Top News:
Benjamin Mullin / New York Times:
Email: The Messenger shuts down, effective immediately, citing economic headwinds; Jimmy Finkelstein launched the outlet in May 2023 and hired about 300 people — By closing less than a year after it launched, The Messenger is now one of the biggest busts in the annals of online news.
Discussion:
Axios, Talking Points Memo, @jimlaporta, Politico, New York Magazine, @walsh_eli, @jayrosen_nyu, Media Nation, The Daily Beast, The Hollywood Reporter, @jhoffman, Boing Boing, @dylanbyers, @maxwelltani, @madelineanele, Semafor, @mekosoff, Dawn Kopecki on LinkedIn, Digiday, @theinsneider, @benmullin, @weareyourfek, @iansherr, Puck, @benjaminopowers, @dylanbyers, @samleecole, @jimlaporta, @jason_koebler, @ike_saul, @digiphile, @jeongpark52, @byalexazzi, @carrasquillo, @chronotope, @jhoffman, @kantrowitz, @coryschouten, @rafat, @alexsteigrad, @sherman4949, @lmorello_dc, @walsh_eli, @knibbs, @walsh_eli, @davidmackau, @scottnover, @joshuaogundu, @scottnover, @sarafischer, @jason_koebler, @jason_koebler, @chronotope, @jason_paladino, @klasfeldreports, @bcmerchant, @dewalt, @maxwelltani, @rafat, @stephen_neukam, @clarajeffery, @jeffjarvis, @brucebartlett, @clarajeffery, @asilbwrites, @mediaevan, @jhoffman, @mediaevan, @benmullin, @dsamuelsohn, @benmullin, @hanaatameez, @justinbaragona, @bgrueskin, @josephfcox, @cameronwilson, @macwbishop, @cameronwilson, @film_girl, @willsommer, @willsommer, @dylanbyers, @maxwelltani, @maxwelltani, @corbinbolies, @jessicalessin, @jamesrbuk, @jamesrbuk, @mikeisaac, @adambassofmass, @alex, @mattyglesias, @aidnmclaughlin, @thestalwart, @hbottemiller, @jimvandehei, @mediaevan, @lainnafader, @sarafischer, @taylorbuley, @tim_bays, @sherman4949, @willsommer, @tim_bays, @katie_robertson, @sherman4949, @tim_bays, @brianstelter, The Wrap, @dansinker@threads.net, @ericmgarcia14@threads.net, @dkiesow@threads.net, Awful Announcing, Mediaite, Shishira Sreenivas on LinkedIn, Saundra Latham on LinkedIn, TechCrunch, Columbia Journalism Review, @malloriesullivan@threads.net, @makenakellyx@threads.net, Politico, Talking Biz News, @sbhamedy@threads.net, @fredericl@threads.net, Boston Herald, Variety, Washington Post, @sorayamcdonald@threads.net, @stuartathompsonnyt …, @noahshachtman@threads.net, New York Post, CNN, Wall Street Journal, The Information, The Hill, @sokane1@threads.net, @karaswisher@threads.net, @geisler_jill@threads.net, @hermanywong@threads.net, @tomgara@threads.net, @semaforben@threads.net, Hollywood Reporter, @mattbrown.bsky.social, Talking Biz News, NBC News, The Wrap and Deadline
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Disney has reached a preliminary agreement to sell 60% of its Indian media business to Reliance-backed Viacom18 at a $3.9B valuation — Viacom18's purchase of 60% of Disney's India business reunites the company with two executives who built it — Disney has reached a preliminary agreement …
Discussion:
The Streamable, Media Play News, @bollywoodhq, @adityakalra, Reuters, MediaNama, Livemint, TechCrunch and The Wrap
Lucia Moses / Business Insider:
Companies representing 300 TV stations, including CBS and Gray Television, plan to launch Zeam, a free local news streaming service, an evolution of VUit — Gray Television is teaming up with other TV stations to launch a free, local-news streamer, and running Super Bowl ads starring John Stamos to get the word out.
