Mediagazer: SCOTUS says it will hear a challenge from TikTok, ByteDance, and TikTok users on January 10 to the law that could lead to the US banning the app on January 19 (CBS News)

8:50 PM ET, December 18, 2024

Top News:

Pamela McClintock / The Hollywood Reporter:

Disney confirms pulling a transgender storyline from animated series Win or Lose, saying “many parents would prefer to discuss certain subjects” with their kids — The original animated show about a co-ed high school team debuts on Disney+ in February.

Discussion: Boing Boing, HotAir, KTVU-TV, RedState, Comic Book, New York Times, @cosmic_marvel, @discussingfilm, GB News, @harelliequinn, Inverse, PR Daily, @kaekaecurtis, Townhall, @24framesofnick, @tinysquash, @esjesjesj, @lostmediabuster, @adequateemily, The Hill, The Playlist, @rwmead.bsky.social, BizPac Review, @sturgeons_law, National Legal …, @zoerosebryant, @usa_polling, @spectrathegame, @danny8bit, @bennie.gay, San Francisco Chronicle, @verdantsquare@mastodon.world, @zoerosebryant, @miiamustang@eliitin-some.fi, Deseret News, The Root, @lostmediabuster, Deadline, @rayme.bsky.social, @savequeerstories.bsky.social, Transgender World, PinkNews, AV Club, The Present Age, Metro.co.uk, @Catelli@mstdn.ca, UPI, New York Post, The Guardian, New Jersey Online, Raw Story, Variety, CNN, @spookalucca.games, @sarahoconnellshow.com, @thegabitype.bsky.social, @matbrunetvo.com, Twitchy, ElsaMaren will be the …, Washington Examiner, Fox News, Entertainment Weekly, The Gateway Pundit, Breitbart, World of Reel, Polygon, Screen Rant, The Wrap and TVLine

Brooks Barnes / New York Times:

Sources: Disney worried that it had a flawed case in Trump's ABC lawsuit, and fighting it could hurt the Disney brand and damage press protections for others — Talks started and finished on the same day, after Disney decided that fighting the lawsuit could potentially hurt the company and protections for the press.

Wall Street Journal:

Several ABC News staffers say its Trump settlement sets a concerning precedent and sends a message that Disney is giving priority to its corporate interests — Staffers question decision by Disney; company was looking to avoid protracted legal battle — Disney's decision …

Erik Wemple / Washington Post:

A look at GOP attacks on local news outlets across the US, including the Lancaster County Board of Commissioners' harrassment of LNP reporter Tom Lisi — Republicans claim Tom Lisi's reporting is lies to promote a liberal agenda. How should he respond? — On Feb. 1, Tom Lisi took a seat …

Discussion: TVNewsCheck, Frank Scafidi on LinkedIn, @shannonbond.bsky.social, @johnniemo, @jackshafer, @jblumgart, @ktownsend.bsky.social, @wimbles.bsky.social and @stephenkleege

Leo Schwartz / Fortune:

Sources: CoinDesk owner Bullish removed an article on Tron founder Justin Sun after complaints from his team; editorial chair Matt Murray resigned on Dec. 16 — In late November, the leading crypto trade publication CoinDesk published a story about the latest antic by one of the industry's more outlandish figures.

Discussion: @leomschwartz and @leomschwartz

Mark Kleinman / Sky News:

Letter: The Scott Trust's deal to sell the Observer to Tortoise came despite a last-minute bid from Ecotricity founder Dale Vince to thwart the deal — Ecotricity founder Dale Vince made a fresh bid on Wednesday morning to prevent the world's oldest Sunday newspaper from falling into Tortoise Media's hands, Sky News can reveal.

