Top News:
Michael Msika / Bloomberg:
PE firm Blackstone offers ~$1.5B to purchase Hipgnosis, about 7% higher than the bid made earlier this week by Concord to which Hipgnosis' board had agreed — - Competition heats up for Blondie, Kaiser Chiefs catalog owner — Hipgnosis already recommended Apollo-backed Concord's offer
Discussion:
City A.M., Digital Music News, Music Business Worldwide, Financial Times, Variety, CMU and Billboard
John Koblin / New York Times:
Antenna: 29M+ people, or ~25% of US streaming subscribers, canceled 3+ services over the last two years as Americans increasingly jump between services — Many more people are jumping from one streaming subscription to another, a behavior that could have big implications for the entertainment industry.
Robert Simmon / Global Investigative Journalism Network:
A look at the use of satellite imagery for investigative journalism by outlets including Reveal, Bellingcat, The New York Times, and ProPublica — Almost 25 years ago, The Washington Post reported on the first picture delivered by the brand-new Ikonos satellite.
Emma Roth / The Verge:
Post.News, the news-focused social platform launched in 2022 that offered micropayments to publishers, is shutting down after failing to grow “fast enough” — Post News, a Twitter alternative that emerged in the wake of Elon Musk's takeover, is shutting down.
Discussion:
@kalihays1@threads.net, @crumbler@threads.net, @J12t@social.coop, TechCrunch, @lessin, @bluesky, Media Nation, @josh@josh.tel, @polotek@social.polotek.net, @cardamomaddict@mstdn.ca, @stop@threads.net, @Hey_Beth@sfba.social, @SteveThompson@mastodon.social, @hellodavidryan@threads.net, @NevadaWolf@birds.town and @timothyjchambers@threads.net, more at Techmeme »
Clara Aberneithie / Press Gazette:
A look at The Cool Down, a climate-focused news outlet that makes $5M in programmatic advertising per year and aims to increase it to $12M per year in 2025 — The Cool Down is the fastest-growing top 50 news website in the US. — A US news website taking a positive approach to coverage …
Stephanie Kaloi / The Wrap:
New York passes a first-of-its-kind employment tax credit plan to support independent news outlets in the state, offering $30M in yearly credits for three years — The plan aims to support independent news organizations with three years of funding — The New York state Legislature passed …
Discussion:
The NewsGuild, Rebuild Local News, @stevenwaldman, Editor and Publisher and @stevenwaldman
New York Times:
How TikTok has influenced US culture and shaped Hollywood, news, music, shopping, political campaigns, national security, and more — Has there ever been an app more American seeming than TikTok, with its messy democratic creativity, exhibitionism, utter lack of limits and vast variety of hustlers?
Discussion:
@thedragonfeeder, @sapna, @abedian_amiri, @nytimes, @actionhero, @nunez_anna, @rutgerscomminfo, @jordynjournals, @jordynjournals, @dealbook, @nytimes and Reuters, more at Techmeme »
Ruth La Ferla / New York Times:
Graydon Carter opens a physical store called Air Mail Newsstand in NYC, as an extension of his digital newsletter Air Mail, selling books, magazines, and more — Shoe horns, lampshades and CBD-infused elixirs are among the goods Graydon Carter is selling at a new newsstand-style shop in New York.
Discussion:
@nbj914, Harrison Vail on LinkedIn and Showbiz411
Charlotte Klein / Vanity Fair:
The Trump campaign has denied press credentials for several reporters, often after tough questions or articles; in 2016, it denied them for entire news outlets — Reporters from The Washington Post, Axios, and Vanity Fair have recently been rejected, though blanket bans, à la 2016, don't appear to be happening.
Discussion:
@civex, @mlcalderone and @curtishouck
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Filing: Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav's 2023 compensation package was worth $49.7M, up 26.5% from the year prior, with $23.1M in stock awards — David Zaslav, president and CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, had a 2023 pay package worth $49.7 million, up 26.5% from the year prior …
Discussion:
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Wall Street Journal, Theo Francis on LinkedIn, @buccocapital, @pezmico@mastodon.nz, @brucebartlett, @dylanbyers, @lucas_shaw, @youdoingtoomuch, Joe Flint on LinkedIn, Dan Price on LinkedIn, Gizmodo, Bloomberg, The Desk, Hollywood Reporter, Next TV, Reuters, The Wrap, IndieWire, @2xaught7.bsky.social, Deadline and New York Times
Andrew Beaujon / Washingtonian:
Interviews with over a dozen current and former WAMU staffers and contractors show management's contradictory, unclear messaging about its closure of DCist — The star-crossed marriage of Washington's NPR member station and a feisty digital news publication came to an abrupt end in February.
Lola Fadulu / New York Times:
Nicholas Welker, leader of a white supremacist group who admitted to posting a death threat against a Brooklyn journalist, is sentenced to 44 months in prison — Nicholas Welker admitted posting the death threat, which was meant to to silence coverage of the extremist group he led, prosecutors said.
Discussion:
New York Daily News, @pressfreedom, @egavactip, Brooklyn Eagle and US Department of Justice