Top News:

eMarketer says that Amazon's share of the US digital ad market grew to 10.3% in 2020 from 7.8% in 2019 and estimates that revenue grew to $15.73B, up 52.5% YoY — Company chips away at market leader Google as its search ad business continues to grow — Amazon. com Inc.'s share …

A look at Empowerment Avenue, a program started in June 2020 to let incarcerated writers report on issues inside jails by pairing them with journalists outside — “We want to expose readers in every kind of publication to the incarcerated viewpoint.” — Rahsaan “New York” …
Discussion:
bookforum.com, @empowermentave, @jilnotjill, @empowermentave, @earhustlesq, @taylormooresays and Columbia Journalism Review

How a campaign by reporters in Baltimore inspired a national effort to keep nearly a dozen Tribune newspapers from being bought by Alden Global Capital — Last year, as a group of Baltimore Sun reporters embarked on long-shot endeavor to find a new owner that could save their paper …
Discussion:
@russellsieg, @clearing_fog, @antonharber, @elaheizadi, @lillianereed, @jayrosen_nyu, @baltsunguild, @pwoodreporter, @bgrueskin, @sulliview, @elaheizadi, @elaheizadi, @ssdance and Media Nation
RELATED:

Sources: Stewart Bainum and Hansjörg Wyss say they can personally contribute $600M+ total toward their $680M bid, up from $200M, as Alden's bid loses favor
Discussion:
Nieman Lab, MediaPost, Axios, @royalpratt, Tribune Publishing Company, Poynter, @jimfriedlich, @niemanlab, @margotroosevelt, @mattgertz, @jimfriedlich, @blairkamin, @robpegoraro, @ckrewson, @jbenton, @kerrymflynn, @sarah_m_wojcik, @kerrymflynn, Columbia Journalism Review, New York Post, Vanity Fair, @jayrosen_nyu, @tomwarren, @ourmaninchicago, @nestruck, @ryanhanrahan, @noah__goldberg, @samontv, @brynstole, @wsj, @harrysiegel, @petersagal, @jessbravin, @benmullin, @anthony, @cararlombardo, @hotlinejosh, @brianstelter, @jbenton, @lalpert1, Media Nation, The Week and Chicago Sun-Times

Sources: Roku has been pitching ad agencies to sponsor Roku Recommends, 5-7 minute videos promoting programming available across its connected TV platform — Roku is preparing to debut a new promotional product that has not only piqued advertisers' interest but will also likely please streaming services.

UK's Telegraph is creating 60 jobs in the first half of 2021 as it surpasses 600K subscribers and aims for 1M subscribers by 2023 — The Telegraph is investing millions of pounds in its newsroom, creating 60 jobs in the first half of 2021. — The investment comes after The Telegraph's …

Kansas City's Northeast News received $3K+ in donations and new advertisers after printing a blank front page to show readers what they'd miss if it folded — NEW YORK (AP) — Stories are back on the cover of Kansas City's Northeast News this week after the newspaper intentionally printed …
Discussion:
What's New in Publishing, @rebekahlsanders and American Press Institute
Business Wire:
Graham Holdings, owner of Slate and Foreign Policy, acquires Leaf Group, parent company of Livestrong.com, Well+Good, and others — ARLINGTON, Va.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Graham Holdings Company (NYSE: GHC) announced today that it has entered into an agreement to acquire all outstanding shares …
Discussion:
@rafat and @seangriffey

Inside BritBox's US strategy: embracing the true crime genre, creating ancillary content for legacy shows, and introducing new audiences to British comedy — You love British TV—even if you don't know it. — For decades, British programming has enjoyed massive success in the United States …

As the pandemic drags on, new shows are harder to come by for streaming services; report: the number of originals Netflix released so far in '21 is down 12% YoY — Streaming Services Have Finally Run Out of New Shows. Kind of. — Every couple weeks during the pandemic …
Discussion:
@raju, @patrickvons, @lucas_shaw, @lucas_shaw, Insider and The Streamable

How distrust of the news media became a point of political identity among Republicans and a basis for Americans to sort themselves into political tribes — There's little question that the media is one of the least trusted institutions in Republican circles.

Medium introduces blogrolls on user profile sidebars to automatically show writers a user follows, sorted by most recently published; feature is off by default — Last year, Ev detailed our commitment to strengthening writer discovery, enabling readers to “serendipitously find stories they wouldn't have otherwise.”
Discussion:
@msavener, @whatthebit, @nicoleoking, @anildash, @simonowens, @bluechoochoo and @bluechoochoo

San Francisco Examiner names Carly Schwartz as its new editor-in-chief; Schwartz has been EIC of Google's internal news organization for four years — Allen Matthews hired as director of editorial operations; Al Saracevic as assistant managing editor — The San Francisco Examiner …
Discussion:
@sfexaminer and @fitzthereporter