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:
The Hill, New York Post, The Contrarian, Mediaite, RedState, Newsbusters, The Mahablog, freebeacon.com, @fiona-webster22.bsky.social, Instapundit, Newser, CNBC, Townhall, Breitbart, acecomments.mu.nu, @glegum.bsky.social, @jeffjarvis, @benmullin, @dcboy.bsky.social, Raw Story, @brianstelter, @tribelaw.bsky.social, @brianstelter, @leahmcelrath.bsky.social, The Post Millennial, @brianstelter, The Gateway Pundit, @bgrueskin.bsky.social, @milesklee.bsky.social, The Daily Caller, @robertpjones.bsky.social, @passantino.bsky.social, @benmullin, @ianbassin.bsky.social, @jik@federate.social, @brianstelter, @gtconway.bsky.social, @benmullin, @marisakabas.bsky.social, @brianstelter.bsky.social, Twitchy, Fox News 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, CNN, @alanjeffries, @jamescham, @davidramli, @nearcyan, @ashleevance, @johncoogan, @bznotes, @ashleevance, @markmilian, @gaurabc, @ashleevance, @urbanistvc, @dadiomov, @fleetwood___ and Talking Biz News
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.
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Erik Hayden / The Hollywood Reporter:
Filing: Pete Hegseth, Trump's pick to lead the DoD, earned $4.6M as a salary at Fox News, where he co-hosted Fox & Friends Weekend since 2017 — The incoming President's pick to lead the Defense Department made $4.6 million as host at the cable news network.
Discussion:
Bloomberg, USA Today, Hollywood Life, CBS News and The Daily Caller
Dominic Preston / The Verge:
Mastodon CEO Eugen Rochko plans to transfer Mastodon's ownership to a new non-profit, saying it “should not be owned or controlled by a single individual” — Mastodon says the decentralized network ‘should not be owned or controlled by a single individual.’
Discussion:
Mastodon Blog, TechCrunch, @m474.bsky.social, @zeldman@threads.net, Magdalena Hai on LinkedIn, Anil Dash on LinkedIn, Hannah Aubry on LinkedIn, @jeffgreco.com, @icesheetmike.bsky.social, Esra'a Al Shafei on LinkedIn, @aardrian.bsky.social, @GuyNamedBrian@mastodon.social, @Mastodon@mastodon.social, @nevillehobson.xyz, @faraiwe@beige.party, @Johannab@wandering.shop, @JMarkOckerbloom …, @Ascendor@social.tchncs.de, @cliffwade@infosec.exchange, @digiphile@mastodon.social, BetaNews, @john@vyrse.social, @mszll@datasci.social, @kissane@mas.to, @matt@oslo.town, @GossiTheDog@cyberplace.social, @webology@mastodon.social, @Edent@mastodon.social, @thegibson@hackers.town, @mhoye@mastodon.social and @tilvids@mstdn.social, more at Techmeme »
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 …
Max Tani / Semafor:
Sources: This American Life has discussed staff cuts; last year, the podcast quietly changed its “about” page, revising its listenership from 4M per week to 3M — The venerable podcast This American Life is poised to reduce staff for one of the few times since its founding in 1995, Semafor has learned.
Discussion:
@mjosephlc.bsky.social and @dannygroner.bsky.social
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:
Screen Rant, Lucas Shaw on LinkedIn and @carlquintanilla.bsky.social
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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
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 …
Richard Nieva / Forbes:
Jimmy Wales, Mark Ruffalo, others debut Free Our Feeds to raise $30M by 2028 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 …
Discussion:
Social Web Foundation, The Desk, TechCrunch, The Verge, @johnhatchard.bsky.social, @taylorlorenz.bsky.social, @davewiner, @marcfaddoul.com, @aiforensics.org, @richardnieva.bsky.social, @dmeyer.eu, @robin.berjon.com, @shoqv4@threads.net, Fortune, @william_fitz, User Mag, @ben.werdmuller@threads.net, @newpublic.substack.com, @taylorlorenz.bsky.social, @freeourfeeds.com, @bmlto, @jordanuhl.com, @taylorlorenz and @taylorlorenz.bsky.social, more at Techmeme »
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 …
Discussion:
Benzinga, Gizmodo, @petertl.bsky.social and @claradoodle.bsky.social
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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:
TechRadar, 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 and @ianfraser.bsky.social
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
Salvador Rodriguez / CNBC:
IAC board approves the spinoff of home improvement marketplace Angi; IAC CEO Joey Levin will leave his role and executives will report directly to Barry Diller — Barry Diller's IAC said Monday that its board approved the spinoff of Angi, the home improvement marketplace the company acquired in 2017.
Discussion:
The Hollywood Reporter
Zeyi Yang / Wired:
Ahead of a likely US TikTok ban, users flee to Chinese apps Xiaohongshu, aka RedNote, and ByteDance's Lemon8, currently the top two apps in the US App Store — Some say they joined Xiaohongshu, which translates to “little red book,” to spite the US government after a ban on TikTok became more likely.
Discussion:
CNN, NPR, CNBC, @lmatsakis.bsky.social, @tahrajirari, @teroterotero, @armanddoma, @zammer.bsky.social, Dexerto, The 19th, @zeyiyang, @lmatsakis, @auzziejlee, @carlo_5518, @missginadarling, @venturetwins, @moatlesscapital, @tahrajirari, @_rotimia, @dopegirlfresh.bsky.social, @metacurity.com, @esqueer.net, TechCrunch, Pocket-lint, New York Post, Bloomberg, The Independent, Reclaim The Net, Business Insider and New York Times, more at Techmeme »
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