Mediagazer: A look at documentaries at Sundance: indie films still struggle to get distribution, political topics remain crucial despite a challenging market, and more (Addie Morfoot/Variety)

5:55 AM ET, January 25, 2025

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Charles Kaiser / Columbia Journalism Review:

An interview with Paul Krugman on leaving the NYT in 2024 after his newsletter was killed and editing of his column “became extremely intrusive”, Substack, more — The paper wanted to take away his newsletter or make him write less frequently, he says.

Claire Heddles / NOTUS:

Amended FEC filings: WH Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt's failed 2022 congressional campaign owes $300K+ in unpaid debts that weren't initially disclosed — On Thursday, Karoline Leavitt's failed congressional campaign amended every FEC filing it had ever made to reveal that she failed …

Discussion: @claireheddles, @mikegrattan.bsky.social, @endcitizensunited.bsky.social, @daveforiowa, @relisberg.bsky.social, @mepfuller, @mepfuller, @juddlegum.bsky.social, @davidcorn.bsky.social, @impactofficer.bsky.social, @juliannemcshane.bsky.social, Raw Story, @1bluedonkey.bsky.social, @davidfrum.bsky.social, @zoocoup.bsky.social, @dangillmor.bsky.social, @melwebster.bsky.social and The Bulwark

Patrick Coffee / Wall Street Journal:

Nielsen plans to stop selling its TV ratings product that solely uses consumer panels in Q4 2025, moving to a tool combining panels with smart-TV data and more — The dominant ratings provider hopes to fend off competitors by pivoting to a bundle that combines its consumer panels with data …

Discussion: The Desk and @tvgrimreaper

Addie Morfoot / Variety:

A look at documentaries at Sundance: indie films still struggle to get distribution, political topics remain crucial despite a challenging market, and more — It's no secret that corporations like Netflix, Amazon, and Apple have lost their appetite for current event documentaries that tackle politics.

Discussion: Associated Press, Hyperallergic, Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter

Jorge Mercado / Pacific Coast Business Times:

How the assets of the Santa Barbara News Press, which closed after bankruptcy in 2023, ended up with nonprofit NEWSWELL, as the nonprofit plans a relaunch — It has been a year and a half since the Santa Barbara News Press, the former longest running daily newspaper in Southern California …

Discussion: Cal Coast News, KEYT-TV, Moira Shourie on LinkedIn, Scott Woelfel on LinkedIn, Sapna Satagopan on LinkedIn, Noozhawk, LinkedIn, ASU News and Poynter

David Satin / The Streamable:

Fubo raises prices on all of its English-language plans for new customers; its least expensive offering, its Essential plan, is now $85/month — Despite launching less than two months ago, Fubo is raising the price of its new Essential package alongside those of its other plans.

Discussion: @kennysmith.bsky.social, @2xaught7.bsky.social, @tvgrimreaper, The Desk, The TV Answer Man!, Streaming Better and Fortune

Tom Bowman / NPR:

Former Fox News host Pete Hegseth wins Senate confirmation to become Donald Trump's defense secretary, after Vice President JD Vance cast a tie-breaking vote — Pete Hegseth overcame allegations of sexual assault, public drunkenness and questions of financial mismanagement at two veterans' groups …

Discussion: New York Times, CNN, Fox News, Republic World, Al Jazeera, New York Post, Associated Press, The Hill, Associated Press, @mikenellis, @rainwater14.bsky.social, Washington Post, NOTUS, @mollyjongfast.bsky.social, @indivisibleteam …, Wall Street Journal, The Wrap, The Guardian, Daily Caller News Foundation, Axios, MSNBC, The 19th, Deadline, Stars & Stripes, Variety, New York Post, DefenseScoop, Reuters, The Hill, Semafor, Washington Post, Rolling Stone, BBC, @joshuajfriedman.com, @pattonoswalt.bsky.social, Telegraph, Military.com, The Defense Post, Financial Times, @repjasmine.bsky.social, @senwarren, Military Times, Bloomberg, Business Insider, U.S. Department of Defense, @mkraju, Roll Call, Scripps News, USA Today, @chrislhayes.bsky.social, Politico, CBS News, freebeacon.com, Salon, IJR, Christianity Today, Daily Mail, Talking Points Memo, The Independent, NBC Bay Area, Hollywood Life, Mediaite, Santa Cruz Sentinel, Slate and DNyuz

Katie Deighton / Wall Street Journal:

ShopMy, which lets brands run influencer marketing efforts, raised a $77.5M Series B led by Bessemer and Bain, sources say at a $410M valuation vs. $80M in 2024 — Tech firms that speed up and automate brands' partnerships with social-media influencers are becoming hot commodities as advertisers scramble to reach consumers online

Discussion: @amytongwu, @almostcmb, Riley Laird on LinkedIn, @menloventures, @baincapvc, Marshall Porter on LinkedIn, Susannah Shipton on LinkedIn, Nicole Giusti on LinkedIn, Bessemer Venture Partners, The Information, Feed Me and The Business of Fashion, more at Techmeme »

Kerry Flynn / Axios:

Sources: Blackstone-backed IDG nears a deal to sell Foundry, which runs outlets like PCWorld and Macworld, to private equity firm Regent — The sources wished to remain anonymous because the deal is not yet public. — Terms of the agreement could not be determined.

