Top News:
Claudia Chiappa / Politico:
Tucker Carlson faces backlash from American and Russian journalists after claiming that Western media is not making an effort to hear Putin's side of the story — The controversial pundit is interviewing the Russian leader. Now other journalists are raging at “this SoB.”
Discussion:
Mediaite, @amanpour, THE DC PATRIOT, Newsweek, @jaketapper, @ggreenwald, @elonmusk, @anthony, @jimmysecuk, @shayan86, @walshfreedom, @radiofreetom, @repdonbeyer, @adamscochran, @dszeligowski, @albats, @decodingfoxnews, @edwardgluce, @abbydphillip, @bbcstever, @jakluge, @shteyngart, @phillipspobrien, @fermerzpolissia, @john_mcguirk, @2russophobic4u, @p_kallioniemi, @oalexanderdk, @saintjavelin, @dkaleniuk, @anneapplebaum, @florida_sophia, @eliothiggins, @gretagrace20, @growing_daniel, @maxseddon, @yarotrof, @ianbremmer, The Wrap, New York Post, Rolling Stone, The Guardian and Reuters
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Dave Lawler / Axios:
Former Fox host Tucker Carlson says he has traveled to Moscow to interview Vladimir Putin and will air the interview “unedited” on his website and on X — Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson said in a video posted to X on Tuesday that he is in Moscow to interview Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Discussion:
@tuckercarlson, BBC, Mediaite, Washington Post, The Guardian, New York Times, Politico, BBC, @jason, @rferl, @ozkaterji, @maxseddon, @ianbremmer, Barrett News Media, @sarahrainsford, @jonathanlanday, @justinbaragona, Reuters, @maxseddon, @karaswisher@threads.net, @karaswisher@threads.net, Radio Free Europe/Radio …, @mediaite@threads.net, The Daily Beast, Deadline, @warrenterra.bsky.social, @everythingism.bsky.social, New York Times, The Kyiv Independent, The Kyiv Independent, The Hill, The Wrap, @kevinrothrock@infosec …, The Daily Beast, The Hollywood Reporter, Columbia Journalism Review and Daily Kos
Meduza.io:
Russia says Tucker Carlson is “not correct” to say no Western reporter tried to interview Putin, and Carlson is different from “traditional Anglo-Saxon media” — Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed on Wednesday that Vladimir Putin gave an interview …
Discussion:
Telegraph, Rolling Stone, Washington Post, @apocalypticanow.bsky.social, Reuters, Poynter, Reason, The Daily Beast, CNBC, KEYT-TV, HuffPost, Wall Street Journal, Media Matters for America, New Republic, Associated Press, Variety, CBS News, Bloomberg, The Daily Caller, New York Times and The Hill
The New York Times Company:
The NYT reports Q4 revenue up 1.3% YoY to $676M, subscription revenue up 3.3% YoY to $404M, and a $129M operating profit; Athletic revenue grew 31.3% to $38.5M — NEW YORK, February 7, 2024 - The New York Times Company (NYSE: NYT) announced today fourth- quarter and full-year 2023 results.
Discussion:
The Wrap, @nataliekorach and @pressgazette
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Katie Robertson / New York Times:
The NYT finished 2023 with 10.36M subscribers, 9.7M of them digital-only, helping push annual revenue for digital subscriptions above $1B for the first time — At the end of the year, The Times had 10.36 million subscribers, 9.7 million of them digital-only.
Discussion:
The Information, @katie_robertson, @thestalwart and @thestalwart
Wall Street Journal:
Fox, ESPN, and WBD announce a new joint venture to launch a streaming sports service in the US in the fall of 2024; each entity will own a third of the JV — The service will be available to ESPN+, Hulu and Max subscribers.
