Mediagazer: Blaze Media, the result of the merger between Glenn Beck's The Blaze and CRTV, has 450K subscribers to BlazeTV, paying an average of $102/year (Sara Fischer/Axios)

2:05 PM ET, December 22, 2020

Top News:

Draft lawsuit filed last week says Facebook and Google agreed to help each other in case of investigation of their pact to work together in online advertising — Draft lawsuit quotes Facebook's Sandberg saying Google pact was a ‘big deal strategically’ — WASHINGTON— Facebook Inc …

Discussion: Washington Post, @rmac18, @senmikelee, Engadget, AppleInsider, New York Post, CNBC, National Review, @jeffhorwitz, @jesselehrich, Business Insider, @mattyglesias and @gavinsbaker, more at Techmeme »

Alex Gallagher / NME:

The COVID-19 relief bill passed by Congress includes the Felony Streaming Bill, which makes illegal streaming for profit a felony, with up to 10 years jail time — Targeting illegal for-profit streaming providers, not individual users — The US Congress has passed a COVID-19 stimulus bill …

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David Shepardson / Reuters:
The COVID-19 relief bill includes a provision to expand forgivable government loans to additional struggling local news outlets

Discussion: @vwpickard, @penamerica, @defensebaron, @kwoodsome, New York Times and @taraemcg

Mike Masnick / Techdirt:
The omnibus funding bill Congress passed contains the controversial CASE Act, introduces a small claims copyright system, and may increase copyright trolling

Jem Aswad / Variety:
Congress' COVID-19 relief deal includes the Save Our Stages Act to give ~$15B in relief to independent music venues and movie theaters shut due to the pandemic

Discussion: Techdirt, New York Times, @variety, Hollywood Reporter, @winston_fisher1, @matthaneysf, The Wrap, Washington Post, The Hill, Mediaite and New York Post

Dominick Mastranglo / The Hill:

Newsmax claims it “has not reported as true certain claims” made by “various guests, attorneys and elected officials” on air about Smartmatic and Dominion — Conservative media outlet Newsmax issued a clarification on Monday about recent claims made by guests …

Ben Smith / New York Times:
Voting machine companies including Smartmatic have hired high-powered libel lawyers and, legal experts say, have strong cases if they sue Fox, Newsmax, and OAN

Peter Dizikes / MIT News:

MIT names Dava Newman director of its Media Lab, following the resignation of Joi Ito in 2019 over funding the organization received from Jeffrey Epstein — Visionary astronautics researcher, explorer, and expert on human adaptation to space will lead the Institute's world-renowned research center.

Discussion: @medialab and CIVICS.com Substack

Jessica Bursztynsky / CNBC:

IAC says it plans to spin off its full stake in Vimeo, making it an independent, publicly trade company in Q2 2021 — - IAC is spinning off its full stake in Vimeo, the company announced Tuesday. — Following completion of the deal, which is expect to occur in the second quarter of 2021 …

Discussion: Axios, The Wrap, Variety, The Verge, @sarafischer, @stevekovach and @jbursz, more at Techmeme »

Tim Baysinger / The Wrap:

Group Nine Media has launched a SPAC and plans to go public, according to an SEC filing on Monday — Group Nine Media has formed a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), according to an SEC filing on Monday. — The company, called Group Nine Acquisition Corp., was formed …

Discussion: US Securities and Exchange Commission, New York Times, Variety, TechCrunch, @imkialikethecar, @joshsternberg, @benmullin, @benmullin, @alexkotch and @alexweprin

Sara Fischer / Axios:

Blaze Media, the result of the merger between Glenn Beck's The Blaze and CRTV, has 450K subscribers to BlazeTV, paying an average of $102/year — The conservative media company that owns BlazeTV has quietly been building a massive subscriber base, a direct threat to any digital TV effort …

Discussion: @thedomino and @sarafischer

New York Times:

An international phishing scam is tricking writers, editors, and agents into sharing unpublished book manuscripts, but the endgame of the scam is unclear — A phishing scam with unclear motive or payoff is targeting authors, agents and editors big and small, baffling the publishing industry.

Discussion: @merrilymaralie, @gabehudson, @harikunzru, @pamelapaulnyt, @nytimesbooks, @nicoleperlroth, @juliussharpe, bookforum.com, Boing Boing and Jezebel

Becky Yerak / Wall Street Journal:

Ebony Media, which declared bankruptcy recently, plans to sell its business for ~$14M to an investment group led by former NBA player Ulysses Bridgeman — The $14 million offer from Ulysses “Junior” Bridgeman was sole serious bid for publisher of Black magazines

Discussion: Chicago Tribune

Wall Street Journal:

Sources: MGM Holdings has begun a formal sale process, looking for a price double its $5.5B valuation — Movie studio has tapped bankers to find a buyer, as media companies look to stock up on content — MGM Holdings Inc., the movie studio behind the “James Bond” franchise, is exploring a sale …

Nathan Bomey / USA Today:

Gannett negotiates a buyout from management by PE firm Fortress for a one-time fee of $30.38M, having already paid it ~$19M in fees in first nine months of 2020 — Gannett, the owner of USA TODAY and more than 260 other daily publications, has negotiated an early exit from a fee-based arrangement …

Discussion: @usatoday, @iamnickreynolds, @jenwsheehan, @lukeranker, @iandon, @apantazi, @apantazi and @apantazi

Erin Powell / KUSA-TV:

Colorado House GOP leader Patrick Neville doxxed a Denver Post reporter after the latter published an article about Neville's connection to a GOP fund — Neville defended his decision to publish the address of a journalist who wrote about his family's connection to a Republican caucus fund.

Discussion: @maggienyt

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Shoshana Wodinsky / Gizmodo:
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