Top News:
New York Times:
ByteDance strikes a deal with a group of non-Chinese investors to create a new TikTok US entity and avoid a federal ban, concluding a six-year legal saga — TikTok said on Thursday that its Chinese owner, ByteDance, had struck a deal with a group of non-Chinese investors to create a new U.S. TikTok …
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Jonathan Vanian / CNBC:
Adam Presser, previously TikTok's head of operations and trust and safety, will be the CEO of TikTok USDS Joint Venture; TikTok CEO Shou Chew will be a director — TikTok said Thursday that it formed a joint venture that will keep the video-sharing app operating in the United States.
Financial Times:
TikTok's new majority US-owned JV includes investors Oracle, Silver Lake, and Abu Dhabi's MGX, each holding 15%, and Dell Family Office; ByteDance retains 19.9%
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Sara Fischer / Axios:
Source: the TikTok US deal values it at just around $14B; TikTok's US entity makes roughly $14B annually in advertising revenues alone, per analyst estimates
Source: the TikTok US deal values it at just around $14B; TikTok's US entity makes roughly $14B annually in advertising revenues alone, per analyst estimates
Discussion:
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Zach Montague / New York Times:
Unsealed court documents show the Trump administration revoked Tufts student Rumeysa Ozturk's visa based on her op-ed in the Tufts Daily student paper — Documents unsealed by a federal judge on Thursday include dossiers that investigators prepared on pro-Palestinian student activists before they were targeted for deportation.
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Washington Examiner, Mother Jones, Washington Post, @jstreetdotorg.bsky.social, The Intercept, Freedom of the Press …, FIRE, ABC News, @pkafka, The Boston Globe, The Independent, @hannahgais.bsky.social, @reichlinmelnick, @hannahgais.bsky.social, @brizzyc.bsky.social, @splc.org, Mediaite, @pebonilla, @prem_thakker, @adamsteinbaugh and New Republic
Financial Times:
Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters expects Netflix to win WBD, says Paramount's bid “doesn't pass the sniff test” and a “very small” number of WBD holders backed it — Co-chief Greg Peters says Netflix is winning Warner Bros shareholder support for a deal that would upend Hollywood
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Sean Hollister / The Verge:
Google says replacing some article headlines with AI-generated ones is now a feature in Discover, but they can be false or fail to highlight new, relevant info — It now says AI headlines are a ‘feature,’ not an experiment. … In early December, I brought you the news that Google …
Politico:
A grand jury charged a US government contractor with violating the Espionage Act; DOJ officials say the charges stem from leaks to WaPo reporter Hannah Natanson — The federal investigation of Perez-Lugones swept in Natanson last week when the FBI searched her Alexandria, Virginia …
George Winslow / TV Tech:
Media advocacy group Free Press analyzed 35 top corporate media and tech companies for their DEI goals and says 26 retreated from those goals in 2025 — In a detailed analysis of the 35 most dominant U.S. media companies, the Free Press report reveals a disturbing reversal on prior civil-rights commitments
Discussion:
MediaPost, Free Press, @freepress.bsky.social and Free Press Action Fund Feed
Washington Post:
How Stars and Stripes is responding to the Pentagon's plans to make it not “woke”; the Pentagon hasn't communicated with the paper since posting its plans on X — The Pentagon criticized the military newspaper as “woke.” Now the outlet's leaders — and some members of Congress — are trying to assert its independence.
Discussion:
@scottnover and @sarafischer
Sara Guaglione / Digiday:
Forbes plans to launch prediction platform Forbes Predict in February; a widget next to articles will allow readers to make forecasts in exchange for tokens — Forbes has joined the fray of publishers adding prediction markets to their websites as part of a broader strategy to reduce reliance …
Discussion:
@errant-signal.com, M. Olivia Gelade on LinkedIn, Nina Gould on LinkedIn and Talking Biz News
Matthew Belloni / Puck:
Source: Amazon plans to spend $35M+ on marketing Brett Ratner's Melania Trump documentary, which it paid $40M for, huge sums for the medium — On top of the $40 million Amazon ponied up for Brett Ratner's docu-hagiography, the studio is spending another $35 million to open it in 27 countries …
Discussion:
RADAR, Raw Story, @hunterwalk.com, @pkafka, Mirror, Matthew Belloni on LinkedIn, The Daily Caller, Breitbart, @daveweigel, Reality Tea, IJR and Page Six
Julian Wyllie / Current:
Ohio's WBGU-TV becomes the fourth public TV station or network to end its PBS affiliation, citing 2025's rescission of federal funding — Bowling Green State University in Ohio, the licensee of WBGU-TV, announced Jan. 16 that the station will end its PBS affiliation June 30.
Dan Primack / Axios:
Verizon offers $10.99 credits to Fios subscribers in Boston, Pittsburgh, and Providence, RI, to cover the loss of Fox and NBC affiliates amid a dispute with Cox — Verizon on Friday offered to refund millions of dollars to cable TV customers in the Boston and Pittsburgh markets who've …
Mia Galuppo / The Hollywood Reporter:
AMC Networks' Sundance Now rebrands from offering scripted TV to airing indie film and festival titles, for $7.99/month, as this year's Sundance Festival begins — AMC Networks runs the shingle that previously had scripted TV offerings. — As the Sundance Film Festival gets started …
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