Discussion:
The Streamable, CNBC, Next TV, ESPN Press Room U.S., Axios, Cord Cutters News, Tom Burke on LinkedIn, @sdkstl, AllEars.Net, @michaelsaves, USA Today, Poynter, The Hill, @sherman4949, @tvmojoe, Sports Media Watch, Charlie Boss on LinkedIn, @fiddleelphier, Andrew Wamugi on LinkedIn, @sherman4949, @jacobfeldman4, @jeffjarvis, @tim_bays, @tvmojoe, 9to5Mac, @jacobfeldman4, @sherman4949, @jbflint, @novy_williams, @jtoonkel, @mattbelloni, @lucas_shaw, @sherman4949, @eriqgardner, @bristei, @loudmouthjulia, Newser, Reuters, Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter, Associated Press, Sportico, Dan Rayburn on LinkedIn, The Daily Caller, Adweek, Engadget, The Guardian, Los Angeles Times, MediaPost, Awful Announcing, The Verge, New York Times, Dakotah Rice on LinkedIn, @pkafka@threads.net, Barrett Media, @blackamazon.bsky.social, Bloomberg, UPROXX, The Desk, New York Daily News, Ad Age, Digital Trends and Forbes, more at Techmeme »
Kate Knibbs / Wired:
An interview with Nebojša Vujo, a Serbian DJ who runs 2,000+ AI-generated sites, often hosted on abandoned news sites like The Hairpin and Apple Daily — Serbian DJ turned internet entrepreneur Nebojša Vujinović Vujo floods abandoned news sites with AI-generated articles.
Discussion:
@srd212, @emilybell, @katiedrumm and @knibbs, more at Techmeme »
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Plex launches a movie rentals storefront offering movies from top studios, including WB, Paramount, MGM, Lionsgate, and A24, initially in the US — Fresh on the heels of its $40 million fundraise, streaming media company Plex is today announcing its expansion into a new business: a movie rentals storefront.
HEATED:
The New York Times' The Daily ran a greenwashing BP ad on its January 31 podcast, despite a 2021 pledge by the NYT to ban sponsorships by oil and gas companies — The Daily promised to end fossil fuel sponsorships in 2021. BP promised to stop “corporate reputation advertising” in 2020.
Patrick Frater / Variety:
Alibaba takes a ~$1.2B impairment charge against its video streaming service Youku, acquired in November 2015 and attributed a $5.5B valuation at the time — Chinese e-commerce and entertainment giant Alibaba has taken a $1.2 billion goodwill impairment charge against its video-streaming operation Youku.
Discussion:
The Information and Bloomberg, more at Techmeme »
Charles Pulliam-Moore / The Verge:
Disney+ begins emailing subscribers about new changes to its TOS that will make sharing accounts harder, days after Hulu sent out similar notices — Today, Disney Plus began sending out emails informing subscribers about new changes to its terms of service that will, among other things …
Discussion:
TechHive, Inc.com, Engadget and Cord Cutters News, more at Techmeme »
Winston Cho / The Hollywood Reporter:
Gina Carano, who was fired from The Mandalorian after controversial social media posts, sues Disney and Lucasfilm for wrongful termination in a suit funded by X — The actress claims the entertainment giant discriminated against her for voicing right-wing opinions on hot-button issues.
Discussion:
@ginacarano, Forbes, @teroterotero, Gizmodo, ComingSoon.net, New York Daily News, HuffPost, Film Stories, Wall Street Journal, Business Insider, Mumbrella, TVNewsCheck, New York Times, CBS News, Reuters, Los Angeles Times, National Review, The Hill, Us Weekly, The Guardian, Rolling Stone, Reclaim The Net, Metro, The A.V. Club, Engadget, @stevesilberman@newsie.social, TV Insider, The Daily Beast, AllEars.Net, TMZ.com, @ampersine@mastodon.online, Screen Rant, CBR, UPROXX, TVLine, IndieWire, BroBible, Deadline, The Wrap, Variety, Consequence, Fox News, The Verge, Associated Press, Bloomberg and Daily Disney News
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