Mediagazer: Q&A with Business Insider CEO Barbara Peng on her vision for BI, its AI approach, covering polarizing figures like Elon Musk, Trump's second term, and more (Oliver Darcy/Status)

4:55 PM ET, January 27, 2025

Top News:

The AP disputes allegations made in The Stringer's documentary, which questions if AP photographer Nick Ut took the famous Vietnam War photo “The Terror of War” — The Associated Press issued this statement after a representative was able to view the film “The Stringer” …

Discussion: The Wrap, Associated Press, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Poynter, @newsguy.bsky.social, @maxwelltani, @sharonwaxman, @benmullin, @picornell.bsky.social, The Hollywood Reporter, The Guardian, Amantha Perera on LinkedIn, @christogrozev, Raw Story, The Independent, Vanity Fair and Le Monde

Leo Lewis / Financial Times:

Japanese broadcaster Fuji TV's chair and TV head resign after criticism over their handling of a sexual misconduct investigation into an ex-entertainment star — Japanese media company has not gone far enough to resolve governance issues, say shareholders — The chair and head of television …

Discussion: Associated Press, Deadline, Reuters, The Hollywood Reporter, Al Jazeera, Variety, Bloomberg, @mrjeffu, @transitions0101, @mrjeffu, The Wrap, Bloomberg and The Japan Times

Max Tani / Semafor:

Source: LAT's Patrick Soon-Shiong enlisted Eric Beach, a Republican who ran a pro-Trump PAC, to recruit members for the editorial board and a new opinion forum — THE SCOOP — The owner of the Los Angeles Times has been leaning on a veteran Republican who ran a pro-Trump PAC to shape …

Discussion: @maxtani.bsky.social, @bgrueskin.bsky.social, @palewire, @erosalie.infoepi.com, @stacey_campbell@aus.social, @maxkennerly.bsky.social and @robnashville

Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:

MLS plans to produce its studio shows for Season Pass on Apple TV+ from the WWE headquarters in Connecticut as part of an expanded production deal with IMG — MLS will produce its studio shows for Season Pass on Apple TV+ from the TKO-owned facility in Connecticut.

Discussion: TVNewsCheck, TV Tech, Major League Soccer, The Wrap, Sports Business Journal, Sports Illustrated, @mattbakerstl, @alexmsilverman, @symmering.bsky.social, World Soccer Talk, Newsweek, Broadcast, Variety and @tvgrimreaper

Tim Ingham / Music Business Worldwide:

Spotify and UMG announce a new multiyear deal, establishing a direct license between Spotify and Universal Music Publishing Group in the US and other countries — It's official: as MBW reported earlier, Spotify and Universal Music Group have inked a new multi-year licensing agreement.

Discussion: The Hollywood Reporter, UMG, Music Ally, Fortune, Music Week, The Wrap, Billboard and Deadline

Jem Aswad / Variety:
Sources: the new Spotify-UMG deal reduces, but does not fully ameliorate, the payment cuts from Spotify music-audiobooks bundling deal from last year

Discussion: MediaPost, Music Business Worldwide, UPROXX, The Verge, CMU, Digital Music News, Agence France-Presse, Benzinga, Reuters, The Japan Times, Bloomberg and Consequence

Patrick Kingsley / New York Times:

NYT says IDF assaulted reporter Aaron Boxerman, who was conducting interviews, and pointed a rifle at another, during a raid on the home of a freed Hamas member — Soldiers disrupted a Jerusalem gathering to mark the early release of an imprisoned Palestinian, arresting his brother and roughing up his father.

Discussion: @shashj.bsky.social, @diplomatofnight.com, @farnazfassihi, @dicktofel.bsky.social, Mediaite, @farnazfassihi and @dropsitenews

Max Tani / Semafor:

The Guardian says fundraising last week rose 250% YoY to $4M; Substack says the week of Jan. 13 was its biggest ever for new paid subs and app DAUs are spiking — In today's edition: The future of the LA Times.

Oliver Darcy / Status:

Q&A with Business Insider CEO Barbara Peng on her vision for BI, its AI approach, covering polarizing figures like Elon Musk, Trump's second term, and more — “Journalism is a critical part of a democratic society,” Peng told Status. … Barbara Peng became chief executive of Business Insider …

Discussion: Talking Biz News and Gabriel Brotman on LinkedIn

Reuters:

Donald Trump denies talking to Oracle about a TikTok deal, saying he has spoken to “many people” and that he expects to decide “probably over the next 30 days” — ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE, Jan 25 (Reuters) - (This Jan. 25 story has been refiled to add the missing words ‘some of’ in paragraph 9)

Tim Adams / The Guardian:

A profile of and an interview with Christiane Amanpour on Donald Trump's second term, Mark Zuckerberg removing fact-checking, threats to women, and more — Christiane Amanpour has spent four decades as a celebrated journalist and war reporter. With disinformation rampaging through the media …

Discussion: @rationaldoge@hachyderm.io, @chrishendel.bsky.social, @cnnipr and Raw Story

Wall Street Journal:

Despite assurances, advertisers worry Meta's tools may not prevent ads from appearing near offensive content as the new content moderation approach takes effect — Social-media giant's loosening of speech restrictions is unsettling advertisers, who say a decade of efforts to protect their reputations is at risk

Discussion: @jason_kint, TVNewsCheck, @jason_kint, The Verge, Todd Irwin on LinkedIn, @kevinbriody.bsky.social, @jeffjarvis@mastodon.social, @dannygroner.bsky.social, @annmlipton@esq.social and Hindustan Times

Ian Wylie / Index on Censorship:

An interview with Kyaw Min Swe, a newspaper editor from Myanmar who faced torture and imprisonment under the military junta before escaping to Germany in June — Index travels to Germany to meet exiled newspaper editor Kyaw Min Swe, who faced torture and imprisonment at the hands of the military junta

Discussion: @ianwylie.bsky.social, New York Times and Global Voices

Ethan Shanfeld / Variety:

Nielsen: Bluey was 2024's most-streamed program with 55.62B viewing minutes on Disney+; Prime Video's Fallout was the most-streamed new original drama series — “Bluey” and “Grey's Anatomy” were the most-streamed programs of 2024, according to a year-end Nielsen report.