Discussion: @harrymccracken.com

Lauren Forristal / TechCrunch:

Flip, which lets shoppers share video reviews and earn cash based on engagement, launches a creator fund that grants up to $100M of equity over 5+ years — Flip is a social commerce app that lets shoppers become creators. They can share honest reviews and earn cash based on engagement on the platform.

Discussion: Tubefilter, Chase Dillon on LinkedIn, Abdulla AlBanna on LinkedIn, Idan Netser on LinkedIn and Yuval Rechter on LinkedIn, more at Techmeme »

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Similarweb: RedNote's DAUs in the US fell by 54% on January 20 when the TikTok ban was put on hold, after reaching a high of 32.5M DAUs on the day of the ban — In the days leading up to the TikTok ban in the U.S. on Sunday, U.S. users flooded the Chinese app RedNote, which offered …

more at Techmeme »

Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch:

Meta begins a “limited, early test” of ads in Threads in the US and Japan, with the goal of making the ads “as interesting as organic content” — Meta's X rival Threads said Friday that it is now testing ads with select brands in the U.S. and Japan.

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Melanie Goodfellow / Deadline:
Apple TV+ signs a four-year agreement with French audiovisual groups, investing 20% of its net annual France turnover in European and French content

Sahil Patel / The Information:
Sources: Amazon CEO Andy Jassy set an internal goal for Prime Video to be profitable by the end of 2025, focusing on live sports to boost its ad revenue

Discussion: Benzinga, Christian Grece on LinkedIn, @tvgrimreaper and Reuters

Jake Kanter / Deadline:
In a statement to UK's Culture, Media, and Sport Committee, BBC says a funding crisis, caused by license fee cuts and more, is affecting multiple TV productions

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Matthew Keys / The Desk:
Source: Allen Media Group reverses some of its plans to lay off 100+ local TV meteorologists and outsource regional weather forecasts to its Atlanta facilities

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Adweek:
Newsweek generated $90M in revenue at a profit margin of 20% in 2024, up from $20M revenue in 2018; digital advertising made up 63% of revenue in 2024

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Daniel Thomas / Financial Times:
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Discussion: Advanced Television, Broadband TV News, Luis Vicente on LinkedIn and The Streamable

Earlier Picks:

Charlotte Klein / New York Magazine:
David Remnick, editor of The New Yorker for over a quarter of a century, remains at work amid speculation over his potential successor as the magazine turns 100

Discussion: @mediaevan, @charlottetklein, Simon Owens's Media Newsletter, @simonowens, New Yorker, Talking Biz News, The Wrap, Variety, Deadline and RedState

Brier Dudley / The Seattle Times:
Washington state legislators introduce a bill to provide journalism grants that would be funded by increasing a business tax surcharge on big software companies

Discussion: @kennysmith.bsky.social, @kevinerb.bsky.social, @madshrew.bsky.social and @markoliias.bsky.social

Ethan Shanfeld / Variety:
SAG-AFTRA says it has reached a tentative deal with Telemundo Television Studios to represent its Spanish-language TV performers through September 2028

Discussion: The Wrap, TVNewsCheck and Deadline

Hannah Miller / Bloomberg:
Filing: Disney CEO Bob Iger's total pay rose by 30% YoY in FY 2024 to $41.1M, primarily as bigger stock and option awards and a bonus

Discussion: Awful Announcing, Front Office Sports, Fortune, Los Angeles Times, Florida Politics, The Hollywood Reporter, Benzinga, The Wrap, TVNewsCheck, MickeyBlog.com, Wall Street Journal and Deadline

Robert Channick / Yahoo Finance:
Chicago Public Media offers buyouts to Chicago Sun-Times journalists and WBEZ business staff; CEO Melissa Bell is aiming to shave $3M-$5M from the annual budget

Discussion: Inside Radio, @tofugolem@mastodon.social, Chicago Sun Times, @kabbott.bsky.social, @jensabella.bsky.social, @vimiller.bsky.social, @msivit.bsky.social, @chicago.suntimes.com and @brittonpeele.com

From Techmeme:

Emma Roth / The Verge:
Nintendo delays Switch 2 preorders that were set for April 9 due to concerns about Trump's tariffs but the June 5 launch date remains unchanged

Dominic Preston / The Verge:
Microsoft Copilot adds support for memory, personalization, web-based actions, podcast creation, camera and screen analysis, deep research, and more

Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
Sam Altman says OpenAI plans to release o3 and o4-mini “after all” and GPT-5 “in a few months”, citing challenges in “smoothly integrating everything”

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