Top News:


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


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


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


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


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.


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


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


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.


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.


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 …


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?


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 …