Top News:


Spotify is paying hundreds of millions for audiobooks annually; US audiobook users average five more hours on the app in the 60 days after starting a book — - Without Spotify, the audiobook industry in the U.S. grew 14% in unit sales between Q4 2022 and Q4 2023, according to Bookstat.


Five ex-Pitchfork journalists launch online music outlet Hearing Things, aiming to capture Pitchfork's independent spirit; subscriptions start at $70 per year — After the popular publication was folded into GQ, a group of them is striking out on its own. One of the first orders of business: doing away with album scores.


Filing: Paramount sweetens compensation for its three co-CEOs ahead of its Skydance merger, expected in H1 2025; the deal protects their pay if they're demoted — The “Office of the CEO” just got additional bonuses — and the security of knowing that if they're demoted they can take their pay and walk away without a hit.


Sources: Will Lewis has a mandate from Jeff Bezos to grow The Washington Post, including via acquisitions; it has explored deals with Punchbowl News and others — Will Lewis has said he has a mandate from the paper's owner, Jeff Bezos, to grow the business, including through acquisitions.
Discussion:
Benjamin Mullin on LinkedIn and @benmullin


Internal memo: the BBC plans to cut 155 BBC News jobs, including closing Asian Network News and the HARDtalk program, to save £24M, or 4% of BBC News' budget — Broadcaster hopes move will save £24mn from budget, according to internal memo sent to staff
Discussion:
@stephensackur, @lizsly, @stephensackur, @stephensackur, TVNewsCheck, @dougalshaw, @j_bloodworth, @winterdakhan, @mazzucatom, @mrpmharrison, @ericlatiff, @timothy_stanley, The Guardian, @joannenadler, @doylech, @lucy_pawle, @mathewhulbert, @pankajpachauri, @oflynnsocial, @carmenkamanlau, @goldenmatonga, @john_foremancbe, @aflemingbrown, @soniasodha, @helenclarknz, Prolific North, @gideonrachman, @piersmorgan, Deadline, Press Gazette, @kimghattas, @mikehughes_, @bill_emmott, Clean Feed, @raymondsnoddy, @tmchivers, @robburl, Telegraph, @thusi_kumar, @nickbryantny, @stephensackur, @amitbasu71, @martp132, @peterboghossian, @afneil, Daily Star and Advanced Television


The NYT sends a cease-and-desist letter to AI startup Perplexity to stop using its content; Perplexity says it is “interested in working with every” publisher — Publisher demands that Perplexity stop accessing its content. Startup isn't interested “in being anyone's antagonist,” CEO says.


Condé Nast reaches a tentative deal with The New Yorker union, ending a strike threat at the mag's annual festival; the union plans a final vote in a few weeks — The company's human resources department announced a tentative deal on Monday, a little over a week after the labor group threatened a work stoppage.
Discussion:
NewsGuild of New York, Crooked Media and The Nation


Kansas City's news nonprofit The Beacon is shutting down its Wichita newsroom, three years after its launch with support from the Wichita Foundation — “We've realized that we can't do it all, and have made the decision to no longer have a staffed newsroom in Wichita.”
Discussion:
The Beacon and @sarahscire

The Athletic names Fubo as its first streaming partner in a multi-year deal to integrate Fubo initially into live game blogs and then into newsletters and more — The partnership will see Fubo integrated throughout The Athletic's website — The New York Times sports publisher …


Tina Brown, who became synonymous with Manhattan media in the 1980s and 1990s, launches Fresh Hell, a weekly Substack diary newsletter in “notebook form” — Tina Brown's decision to join Substack is a coup for the newsletter company, which considers prestigious names to be magnets …
Discussion:
Business Insider, @mediaevan, @jtes and Fresh Hell


Taliban-run media stops showing images of living beings in some Afghan provinces to comply with morality laws, sparking press freedom concerns — Taliban run-media have stopped showing images of living beings in some Afghan provinces to comply with morality laws, an official confirmed Tuesday.
Discussion:
@natiqmalikzada, @visegrad24, Times of India, LBC, The Independent, Global Village Space, @qaisalamdar, Daily Mail, WION, Amu TV, Outlook India, Telegraph, Boing Boing and PetaPixel


Lee Enterprises' St. Louis Post-Dispatch plans to outsource printing to Gannett in Columbia, MO, in January; late sports info will not be in its print edition — Come January, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch will not be printed in the St. Louis area for the first time in its 146-year history.
Discussion:
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, @hollyedgell and St. Louis Business Journal