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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 …
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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
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
Discussion:
New York Post, HotAir, Vox, The Atlantic, KVIA-TV, New Republic, @jeffjarvis, The Wrap, Truthout, @mediaevan.bsky.social, Newsbusters, The Independent, @katiephang.bsky.social, @filipecampante.bsky.social, @justinbaragona.bsky.social, @emptywheel.bsky.social, @jeffjarvis.bsky.social, @cold-feet.bsky.social, @annmlipton.bsky.social, Politico, Newser and Columbia Journalism Review

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

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.
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Talking Biz News, @jeffjohnroberts, @bft.wtf, @bft.wtf, @leomschwartz and @leomschwartz

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 …

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, UPI, Jennifer O'Brien on LinkedIn and Los Angeles Times

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

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 …

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

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

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.
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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 »

In a federal suit, two filmmakers and a photographers group challenge the constitutionality of fees and permits required for commercial work in national parks — Alexander Rienzie and Connor Burkesmith accuse the National Park Service of censoring speech by making filmmakers pay to shoot …

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.
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The Wrap, Reuters, TVNewsCheck, The Information, The Hollywood Reporter and Deadline