Mediagazer: YouTube tells YouTube TV customers that the base plan's monthly price will jump from $73 to $83 in January 2025, after raising it from $65 to $73 in March 2023 (Matt Yoder/Awful Announcing)

10:30 PM ET, December 12, 2024

Top News:

Katie Robertson / New York Times:

Sources: Patrick Soon-Shiong told LA Times opinion leaders not to publish an editorial critical of Trump's cabinet picks without publishing an opposing view — Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong's public comments and actions, including recently blocking an editorial weighing in on President-elect Trump's cabinet picks …

Discussion: @jeffgreco.com, Mediaite, @emilybell.bsky.social, @justinbaragona.bsky.social, @noahshachtman.bsky.social, @katierobertson.bsky.social, @cephalopod.bsky.social, @jamellebouie.net, @ashtonlattimore.bsky.social, @edmundlee.bsky.social, @rmac.bsky.social, @katekilla.bsky.social, @damon.kiesow.net, @scottjohnson.wtf, The Present Age and Slate

Katie Kilkenny / The Hollywood Reporter:

The WGA demands studios take “immediate legal action” against companies that used writers' work to train AI, in a letter to CEOs of Disney, Netflix, and others — The union is arguing that tech companies “looted the studios' intellectual property” while Hollywood's major companies stood by.

Discussion: IndieWire, AV Club, The Wrap, @ninametz.bsky.social, @lainna.bsky.social, Los Angeles Times, Variety and Deadline

Liam Scott / Voice of America:

RSF says 23 journalists were jailed in Syria and 10 others were missing as of December 9; press freedom groups call for accountability for Assad's government — When news broke about the fall of President Bashar al-Assad's government in Syria this week, photojournalist Paul Conroy found himself thinking …

Discussion: Peoples Dispatch, The White House, Committee to Protect …, Middle East Monitor, The Times of Israel, Reporters Without Borders, Al Jazeera and Arab News

Ellen Nakashima / Washington Post:

The rebel group that now runs Syria's government says the search for Austin Tice, abducted in 2012, is ongoing and offers to “cooperate directly” with the US — Biden administration officials say that, for now, it is too dangerous to deploy personnel to look for the missing American …

Discussion: Reporters Without Borders, Middle East Eye, New York Times, HuffPost, Los Angeles Times and The Mirror

Benjamin Mullin / New York Times:

BuzzFeed reaches a deal to sell Hot Ones owner First We Feast for $82.5M in cash to a consortium of investors led by an affiliate of Soros Fund Management — The sale, to a group that includes the show's host, Sean Evans, and Soros Fund Management, will allow BuzzFeed to pay down tens of millions of dollars in debt.

Todd Spangler / Variety:
BuzzFeed says selling First We Feast will cut its outstanding debt by $89M to $30M and let it operate with a cash balance larger than its total outstanding debt

Discussion: Fox News, The Desk, Scott Rosman on LinkedIn, The Daily Caller, Karim Lateef on LinkedIn, Reuters, Just Jared, Rummel A Medina on LinkedIn, NBC News, Brian Samuels on LinkedIn, Adweek, Todd Spangler on LinkedIn, Benzinga, BuzzFeed, Inc., Rich Antoniello on LinkedIn, Oh No They Didn't!, New York Daily News and The Verge

Brian Steinberg / Variety:

Warner Bros. Discovery announces a restructuring to create two separate units: one for linear TV networks and one for production studios and streaming platforms — The maneuver was unveiled just days after Comcast said it planned to spin off the bulk of its NBCUniversal cable networks …

Brian Stelter / CNN:
Warner Bros. Discovery's shares jump 13%+ after the company announced a restructuring that is expected to take effect by mid-2025

Discussion: Adweek, @lucas_shaw and @mediaevan

Daniel Thomas / Financial Times:

