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David Folkenflik / NPR:
A look at Will Lewis's difficult first year as The Washington Post's CEO and publisher, after 400+ journalists signed a letter asking Jeff Bezos to intervene — One debacle after another has engulfed The Washington Post since veteran newspaper executive Will Lewis became CEO and publisher …
Discussion:
Status, Business Insider, @joshuafoust.com, @oliverdarcy.bsky.social, @davidfolkenflik, The Guardian, @ebadofsky.bsky.social, @exlibjourno, Lawyers, Guns & Money, @nick_field90, @fiona-webster22.bsky.social, @emmaroller.bsky.social, @amalyuchik, @wajali.bsky.social, @danmitchell.bsky.social, @glennf.com, @bgrueskin.bsky.social, HotAir, @ashleyrparker, New Republic, MediaPost, Daily Kos and New York Magazine
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David Folkenflik / @davidfolkenflik:
[Thread] 400+ WaPo journalists, including some star reporters, call on Jeff Bezos to intervene, saying they are “deeply alarmed by recent leadership decisions”
Discussion:
@benmullin, Digiday, Axios, @davidfolkenflik, @jlbarrow@threads.net, @davidfolkenflik, @davidfolkenflik, @edmundlee, @scarylawyerguy, @dcg1114, @hoosier114, @sidhubaba, @tonymoonbeam, @natzbandwagon, @tom_watson, @jofchalcedon, @sunnyright, @henryporters, @mediaevan, @yeathatterrence, @curtishouck, @adelbrown, @adudeandhisart, @dilanesper, @johnbiggs, @notalwayswrite, @kimleannelliot, @maxasteele, @cnn@threads.net, Fox News, New York Post, The Independent, CNN, The Wrap, @jeffjarvis.bsky.social, @danmitchell.bsky.social, @jason0x21.bsky.social and Eschaton
Todd Spangler / Variety:
YouTube, Google, Meta, and Snap join media companies and studios contributing to LA fire recovery efforts, with funding, products and services — YouTube, Google, Meta and Snap are pitching in to help L.A. recover from the wildfires that have caused devastation across the region and forced thousands to evacuate in the past week.
Discussion:
YouTube Official Blog, Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline, @jeffbezos, @netopia.bsky.social, Matt McLernon on LinkedIn, David Krinsky on LinkedIn, Digital Music News, @sundarpichai@threads.net, @youtube@threads.net, BetaNews, @teddyschleifer, The Hollywood Reporter, Karan Bhatia on LinkedIn, TechCrunch, CNBC, Social Media Today, The Wrap, Billboard, Forbes, MediaPost, Just Jared and Media Play News
Todd Spangler / Variety:
NBCUniversal's head of content distribution, Matt Bond, is stepping down after 20+ years at NBCU and Comcast, as NBCU prepares to spin off some cable networks — Exec will serve in an advisory role to NBCU for ‘the next few years’ … “In the spirit of leaving on a high note …
Discussion:
Deadline, Media Play News, The Wrap and The Hollywood Reporter
Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
Sources: Blackstone hires advisers to explore the sale of song rights, including from Bob Dylan, Adele, and Ariana Grande, that it expects to fetch $3B or more — - Music valuations have soared since Blackstone acquired SESAC — Apollo, Warburg, Pincus are among firms that looked at assets
Urvi Dugar / Reuters:
UMG says Bill Ackman-led Pershing Square exercised its right to request a US offering and secondary listing of the record label; UMG has been based in Amsterdam — Universal Music Group (UMG.AS) said on Wednesday that billionaire Bill Ackman-led Pershing Square (PSH.AS) …
Discussion:
Billboard, Music Business Worldwide, @billackman, Universal Music Group N.V., Digital Music News and Bloomberg
Bloomberg:
Vietnam slashes at least 16 state media outlets as part of a cost-cutting drive that will eventually leave just one national station on air — - State media outlets are slashed in cost-cutting drive — Communist Party plans to reduce size of government by 20%
Discussion:
RTÉ
Sara Fischer / Axios:
OpenAI will fund the expansion of Axios to Pittsburgh, Kansas City, Boulder, and Huntsville, as part of a broader content-sharing and technology deal — - Google struck a deal with McClatchy to fund the creation of three digital-only local newsrooms in 2019.