Discussion: The Times, RTÉ, London Evening Standard, City A.M. and Associated Press

Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
Tortoise formally signs the deal to buy The Observer, appoints acting editor Lucy Rock as the title's print editor, and launches a voluntary redundancy scheme

Discussion: MediaPost, Financial Times, Byline Times, Axios, @tortoise, @carolecadwalla, @arusbridger, @mediaindustry_b, @carolecadwalla, The Guardian, The Independent, @tk.gg and @stagewrite.bsky.social

Erik Hayden / The Hollywood Reporter:

The California Production Coalition, a group of 33 businesses and organizations including the MPA, organizes to lobby for state incentives for film and TV shows — The group, comprised of 33 businesses and organizations, is looking to push the narrative that voters in the state also care …

Discussion: Variety, Kirsty Robson on LinkedIn, Jennifer O'Brien on LinkedIn, Los Angeles Times and UPI

BBC:

Analysis of Facebook data: audience engagement for Palestinian news outlets fell 77% since October 2023; the outlets say Meta severely restricted their reach — BBC Arabic, BBC World Service & BBC Monitoring — Facebook has severely restricted the ability of Palestinian news outlets …

Discussion: Nadia Afrin on LinkedIn, @EndIsraeliApartheid …, Anette Novak on LinkedIn, @alanjstedman.bsky.social, @mgb5000.bsky.social, @grahambs.bsky.social, @brianwernham.bsky.social, @killianm97.bsky.social, @emilybell.bsky.social and @thomholwerda@exquisite.social

Bloomberg:

Marc Benioff said there is “no deal on the table” to sell Time, which he has owned since 2018; a report in November said Antenna Group was in talks to buy it — “It's extremely important that we do have fair and balanced journalism, and that's why I'm very proud to be an owner of Time …

Discussion: CNBC, MediaPost, Fortune, @signalandnoise.bsky.social and The San Francisco Standard

Harry McCracken / Fast Company:

Flipboard launches Surf, an app to create custom feeds from Mastodon, Threads, Bluesky, RSS, podcasts, and YouTube, in beta on iOS, Android, and iPadOS — Surf weaves Mastodon, Threads, Bluesky, RSS feeds, podcasts, and YouTube into something that wouldn't have been possible until recently.

Discussion: Engadget, @claeshs.bsky.social, @mntyfrsh.mastodon …, TechCrunch, @surf.social, @davidimel.com, @jejord.bsky.social, @quillmatiq.com, The Verge, @harrymccracken.com, @mike@flipboard.social, @michellemanafy.bsky.social, @harrymccracken@mastodon …, @mattnavarra.com, @davidpierce.xyz and @thinkyparts.bsky.social, more at Techmeme »

Katcy Stephan / Variety:

Amazon says Red One, which opened at just $32M in the US last month, had a record-breaking 50M worldwide viewers in its opening weekend on Prime Video — It's a December to remember for Prime Video. Per the streamer, the Dwayne Johnson and Chris Evans Christmas flick “Red One” …

Discussion: @sleepykittypaw.bsky.social, @ryanhiggins.bsky.social, AV Club, StreamTV Insider, Benzinga, Rolling Stone, Forbes and New York Times

Mark Stenberg / Adweek:

The NYT's Wirecutter partners with Google to add buttons with phrases like “Shop nearby with Google” to 150 curated products from December 20 to December 26 — The partnership is the biggest to date for Wirecutter, which started advertising this spring

Discussion: Jessica Joseph on LinkedIn, Leilani Han on LinkedIn and @markstenberg3

Michael Schneider / Variety:

Channing Dungey, incoming WBD CEO of US networks, names Brett Paul as COO and Howard Lee as chief creative officer; Dungey is succeeding retiring Kathleen Finch — That includes expanding duties for her top lieutenant at Warner Bros. TV Group, Brett Paul, who will now also serve as chief operating officer for U.S. networks.