ITV partners with YouTube to make hundreds of hours of its programs available on the platform, in a bid to “maximize reach and viewing opportunities” — Partnership is latest sign of diminishing importance of traditional TV platforms in favour of social media channels

Discussion: MediaPost, Advanced Television, The Media Leader, Irish News, Deadline, Broadband TV News and Media Play News

U.S. Press Freedom Tracker:

In 2024, police arrested or detained US journalists at least 48 times, more than in 2022 and 2023 combined; nearly half of arrests were by New York City police — Stephanie Sugars from Freedom of the Press Foundation — Nearly all 48 arrests took place during demonstrations; half at hands of NYPD

Discussion: @freedomofpress@social …, CityNews Halifax, @knightcolumbia.org, @kamccudden.bsky.social and Columbia Journalism Review

Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:

An interview with Business Insider CTO Harry Hope on BI's use of AI, including AI-powered search and ad tools, shifting away from mass audience, and more — Business Insider's chief technology officer has said advancements in AI technology are helping the publisher “to do a bit more to punch above our weight class”.

Discussion: Talking Biz News

Jessica Toonkel / Wall Street Journal:

Current and former Netflix staff say the company has walked back its parental-leave benefits, after shifting its focus from subscriber growth to profitability — Employees worry the pullback and other new restrictions mean the entertainment giant is losing the identity that fueled its success

Discussion: Deadline, The Information, @rwhelanwsj, @cpoetzscher, @joshsternberg.com, Business Insider, @wsjbusiness, @kedseconomist.com, Cord Cutters News, Marc Effron on LinkedIn, Jessica Toonkel on LinkedIn and Benzinga, more at Techmeme »

Daniele Lepido / Bloomberg:

Italian broadcaster MediaForEurope says it is looking to accelerate its plan to build a pan-European free-to-air TV hub after securing a €3.4B credit facility — - Broadcaster adds financial muscle to bankroll future plans — CEO doesn't rule out a bid for rest of Germany's ProSieben

Discussion: Broadband TV News and Reuters

Matt Hardigree / The Autopian:

Hearst Magazines, owner of Car and Driver, Autoweek, and Road & Track, is acquiring MotorTrend Group, which owns MotorTrend, Automobile, and Hot Rod, from WBD — It hasn't been a huge secret that MotorTrend, the popular magazine and website, was in the process of being offloaded.

Discussion: Variety, MediaPost, @matthardigree, HEARST and The Drive

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Bureau Reporter - Vietnam, HCMC — Bloomberg

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Business Editor, CA — TheWrap

Executive Ed. - Tech & Electronics, AZ — AspenCore

Economy & Industry Reporter, TX — Texas Tribune

Deputy Editor - Health Care, VA — Politico

Political Enterprise Editor, DC — Guardian US

Housing & Real Estate Reporter, ME — BDN

Associate Reporter - Yahoo Finance — Yahoo

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Alphaville Reporter, London — FT

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More News:

Todd Spangler / Variety:
Former NBC News president Noah Oppenheim, Lloyd Braun, and Sarah Bremner launch indie studio Prologue Entertainment, backed by Jeff Zucker and RedBird Capital

Discussion: The Wrap, Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter

Nilay Patel / The Verge:
YouTube removed the ability to click video titles in YouTube Player for Publishers; outlets lose ad revenue by using the standard player to link to YouTube

Discussion: @reckless.bsky.social, @ianbetteridge.com and @mookie@shumai.xyz

Matt Yoder / Awful Announcing:
YouTube tells YouTube TV customers that the base plan's monthly price will jump from $73 to $83 in January 2025, after raising it from $65 to $73 in March 2023

Dominic Ponsford / Press Gazette:
Email: the Guardian Media Group declined to engage with an alternative bid enquiry for The Observer due to exclusivity terms with Tortoise

Discussion: @dominicponsford.bsky.social and The Guardian

Daniel Thomas / Financial Times:
In a letter to UK ministers, the Copyright Alliance, representing Disney, Fox, and others, opposes potential laws allowing AI companies to scrape their content

