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:
New York Post, @xpangler, Awful Announcing, Associated Press and Bloomberg
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, @cujorulesdtown9, @jerrybeach73, @rohannadkarni, @blakeruane, @howardbeck, @rj_cfb and Barrett Media
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, Associated Press, CBS News, @ragland1836, @neilnevins, The Hollywood Reporter, @yashar, @sussexhenryviii, James P. Crowley on LinkedIn, @steveweatherman, Vanity Fair, NME, Boing Boing, SlashFilm, E! Online, The Messenger, The Hill, The Wrap, The A.V. Club, CNN, Reuters, Los Angeles Times, Hollywood Life, Washington Post, ComingSoon.net, MyStateline.com, New York Daily News, Sky News, ABC News, Fox News, TMZ.com, Associated Press, Hollywood Reporter, Rolling Stone, New York Post and Mediaite
Mathew Ingram / Columbia Journalism Review:
An interview with DDoSecrets' Emma Best, on the site's funding, handling potential lawsuits, and the Greenhouse Project, which distributes censored news — In November, Reuters published a special investigative feature headlined, “How an Indian startup hacked the world.”
Discussion:
Politico, mathewingram.com/work and Freedom of the Press …
Christine Zhu / Politico:
The Los Angeles Times Guild staged the paper's first newsroom union work stoppage on January 19 to protest planned job cuts, with 300+ members participating — It's the first newsroom union work stoppage for the publication in its 142-year history. — Over 300 members of the Los Angeles …
Discussion:
@kierafeldman, @angiejaime, @nafeesasyeed, Washington Post, @alexpadilla4ca, LAist, @mattdpearce, @barbaraleeforca, @eleniforca, @byalexzaragoza, @repadamschiff, @austinnewsguild, @erinblogan, The Wrap, SAG-AFTRA, @repjimmygomez, @ctguild, @joshpcain, @corbinbolies, @apnewsguild, @jason_koebler, @jservantez, @benmullin, @erinblogan, @gerrickkennedy, @soudijimenez, @katieporteroc, @cassiermartin, Courthouse News Service, @smasunaga, @latguild, LAmag, Associated Press, @cmonstah, @rokhanna, The Wrap, The NewsGuild, The NewsGuild, Deadline, @imleor.bsky.social, The Messenger, Talking Biz News, Poynter and The Hollywood Reporter
Christopher Miller / Financial Times:
Ukrainian media association Mediarukh urges President Zelenskyy to “resolutely condemn” attacks and smear campaigns targeting prominent Ukrainian journalists — Online and physical attacks on journalists cast shadow on president's rule — A series of attacks …
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Ampere: the number of scripted series in the US fell 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 …
Discussion:
@american_noona, @televisionaryzw, The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline, The A.V. Club, Media Play News, The Streamable, WORLD SCREEN and MediaPost
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, MyStateline.com, Chicago Tribune and ISDC
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 …
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, @lucas_shaw, @mattbelloni and @richlightshed
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