Top News:
David Folkenflik / NPR:
Source: more than 75,000 Washington Post digital subscribers have cancelled their subscriptions following Jeff Bezos' overhaul of the paper's opinion section — More than 75,000 digital subscribers to The Washington Post have cancelled since its owner, billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos …
Discussion:
The Hill, Celeste Headlee on LinkedIn, @proddev.bsky.social, @timkarr.bsky.social, @bgrueskin.bsky.social, @picardonhealth.bsky.social, @poohsdaddy.bsky.social, @amandabecker.bsky.social, @npr.org, @davidfolkenflik.bsky.social, @davidfolkenflik.bsky.social, Diane Ravitch's blog, Cele|bitchy, Talking Biz News, Althouse and @jeffbezos
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Jaden Amos / Axios:
Trump says he had dinner with Jeff Bezos on February 26, the day Bezos announced that WaPo's opinion pages would focus on personal liberties and free markets — - “I never even understood it,” Trump said. … - In July 2024, Bezos privately urged Trump to choose Doug Burgum as his vice president …
Discussion:
The Wrap, American Prospect, Cafe Hayek, Daily Mail, Columbia Journalism Review and @maxwelltani
Joshua Benton / Nieman Lab:
Jeff Bezos' opinion section changes contradict his October 2024 edict that WaPo won't endorse a presidential candidate because it can't be seen as taking a side — Months after insisting he would never allow his personal interests to influence the Post's content, one of the world's richest …
Discussion:
American Press Institute, Fox News, The Independent, New York Post, Dan Petegorsky on LinkedIn, Laura K. Smith on LinkedIn, The Index, @amerpie@social.lol, James Turk on LinkedIn, NPR, @Impish4249@mastodon.social, @Wileymiller@mastodon.social, The Washington Free Beacon, @newsjennifer.bsky.social, @timkarr.bsky.social, Deseret News, @brizzyc.bsky.social, CBS News, Washington Examiner, Reason, The Message Box, @eduardosuarez.bsky.social, @GeoffWozniak@hackers.town, @kottke.org, @marklittle.bsky.social, JONATHAN TURLEY, @joshuabenton.com, @tcarmody.bsky.social, MediaPost, Status, Poynter, The Guardian, Benzinga, The Atlantic and Futurism
Oliver Darcy / Status:
Sources: in a tense meeting with journalists, Pentagon Press Secretary Sean Parnell said he'll end the travel pool and implied reporters “trash the warfighter” — Inside a tense off-the-record meeting, the Pentagon's new press chief confronted reporters and indicated they will do away …
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S.V. Date / HuffPost:
The US political press has not dealt with autocrats working this hard to seize power; trading soft coverage for access could fail media audiences and democracy — WASHINGTON — We are not ready for this. — The Washington, D.C., press corps, used to playing small ball for small exclusives …
Jake Kanter / Deadline:
GB New wins a landmark case against Ofcom after a judge finds a decision that GB News breached due impartiality rules with Jacob Rees-Mogg's show was unlawful — In a High Court ruling, a judge found that Ofcom was unlawful in determining that GB News breached broadcasting rules …
Discussion:
TVNewsCheck, Press Gazette, Financial Times, Variety, Telegraph, GB News, GB News, @nigel_farage, @bubbaprog.lol, @gbnews and Mirror
Etan Vlessing / The Hollywood Reporter:
Fubo reports Q4 North America revenue up 8% to $433.8M, a net loss of $40.9M, down from $71M in Q4 2023, and 1.67M paid subscribers; FUBO drops 21%+ — The sports-focused streamer earlier unveiled a deal to merge with Walt Disney's Hulu+ live TV business. — Fubo TV ended the fourth quarter …
Discussion:
Advanced Television, StreamTV Insider, Yahoo Finance, Engadget, Benzinga, Deadline, The Streamable, Streaming Better, Cord Cutters News and ir.fubo.tv
Patrick Coffee / Wall Street Journal:
Websites and apps for all 32 NFL teams had been collecting detailed consumer data without notice or opt-out choices; the NFL has updated policies to fix issues — Digital data, including information about consumers' precise movements and locations, was shared with ad-tech vendors
Discussion:
Adweek, TVNewsCheck and The Hill
Dade Hayes / Deadline:
Disney sells out ad inventory for Oscars 2025, which will stream on Hulu for the first time; source: 30-second spots went for $1.7M to $2.3M, in line with 2024 — Advertising inventory for Sunday's Oscar telecast is sold out, Disney has confirmed, with pricing said to be holding steady with 2024 levels.
Discussion:
Adweek, The Wrap, Rolling Stone, Marketing Brew and Variety
Kathleen Kingsbury / The New York Times Company:
The NYT announces David Leonhardt will be joining Opinion as an editorial director and says it won't retreat from having editorials or an editorial board — As editorial director, David will work to carve out a new vision for the editorial board true to our longstanding values and updated for today's world.
Discussion:
@gregjkrieg, @maxwelltani, @glennf.com and @tweetbenmax
New York Times:
Sources: at a Paramount board meeting this month, Shari Redstone said she was in favor of resolving President Trump's $20B lawsuit against CBS News — Consumer sentiment has turned south as high prices weigh on households. Could that crimp big pieces of the president's economic agenda, including tariffs?
Discussion:
Reason, Associated Press, CBS News, @mgallagher.bsky.social, @mattgertz and @mediaevan
Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
GB News reports revenue for the year to May 2024 up 132% YoY to £15.8M, losses down ~23% YoY to £33.4M, bringing total losses since its 2021 launch to £105.9M — GB News more than doubled its revenues in the past year to £15.8m but its total losses now top £100m.
Sharon Knolle / The Wrap:
Source: over 40 newsroom employees at the Los Angeles Times have taken buyout offers from owner Patrick Soon-Shiong, including roughly 17 reporters — “We should put out a missing flyer in search of the man who bought our paper and made promises about its future,” one employee tells TheWrap
Discussion:
@jen_rice_, @gerrickkennedy, @davidfolkenflik, @joelrubin, @benmullin and @mediaevan.bsky.social
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