Top News:
New York Times:
The NBC News-Ronna McDaniel saga highlights the perks and perils of partisan talk TV; a source says McDaniel is now seeking $600K+ for her two year deal — Why are television news networks so enamored with paid Beltway analysts? — Trying to juice ratings in an election year …
RELATED:
Max Tani / Semafor:
Some NBC News staff raise concerns that the hiring and firing of Ronna McDaniel will damage relationships with GOP sources, making breaking news more difficult
Some NBC News staff raise concerns that the hiring and firing of Ronna McDaniel will damage relationships with GOP sources, making breaking news more difficult
Discussion:
Washington Post, The Wrap, @ampersine@mastodon.online, Fox News, New York Post, @karol, New York Times, Fast Company, @mikeelgan, @nedryun, @gregtsargent, @johnnydollar01, @josephzeballos, @nedryun, @newsjennifer, @asmith83, @jayrosen_nyu, @thepacketrat, @maxwelltani, Politico, Reason, Vanity Fair, @sfdb@mastodon.social, @alex@masto.digittante.com, @GreenFire@mstdn.social, @wademinter.com, HuffPost, Mediaite, Financial Times, @MikeElgan@mastodon.social, Reuters, CNN and The Desk
New York Times:
Karlie Kloss' Bedford buys Life publication rights from Dotdash Meredith and plans to resume regular print publication in 2025; Josh Kushner will be publisher — The investor Josh Kushner and his wife, Karlie Kloss, have struck a deal with Barry Diller's media company to revive it as a regular print title.
Alexandra Bruell / Wall Street Journal:
The Atlantic is profitable, has 1M subscribers, and revenue grew 10% in 2023 thanks to a 50% price hike, a harder paywall, and a shift to in-depth reporting — Storied magazine raised subscription prices and hired top talent; ‘we make something worth buying’
Discussion:
The Atlantic and @edmundlee@threads.net
Nicola Agius / Search Engine Land:
Google blocked or removed 5.5B ads and 12.7M advertiser accounts for violating its policies in 2023, up from 5.2B ads and 6.7M advertiser accounts in 2022 — The number of advertisers who were blocked or removed due to policy violations nearly doubled compared to the previous year. — Chat with SearchBot
Discussion:
The Wrap, @vera_community, 9to5Google, @google, The Keyword and The Indian Express, more at Techmeme »
Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
The UK's Reach plans to move 300 of its 2,000 journalists into central traffic-driving content hub to reduce the number of journalists writing similar stories — The proposed hub will end duplication as multiple journalists at different Reach websites currently write about the same trending topics.
Discussion:
HoldtheFrontPage
Jake Kanter / Deadline:
Actor Sara Poyzer says BBC is using AI instead of her voice in a documentary; the BBC says it is to recreate the voice of a dying person at a family's behest — UPDATE: The BBC has issued a statement that offers important context to Sara Poyzer's viral social media posts.
Discussion:
Mediaite, The Guardian, @matthewg_yoga, @nathanwyburnart, Daily Mail, Rolling Stone, The Drum, The Hollywood Reporter, @sarapoyzer and The Daily Beast
Benoit Berthelot / Bloomberg:
BuzzFeed signs an agreement licensing the UK and Ireland operations of HuffPost, Tasty, Seasoned, and BuzzFeed to the Independent, which ~30 staff will join — - Deal also includes UK arms of HuffPost, Tasty and Seasoned — BuzzFeed's share price has gained after job cuts, asset sales
Discussion:
The Guardian, Reuters, Press Gazette, BuzzFeed and The Independent
Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
After more than nine years, London's Met Police apologize and settle with three journalists who were stopped from covering a Black Lives Matter protest in 2014 — The Metropolitan Police has settled with three journalists detained and stopped from covering a Black Lives Matter protest in London in 2014.
Discussion:
Mediaite, @jasonnparkinson, @nujofficial, Freedom of the Press … and National Union of Journalists …
Amrita Khalid / The Verge:
YouTube says 25%+ of Partner Program channels earn money from Shorts; of those who joined the program thanks to Shorts, 80% earn from other parts of YouTube — One year after YouTube turned on revenue sharing for its shortform video feature, a growing chunk of creators are getting paid for it.
Discussion:
TechCrunch, CNN, YouTube Official Blog, Fast Company, 9to5Google and Engadget
Max Goldbart / Deadline:
The BBC unveils its 2024/25 Annual Plan: a £492M deficit, up 40% YoY, £3.8B in license fee income, and an 8% increase in content spending to £3.2B — The BBC's financial deficit is projected to reach nearly £500M next year as the corporation delivers what it has described as a “transformational budget.”
Discussion:
@pressgazette, @back_the_bbc, BBC, Advanced Television, The Hollywood Reporter and @jake_kanter
Li Yuan / New York Times:
A profile of Wang Xiaoshuai, who decided to defy China's censors by screening his latest film, Above the Dust, in Berlin, despite orders to withdraw it — “I always strive for creative freedom,” Wang Xiaoshuai said. “But it's become impossible because of the circumstances.”
Discussion:
@liyuan6
The Wrap:
Sources: ex-Vice chief Shane Smith is trying to raise money to buy Vice Media back from Fortress, which led a group that bought Vice out of bankruptcy in 2023 — When Vice cofounder Shane Smith disappeared from public view five years ago, it seemed about time.
Discussion:
@sharonwaxman, @thewrap, @tomgara, @rolandsmartin and @kennysmith@mstdn.social