Top News:
Jeremy Barr / Washington Post:
CNN confirms Kaitlan Collins as its chief White House correspondent; she will become CNN's first prime-time anchor to also serve as its top White House reporter — For the first time, a prime-time anchor will also serve as the network's lead White House reporter.
Bill Donahue / Billboard:
Drake initiates legal action against UMG and Spotify for allegedly using bots, payola, and more to pump Kendrick Lamar's Not Like Us, a track that attacks Drake — Drake has initiated legal action against Universal Music Group (UMG) and Spotify over allegations that the two companies conspired …
Discussion:
The Independent, TechCrunch, New Jersey Online, The Verge, Hollywood Life, Associated Press, New York Post, Vibe, Forbes, @elliottwilson, The Hollywood Reporter, @arianfoster, The Root, New York County Supreme Court, Rolling Out, Business Insider, Page Six, Us Weekly, The Guardian, Music Ally, @desusnice, @phil_lewis_, @mannyfidel, @annaknicolaou, AV Club, @annaknicolaou, Entertainment Weekly, @casey_evans_, Socialite Life, @_zeets, @joshgondelman, @dragonflyjonez, @hebennigatu, @theneedledrop, @nhoodpublicist, @wowthatshiphop, @wickednfine, Digital Music News, @mrmedina, Cele|bitchy, @dragonflyjonez, People, @gonebabygone.bsky.social, @umg, @_zeets, @variety, @gothamhiphop, @phil_lewis_, @big_business_, @janecoaston, @fadamgotdajuice, @wowthatshiphop, @brianzisook, @skrappy83, Variety, CBS News, theJasmineBRAND, Sandra Rose, UPROXX, @engineeringbae.bsky.social, Bossip, The Wrap, Music Business Worldwide, Stereogum, @darrylc.bsky.social, @britticisms.bsky.social, Black America Web, Rolling Stone, New York Daily News, @mikemadden.bsky.social, @mford.bsky.social, TMZ.com, Los Angeles Times, @myfakeironlung.bsky.social, @markroebuck.bsky.social, Deadline, @daviddennisjr.bsky.social, @kashana.bsky.social, @billdonahue.bsky.social, Just Jared, Consequence, Fox News and Oh No They Didn't!, more at Techmeme »
Mark Mwachiro / Adweek:
Norah O'Donnell plans her last CBS Evening News broadcast as anchor for January 24, 2025 — The third place newscast is undergoing a major overhaul in 2025 — Norah O'Donnell's tenure as CBS Evening News anchor will end on Friday, Jan. 24. — The network made the internal announcement on Friday …
Carlos Greer / Page Six:
In his new memoir, former ABC News anchor Kendis Gibson claims that a toxic work culture and racism at the network contributed to a suicide attempt in 2018 — A new memoir by former “World News Now” anchor Kendis Gibson depicts a workplace culture at ABC News fraught with alleged hazing …
Discussion:
The Guardian, The Hill, theJasmineBRAND, BizPac Review, Yahoo News, Daily Mail, Jawn Murray on LinkedIn, @bosnerdley, The Wrap and The Daily Caller
Carmen Reinicke / Bloomberg:
Conservative video streaming platform Rumble hires Guy Beahm, aka Dr Disrespect, to lead Rumble Gaming; RUM rises 13%+ to its highest level since May 2024 — - Amazon's Twitch platform banned Guy Beahm four years ago … Guy Beahm will stream both free and premium content on the platform …
Discussion:
Cord Cutters News, The Verge, Investing.com, Dexerto, Dexerto, Sports Illustrated, Metro.co.uk, @wendlertv, @drdisrespect, @airbagged, Insider Gaming, @rumblevideo, @nameismattt, @mothxunknown, @chrispavlovski, @thequartering, @tsmviss, @gamingonrumble, @soltek, @dinkathemuslim, @drdisrespect, @toolmantimlwc, @aukeeno, Kotaku, @ir0ktv, @brndxix, @1xtitan, @dickmasterson, @guybeahm, Reclaim The Net, Rumble, The Daily Dot, Benzinga and Forbes
Sam Tobin / Reuters:
Prince Harry's phone-hacking lawsuit against News Group Newspaper will go to trial in January 2026, with the parties' legal costs set to exceed £38M — Prince Harry and other high-profile British figures' privacy lawsuits against the Daily Mail newspaper's publisher will go to trial in early 2026 …
Discussion:
Irish Examiner, Daily Express, @jack_royston, GB News and Newsweek
Marc Fisher / Nieman Reports:
A look at the changes made by hard-right TV mogul David Smith at The Baltimore Sun and the anxiety over his plans for the paper inside the shrunken newsroom — David Smith built a television empire on sensational, crime-saturated newscasts. Then he bought Maryland's premier newspaper.
Ben Smith / Semafor:
Public figures are asking their PR advisers to reach out to podcasters like Joe Rogan and other right-leaning platforms after Trump's success in the US election — The News — Corporate executives and other public figures emerged from this month's election with a new task for their handlers …
Hua Hsu / New Yorker:
A look at Giant Robot, a magazine published from 1994 to 2011 that explored Asian American pop culture and peaked with a circulation of ~27K in the early 2000s — The magazine explored Asian American culture, without dwelling too much on what that meant. — The first issue …
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Spotify launches Spotify for Authors, a set of tools letting writers and publishers track analytics about their audiobooks as well as access promotional tools — Spotify on Tuesday introduced a new set of tools for authors and publishers distributing their audiobooks on its platform with the launch of Spotify for Authors.
Discussion:
Publishers Weekly, Spotify, Benzinga, The Bookseller and Engadget
Dominic Patten / Deadline:
Filing: Disney agrees to pay $43.25M to settle a 2019 lawsuit over pay equity for up to 14,000 female Disney employees; the trial was set to begin in May 2025 — We now know how much Disney is writing a check for to end the pay equity class-action suit that has loomed over the company for the past five years.
Discussion:
Reuters, Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, CNN, @rwhelanwsj, @barkjack_, Variety, The Wrap and TVNewsCheck
Daniel Thomas / Financial Times:
A UK House of Lords committee warns that UK news coverage is at risk of “fracturing irreparably” within 10 years as people rely on “dubious online sources” — Lords communications committee calls on government to take steps to avert ‘two-tier’ media environment
Discussion:
Noor Kheir on LinkedIn, Press Gazette, HoldtheFrontPage and UnHerd