Mediagazer: Source: UK Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries is planning legislation where the DMU force Meta, Google, and others to negotiate payment deals with news publishers (Glen Owen/Daily Mail)

3:05 AM ET, February 1, 2022

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The New York Times acquires Wordle, the simple word game that has amassed “millions of daily players”, for “an undisclosed price in the low-seven figures” — Wordle, Josh Wardle's stimulating and wildly popular daily word game, is joining The New York Times's portfolio of original …

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Daniel Ek / Spotify:

Spotify publishes its long-standing Platform Rules and says it is working to add a content advisory to podcast episodes that discuss COVID-19 — A decade ago, we created Spotify to enable the work of creators around the world to be heard and enjoyed by listeners around the world.

Discussion: Politico, New York Times, Hollywood Reporter, The Wrap, @mikeisaac, Columbia Journalism Review, Protocol, Reuters, @justinjm1, Bloomberg, Variety, The Verge, @spotifynews, Muzak, The Hill, Wall Street Journal, @sarafischer, Matt on Audio, @reckless, @eldsjal, @lucas_shaw, CNN, Los Angeles Times, @pkafka, @caseynewton, @stanphylcap, The Crucial Years, Vanity Fair, @mikeisaac, @shannonrwatts, @loudmouthjulia, Media Matters for America, Ty Burr's Watch List, Complete Music Update, The Information, MediaPost, Billboard, Don't Let It Go, RAIN News, Breitbart, Gawker, Bastonate per Posta, Podcast Movement, NBC4 Washington, Music Ally, @mmasnick, The Why Axis, New York Post, Tubefilter, @paulbernaluk, @molly0xfff, @future_of_music, @shanselman, @aaronhuertas, @texasinafrica, Digital Threat Digest, @intelwire, New York Magazine, The Morning Dispatch, Wired, @darnelsugarfoo, Today in Tabs, Reclaim The Net, Mindless Drivel, Webb Chatham Report, @sabivm, @lethalityjane, NPR, Reason, @willoremus, Rolling Stone, JOMO, TechCrunch, CNET, @karaswisher, @jbflint, Light Reading, UPROXX, Insider, Bustle, @ruckcohlchez, @eaton, @dfsparks, @amlwhere, @naveedajamali and @ericboehlert, more at Techmeme »

Sam Byford / The Verge:

Joe Rogan posts a video to Instagram defending booking contentious guests, apologizes to Spotify for the backlash, and says he may book more “experts” — 'I'm very sorry that this is happening to them.' — Joe Rogan has issued a response to the ongoing controversy …

Ryan Broderick / Garbage Day:

Spotify made an editorial choice by paying $100M to be Joe Rogan's publisher and can't shirk its responsibility by just adding a content warning to his episodes — Read to the end for Pumpkin Cowboy — Please Do Not Let Spotify Convince You That Joe Rogan Is A Content Moderation Problem

Elahe Izadi / Washington Post:

Capital B, a US local nonprofit news organization focused on Black audiences, launches with $9M in philanthropic backing and 16 employees with plans to hire 11 — Capital B, a new digital-media start-up, will provide hard news and investigative reporting aimed at Black audiences.

Wall Street Journal:

Antenna: Apple TV+, Disney+, HBO Max, and others struggle to retain US subscribers who joined to watch a hit show or movie; many unsubscribe within a few months — Roughly half of U.S. viewers who joined right after ‘Hamilton’ and ‘Wonder Woman 1984’ were gone in six months, data show

Josh Eidelson / Bloomberg:

The FT's US journalists seek to unionize with the NewsGuild, ask for voluntary recognition from the FT, and say their 40-person unit has over two-thirds support — Journalists at the Financial Times are seeking to unionize the publication's U.S. operation, the latest in a wave of organizing efforts in the news media.

Discussion: @josheidelson, @greenhousenyt, @anastasiakeeley, @demfromct, @bigblackjacobin, @davidgura, @moisenoise, @mshannahmurphy, @josheidelson and @josheidelson

Helen Davidson / The Guardian:

Survey: at least six foreign journalists have left China amid increased intimidation through online trolling, physical assaults, hacking, and visa denials — Report says heightened dangers have prompted at least six to leave and many others to develop emergency exit plans

Discussion: @lotteleicht1, @birgitmschwarz, Bloomberg, Hong Kong Free Press HKFP and BBC

Cassandra Garrison / Reuters:

Univision and Televisa complete their merger and plan to launch the world's biggest Spanish-language streaming service in H1 2022, targeting nearly 600M people — Mexican broadcast powerhouse Grupo Televisa and U.S. based Univision (UVN.UL) are preparing to launch what would be the biggest …

Discussion: Adweek, @jczamora, Forbes, Variety, Next TV, Business Wire, @sarafischer, Deadline, @brianmmunoz, Hollywood Reporter, @isalara and @adweek

Glen Owen / Daily Mail:

Source: UK Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries is planning legislation where the DMU force Meta, Google, and others to negotiate payment deals with news publishers — - Platforms will be encouraged to negotiate payment deals with news organisations — If negotiations fail, an independent arbitrator would set a fair price

Discussion: HoldtheFrontPage, @lukejohnsonrcp, The i Paper, @benedictevans, The Signal, @matthewlesh, @benedictevans, The Sun, @s8mb and @benedictevans

Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:

Sources: Amazon paid $100M+ for exclusive ad and distribution rights to the podcast My Favorite Murder and all other Exactly Right Media shows — Two Canadian folk singers have forced Spotify to do what thousands of angry social media users could not. — Spotify on Sunday outlined a series …

Discussion: @lucas_shaw and @alexanderchee

Margaret Sullivan / Washington Post:

With SCOTUS eager to revisit precedent, Sarah Palin's NYT lawsuit is a serious challenge to the press-friendly standard for libel set by Times vs. Sullivan — But none of these landmark cases are as potentially consequential as Sarah Palin's suit against the New York Times

Discussion: @porter_anderson, @brianlehrer, @matthewschafer, @moiradonegan, @terri_rupar, @stormmela and @sarafischer

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