Mediagazer: Texas' AG opens a probe into the World Federation of Advertisers to find if it conspired to boycott “certain social media platforms”; X sued the WFA in August (Maxwell Zeff/TechCrunch)

Caitlin Huston / The Hollywood Reporter:

Internal memo: Hearst Magazines president announces layoffs as part of a decision to “reallocate resources” to “continue our focus on digital innovation” — The company is home to more than 25 brands in the U.S. including Elle, Esquire, Cosmopolitan, Harper's Bazaar and Town & Country.

Discussion: @caleyfretz, @erikawynn, Julia Mercado on LinkedIn, @charlottetklein, Chandra Turner on LinkedIn, The Wrap, @andrewnicla.bsky.social, @andrewnicla.bsky.social, Deadline, @bauxoffice.bsky.social and @kevincortez.bsky.social

Mark Sweney / The Guardian:

National World, one of the UK's biggest newspaper groups, gets a £56.2M buyout offer from shareholder Media Concierge, a 40% premium to its Nov. 21 stock price — Media Concierge submits £56.2m cash offer for National World, underbidder in the auction for the Telegraph titles

Discussion: Press Gazette, Financial Times, London Evening Standard and HoldtheFrontPage

Lachlan Cartwright / The Ankler:

Sources: MSNBC renewed Rachel Maddow's contract early this fall, but with a pay cut; MSNBC bosses' plan to shake up daytime and weekend programming — SCOOP: TV's ‘safe space for liberals’ is about to reshuffle its stars as the network re-ups its marquee name under a tough new spinoff-ready reality

Discussion: The Daily Beast, RedState, Cord Cutters News, Variety, HuffPost, Daily Mail, Trending Politics …, What's Up Today, New York Post, @michaelsocolow.bsky.social, Barrett Media, @bsdtectr.bsky.social, @justinbaragona.bsky.social, TVNewsCheck and @bsdtectr.bsky.social

Max Goldbart / Deadline:

The English Premier League ends its content partnership with IMG and plans to bring content production and distribution in-house in 2026 — The UK's Premier League soccer is to start producing and distributing its own content for the first time in two decades after ending its partnership with IMG.

Discussion: Advanced Television

Ayodeji Rotinwa / Columbia Journalism Review:

A look at the Agora Center for Research, a Ugandan newsroom sitting between activism and investigative reporting, posting its work on various social media sites — Reporting that pops up in different media, documents as proof, and crowdsourced investigations have revealed corruption.

Jon Brodkin / Ars Technica:

FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel announced she will leave the agency on January 20; she was the first woman to be confirmed to lead the agency — Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel announced today that she will leave the agency on January 20, 2025, the day of President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration.

David Spector / New York Post:

Email: WaPo senior politics editor Dan Eggen says he was told Monday that he will “be removed” at the end of 2024, and “will leave it to others to explain why” — The Washington Post abruptly removed its politics editor without giving him a reason for the decision …

Discussion: @lachcartwright, @bamabonds, @farhip, @nicoleperlroth, @jamespmanley, @hangleyjr, @awinston, @froomkin, @lachcartwright, @awinston, @sjvn@mastodon.social, @scire.bsky.social and The Daily Caller

The New York Times Company:

Elisabeth Bumiller, the NYT's Washington bureau chief since 2015 and nearly a 30-year NYT veteran, is stepping down to return to writing and reporting — Elisabeth, incomparable Washington bureau chief since 2015, has decided to return to writing and reporting.

Discussion: @peterbakernyt, @ignatiuspost, @glennthrush, @moorehn, @peterbakernyt, @andrew_marshall, @peterbakernyt, @moorehn and @edmundlee.bsky.social

Maxwell Zeff / TechCrunch:

Texas' AG opens a probe into the World Federation of Advertisers to find if it conspired to boycott “certain social media platforms”; X sued the WFA in August — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced on Thursday he is opening an investigation into the World Federation of Advertisers …

Discussion: MediaPost, Texas Attorney General, @elonmusk, @kenpaxtontx, Bloomberg Law, New York Post, Washington Examiner, Reclaim The Net, The Post Millennial, Breitbart and Engadget, more at Techmeme »

Parker Herren / Ad Age:

SMBs turn to Disney, Paramount, and Peacock's ad platforms; VAB: in H1 2024, 169 advertisers bought national TV ads for the first time and 67% spent <$500K — New-to-TV brands predict a ‘renaissance’ for growing businesses through streaming ads — As traditional TV networks shift …

Discussion: MediaPost

Matthew Keys / The Desk:

DirecTV terminates its Dish acquisition after a group of Dish creditors rejected a modified bond exchange offer — Pay television provider DirecTV on Thursday officially announced it will terminate its agreement to acquire rival satellite company Dish Network and its streaming service Sling TV from Echostar this week.

Guthrie Scrimgeour / Wired:

Hawaii's The Garden Island stops using AI-generated newscasters on YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram after two months, likely due to the negative public response — A local newspaper in Hawaii experimented with AI-generated presenters to engage and boost its readership. After two months, the bots have been shelved.

Discussion: Mandy DeLuca on LinkedIn, @newsguy.bsky.social and Futurism