Top News:
Katherine Chiglinsky / Bloomberg:
Berkshire Hathaway to sell its BH Media unit and its 30 daily newspapers to St. Louis Post-Dispatch publisher Lee Enterprises for $140M in cash — Warren Buffett is getting out of the newspaper business. — Berkshire Hathaway Inc. sold its BH Media unit and its 30 daily newspapers …
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, Nieman Lab, The Buffalo News, New York Times, Associated Press, MediaPost, Lee Enterprises, Politico, @will_bunch, The Wrap, @brockvergakis, @gerryfsmith, @ginger_clark, @ljkawa, @buffaloscribe, @colindabkowski, @imillhiser, @k_chiglinsky, @specnewsbuffalo, @dianabhenriques, @dankennedy_nu, @hadas_gold, @maxabelson, @davidjoachim, @pwthornton, @markpoloncarz, @keithboykin, @nickreisman, @allisonprang, @froomkin, @abgutman and @raju
Peter Kafka / Vox:
Casino operator Penn National Gaming buying 36% stake in Barstool Sports; deal values Barstool at $450M and lets Penn National buy a controlling stake later — Barstool Sports co-founder Dave Portnoy in 2018 | Penn National Gaming is buying the online publisher — which can thank sports betting, and the Supreme Court for the deal.
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, Variety, Penn National Gaming, The Wrap, Awful Announcing, Adweek, CNN, RAIN News, @jimmweber, Axios, Fortune, Business Insider, @carlhendy, @alexweprin, @onlyinbos, @joemilord, @pkafka, @alexweprin, @claytravis, @tomkrazit, @darrenrovell, @pkafka, @m_sunderland, @pkafka, @alexweprin and @jgsiegel
Ted Johnson / Deadline:
WaPo reinstates reporter Felicia Sonmez after her suspension following her tweets about a rape allegation against Kobe Bryant and her response to backlash — The Washington Post said it has reinstated political reporter Felicia Sonmez, who was suspended for a series of tweets about Kobe Bryant …
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Jon Allsop / Columbia Journalism Review:
Felicia Sonmez's suspension exposes the tyranny of newsroom social media policies, which often read like hamfisted attempts to reconcile competing impulses
Discussion:
@walldo, @haleysswenson, @jeremydgoodwin, @stephaniemlee, @jeremydgoodwin, The Independent, @daveyalba, @davpjor, @_cingraham, @fenitn, @lainnafader and @jon_allsop
Mary Louise Kelly / New York Times:
Journalists don't interview senior government officials to score political points, but rather to share the answers to tough questions when the stakes are high — Journalists are supposed to ask tough questions, then share the answers — or lack thereof — with the world.
Discussion:
NPR, @nprextra, Newser, @nprkelly, Foreign Policy, @tomdreisbach, @dmrider, @ericampeterson, @caseyriankelly, @janearraf, @nytopinion, @johnlansing, @ailsachang, @soledadobrien and @kylegriffin1
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Bill Chappell / NPR:
NPR's CEO announces the outlet is asking the State Department to explain why it denied credentials for an NPR reporter to travel with Mike Pompeo to Europe
Discussion:
@rcmcbride
Ted Johnson / Deadline:
Trump praises Pompeo for his behavior with NPR reporter Mary Louise Kelly: “That was very impressive....I think you did a good job on her, actually.”
Discussion:
@thekatiecoop, @atrupar, @anniekarni, @mehdirhasan, Alternet.org, @mimirocah1, @nancycbarnes, @csymrl, New York Times and @jayrosen_nyu
News Corp:
News Corp launches Knewz, a news aggregation platform covering more than 400 publishers that uses AI and human editors, available on the web, iOS, and Android — Groundbreaking News Platform Free of Filter Bubbles Launches in Beta; — Features Headlines from Publishers Large & Small, Left & Right, Here, There & Everywhere
Discussion:
TVNewser, Variety, @sarafischer, @sokane1, @hardin, @andybcampbell, @isaacdovere, @rachellarris, @jpbrammer, @ginnymarvin, @jaredbkeller, @onceupona, @drewcurtis, @hshaban, @thenikkibus, @dgisserious, @drewcurtis, @drewcurtis, @jaycaruso, @alexweprin, @variety, @_cooper, @markdistef, @pkafka, @abeaujon, @raju, @jillkrajewski, @drewharwell and @backlon
Todd Spangler / Variety:
AT&T lost 219K AT&T Now customers and 945K premium TV subscribers in Q4, and reports revenues of $8.9B, down 3.3% YoY — AT&T's top line was stung by its investment in HBO Max in the fourth quarter of 2019 to the tune of $1.2 billion in “foregone licensing revenues.”
