Top News:
New York Times:
Sources: former WaPo executive editor Leonard Downie and ex-managing editor Bob Kaiser emailed Jeff Bezos in February, urging him to cut ties with Will Lewis — An emailed message underscores a divide between the chief executive, Will Lewis, and the people who helped build The Post into a force in American journalism.
Reuters:
UK's CMA fines Sky, BT, IMG, ITV, and the BBC a combined £4M+ after they admitted “to breaking the law” by “colluding” on pay rates for freelancers — Britain's competition regulator fined four sports broadcast and production companies about 4 million pounds …
Discussion:
Advanced Television, Financial Times, BBC, Yahoo Finance, @bectu, Broadcast, GOV.UK, @cmagovuk, CMA, The Standard, The Guardian, Deadline, The Independent and RTÉ
Bloomberg:
Good Good Golf, which has 1.75M+ YouTube subscribers, raised $45M led by Creator Sports Capital, with Peyton Manning's Omaha Productions and 50+ others joining — The startup's YouTube channel has attracted more than 1.75 million subscribers — Retired quarterback Peyton Manning …
Benjamin Mullin / New York Times:
Bard College acquires Lapham's Quarterly at no cost from the American Agora Foundation, which had placed the print publication on hiatus in November 2023 — The beloved magazine started by Lewis Lapham, who died last year, is being acquired by Bard College.
Discussion:
Lapham's Quarterly and @jeffjarvis.bsky.social
Meghnad Bose / Columbia Journalism Review:
How some news outlets are implementing policies to better protect immigrant sources, including helping them understand the implications of talking to the press — Several outlets say they've loosened anonymity policies in recent weeks. — A few days before Donald Trump's second inauguration …
Discussion:
American Press Institute and Meghnad Bose on LinkedIn
Alex Reisner / The Atlantic:
A look at LibGen, one of the largest online pirate libraries, with 7.5M+ books and 81M+ research papers, allegedly used by Meta and OpenAI to train AI models — Meta pirated millions of books to train its AI. Search through them here. — When employees at meta started developing …
Discussion:
The Atlantic, Music Ally, Fiona Moore on LinkedIn, @ajwestauthor.bsky.social, @jwilker@wandering.shop, @ipcopyright.bsky.social, @philnel@mastodon.green, @annafeatherstone.bsky.social, Marcus on AI, @karin.kallmaker.com, @kelliehailes.bsky.social, @around.com, @www.johnbleasdale.com, @rr4idic@mastodon.online, @cigitalgem@sigmoid.social, @conordougherty.bsky.social, @joachim123.bsky.social, Lou In Progress, @chrisbstringer.bsky.social, @ethanz@social.coop, @invicticide@mastodon …, @michael_w_busch …, @dorotheabaur.bsky.social, @garymarcus.bsky.social, @thecommongreen@mastodon.scot, @beep@follow.ethanmarcotte.com, @katienotopoulos.bsky.social, ARTnews, south downs founding father …, Music Technology Policy, Twisted Dreams, Ellipsus and The Daddy Complex, more at Techmeme »
Alban Kacher / Reuters:
French media regulator Arcom orders Eutelsat to stop broadcasting Russian channels STS and Channel 5, after finding the channels had ties to a sanctioned entity — French media regulator Arcom has ordered Eutelsat (ETL.PA) to cease broadcasting Russian channels STS and Channel 5 …
Discussion:
Euractiv
Jordan Teicher / Nieman Lab:
A profile of Jake Fischer, a rising NBA insider who operates independently on Substack rather than working for traditional media giants like ESPN — While insiders typically work for established media companies like ESPN, Jake Fischer operates out of his Brooklyn apartment and publishes scoops behind a paywall on Substack.
Discussion:
@sarahscire.com and Columbia Journalism Review
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Bluesky says it is now sending referral traffic through its “go” subdomain to make it easier for publishers to track the traffic coming from the social network — Social network Bluesky, an open source X rival, has made a change that will allow publishers to better track …
Variety:
CEO Phil Spencer says Microsoft Gaming is embracing trial and error as the company bets on a different kind of game-to-film adaption with A Minecraft Movie — The film is a bet by Warner Bros., Legendary and Microsoft on a different kind of adaptation — Throw a pickaxe in Hollywood today …
Discussion:
USA Today, @knoebel.bsky.social, @bondsarahbond.bsky.social, Kari Perez on LinkedIn, WGB, Tubefilter, CNET, Comic Book, Business Insider, Adweek, TechRadar, Axios, Ad Age and Dexerto
Ashley Carman / Bloomberg:
As Spotify pushes its new video monetization program, sexually explicit videos have appeared on its top podcast charts, violating the company's terms of use — The sexually explicit videos, which Spotify doesn't allow, have shown up alongside some of the most popular podcasts on the service
Discussion:
Lefsetz Letter
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Disney shareholders overwhelmingly reject a proposal for Disney to cease participation in the Human Rights Campaign's annual LGBTQ Corporate Equality Index — Disney investors on Thursday voted down a proposal that the entertainment giant cease its participation in a prominent LGBTQ rights organization's equality ratings program.
Hannah Miller / Bloomberg:
Antenna: Apple TV+ gained ~3M subscribers in January, when Severance Season 2 came out, up 8% from December and more than any other streamer except Paramount+ — The show about the fictional Lumon Industries has become a cultural phenomenon. Will that translate into lasting subscriber growth?
Discussion:
TVLine, The Atlantic, Washington Post, Forbes, Dexerto, 9to5Mac, @antennadata, Consequence, @tvgrimreaper, @loudmouthjulia, Deadline, The Wrap, Business Insider and Just Jared
RELATED:
Wayne Ma / The Information:
Sources: Apple TV+ is losing $1B+ annually even as its subscriptions grew to ~45M in 2024; source: Apple has spent $5B+ per year on content since its 2019 debut
Discussion:
The Streamable, Fortune, The Guardian, C21Media, Deadline, Reuters, Benzinga, Puck, The Indian Express, @waynema, @loudmouthjulia, @kirkneverdied, @joshuaogundu, @loudmouthjulia, @royprice, @alexweprin, @lukedivita, @benedictevans@threads.net, @worldshaker@threads.net, @loudmouthjulia, @mazzeo, @tim_bays, @alexweprin, @great_katzby, @tvgrimreaper, @trungtphan, @davidclinchnews, @tvgrimreaper, @antennadata, @tvgrimreaper, Entrepreneur, Digital Music News, Ars Technica, The Verge, TechCrunch, BGR, Decider, SlashFilm, Variety, TVNewsCheck, IndieWire, @samadams.bsky.social, Consequence, @merrillbarr.com, Yahoo Finance, @wolfsongz.bsky.social, @tylerh.social, Quartz, Christian Grece on LinkedIn, The Times, The Wrap, AppleInsider, MacRumors, 9to5Mac, Cord Cutters News, @lauridonahue.bsky.social, @stevensenior.bsky.social and @radiobeartime.com, more at Techmeme »
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