Top News:
Ben Smith / Semafor:
Sources: Axel Springer sees the WSJ as a “top acquisition target”; CEO Mathias Döpfner pushed to fire BI's Nic Carlson after Bill Ackman's pushback on coverage — The WELT-Wirtschaftsgipfel is a major moment in the German business calendar — and in particular for its host, the media giant Axel Springer.
Discussion:
@jonathan_miller, @shakeelhashim, @corbinhiar, @pauldemko and @tomaxwell
Alexandra Topping / The Guardian:
The BBC plans to invest £6M in AI to make its educational offering BBC Bitesize more personalized and interactive, hoping to attract future licence fee payers — Hopes investment to make Bitesize more personalised and interactive will attract future licence-fee payers
Washington Post:
Analysis: the 25 most-cited US news organizations lost 75% of their Facebook engagement and 58% of their Instagram interactions between Q1 2022 and Q1 2024 — Waves of layoffs and policy shifts are forcing campaigns to change tactics, potentially transforming the 2024 election
Discussion:
@beneltham
Cuyler Dunn / The Lawrence Times:
How high school student journalists convinced a district in Kansas to remove their files from an AI surveillance system, saying it violated their press rights — Journalism students at Lawrence High School have convinced the school district to remove their files from the purview …
Discussion:
Kansas Reflector, @daveleebbg@threads.net and @ctdunn7
John Koblin / New York Times:
Antenna: ~25% of US streaming video subscribers, or 29M+ users, canceled three or more in the past two years, as users 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.
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:
Billboard, City A.M., The Guardian, Reuters, Sky News, Music Business Worldwide, Digital Music News, Financial Times, Variety and CMU
Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
The hangover from the Hollywood strikes has lasted longer than anyone anticipated, as studios, networks, and streaming services simply aren't buying as much — Everyone was supposed to get back to work once two strikes concluded last year, but the hangover has been longer than anyone anticipated.
Discussion:
@empirecitybo, @back_the_bbc, @ashkan and @lucas_shaw
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.
Matt Burgess / Wired:
Researchers: files on a misconfigured North Korean server suggest local animators worked on upcoming Prime Video and HBO TV shows, possibly via a Chinese front — Thousands of exposed files on a misconfigured North Korean server hint at one way the reclusive country may evade international sanctions.
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 …
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?
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 reach $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 …