Top News:
Brian Stelter / CNN:
Opinion columnist Jennifer Rubin leaves WaPo to launch The Contrarian on Substack, to combat the “authoritarian threat” with the tagline “Not owned by anybody” — New York CNN — — Veteran opinion columnist Jennifer Rubin is becoming the latest in a long list …
Discussion:
Mediaite, The Contrarian, Fox News, Townhall, RedState, Breitbart, The Gateway Pundit, Raw Story, @brianstelter.bsky.social, The Daily Caller, @marisakabas.bsky.social, The Post Millennial, @gtconway.bsky.social, @brianstelter, @brianstelter, @glegum.bsky.social, @jeffjarvis, @benmullin, @dcboy.bsky.social, @brianstelter, @tribelaw.bsky.social, @leahmcelrath.bsky.social, @bgrueskin.bsky.social, @passantino.bsky.social, @benmullin, @ianbassin.bsky.social, @jik@federate.social, @brianstelter, @benmullin, Twitchy, Semafor and Diane Ravitch's blog
Ben Smith / Semafor:
Tech reporter Ashlee Vance has left Bloomberg to start a media company called Core Memory, with documentaries, a YouTube show, podcast, and newsletter planned — The Scoop — The prolific Bloomberg tech journalist Ashlee Vance has left to start a new media company around his curious …
Discussion:
Core Memory, @ashleevance, @ashleevance, CNN, @alanjeffries, @jamescham, @davidramli, @nearcyan, @johncoogan, @bznotes, @markmilian, @gaurabc, @ashleevance, @urbanistvc, @dadiomov, @fleetwood___ and Talking Biz News
Dominic Ponsford / Press Gazette:
UK's Daily Mirror gives journalists individual online page-view targets; some print reporters covering more serious news fear the targets will affect quality — Mirror journalists have been given individual targets for online page views in a move that has raised concerns for some about the potential impact …
Discussion:
@glenngabe@mas.to, @jim.londoncentric.media and David Alexander on LinkedIn
Brian Steinberg / Variety:
Rachel Maddow, who scaled back anchoring duties to Mondays in 2022, will return to five nights a week as part of MSNBC's plans for Trump's first 100 days — Maddow, who scaled back anchoring duties after the spring of 2022, holding forth only on Mondays, will return to five nights a week …
Discussion:
Deadline, The Wrap, Mediaite, Adweek, USA Today, Los Angeles Times, @micheil.bsky.social, @brianstelter and @garymlevin
Financial Times:
Some advertisers raise brand safety concerns over Meta's content moderation changes, fearing a surge in harmful content and misinformation on its platforms — Mark Zuckerberg's unexpected ‘free speech’ overhaul of Meta's content moderation has sparked concerns among advertisers that it will lead …
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David Allen Green / Financial Times:
How aligning with Trump's new administration lets Meta and X pivot from futile cooperation with the EU and other jurisdictions to confrontation and coercion
Discussion:
ZeroHedge News, Lauri Rechardt on LinkedIn, @diegocastaneda, @gideonrachman, @shaneliamconway, @reichenstein@mastodon.social, Stuart Lambert on LinkedIn, @danielagabor.bsky.social, @jwsidders.bsky.social, Hürriyet Daily News, @davidallengreen …, @henrymance.bsky.social, @ianfraser.bsky.social, Bloomberg and New York Times
Jonathan Vanian / CNBC:
Sources: Mark Zuckerberg faces less friction in making broad policy changes after Meta's layoffs in 2022 and 2023, which hit much of its civic integrity teams
Discussion:
notes from all fours, Quartz, Benzinga, @sbyrnes.bsky.social, @justiceleague00.bsky.social and Daring Fireball
Etan Vlessing / The Hollywood Reporter:
Fox & Friends Weekend co-host Will Cain will replace Neil Cavuto on Fox News, aiming to bring his “signature podcast style” to the 4pm slot — The ‘Fox & Friends Weekend’ co-host will take over the 4 p.m. time slot with ‘The Will Cain Show’ on Jan. 21.
Discussion:
Talking Biz News, Adweek, Awful Announcing, Mediaite, TVNewsCheck, The Wrap, TVLine, The Hill, Fox News, @jeremymbarr, The Daily Caller and Deadline
Bloomberg:
Amid LA's fires, studios halted work on over a dozen projects, including shows like Wheel of Fortune; IATSE union: 8K+ of its members live in evacuation zones — First came the pandemic. Then came the strikes. Now, the fires. — Every Angeleno has experienced an earthquake, but the threat of fire has often felt more distant.
Discussion:
Lucas Shaw on LinkedIn and @carlquintanilla.bsky.social
RELATED:
Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Sonos CEO Patrick Spence is leaving following a botched app revamp that upset customers and stymied growth; Sonos names board member Tom Conrad as interim CEO — - 'We've let far too many people down,' company tells staffers — Former Snap and Pandora executive Tom Conrad named interim CEO
Discussion:
The Verge, The Information, @newsynick, Music Business Worldwide, Gizmodo, TechRadar, 9to5Mac, @tomwarren, BGR, @markgurman and @chriswelch, more at Techmeme »
Richard Nieva / Forbes:
Jimmy Wales, Mark Ruffalo, others debut Free Our Feeds, aiming to raise $30M to “billionaire-proof” AT Protocol by making it easier for users to leave Bluesky — Free Our Feeds, which includes support from the Mozilla Foundation, is working with Bluesky to make sure …
Matthew Martin / Bloomberg:
Sources: SURJ Sports, the sports investment arm of Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund, is in advanced talks to invest $1B+ in sports streaming platform Dazn — The deal between SURJ Sports Investment, a unit of the $925 billion Public Investment Fund, and Dazn could be announced as soon as this month …
Discussion:
The Streamable and @kennysmith.bsky.social
Toby Helm / The Guardian:
Sources: the UK considers tightening rules on MPs' contracts with media outlets, as some MPs doubled their parliamentary salaries as presenters on TV channels — Jacob Rees-Mogg and Nigel Farage are among those who have earned large sums from broadcasters, but a tightening of rules on MPs' outside interests is being considered
Discussion:
@lucympowell, GB News, @stutay.bsky.social, The Mirror and @harryeccles.bsky.social
James Hale / Tubefilter:
Streams Charts: Twitch watch time fell to 1.58B hours in December, its lowest monthly total since July 2020, as the number of channels live at any one time rose — Something interesting may have happened on Twitch in December. — Over the course of the month, the platform accumulated 1.58 billion hours …
Jonathan Stempel / Reuters:
SCOTUS declines to hear Meta's bid to avoid a class action by advertisers that accused the company of overcharging them by inflating their potential ad reach — The U.S. Supreme Court declined on Monday to hear a bid by Meta Platforms (META.O) to avoid a multi-billion dollar class action …
Naman Ramachandran / Variety:
Ormax Media: the Indian box office shrank 3% YoY to $1.37B in 2024, the second-highest-grossing year in the history of Indian cinema despite the dip — The Indian box office grossed $1.37 billion in 2024, marking a 3% decline from the record-breaking $1.41 billion achieved in 2023, per numbers from Ormax Media.
Discussion:
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