Top News:
Cara Lombardo / Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Alden Capital's Digital First Media plans to bid for Gannett after quietly acquiring a 7.5% stake, will offer a 23% premium over Friday's closing price — A hedge-fund-backed media group known for buying up struggling local papers and cutting costs is planning to make an offer …
Discussion:
CNN, The Wrap, @jcstearns, @brettkelman, @cararlombardo, @tauhidchappell, USA Today, @keachhagey, @jbenton, @romenesko, @1cardsfan, @sulliview, @bruce_arthur, @reidepstein, @ryanmartin, @dankennedy_nu, @nicoleauerbach, @johnrobinson, @duanemarsteller, @jcstearns, @seandkennedy, @melaniesill, @jcstearns, @terry_casey, @charlesapple, @raju, @willlesterphoto, @tonyapb3, @mattsebastian, @robtornoe, @williams_paige and Reuters
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Associated Press:
Gannett says it has received Digital First Media's $1.36B takeover bid and that its board will evaluate the offer — DENVER (AP) — The publisher of USA Today has received a $1.36 billion takeover bid from a media group with a history of taking over struggling newspapers and slashing costs.
Discussion:
Business Wire, Media Nation, Financial Times and CNN
Ellen Cranley / INSIDER:
A lack of black reporters in an announcement about CBS journalists covering the 2020 election sparked debate on Twitter from writers, politicians, and others — - “Scandal” actress Kerry Washington and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez were among Twitter users who criticized CBS for seemingly …
Discussion:
@hotlinejosh, @bfmitchell, @hotlinejosh, @aoc, The Wrap, @aoc, @hotlinejosh, @jelani9, @rgay, @thisisinsider, @sifill_ldf, @karenattiah, @errollouis, @markos, @rgay, @ericka4cmsboard, @karaswisher, @ciphersankofa, @slaughteram, @aoc, @kathygriffin, @emarvelous, Variety, @rolandsmartin, @senatormgraham, @asteadwesley, @aoc, The Independent, Yahoo, The Hill and News One
Mark Armstrong / WordPress:
WordPress has launched Newspack, a publishing platform aimed at small and medium-sized news outlets and backed by Google, ConsenSys, Lenfest, Knight, and others — Over the past 15 years, WordPress has grown to become the world's most popular publishing platform for the open web — and it's especially true for news organizations.
Discussion:
Nieman Lab, VentureBeat, PR Newswire, @fundjournalism and The Keyword
Sarah Mervosh / New York Times:
In a tweet, Stephen King urged his local paper The Portland Press Herald not to drop book reviews, so the paper asked for 100 new subscribers to help fund them — When the largest daily newspaper in Maine decided it was going to stop publishing regional book reviews, it caused …
Discussion:
Boston Globe, Press Herald, Media Nation and The Wrap
Andrew Albanese / Publishers Weekly:
Vermont-based indie publisher is suing Netflix for allegedly infringing its Choose Your Own Adventure trademark with the release of film Bandersnatch — Netflix has scored big with its interactive feature Black Mirror: Bandersnatch. But on January 11, Vermont-based indie publisher Chooseco LLC …
Discussion:
Bookseller News and Vanity Fair
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Viacom is in talks to sell a majority share in its channel brands, such as MTV and Nickelodeon, in China — Media company is among other multinational corporations facing hurdles in the country — Media giant Viacom Inc. VIAB .38% is in talks to sell a majority stake …
Discussion:
Variety, @missiwhite4 and Bloomberg
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Spotify outlines its strategy for podcasts that includes bringing talent in-house or exclusively licensing content and selling ads within its podcasts — Having established itself as a top streaming service with now over 200 million users, Spotify this year is preparing to focus more of its attention on podcasts.
Discussion:
MediaPost and @niemanlab
Laura Hazard Owen / Nieman Lab:
Survey of 200 digital leaders from 29 nations: 52% say subscription and membership will be their main revenue focus; 87% say Google is a very important platform — Every December, Nieman Lab asks media folks to predict what they think will happen in the new year — resulting …
Mark Arsenault / BostonGlobe.com:
The Boston Globe has parted with its vice president of advertising, Michael Bentley, for not “upholding” its standards but did not elaborate further — The Boston Globe has cut ties with its vice president for advertising, Michael Bentley, an executive whose name was removed this week from the paper's masthead.
Christine Schmidt / Nieman Lab:
How Neue Westfälische and Lokalportal are trying to build a hybrid between a local newspaper and a local social network in a German area with about 2M residents — One user: “I do not want to stay in touch with avoidable contacts in Dubai or London. I want to know who lives …
HBR.org:
How unions increased the number of unionized workers in internet publishing 20X since 2010 using old-style organizing tactics and modern social media platforms — Union membership as a share of the workforce in the United States has fallen to its lowest point in 80 years …
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