Top News:
Drew Harwell / Washington Post:
The SEC approves Truth Social's SPAC merger with DWAC; Trump's stake in the post-merger company would be valued at more than $4B at today's price — The former president's stake in the post-merger company would be valued, at today's share price, at nearly $4 billion.
Discussion:
Axios, CNN, @gwynnion@mastodon.social, @drewharwell@mastodon.social, Reuters and @Nonilex@masto.ai, more at Techmeme »
Anne Steele / Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Rod Stewart sold his music and publishing catalog for ~$100M to Iconic Artists Group, which says it has raised $1B+ for future catalog investments — Investors pour billions of dollars into companies pursuing music-rights deals — Rod Stewart, the star behind such hits as …
Discussion:
New York Post, Billboard, Variety, Forbes, Deadline, Music Business Worldwide, Music Week and Digital Music News
Alexandra Alter / New York Times:
The National Book Awards expand eligibility to noncitizens in the US, including immigrants and longtime residents who have made their home in the country — The awards, which celebrate the best of American literature, are expanding the definition of who qualifies.
Discussion:
Publishing Perspectives
Oliver Darcy / CNN:
Meta seems unable to define political content, vaguely mentioning laws, elections, and social topics, after saying Threads would not amplify political content — What constitutes “political” content? — It's an important question that Meta has conspicuously left unanswered …
RELATED:
Daniel Thomas / Financial Times:
Sources: The Independent is in talks to assume control of BuzzFeed in the UK and Ireland under a licensing deal for its brands, including HuffPost — British media group to take charge of local operations of start-up once seen as future of the industry — The Independent, the British media group …
Discussion:
Mediaite, Reuters, The Information and @janinegibson.bsky.social
Emma Roth / The Verge:
Meta plans to start charging a 30% fee for boosting Facebook and Instagram posts on iOS later in February, after Apple extended its 30% cut to boosting in 2022 — Meta said Thursday that it will start charging a 30 percent fee when advertisers pay to boost the visibility of their posts in Facebook's and Instagram's iOS apps.
Discussion:
Facebook, TechCrunch, Reuters, BGR, 9to5Mac, The Information, Engadget, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg and @AAKL@noc.social, more at Techmeme »
Geert De Clercq / Reuters:
An EU study of 576 influencers finds that 97% posted commercial content but only 20% systematically indicated the content was advertising — Four out of five influencers on social media fail to disclose commercial content they post is advertising as required under EU law, a European Union study released on Wednesday showed.
Discussion:
European Commission, The Hill, The Information, RTÉ, Metro.co.uk, Adweek and Boing Boing
Committee to Protect Journalists:
Senegalese police attacked, harassed, and tear gassed or detained over 25 journalists reporting on February 9 protests over the delayed presidential election — Senegalese authorities must identify and hold accountable police officers who attacked, harassed, and tear gassed or detained …
Ben Mullin / @benmullin:
A memo to Intercept staff says EIC Roger Hodge is leaving and the outlet is laying off 15 people and cutting salaries for the leadership team — Scoop: @theintercept is cutting 15 positions, and EIC Roger Hodge is departing [image]
Discussion:
The Wrap, @danackerman, @themaxburns, @willyblackmore and NPR
Sahil Patel / The Information:
Sources: Vox Media's and Bustle Digital Group's revenue each fell ~15% YoY due to weaker ad sales; both have seen a 10% rise in ad sales so far in 2024 — Advertising is no country for small digital media firms. — Vox Media, the privately held firm that owns outlets such as New York magazine …
Georg Szalai / Hollywood Reporter:
TelevisaUnivision reports Q4 revenue fell 7% YoY to $1.36B and adjusted OIBDA fell 7% YoY to $468.1M; streamer ViX had 7M+ subscribers at the end of 2023 — About 2024, the Spanish-language media giant's CEO Wade Davis says, “we are poised to capture a massive U.S. political opportunity …
Discussion:
MediaPost, Deadline, Footwear News, Variety and WORLD SCREEN
Aisha Malik / TechCrunch:
YouTube adds four new tools that let users to incorporate, or “remix”, a music video in their Shorts, weeks after UMG pulled its song catalog from TikTok — YouTube is introducing the ability for users to incorporate or “remix” a music video in their short-form videos …
Discussion:
YouTube Official Blog, The Verge, Engadget, 9to5Google and UPI, more at Techmeme »
Jonathan Heawood / The Guardian:
A look at new local UK newsrooms, like Manchester's The Mill, Glasgow's The Ferret, and The Bristol Cable, which are taking over as legacy local media declines — On tiny budgets, indie publishers from Manchester to Bristol are doing amazing things. The government must unlock their potential
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