Top News:
Joshua Benton / Nieman Lab:
The Messenger's flop was the result of Jimmy Finkelstein's blindness to bad ideas, like its traffic-chasing strategy, not a consequence of economic headwinds — The flaws in the site's strategy were highly predictable (and repeatedly predicted). But Jimmy Finkelstein's muddled nostalgia …
Discussion:
Axios, @theakglassman, @ryangrim, @jayrosen_nyu, @jragazzo, @scottnover, @nohodge, @jordannovet, @froomkin, Newser, The Daily Beast, Variety, The Wrap and Deadline
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Jordan Hoffman / New York Magazine:
A Messenger journalist describes his time working for the outlet, where the expensive offices were empty and reporters were instructed to chase trending topics — A text time-stamped 1:19 a.m. early Wednesday read, “I think it's over, man.” It was a Los Angeles-based colleague at The Messenger.
The Daily Beast:
Ex-employees of The Messenger file a class-action lawsuit against the shuttered outlet, alleging that it failed to give them proper notice ahead of their firing — The class-action lawsuit comes just a day after The Messenger closed up shop for good, firing its hundreds of staff without offering them severance.
Discussion:
The Hill, The Wrap, Politico, Deadline, @ellefs0n, @juliareinstein, @juliareinstein, Hollywood Reporter, @willsommer and @benmullin
Ashley Carman / Bloomberg:
UMG begins pulling its artists' music from TikTok after negotiations failed; videos featuring UMG-owned songs will be muted, and users can pick a new soundtrack — - Publisher behind Drake and Taylor Swift pushes for better pay — Videos featuring Universal Music-owned songs will be muted
Discussion:
UMG, Fast Company, Wired, The Verge, Reuters, Fox News, VIBE.com, Gizmodo, Lefsetz Letter, @simondowens@threads.net, New York Times, UPROXX, The A.V. Club, New York Daily News, Courthouse News Service, Geoffrey Colon on LinkedIn, CNN, Variety, Digital Music News, Tubefilter, The Hill, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Billboard, Rolling Stone, Consequence, Music Business Worldwide, Music Ally, @carnage4life@mas.to, TechNode, Forbes, The Music Network, Polygon, Deadline, Us Weekly, Associated Press, RAIN News, New York Post, Ars Technica, Axios, The Sun and Engadget, more at Techmeme »
Kevin T. Dugan / New York Magazine:
Interviews with shareholders and current and ex-employees suggest that SI's publisher Arena missed the licensing payment by choice, not because it lacked money — At about 4 p.m. on Thursday, January 25, the board of the media conglomerate the Arena Group met after the company had blown up its license to publish Sports Illustrated.
Discussion:
@leomschwartz
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Ben Strauss / Washington Post:
Sources: an Arena executive ordered SI to remove a transgender boxing story from a print issue; SI says the story was no longer newsy and will be posted online — The publisher of Sports Illustrated called for the removal of a story about transgender boxing from an upcoming issue of the print magazine …
Discussion:
Awful Announcing, MediaPost, @benjstrauss and @jmkliegman
Salvador Rodriguez / Wall Street Journal:
Meta reports Q4 revenue up 25% YoY to $40.1B, with ad revenue of $38.7B, ad impressions delivered across its Family of Apps up 21%, and average ad price up 2% — Company posts biggest quarterly revenue gains in two years — Facebook parent Meta Platforms posted its fourth consecutive quarter …
Richard Nieva / Forbes:
YouTube says YouTube Premium and Music have a combined 100M subscribers; CEO Neal Mohan says subscriptions have become a “meaningful part” of YouTube's business — YouTube CEO Neal Mohan told Forbes the subscription services are now a “meaningful part” of the business.
Lesley Goldberg / The Hollywood Reporter:
Highlights from Netflix's press event: a push for live programming, no planned theatrical releases, licensing content from others won't impact originals, more — A greater push for live programming, no theatrical releases and much more from content chief Bela Bajaria.
Discussion:
@thr, @ryansatin, Deadline, The Playlist, Variety, @meltzersaidwhat and POST Wrestling
Jim Edwards / Press Gazette:
Google plans to limit news publishers to tracking users across five of their own websites under its Privacy Sandbox, which is set to replace third-party cookies — Details have emerged of how Google's Privacy Sandbox could strengthen its online monopoly. — Google plans to limit the sharing …
Discussion:
@pressgazette, The Drum, Paweł Nowacki on LinkedIn, Poynter and The Register, more at Techmeme »
Max Tani / @maxwelltani:
Memo: The Wall Street Journal EIC Emma Tucker restructures its DC bureau, shutters the DC-based Business and US-China teams, and lays off “a number” of staffers — Note from WSJ EIC Emma Tucker to Journal staff about today's layoffs changes to the paper's DC bureau. The business team and Washington-based China team are both shuttering. [image]
Annie Palmer / CNBC:
Amazon Q4: ad revenue up 27% YoY to $14.7B, vs. $14.2B est., subscription revenue up 14% YoY to $10.5B, and North America segment sales up 13% YoY to $105.5B — - Amazon reported fourth-quarter earnings and revenue on Thursday that sailed past analysts' estimates.
Discussion:
CNN, NBC 7 San Diego, Search Engine Land, GeekWire, @ericjhonsa, @lucas_shaw and The Hollywood Reporter, more at Techmeme »
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