Brian Steinberg / Variety:
Fox Sports plans to stream its February 9 telecast of the Super Bowl on Tubi, its ad-supported streaming hub, for free — Fox is taking the Super Bowl to a new frontier — or, at least to one that is new for Fox. — Fox Sports will stream its February 9 telecast of Super Bowl LIX …
Discussion:
Sports Media Watch, Engadget, The Streamable, Pocket-lint, Deadline, TVLine, BetaNews, Fox News, FOX 7 Austin, CNET, Cord Cutters News, The Verge, Adweek, Light Reading, BGR, Streaming Better, TVNewsCheck, Awful Announcing, The Desk, The Hollywood Reporter, Media Play News and Rolling Stone
Jaffer Zaidi / The Keyword:
Google says it has partnered with the AP to deliver a feed of real-time information to enhance the usefulness of results displayed in the Gemini app — The AP will now deliver a feed of real-time information to help enhance the usefulness of results displayed in the Gemini app.
Discussion:
Google Workspace Blog, Digital Trends, Ridhima Khurana on LinkedIn, Abdul Rahman Al Thehaiban on LinkedIn, Tosin Ajayi on LinkedIn, Frédéric Arnoux on LinkedIn, Paul Dearlove on LinkedIn, Colleen Kapase on LinkedIn, Associated Press, Engadget, 9to5Google, @bradw.illiams.com, TechCrunch, @glenngabe@mas.to, Benzinga and Digiday, more at Techmeme »
Kate Knibbs / Wired:
DoubleVerify says there is a jump in AI click farms, including a network of 200+ websites called Synthetic Echo, designed to siphon ad revenue from real outlets — A new report, shared exclusively with WIRED, shows how an AI content mill with hundreds of sites managed to pull big-name advertisers into their schemes.
Discussion:
Dan Levy on LinkedIn, @wired.com, @knibbs.bsky.social and @timmarchman.bsky.social, more at Techmeme »
Ted Johnson / Deadline:
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre held her final press briefing, her 306th time at the briefing room lectern; Karoline Leavitt will succeed her — Marking her 306th time at the briefing room lectern, Jean-Pierre took a moment from the day's big news, the ceasefire deal reached between Israel …
Discussion:
TheGrio, The Hill, RedState, Washington Times, Newsbusters, Daily Caller News Foundation, Advocate, Washington Examiner, Twitchy and LGBTQ Nation
Colin Kellaher / MarketWatch:
Ad-tech company Criteo names former Dentsu Americas CEO Michael Komasinski as its next CEO and a board member; he'll join the Paris-based company on February 15 — Criteo has hired Dentsu executive Michael Komasinski as the commerce media company's next chief executive.
Discussion:
Adweek, Criteo S.A., Adweek, Digiday, Retail Times, Ad Age and MediaPost
Joe Coscarelli / New York Times:
Drake sues UMG for defamation and harassment, calling its release and promotion of “Not Like Us” an example of valuing “corporate greed” over artists' safety — In a federal lawsuit on Wednesday, Drake accused Universal Music Group of putting his life and reputation …
Discussion:
The Fader, TMZ.com, People, @joecoscarelli, Metro.co.uk, Variety, @joecoscarelli, @eriqgardner, @itsafronomics.bsky.social, @joecoscarelli, AV Club, Global News, Business Insider, Billboard, GQ, Music Business Worldwide, Courthouse News Service, DNyuz, Mediaite, The Verge, Consequence, The Root, Bossip, New York Daily News, The Hollywood Reporter, UPROXX, Vibe, Forbes and Just Jared
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Steven J. Horowitz / Variety:
Drake pulls his petition accusing UMG and Spotify of inflating Kendrick Lamar's “Not Like Us” with bots and payola; the diss track accuses Drake of pedophilia
Discussion:
Dexerto, ABC, UPROXX, Billboard, WHDH-TV, Raw Story, NOW Toronto, FOX 11 Los Angeles, TMZ.com, DNyuz, Wall Street Journal, ABA Journal, RADAR, Los Angeles Times, Bossip, Reuters, Music Business Worldwide, The Verge, KENS, Digital Music News, Above the Law, The Mirror, New York Post, Bloomberg, Rolling Stone, Forbes, Vibe, TheGrio, Just Jared, Cele|bitchy, Consequence, Music Ally, Rolling Stone and The Sun
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