Discussion: The Wrap, TVNewsCheck, Reuters, The Information, The Hollywood Reporter and Deadline

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More News:

CBS News:
SCOTUS says it will hear a challenge from TikTok, ByteDance, and TikTok users on January 10 to the law that could lead to the US banning the app on January 19

Bron Maher / Press Gazette:
Media Concierge agrees to take over Scotsman and Yorkshire Post parent company National World, promising no editorial job cuts and investment in local news

Discussion: London Evening Standard, City A.M., The Independent and HoldtheFrontPage

Lucas Manfredi / The Wrap:
Roku partners with X Games to stream X Games Aspen, founded by ESPN but sold to MSP Sports in 2022, on the recently launched Roku Sports Channel in 2025

Discussion: Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter, TVNewsCheck, The Streamable, StreamTV Insider, The Desk, The Verge, Light Reading, Tv Technology, Variety, Radio & Television …, AV Club and WORLD SCREEN

Aisha Counts / Bloomberg:
eMarketer expects Instagram to hit $32B in US ad revenue in 2025, or 50% of Meta's ad sales; filings: Instagram was ~30% of Meta's global business in early 2022

Discussion: Adweek, Benzinga and Aisha Counts on LinkedIn, more at Techmeme »

Todd Spangler / Variety:
YouTube sues Ganjingworld, which runs the Gan Jing World video-sharing website, alleging that it has been “automatically vacuuming up YouTube user channels”

Arthur Macmillan / Columbia Journalism Review:
An in-depth look at The Telegraph's sale and British-born publisher Dovid Efune's attempts to buy it, as the newspaper becomes a test case in media valuations

Discussion: @cjr

Earlier Picks:

Dominic Ponsford / Press Gazette:
Media news outlet Press Gazette partners with Flip-Pay to roll out a registration wall to read its content, and says readers must give an email and job title

Discussion: @myflippay, @mediaevan and @bron_maher

Ben Sherry / Inc:
A profile of Tyler Denk, co-founder of newsletter platform Beehiiv, which raised a $33M Series B in April 2024 and generates $1.6M to $1.75M in monthly revenue

Discussion: Ben Sherry on LinkedIn and The Information

Sam Bradley / Digiday:
A look at Reddit's growth in sports fan communities; internal data: Reddit recorded a 35% YoY increase in engagement in 1,000+ sports-themed Subreddits in 2024

Discussion: Modern Retail

Jacqui Shine / Wall Street Journal:
As demand for ghostwriters grows, high-end writers see higher salaries and more complex deals; survey: one in three reported earning more than $100,000/year

Discussion: Carolyn Monaco on LinkedIn, @danielpaisner.bsky.social, Dan Gerstein on LinkedIn and Gotham Ghostwriters

Andrés Buenahora / Variety:
UCLA study: showrunners, creators, and lead actors across streaming TV in 2023 tended to be white and male, while shows with BIPOC leads outperformed others

Discussion: Vogue, @jrpotential.bsky.social, The Wrap, @juliapuehringer.bsky.social, Yahoo Entertainment and The Hollywood Reporter

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
Some US groups are building resources to defend against Trump lawsuits, and should gather lawyers, money, and people who know how to respond to performance art

Discussion: Digby's Hullabaloo, Raw Story, @atrupar.com, @sykescharlie, @robfardon, @spytalker, @joshtpm.bsky.social, @brendannyhan.bsky.social, @rwarnick.bsky.social, @joshtpm.bsky.social, @joshtpm.bsky.social, @joshtpm.bsky.social, @jayrosen.bsky.social, @emptywheel.bsky.social, @emptywheel.bsky.social, @emptywheel.bsky.social, @emptywheel.bsky.social and Columbia Journalism Review

From Techmeme:

Qianer Liu / The Information:
Sources: Intel and TSMC have reached a preliminary agreement to form a joint venture that will operate Intel's chipmaking facilities; TSMC will take a 20% stake

Kif Leswing / CNBC:
Tech stocks fall after President Trump announced new global tariffs: Amazon closed down 9%, Meta 9%, Nvidia 7.8%, Alphabet 3.9%, and Microsoft 2.4%

Will Oremus / Washington Post:
An increasingly vocal contingent of GOP leaders, some of whom attended Y Combinator's Little Tech Competition Summit, call for antitrust action against Big Tech

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