Top News:
The Information:
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 …
RELATED:
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 …
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
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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