Top News:
Corbin Bolies / The Daily Beast:
In an interview with Tucker Carlson, Putin says he would “not rule out” releasing Evan Gershkovich, but maintains claims the WSJ reporter committed espionage — “At the end of the day, it does not make any sense to keep him in prison in Russia,” Putin told Tucker Carlson during their two-hour interview.
Discussion:
Mediaite, New York Times, Reuters, The Wrap, Associated Press, KEYT-TV, Washington Post, Politico, Deadline, BBC, @brianstelter, @yashar, New York Post, Radio Free Europe/Radio …, Telegraph and Poynter
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Josh Dickey / The Wrap:
Tucker Carlson releases his two-hour interview with the Russian president Vladimir Putin for free on his website and on X — The former Fox News host sat with the Russian president in Moscow — Tucker Carlson released his two-hour interview with Vladimir Putin, the Russian president whose military …
Discussion:
Mediaite, Variety, @tuckercarlson, New York Times, The Hill, The Guardian, CBS News, @corbinbolies, The Kyiv Independent, Politico, @robertkennedyjr, Forbes, @elonmusk, The Daily Beast, @hitsdiffcap, The Daily Caller, Voice of America, Washington Post, Newser, TechCrunch, Rolling Stone, Meduza.io, Associated Press and Reuters
Max Tani / Semafor:
Sources: Tucker Carlson met NSA leaker Edward Snowden in Moscow, and taped an interview with Tara Reade, who accused President Biden of sexual assault in 2020 — The Scoop — Tucker Carlson has kept a busy agenda in Moscow, meeting with two key American figures living in exile there.
Discussion:
@tuckercarlson, Politico, Forbes, THE DC PATRIOT, Vanity Fair, Associated Press, Mediaite and New York Times
Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
X signs a two-year deal with the WWE for a new exclusive weekly video series called WWE Speed featuring timed matches of 5 minutes or less, coming spring 2024 — ‘WWE Speed’ will stream timed matches meant to end in five minutes or less on the Elon Musk-owned platform.
Discussion:
Awful Announcing, Bloomberg, @wwe, @lindayax and @xbusiness, more at Techmeme »
Ben Smith / Semafor:
An interview with Piers Morgan on ending his live broadcast show Piers Morgan Uncensored on News UK's TalkTV to focus on YouTube — The Scoop — The British broadcaster Piers Morgan is giving up his live, daily, hour-long evening news show for a YouTube-first, digitally native …
Discussion:
Sydney Morning Herald, The Wrap, The Guardian, The Times, @semaforben, @mediaguido, @nelsabbey, @semaforben, @joshgnosis, @piersmorgan, @chaykak and Deadline
Eric Fisher / Front Office Sports:
Sources: Sinclair is exploring strategic alternatives for the Tennis Channel, including bringing in an equity partner; Sinclair purchased it in 2016 for $350M — Sinclair Inc. is exploring bringing in an equity partner for the Tennis Channel as well as other strategic alternatives for the network …
Discussion:
The Streamable, Awful Announcing, @aericfisher, @fos, Bloomberg, Bloomberg and Cord Cutters News
Martin K.N Siele / Semafor:
Sources: Kenya's media giants are weighing a legal fight with the government for awarding a contract to The Star, a newspaper with only 3% market share in 2022 — NAIROBI — Executives at two of Kenya's largest media houses are considering legal challenges to what they believe …
Discussion:
@semaforafrica and @gengetonedon
Dino Grandoni / Washington Post:
A US jury awards climate scientist Michael Mann damages of $1M+ in his defamation suit against two right-wing bloggers claiming he manipulated his research data — The verdict comes amid heightened attacks on scientists working on climate change, vaccines and other issues
Kenneth Li / Reuters:
Thomson Reuters reports Reuters News Q4 revenue rose 11% YoY to $220M, driven mainly by generative AI licensing, and adjusted EBITDA grew 56% YoY to $61M — Thomson Reuters Corp (TRI.TO) on Thursday reported higher than expected profit but sales of divisions impacted total revenue growth …
Discussion:
Thomson Reuters, The Wrap and Talking Biz News
Sammy Hudes / The Canadian Press:
Memo: Bell Media plans to sell 45 radio stations and end some TV newscasts in stations such as CTV and BNN Bloomberg, after its parent BCE announced layoffs — Bell Media selling 45 radio stations amid layoffs — Bell Media is ending multiple television newscasts and making other programming cuts …
Discussion:
Talking Biz News, @jacqueli_news, @itsdgc, Inside Radio, @atrachelgilmore, @stephhughes95, @kristinaparts, @fagstein, @fagstein, @craigbaird, @seamusoregan, @mediamorphis, @maritstiles, @katiederosayyj, @edthesock, @titocurtis, @michellerempel, @lazenbyalec, @brittlestar, @charlizealcaraz, @sammyhudes, @taranweber, @sammyhudes, Radio & Television … and Associated Press
Thomas Barrabi / New York Post:
News Corp CEO says it is in advanced talks with major AI companies to license its content and that Sam Altman understands “the social importance of journalism” — News Corp — the media giant that owns The Post and the Wall Street Journal — is in “advanced” …
Discussion:
@johnbuckley_, @edmundlee@threads.net, @edmundlee@threads.net, @katie_robertson, The Guardian and The Wrap
Ashley Fetters Maloy / Washington Post:
Q&A with millenial EICs of five fashion outlets on how the job has changed since its heyday, relationships with advertisers, accountability to readers, and more — Town cars are over, transparency has replaced aspiration and diversity finally exists. Top editors talk about leading a style magazine in 2024.
Discussion:
@laurahazardowen and Florencia Cavallo on LinkedIn
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