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Brian Williams, the former NBC Nightly News anchor who faced a six-month suspension in 2015, will leave NBC when his contract ends in December — The former anchor of “NBC Nightly News” rehabilitated his tarnished image as the host of a popular 11 p.m. show on MSNBC.
Discussion:
Los Angeles Times, The Hill, Insider, CNN, TVNewser, Variety, The Wrap, Washington Post, Associated Press, @mikekoncewicz, @msnbc, @kpa2, @vinguptamd, @carolleonnig, @samstein, @elistokols, @petesouza, @mccaffreyr3, @maggienyt, @garretthaake, @edzitron, @davidfolkenflik, @andrewdesiderio, @page88, Newser, @colvinj, @matthewamiller, Poynter, The Daily Beast, HuffPost, Page Six, TVLine, Mediaite and Axios
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The Verge updates its “on background” policy, making “on the record” the default when its reporters speak to PR professionals, particularly at tech companies — On ‘on background’ — The main way this happens is that big companies take advantage of a particular agreement in the media called “background.”
Discussion:
@reckless, Nieman Lab, @jmbooyah, @willoremus, @tomwarren, @kirstenkorosec, @runasand, @sophaskins, @zoeschiffer, @bcmerchant, @oliviasolon, @manan, @ericnewcomer, @robpegoraro, @brokenbottleboy, @alexeheath, @leah_nylen, @tonyajoriley, @manubarem, @joetidy, @alexhcranz, @abeaujon, @futterish, @jayrosen_nyu, @alex, @stroughtonsmith, @anildash, @caseynewton, @tonyromm, @nicholaswu12, @alexhern, @jeffgrubb, @kellymakena, @jayrosen_nyu and @dsilverman
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Twitter Blue rolls out to the US for $2.99/month and NZ for $4.49/month with Scroll's ad-free articles across 300+ publishers and Nuzzel-like “top articles” — Twitter is expanding its premium subscription service to more users. Twitter Blue, which unlocks additional features …
Discussion:
@twitterblue, @arctictony, @twitterblue, Twitter, New York Times, @arctictony, Nieman Lab, @caseynewton, @adamsinger, TechCrunch, The Drum, @balajis, MediaNama, @redvacktor, @ksheldongh, @sarahscire, @justinhendrix, @slpng_giants, @kayvz, @chrismessina, @oranicuhh, @couch, @jack, @scottmstedman, @mahwashajaz_, @quinnypig, @film_girl, @shiraovide, @mims, @wongmjane, @devindra, @caseynewton, @tuckerkristen, @nicksallon, @ericzuck, @idiplomacy, @_jackriley, AppleInsider, @karissabe, @arctictony, @caseynewton and The Verge
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Tencent Music announces a deal with Apple Music, allowing Chinese musicians part of its Music Cloud program to distribute their works through Apple Music — Apple Music users around the world will soon have access to more Chinese musicians. Tencent Music Entertainment …
Discussion:
PR Newswire, ScreenRant, 9to5Mac and Music Ally
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Journalists and analysts talk of muted reactions to the Facebook Papers over Meta's failure to stop hate speech and misinformation in the Global South — “Very little of what I have read about the papers comes as a surprise.” — When news emerged about a leaked trove of documents …
Discussion:
@kantrowitz, @dseetharaman, @restofworld, @mvzelenks and Beyond Search, more at Techmeme »
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Unity to acquire Peter Jackson's visual effects company Weta Digital, including 275+ engineers, for $1.625B; Weta Digital's FTX artists will form a new entity — Unity has just announced its intent to acquire Weta Digital, the legendary visual effects company co-founded by Peter Jackson, for a massive $1.625 billion.
Discussion:
Variety, Hollywood Reporter, @shaneguml, @reckless, @tylerglaiel, @chornesays, @thebeesneeze, @nzkoz, @loudmouthjulia, @xpangler, @parismarx, @grg, @briannorgard, @toadsanime, @mikeseymour, @devincf, The Verge, Gizmodo and The Wrap, more at Techmeme »
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Vimeo acquires Wibbitz, a short-form video creation service, and Wirewax, which builds tech to make objects in videos “shoppable” — Vimeo, the B2B video platform that spun out from IAC earlier this year, has made a pair of acquisitions aimed at building out the suite of features …
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fuboTV to acquire French multiplatform streaming company Molotov for $190M; Molotov co-founder and CEO Jean-David Blanc will become chief strategy officer — fuboTV is making a significant move in Europe with plans to acquire Molotov, a French startup with a leading television streaming service. fuboTV …
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Sky News anchor Adam Boulton announces he will leave at the end of the year, after more than 30 years at the channel — Journalist, 62, says direction news channel wants to go in is not ‘a particularly good fit for me’ — Adam Boulton has announced he will leave Sky News at the end of the year …
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Over 300 employees at Hearst's magazine division petition against the company's plans to return to the office next week; their union has filed an NLRB complaint — More than 300 employees at Hearst's magazine division have signed a petition objecting to the company's plan to have them return …
Discussion:
Editor and Publisher, @greenhousenyt, @stacey_grant91 and @spencerdukoff
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Digital Entertainment Group: US streaming consumer subscription revenue was up 19% YoY for the first nine months of 2021, to $18.5B — Soaring U.S. streaming consumer subscription revenue is up 19% to $18.5 billion through the first nine months of 2021 versus a year ago …
Discussion:
The Streamable
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BBC follows Ofcom and Channel 4 in quitting LGBTQ+ group Stonewall's Diversity Champions Programme and Workplace Equality Index, amid impartiality concerns — The BBC has quit two controversial schemes run by Stonewall, an LGBTQ+ lobby group and charity, following an investigation by one of the corporation's own journalists.
Discussion:
The Guardian, Insider, @jimwaterson, @spilleroftea, bbc.co.uk, @benjamincohen, @stephennolan, @stonewalluk, @jimwaterson and Deadline
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Politico says it has reached an agreement with NewsGuild to voluntarily recognize its PEN Guild union — Politico reached an agreement to voluntarily recognize a union of its employees, extending a wave of successful organizing efforts in the media industry.
Discussion:
@josheidelson and The NewsGuild - CWA