Top News:
Peter Kafka / Vox:
The NYT-Athletic deal is a big bet with significant risk, as growth slows for The NYT and profit remains elusive for The Athletic — A big bet with real risk and reward. — The New York Times wants more subscribers. The Athletic has lots of subscribers but loses money.
Discussion:
The Ringer, @pottsmark, Bloomberg, @markberman, Awful Announcing, Defector, Financial Times, @sizpatel, MediaPost, @ylichterman, @davidgura, @shanbow, @arctictony, @adamlevitan, @shanbow, @jeffschultzatl, @bryancurtis, @byscottpowers, @ringer, @profblackistone, @scohensea, @mattzeitlin, @oliviawitherite, @thegridkid, @jessegranger_, @tybatiste, @travonne, @melissalockard, @aarongleeman, @zpathletic, @electricalwsop, @liam_twomey, @aarongleeman, @ken_rosenthal, @adamlefkoe, @bydavidgardner, @vosdscott, @willystaley, @maxjrosenthal, @conordougherty, @sbienkowski, @thegridkid, @gintautasd, @rafat, @freightalley, @rafat, @pkafka, Talking Biz News, @cnyari, @mathewi, @pkafka, @pkafka, @mikeorren, @nw3, @pkafka, @rasmus_kleis, @brettkollmann, @realobf, @tvgrimreaper, @rafat, @danprimack, @danprimack, @nichcarlson, @rafat, @jeremylittau, @jeremylittau, @jeremylittau, @mattietk, @ericliptonnyt, @jeremylittau, @jeremylittau, @jeremylittau, @daryrezvani, @keganreneau, @john_p_carvalho, @jeremylittau, @jeremylittau, @jeremylittau, @rafat, @freddiecampion, @arashmarkazi, @jeffveillette, @chrisryan_nj, @_zeets, @mathewi, @katie_martin_fx, @dylanbyers, UPI, Sportico, Deadline, The Spun, Financial Times, Nieman Lab, The Wrap and The Hill
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Sara Fischer / Axios:
NYT has agreed to acquire The Athletic in an all-cash deal valuing the startup at $550M; co-founders Alex Mather and Adam Hansmann will stay on after the deal — The New York Times has agreed to acquire The Athletic in an all-cash deal valuing the sports media startup at $550 million …
Discussion:
New York Times, @sarafischer, Axios, @sarafischer, The Drum, @courtsidevc, @business, The Sport Marketeer, @sarafischer, Bloomberg, Poynter, @apompliano, Huddle Up, @kaitlyncmcgrath, The Hockey Tactics Newsletter, @hiltontarrant, @tashanreed, @tomangell, Financial Times, @davidgura, @paulkuharskynfl, @joshsternberg, @sarafischer, @sarafischer, @sarafischer, @sarafischer, @sarafischer, @sarafischer, @sarafischer, @sulliview, @dskok, @jessicalessin, @jeffjarvis, @pkafka, @sarafischer, @sarafischer, @dangillmor, @rafat, @nytimesguild, Wall Street Journal, @hollyzachariah, @ylichterman, @ckrewson, @ckrewson, Newser, CNBC, Front Office Sports and New York Post
Aron Pilhofer:
With The Athletic purchase, NYT will directly compete for subscribers with local news sites that cover college or pro sports, topics once owned by local papers — It turns out, The New York Times does really care about local news — just not in the way we thought.
Discussion:
@pkafka, MediaPost, @jeffjarvis, @chronotope, @dkiesow, @chronotope, @pilhofer, @pilhofer, @pilhofer, @davidclinchnews, @pilhofer, Defector, Poynter, @pilhofer, @pilhofer and @jeffjarvis
Reuters:
Two journalists were killed in Haiti on Thursday after suspected gang members shot at a group of reporters who'd arrived to interview the leader of a rival gang — Two Haitian journalists were killed Thursday on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince after suspected gang members opened fire …
Discussion:
CNN, The Guardian, @kylieatwood, LatAm Journalism Review, Al Jazeera, France 24 and Committee to Protect …
Bloomberg:
John Legend sells rights to his music catalog from late 2004 through early last year to BMG and investment firm KKR — - Companies strike deal for copyrights, royalties from his music — High valuations are pushing more and more musicians to sell — John Legend joined the growing list …
Discussion:
Variety, Billboard, The Wrap, @danprimack, Vibe, Axios, New York Post, Music Business Worldwide, Rolling Stone and Music Ally
Ben Schoon / 9to5Google:
Google says Android TV and Google TV have over 110M monthly active devices combined, up 30M from May 2021 — While Roku and Amazon's Fire TV are often the first thing people think of when it comes to home entertainment platforms, Google's Android TV OS is growing quickly.
Discussion:
The Streamable and Light Reading
Committee to Protect Journalists:
Authorities in Kazakhstan have detained at least eight journalists reporting on protests since January 4 and blocked at least two news sites — Kazakhstan authorities must allow journalists to report freely on ongoing protests in the country and ensure their safety from officials and protesters …
Discussion:
@tommywalkerco, The Diplomat, @pressfreedom and USAGM
Bloomberg:
Sources: Reddit could go public as soon as March at a valuation of as much as $15B; the company was last valued at $10B in August 2021 — - Social media company could go public as soon as March — Reddit could be valued at as much as $15 billion in listing
Discussion:
Protocol, more at Techmeme »
Todd Spangler / Variety:
CTA survey of 2,084 US people aged 13+: user-generated content accounts for 39% of weekly media consumption, and about 7% monetize content in some way online — Americans now spend nearly as much time streaming user-generated videos on YouTube, TikTok and other online platforms as they do watching traditional TV.
Discussion:
@synopsi, @ritholtz, FinalScore, Simon Owens's Media Newsletter and Marketing Dive
Mike Masnick / Techdirt:
A California court orders Twitter to reveal the identity of a user who tweeted photos mocking a billionaire, after the user didn't respond to a copyright claim — Back in November we wrote about a very bizarre attempt to abuse copyright law to uncover who was behind a Twitter account, @CallMeMoneyBags.
Gita Jackson / VICE:
Image Comics workers win an NLRB election and become the first unionized comics company, with the Communications Workers of America — After management failed to voluntarily recognize the union, Image workers have won an NLRB election to become the first unionized comics company. — GJ
Discussion:
@grantthethief, @lizshuler, @laurenkgurley, @samred, AIPT, Hollywood Reporter and ScreenRant
The Wire:
Modi's BJP uses an app called Tek Fog to harass journalists: of 4.6M Twitter replies received by 280 women journalists, 18% were from Tek Fog managed accounts — The Wire investigates claims behind the use of ‘Tek Fog’, a highly sophisticated app used by online operatives to hijack major social media …
Discussion:
@thewire_in, @kunalpurohit, @maheshmurthy, @timnitgebru, @gvrkiran, @vijaytal, @thewire_in, @svaradarajan, @asadowaisi, @rasmus_kleis, @caseynewton, MediaNama, @pawankhera and @rohini_sgh
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