Discussion: The Desk, TVLine, Forbes, Forbes, The Hollywood Reporter, @kevdgrussing.bsky.social, Deadline and @michaelsderby.bsky.social

Archived Page Info:

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Who's Hiring in Media?

Energy & Commodities Editor, Tokyo — Bloomberg

Politics Reporter, TX — Texas Tribune

Consumer Brands Reporter, GA — AJC

Deputy Editor - Health Care, VA — Politico

Product Editor, CA — CalMatters

Indigenous Affairs Editor, Sydney — Guardian US

China Markets Correspondent, Shanghai — Reuters

Bangor Reporter, ME — Bangor Daily News

Commerce Editor - Health, Remote US — Yahoo

Sports Editor, MI — Detroit News

Deputy Politics Editor, CA — Sacramento Bee

Alphaville Reporter, London — FT

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More News:

Kif Leswing / CNBC:
Apple releases iOS 18.3, iPadOS 18.3, and macOS 15.3, disabling AI summaries for news apps after complaints from news outlets that they were inaccurate

Discussion: Wired, WPXI-TV, The Verge, Engadget, BGR, @daniloc.xyz and 9to5Mac, more at Techmeme »

Charles Pulliam-Moore / The Verge:
PBS and Amazon say 150+ local PBS stations and the PBS KIDS Channel will stream ad free on Prime Video, available to all users regardless of Prime subscription

Discussion: PBS, The Desk, @failnaut.bsky.social, @willmckinley.bsky.social, @willmckinley.bsky.social, @jcpxdesigns.bsky.social and @cinquinho.bsky.social

Todd Spangler / Variety:
Spotify launches Creator Milestone Awards, saying the Joe Rogan and Crime Junkie podcasts are the first to reach gold status, or 500M+ all-time global streams

Discussion: Spotify

Reuters:
Court filing: Indian digital news outlets, including NDTV, Network18, and Hindustan Times, join a copyright lawsuit against OpenAI, first filed by ANI in 2024

Discussion: @adityakalra, @orderwithchaos@mastodon … and Taipei Times, more at Techmeme »

Kate Wright / The Conversation:
The VOA and its journalists remain vulnerable despite measures introduced after an intense wave of politicization during the waning months of Trump's first term

Discussion: @niemanlab

Earlier Picks:

Rest of World:
Major Chinese social media apps have mastered the “shoppertainment” experience, blending social media with shopping, that Western competitors struggle to match

Discussion: @anup.bsky.social, The Guardian and TechCrunch

Lucy Clarke-Billings / BBC:
Dark Horse Comics cancels Neil Gaiman's upcoming work after sexual misconduct allegations were made against him

Discussion: @darkhorsecomics, Associated Press, The Guardian, New York Times, @conversecomics, NME, Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter, WFAA-TV, Variety, Oregonian, AV Club, Rolling Stone, The Wrap, @darkhorse.com, Screen Rant and Gizmodo

Global Voices:
An interview with journalist and Ethical Journalism Network founder Aidan White on the current global lack of trust in media and ways to rebuild public trust

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

Discussion: Addie Morfoot on LinkedIn, Deadline, Hyperallergic and Associated Press

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

Discussion: Michigan Advance, Alternet.org, Washington Post, The Guardian, Democrats, New York Times, @donmoyn.bsky.social, @mkraju, @mikenellis, @senwarren, The Atlantic, Digby's Hullabaloo, New York Post, PBS NewsHour, @jeffjarvis@mastodon.social, CNN, Al Jazeera, @ChrisBoese@newsie.social, The Defense Post, Semafor, @mrhoyle.bsky.social, The Gateway Pundit, NOTUS, Stars & Stripes, Telegraph, Politico, U.S. Department of Defense, Financial Times, Military.com, The Guardian, Axios, Reuters, Associated Press, MSNBC, BBC, Military Times, @rainwater14.bsky.social, DefenseScoop, The Hill, Washington Post, @mollyjongfast.bsky.social, Associated Press, @repjasmine.bsky.social, Bloomberg, Variety, Roll Call, Scripps News, The 19th, Business Insider, The Wrap, New York Post, @indivisibleteam …, USA Today, Rolling Stone, @pattonoswalt.bsky.social, Deadline, Wall Street Journal, @joshuajfriedman.com, @chrislhayes.bsky.social, Washington Post, IJR and CBS News

From Techmeme:

Megan Farokhmanesh / Wired:
Nintendo of America President Doug Bowser says the company is “actively assessing” the impact of US tariffs, which “weren't factored into” its Switch 2 pricing

Logan Plant / IGN:
Q&A with Nintendo of America VP of Product Bill Trinen on pricing first-party games like Mario Kart World at $80, Joy-Con 2 and using it as a mouse, and more

Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
Meta VP of generative AI Ahmad Al-Dahle denies a rumor that the company trained its Llama 4 models on test sets, saying Meta “would never do that”

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