcain, @corbinbolies, @angiejaime, @jeremymbarr, @cassiermartin, @cmonstah, @eedugdale, @nafeesasyeed, @jessicamartinez, @gerrickkennedy, @benmullin, @benmullin, @davidfolkenflik, @parismarx, @bcmerchant, @awprokop, @gabemschneider, Axios, Talking Biz News, @pkafka, @aritbenie, Reuters, The Hollywood Reporter, The Hill, @amyalexca.bsky.social, CNN, @imleor.bsky.social, @craigwelch@threads.net, @oliverdarcy@threads.net, Deadline, @evanrodge@threads.net, The Hollywood Reporter, The Daily Beast and The Wrap
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Ampere: the number scripted series in the US dropped 24% YoY to 481 in 2023; subscription streamers released 77 fewer seasons and broadcast TV 55 fewer seasons — Scripted TV output in the U.S. dropped sharply in 2023, thanks to a combination of twin Hollywood strikes and a pullback on content spending …
Bloomberg:
Sources: Apollo Global is considering making an offer for National Amusements, the Redstone family company that controls Paramount Global — Apollo is one of a number investors, both wealthy individuals and professional money managers, that have reached out in recent weeks to BDT & MSD Partners …
Discussion:
Deadline, @lucas_shaw and @mattbelloni
Rick Reger / Local News Initiative:
The bipartisan Illinois Local Journalism Task Force recommends tax credits, exemptions, and more to boost local media; the state lost 232 newspapers since 2005 — Illinois task force suggests tax credits, incentives, other steps to boost local journalism — The bipartisan Illinois Local …
Discussion:
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Chicago Tribune, ISDC and MyStateline.com
Barry Schwartz / Search Engine Roundtable:
Google says it is not “boosting” AI-written articles as the 404 reporter sorted news by date rather than relevance, and there is no “free pass” to AI content — In short, Sullivan said that the way they filtered Google News was by date and not relevancy …
Dan Ladden-Hall / The Daily Beast:
Author Rie Kudan, this year's winner of Japan's prestigious Akutagawa Prize, reveals that ~5% of her book “quoted verbatim the sentences generated by” ChatGPT — One of the judges praised her winning book as being “flawless.” — At an award ceremony for one of Japan's …
Discussion:
@marc__watkins, VICE, Boing Boing, Semafor, The Messenger and New York Post, more at Techmeme »
Marc Hogan / Rolling Stone:
As Condé Nast merges Pitchfork with GQ, a longtime Pitchfork staffer reflects on the publication's evolution and its impact on music journalism and his own life — As the hugely influential music site is being “folded into GQ,” a longtime staffer looks back on what P4K meant and how working there changed his life
Discussion:
New York Post, Variety, Mediaite, @dada_drummer, Slate, @senari, Jonathan Streetman on LinkedIn, @airbagged, Stephen Parker on LinkedIn, @michaelbarthel, The Honest Broker, @ganserband, @d_felsenthal, @noahshachtman, @future_of_music, @marchogan, WNYC Studios, The NewsGuild, The Guardian, BBC, CMU and Digital Journal
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