Discussion:
TVNewsCheck and Cord Cutters News
Ashley Carman / Bloomberg:
UMG begins pulling its artists' music from TikTok after negotiations failed; videos featuring UMG-owned songs will be muted, and users can pick a new soundtrack — - Publisher behind Drake and Taylor Swift pushes for better pay — Videos featuring Universal Music-owned songs will be muted
Discussion:
UMG, Variety, Wall Street Journal, Associated Press, CNN, The Hill, Gizmodo, @simondowens@threads.net, UPROXX, Consequence, New York Times, Rolling Stone, Wired, @carnage4life@mas.to, Forbes, TechNode, Music Ally, The Music Network, The Verge, Polygon, Us Weekly, Deadline, TikTok, RAIN News, New York Post, WHDH-TV, New York Daily News, Vibe, Ars Technica, Axios, The Sun, Engadget, The i Paper, The Guardian, City A.M., The Register, The Messenger, Financial Times, TechCrunch, Los Angeles Times, Billboard and The Wrap, more at Techmeme »
The NewsGuild:
More than 200 unionized Tribune journalists, designers, and production workers across seven newsrooms are staging a 24-hour strike today — - DO NOT click on stories from the Chicago Tribune, Orlando Sentinel, Virginian-Pilot, Morning Call, Suburban Chicago Tribune, Design and Production Studios, Tribune Content Agency
Discussion:
Bloomberg, MediaPost, @ctguild, @chinewsguild, @newsguild, @ctguild, The Wrap, WAVY-TV, Axios, Chicago Sun Times and Washington Post
The Hollywood Reporter:
As Amazon becomes the latest streamer to push an ad-supported tier, TV writers react with frustration to the move away from the original promise of streaming — As Amazon becomes the latest platform to push an ad-supported tier, TV writers greet this retro model with frustration and …
Discussion:
TechHive, Fast Company, Sean Redlitz on LinkedIn, Front Office Sports and UPROXX
Nqobile Dludla / Reuters:
NBCU and South African pay TV company MultiChoice plan to invest $177M in Showmax, MultiChoice's streamer built on Peacock; NBCU gets a 30% stake in Showmax — South African pay TV company MultiChoice Group (MCGJ.J) and U.S. media conglomerate Comcast's (CMCSA.O) NBCUniversal Media will invest …
Discussion:
Deadline
Bron Maher / Press Gazette:
Politico redesigns its Europe, German, and French websites to have simpler homepages than the UK and US versions, to improve readability for AI web crawlers — Politico has given its Europe, German and French websites a redesign which improves readability for the web crawlers that feed into generative AI large language models (LLMs).
Georg Szalai / The Hollywood Reporter:
SiriusXM reports a Q4 net drop of 94K subscribers and 109K Pandora subs, net income down 4% YoY to $352M, revenue of $2.29B, and eyes “cost efficiencies” — The audio entertainment giant, the home of Howard Stern, is led by CEO Jennifer Witz whose team sees opportunities …
Reuters:
A Russian court extends the pre-trial detention of Russian-American RFE/RL journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, in custody since October 18, to April 5 — A Russian court on Thursday extended the pre-trial detention of Alsu Kurmasheva, a Russian-American journalist who is accused of violating a law on “foreign agents”.
Discussion:
Radio Free Europe/Radio …, Committee to Protect … and USAGM
Jon Allsop / Columbia Journalism Review:
A look at press freedoms in Guatemala, as pro-press freedom and anti-corruption activist Bernardo Arévalo becomes the country's new president — In the summer of 2022, a unit of armed police officers in Guatemala raided the home of José Rubén Zamora …
Discussion:
@normajtorres, @jon_allsop and @sheilacoronel
Christina Couch / Nieman Lab:
How some small media outlets are trying to prevent reporter burnout by adopting work models that reduce workloads and prioritize time outside the office — Keeping reporters healthy over the long term often requires both systemic and behavioral changes, and getting buy-in often isn't easy.
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