Discussion: TechCrunch, @ednewtonrex.bsky.social and The Guardian

Earlier Picks:

Ken Klippenstein:
Slack messages: NYT editors tell reporters to “dial back” on using photos of alleged UnitedHealth gunman Luigi Mangione and to avoid publishing his “manifesto”

Discussion: @noturtlesoup17, @williamturton, @matthewkeys.net, @snarlsdegaulle, @gianmarcosoresi, @heerjeet, Boing Boing, @yc, BET, @peter@thepit.social, @goldstein.bsky.social, @kenklippenstein.bsky.social, New York Times and Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Julia Jacobs / New York Times:
The NLRB issues a complaint against Netflix's Love Is Blind and classifies its contestants as employees, a case that could have ripple effects across reality TV

Discussion: CNN, Holland Atkinson on LinkedIn, Los Angeles Times, Rolling Stone, Deadline, Reuters, Quartz, The Hollywood Reporter, @poniewozik.bsky.social, Axios, Brooke Erin Duffy on LinkedIn, Decider, @noamscheiber.bsky.social, Vulture, AV Club, The Wrap and Media Play News, more at Techmeme »

Nic Fildes / Financial Times:
Australia plans a levy on tech companies like Meta with $250M+ in local revenue to force them to pay publishers for journalism, after Meta quit the prior deal

Costas Pitas / Reuters:
Donald Trump picks former news anchor and hardline Republican Kari Lake to be the director of US government-funded media outlet Voice of America

Discussion: CNN, New York Times, USA Today, WXIA-TV, Vanity Fair, Raw Story, Adweek, One America News Network, @brianstelter, @brianstelter, The Independent, @brianstelter, NPR, Forbes, @brianstelter, @brianstelter, Nicole Carr on LinkedIn, RedState, @brianstelter, @brianstelter, Truthout, Tv Technology, Townhall, The American Spectator, Alternet.org, @backyardpolitics.bsky.social, Washington Post, Politico, Scripps News, @nicksortor, @admcrlsn, @damintoell, @usa_polling, @aidnmclaughlin, Mediaite, @andrewfeinberg, @libbeydean_, @farhip, @samstein, @yashar, The Hill, Roll Call, Crooks and Liars, Twitchy, Daily Mail, WTTG-TV, Breitbart, Al Jazeera, New York Post, UPI, Arizona Mirror, Fox News, @davidfolkenflik.bsky.social, @davidfolkenflik.bsky.social, @dangillmor.mastodon …, Washington Examiner, Los Angeles Times, NBC News, CityNews Halifax, The Desk, @matthewkeys.net, The Gateway Pundit, CBS News, @bubbaprog.lol, @davidakaye.bsky.social, @helenkennedy.bsky.social, @olgalautman.bsky.social, @samlitzinger.bsky.social, @dandrezner.bsky.social, @kerravon.bsky.social, @joshtpm.bsky.social, Axios, Bloomberg, Voice of America, Daily Kos, HuffPost, Deadline, ABC News, Washington Times and Bloomberg

Clayton Davis / Variety:
In a first, the 97th Academy Awards will stream live on Hulu, along with airing on ABC, giving it an unprecedented boost in accessibility and viewership

Discussion: ABC13, Deadline, Engadget, @tvgrimreaper, AV Club, Decider, Rolling Stone, The Streamable, IndieWire, The Hollywood Reporter, The Wrap and GoldDerby

From Techmeme:

Nintendo of America on YouTube:
A livestream of Nintendo's Switch 2 event

John Hudson / Washington Post:
Sources and docs: White House National Security Advisor Michael Waltz and other NSC members have conducted government business via their personal Gmail accounts

Wikimedia:
The Wikimedia Foundation says the base bandwidth demand for downloading Wikimedia Commons multimedia content is up 50% since January 2024, driven by AI crawlers

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