Discussion:
Hollywood Reporter, Multichannel News, TechCrunch, Broadcasting & Cable, MediaPost, The Streamable, @great_katzby, @alexweprin and The Wrap
BBC:
BBC News to cut around 450 jobs as part of plans to reach its £80M savings target by 2022 — Around 450 jobs will be cut from BBC News under plans to complete its £80m savings target by 2022. — There will be a reduction in the number of films produced by Newsnight …
Discussion:
Press Gazette, Financial Times, The Guardian, Variety, Press Gazette, @jimwaterson, CNN, @hadas_gold, @genepark, @katebevan, @prospect_clark, @carljackmiller, @andycomfort, @charliebeckett, @guyadams, @hzbrandenburg, @markdistef, @jamesaalongman, @jimwaterson, @brianstelter, @markdistef and @damiancollins
Peter Kafka / Vox:
Jonah Peretti says he expects BuzzFeed to turn a profit this year, but BuzzFeed News would still be operating in the red: “We don't need news to be profitable” — What Ben Smith's move to the paper of record says about digital media in 2020. — Ben Smith spent eight years …
Discussion:
@michellemanafy, @mattmittenthal and @dcnorg
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Dylan Byers / NBC News:
EIC Ben Smith is leaving BuzzFeed in early March to join NYT to write the Media Equation column made famous by David Carr
Discussion:
@buzzfeedben, Press Gazette, Vanity Fair, @raju, @yayitsrob, @austinhunt, @peretti, @ggreenwald, @erinleecarr, Politico, @bernstein, Poynter, @gaberivera and @chanders
Jim Waterson / The Guardian:
The Guardian says it will no longer accept ads from companies that extract fossil fuels, becoming the first major news organization to institute such a ban — Move follows efforts to reduce carbon footprint and increase reporting on climate crisis — The Guardian will no longer accept advertising …
Discussion:
The Guardian, Nieman Lab, The Drum, The Hill, @bulletinatomic, @leilanimunter, @gretathunberg, @dzarrilli, @dpcarrington, @jimwaterson, The Daily Caller, @greenpeaceuk, @vanessa_vash, @rasmus_kleis, @kathviner, @adamvaughan_uk, @chrchristensen, @sethrudetsky, @chloefarand and @amywestervelt
Julia Carrie Wong / The Guardian:
Investigation: in 2019 Trump spent ~$20M on 218K+ Facebook ads, with the media and its “fake news” the top topic mentioned at 18.25%, followed by immigration — A Guardian investigation of 218,100 ads reveals how the campaign's sophisticated social media machine targets conservative voters
Charles Bethea / New Yorker:
A deep look at what gets lost when local newspapers dwindle or disappear, through conversations with residents and elected officials in rural Pollocksville, NC — In Jones County, North Carolina, and many other places around the country, local journalism has just about dried up.
Discussion:
@javeriasal, @aakar__patel, @newyorker, @newyorker, @ericlach, @rebeccaburns, @kenvogel, @theurbanologist, @jasonwbade, @jasonwbade, @kimlawson22 and @jasonwbade
Kristen Hare / Poynter:
Investigative Editing Corps, a project to pair investigative editors with local newsrooms, launched last week, after a pilot with two newsrooms in 2017 — Like many people, Rose Ciotta has watched national news thrive while local news suffered. But Ciotta turned her worries into something that might help.
Discussion:
Investigative Editing Corps, @kristenhare, @lebassett and @melaniesill
Todd Spangler / Variety:
SEC filing: MoviePass parent company Helios and Matheson Analytics has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection — Helios and Matheson Analytics, which owns the defunct MoviePass cinema-subscription service, has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection. — The company disclosed the move …
Discussion:
Crain's New York Business, CNN, The Wrap, @lamonicabuzz, @frankpallotta, The Verge and @ercboxoffice
Hollywood Reporter:
Sources: Netflix is expected to lay off 15+ people from its marketing department this week, a small portion of its overall employee count of around 6,900 — Sources say at least 15 people are expected to exit this week as the company moves to better advertise the service rather than its individual shows.
Discussion:
@lionelmedia, @theericgoldman, @jbflint, @blakemccoydc, @jlbarrow and @derfelmacguffin
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