Top News:

Politico draws criticism for having Ben Shapiro serve as a guest writer of Playbook; he wrote about “the real reasons” most Republicans opposed impeachment — Politico has drawn heat for handing over the most recent edition of their Playbook newsletter to conservative radio host Ben Shapiro.
Discussion:
@olivianuzzi, Politico, @mattnegrin, The Wrap, @sabrinasiddiqui, @katearonoff, @mattzeitlin, @jeffhauser, @timodc, @jbarro, @lpdonovan, @mattzeitlin, @mattnegrin, @mattnegrin, @jbouie, @zackbeauchamp, @chrisgeidner, @shotpooter, @ryanlcooper, @zackbeauchamp, @jbouie, @tomscocca, @zackbeauchamp and @mattnegrin

Axios will launch AxiosHQ, its internal company communications service, starting at $10K a year with $1M already booked and Delta and AT&T among its clients — AxiosHQ communications platform to launch with Delta Air Lines and AT&T among early customers

Netflix diversity report: women make up 47.1% of its global workforce; 8% of US staff are Black, more than 2x the share in 2017; 8.1% of employees are Hispanic — Netflix Inc. has made gains in adding women and minorities to its workforce over the past three years, vaulting it past Silicon Valley peers …
Discussion:
@emilychangtv, @business and @lucas_shaw

News Media Alliance and National Newspaper Association join a legal challenge to an order that would eliminate the cap on postal rate increases for periodicals — Postal Regulatory Commission Order Could Lead to Postage Increases of 45 Percent Over Five Years, Representing Existential Threat to Newspapers

Sources: NY Post editors tell staff not to use reporting from CNN, MSNBC, NYT, and WaPo as the sole basis for any Post article without independent confirmation — As the Murdoch tabloid navigates a fraught political moment, high-level editors instructed reporters not to base articles …
Discussion:
Columbia Journalism Review, Mediaite, The Duck Refused Medical …, @katie_robertson, @benyt, Poynter, @lagilman, @kentremendous, @anncoulter, @psaundersdp, @chuckrossdc, @gabbystern, bookforum.com, @jon_greenberg, @charlie_savage, @jessicahuseman, @willmckinley, @lisatozzi, FTVLive, @shawn_rine, @timothynoah1, @azi, @steven_strauss, @alexnazaryan, @mrneilmorrow, @rickpaulas, @mbaram, @abeaujon, @johanlenox and @vivian

Ampere: Netflix is Europe's second largest TV group with 6.1% market share by revenue, second only to Comcast, which owns Sky, and has 12% market share — Comcast, which owns pay TV operator Sky's European operations, remains the leader with a 12% market share by revenue.
Discussion:
TVEUROPE, Digital TV Europe, Broadband TV News, Media Play News and Advanced Television

Profile of New Zealand-based Letterboxd, a social network for reviewing movies, which has grown to 3M member accounts during the pandemic — The social media network has finally left the cinephile niche and entered the mainstream. — Early last decade, Matthew Buchanan and Karl von Randow …
Discussion:
Context is King, @elliotjaystocks, @mrb and @nytimesarts

TikTok debuts TikTok for Black Creatives, a three-month incubator program for investing in and supporting 100 Black creators and musical artists — The video creation platform teamed up with multiplatform media company Macro

DoubleVerify says it has received Media Rating Council accreditation for its ad impression measurement and ad fraud detection for CTVs — DoubleVerify gauges display and video impressions and invalid traffic — DoubleVerify said it received Media Rating Council accreditation for its display …
Discussion:
Radio & Television …, GlobeNewswire and FierceVideo

Google says it will pause political ads, and those referencing “impeachment, inauguration or protests at the US Capitol” on all its platforms starting Jan. 14 — - Google is suspending political ads along with any reference to “impeachment, inauguration or protests at the U.S. Capitol” beginning Thursday.
Discussion:
Reuters, Ad Age, @andysternberg, @ghoshd7, @arawnsley, MediaPost, New York Post, Engadget, Business Insider, Bloomberg and Axios

Bryan Monroe, a journalism professor, former president of NABJ, and a former editor at Knight Ridder and CNNPolitics.com, has died of a heart attack at 55 — (CNN)Bryan Monroe, a journalism professor and former CNNPolitics.com editor who once headed the National Association of Black Journalists …
Discussion:
NABJ, @meridak, @driscollamy, @whca, @marlenatv, @watchamandatv, @merica, TheGrio and Mercury News

Bridget Foley, the executive editor of Women's Wear Daily and a pillar of the paper's fashion coverage for over 30 years, has been laid off — The convulsions of 2020 claimed a number of fashion institutions as we know them — Neiman Marcus, Brooks Brothers, Century 21, the list goes on …
Discussion:
@eiffeltyler, @erikmaza and @ariahughes