Mediagazer: Sources: Vox Media's and Bustle Digital Group's revenue each fell ~15% YoY due to weaker ad sales; both have seen a 10% rise in ad sales so far in 2024 (Sahil Patel/The Information)

9:55 AM ET, February 15, 2024

Top News:

Sources: Meta is reducing payments to news outlets that fact-check potential WhatsApp misinformation, including on elections, and has cut CrowdTangle funding — Meta Platforms is reducing payments to news organizations that fact-check potential misinformation on WhatsApp, including around elections …

Discussion: @kalleyhuang, @aginnt, @campuscodi@mastodon.social, @brooklynmarie and @mattnavarra@threads.net, more at Techmeme »

Oliver Darcy / CNN:

Meta struggles to precisely define what political content is, offering only a vague statement, after saying Threads would not amplify political content — What constitutes “political” content? — It's an important question that Meta has conspicuously left unanswered …

Discussion: Columbia Journalism Review, @crumbler@threads.net, @shiraovide@threads.net, @katieharbath@threads.net, @jayfarrellarnold@threads.net, @bostonjoan@threads.net, @doniecnn@threads.net and @oliverdarcy@threads.net, more at Techmeme »

Sahil Patel / The Information:

Sources: Vox Media's and Bustle Digital Group's revenue each fell ~15% YoY due to weaker ad sales; both have seen a 10% rise in ad sales so far in 2024 — Advertising is no country for small digital media firms. — Vox Media, the privately held firm that owns outlets such as New York magazine …

Bloomberg:

Court filings show that Soros Fund Management could become the biggest shareholder of Audacy when the radio and podcast company emerges from bankruptcy — - Fund owns more than $400 million of Audacy's first-lien debt — Radio company's restructuring would hand ownership to lenders

Discussion: New York Post, @ashleyrcarman, Inside Radio, @buythecryptodip, Radio & Television …, Barrett News Media, Boston Herald, The Desk and @ashleycarman@threads.net

Committee to Protect Journalists:

Senegalese police attacked, harassed, and tear gassed or detained over 25 journalists reporting on February 9 protests over the delayed presidential election — Senegalese authorities must identify and hold accountable police officers who attacked, harassed, and tear gassed or detained …

Georg Szalai / Hollywood Reporter:

TelevisaUnivision reports Q4 revenue fell 7% YoY to $1.36B and adjusted OIBDA fell 7% YoY to $468.1M; streamer ViX had 7M+ subscribers at the end of 2023 — About 2024, the Spanish-language media giant's CEO Wade Davis says, “we are poised to capture a massive U.S. political opportunity …

Discussion: Variety, Footwear News and WORLD SCREEN

Jonathan Heawood / The Guardian:

A look at new local UK newsrooms, like Manchester's The Mill, Glasgow's The Ferret, and The Bristol Cable, which are taking over as legacy local media declines — On tiny budgets, indie publishers from Manchester to Bristol are doing amazing things. The government must unlock their potential

Discussion: Johny Cassidy on LinkedIn, Jonathan Heawood on LinkedIn and Media Voices

Hanaa' Tameez / Nieman Lab:

Four owners of independent media talk about why they went independent, the boom-and-bust cycle of media funding, sustainability, co-op ownership, and more — “Blogging is the media. Blogging won.” — It's been a rough start to the new year for the news industry, between layoffs …

Discussion: @hanaatameez and @mathewi

Charlotte Klein / Vanity Fair:

David Leonhardt's views shaped NYT newsletter The Morning, which has 5M+ daily readers, leading to newsroom tension; others will share its lead column in 2024 — The New York Times' flagship newsletter is hugely popular with readers, a source of tension among some reporters, and …

Discussion: @mlcalderone and @charlottetklein

Damilare Dosunmu / Rest of World:

Omdia: South African streaming company Showmax had 2.1M subscribers in Africa at the end of November 2023, ahead of Netflix's 1.8M and Amazon Prime Video's 300K — Showmax sits at the top of the market with a vast library of local content, partnerships with Comcast and HBO …

Discussion: Marie Lora-Mungai on LinkedIn, The Information and @restofworld@restof.social

Brian Steinberg / Variety:

Disney merges ABC News and local station operations under Debra OConnell; ABC News President Kim Godwin and Stations President Chad Matthews will report to her — Another major media company is merging its news division and its local stations in hopes of wringing new profits from two businesses …

