Top News:
New York Times:
Sources: WaPo's layoffs may narrow its scope to topics of expertise and reader interest based on digital traffic, with politics and video becoming more central — The changes are expected to include significant layoffs in areas like sports and international coverage. — Fewer reporters are being sent to the Super Bowl.
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Max Tani / Semafor:
To avert layoffs, WaPo's White House correspondents, not considered at risk, write a letter to Jeff Bezos highlighting collaborations among the paper's sections — The Scoop — The Washington Post's White House reporters are making an effort to avert what are expected to be large cuts impacting …
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Gene Maddaus / Variety:
Ahead of contract talks between SAG-AFTRA and studios beginning February 9, negotiators consider ideas such as an AI “tax” on studios that use synthetic actors — Call it the Tilly tax. — In the future, studios that use synthetic actors in place of humans might have to pay a royalty into a union fund.
Discussion:
@xpangler and Oh No They Didn't!
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Michael Savage / The Guardian:
A BBC internal review found a “noticeable” gender mismatch among older presenters, with older women required to look younger or develop “idiosyncratic personas” — Older men seen as ‘gaining wisdom’ but women must keep looking younger or be ‘idiosyncratic’, review hears
Discussion:
@taniahershman.bsky.social
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Roushni Nair / Reuters:
Australia's Nine Entertainment plans to sell its broadcast radio business to the Laundy family for AU$56M and buy digital outdoor ad firm QMS Media for AU$850M — Australia's Nine Entertainment (NEC.AX) on Friday deepened its pivot toward digital media, agreeing to buy outdoor advertising group QMS Media …
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Nieman Lab:
The Guardian, FT, NYT, USA Today Co., and others are blocking or limiting the Internet Archive's crawlers to prevent AI crawlers from using IA as a backdoor — Outlets like The Guardian and The New York Times are scrutinizing digital archives as potential backdoors for AI crawlers.
New York Times:
Peter Chernin sells North Road to France's Mediawan; sources: the agreement, paid mostly in stock, values the independent film and TV studio at ~$900M — Peter Chernin, an industry veteran who founded North Road in 2022, said his deal with Mediawan met a need to get bigger in an era of consolidation.
Discussion:
Variety, The Hollywood Reporter and Deadline
Mark Stenberg / Adweek:
Atlas Obscura reports $18.3M in revenue in 2025 and a $2.6M profit, the first annual profit in its 16-year history, in the first year under CEO Louise Story — This story was originally published in On Background with Mark Stenberg, a free, weekly newsletter that explores the key themes shaping the media industry.
Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
Indie film and anti-monopoly groups urge state attorneys general to block the Netflix-WBD deal and also object to any WBD acquisition by Paramount or Comcast — Documentary filmmakers, independent movie theaters and nonprofit groups are urging state attorneys general to block Netflix Inc.'s acquisition …
Discussion:
@lucas_shaw, American Economic Liberties Project, PYMNTS.com, The Wrap and Media Play News
Anna Tingley / Variety:
Reporters from mainstream news organizations including NYT, WaPo, AP, and Vanity Fair were shut out of the premiere screening of Melania in Washington, DC — “Are you getting in?” — “No, are you?” — On Thursday afternoon, in the lobby of the Trump Kennedy Center …
Lillian Rizzo / CNBC:
Comcast reports NBCU's Q4 revenue rose 5.5% YoY to $7.62B and an adjusted EBITDA loss of $122M; Peacock had a $552M loss on $1.6B in revenue and 44M subscribers — Comcast posted mixed results for its fourth quarter on Thursday, beating analyst expectations on earnings but slightly missing on revenue.
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Todd Spangler / Variety:
Darren Aronofsky's Primordial Soup debuts its short-form Revolutionary War series, made via Google DeepMind with human voices and distributed by Time Studios — Filmmaker Darren Aronofsky used AI to travel back in time 250 years ago to the American Revolution.
Discussion:
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Wall Street Journal:
Brett Ratner, director of Amazon's Melania documentary, filmed President Trump for a planned documentary-style project about the 2020 Abraham Accords — How a former Hollywood player, ‘Rush Hour’ director Brett Ratner, found himself in the epicenter of global power
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New York Times:
Amazon's $35M marketing campaign for Melania is ~10x the budget for similar documentaries like CNN's RBG; some suggest Amazon is currying favor with Trump
Discussion:
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