Discussion: The Wrap, New York Times, The Walt Disney Company, Los Angeles Times, Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter

Roger Cheng / Cord Cutters News:

Altice USA's Optimum lost 114,000 internet subscribers and 266,700 cable TV subscribers in 2023, including 62,200 cable subscribers in Q4 — Cable and internet provider Optimum continues to bleed customers at an alarming rate even as it lost money. — The company reported fourth-quarter results …

Discussion: The Desk, Altice USA, Inc. and Next TV

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More News:

Angela Fu / Poynter:
Utah's Deseret News says The Digest, a free monthly print compendium of its best journalism launched in September 2023, has been profitable since October

Discussion: Burke Olsen on LinkedIn and American Press Institute

Committee to Protect Journalists:
Iranian authorities raided the newsroom of economic news site FardayeEghtesad on February 5, initially detaining 30 staff; four journalists are still detained

Discussion: Trusting News and Nieman Lab

Brian Steinberg / Variety:
Geraldo Rivera joins Nexstar Media's NewsNation as a correspondent at large; Rivera left Fox News in 2023 due to tensions with Greg Gutfeld

Discussion: The Hill, @geraldorivera, @davidfolkenflik, TVLine, Mediaite, The Desk, The Daily Beast, Barrett News Media, @ainemacdermot.bsky.social, Adweek, The Hollywood Reporter, The Wrap and Deadline

Oliver Darcy / CNN:
In a letter to the WHCA, the White House expresses concern over media coverage of the Special Counsel's report on Joe Biden's handling of classified material

Discussion: Fox News and New York Times

Natalie Korach / The Wrap:
As The Daily Beast put Confider on hiatus, weeks after editor at large Lachlan Cartwright left, sources say the media newsletter could instead be “dead”

Discussion: @danackerman

Sara Fischer / Axios:
An interview with Jimmy Finkelstein, who says The Messenger's model was working and the outlet would have been profitable by August 2024 if it had raised $20M

Discussion: Poynter, Julie Westfall on LinkedIn, @pressgazette, @mradamtaylor, @jimlaporta, @jakewilkns, @sarafischer, @tomgara, Awful Announcing and @coreypein.bsky.social

Earlier Picks:

Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Walmart is in talks to buy smart TV manufacturer Vizio for $2B+, as the company looks to bolster its advertising business in its battle with Amazon

Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
Mail publisher DMGT reports 2023 revenue up 2% YoY to £997M and a pre-tax loss of £12.6M, as a £63M growth in B2B events revenue offset consumer media decline

Discussion: Media Voices and Daily Mail and General Trust plc

James Ball / Columbia Journalism Review:
How Reddit, after the catastrophic online manhunt to find the Boston Marathon bomber, quietly became a civilized place to discuss news, due to strong moderation

Discussion: American Press Institute and @jamesrbuk

BBC R&D:
The BBC plans to continue its Mastodon trial for at least six months and publish its work using ActivityPub, after gaining 60K followers on six trial accounts

Discussion: @chris@mstdn.chrisalemany.ca, @peterbutler@mas.to, @developerjustin …, @liaizon@social.wake.st, @andypiper@macaw.social, @paul@oldfriends.live, @derek@social.coop, @BBCRD@social.bbc and TechCrunch

Patrick Frater / Variety:
Sony Pictures reports Q3 sales up 5% YoY to $2.47B, operating income up 56% to $281M; Sony Music revenue up 16% YoY to $2.81B, operating income up 21% to $507M

Discussion: The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline, Music Business Worldwide, Sony Group, Sony Group, Sony Group and Associated Press

Foo Yun Chee / Reuters:
TikTok plans to launch an in-app local language Election Centre in March 2024 in all 27 EU countries, to fight misinformation ahead of the Parliament elections

Discussion: The Guardian, TikTok, TechCrunch and GB News

From Techmeme:

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple is working on a smart doorbell system with advanced facial recognition that can wirelessly connect and unlock third-party smart locks

Wall Street Journal:
Gina Raimondo says holding back China in the chips race is a “fool's errand”, and investment, more than export controls, will keep US ahead of Beijing

Reuters:
Albania bans TikTok for a year from January 2025, part of a broader plan to make schools safer following the killing of a 14-year-old near a school in November

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