Top News:
David Folkenflik / NPR:
A look at Will Lewis's difficult first year as The Washington Post's CEO and publisher, after 400+ journalists signed a letter asking Jeff Bezos to intervene — One debacle after another has engulfed The Washington Post since veteran newspaper executive Will Lewis became CEO and publisher …
Discussion:
Status, The Guardian, @joshuafoust.com, @oliverdarcy.bsky.social, @davidfolkenflik, @ebadofsky.bsky.social, @exlibjourno, Lawyers, Guns & Money, @nick_field90, @fiona-webster22.bsky.social, @emmaroller.bsky.social, @amalyuchik, @wajali.bsky.social, @danmitchell.bsky.social, @glennf.com, @bgrueskin.bsky.social, @ashleyrparker, HotAir, Business Insider, New Republic, MediaPost and Daily Kos
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David Folkenflik / @davidfolkenflik:
[Thread] 400+ WaPo journalists, including some star reporters, call on Jeff Bezos to intervene, saying they are “deeply alarmed by recent leadership decisions”
Discussion:
@benmullin, Digiday, Axios, @davidfolkenflik, @davidfolkenflik, @sidhubaba, @henryporters, @dilanesper, @curtishouck, @adudeandhisart, @maxasteele, @tonymoonbeam, @natzbandwagon, @notalwayswrite, @kimleannelliot, @scarylawyerguy, @dcg1114, @jofchalcedon, @sunnyright, @mediaevan, @edmundlee, @yeathatterrence, @tom_watson, @adelbrown, @hoosier114, @johnbiggs, @davidfolkenflik, @jlbarrow@threads.net, @cnn@threads.net, Fox News, New York Post, The Independent, CNN, The Wrap, @jeffjarvis.bsky.social, @danmitchell.bsky.social, @jason0x21.bsky.social and Eschaton
Todd Spangler / Variety:
YouTube, Google, Meta, and Snap join media companies and studios contributing to LA fire recovery efforts, with funding, products and services — YouTube, Google, Meta and Snap are pitching in to help L.A. recover from the wildfires that have caused devastation across the region and forced thousands to evacuate in the past week.
Discussion:
YouTube Official Blog, Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline, @jeffbezos, Matt McLernon on LinkedIn, Kathy Baker on LinkedIn, BetaNews, @teddyschleifer, @sundarpichai@threads.net, @youtube@threads.net, David Krinsky on LinkedIn, The Hollywood Reporter, Karan Bhatia on LinkedIn, @netopia.bsky.social, Digital Music News, CNBC, TechCrunch, Social Media Today, The Wrap, MediaPost, Billboard, Forbes, Just Jared and Media Play News
TechCrunch:
In a deposition for the Kadrey v. Meta copyright case, Mark Zuckerberg seemingly cited YouTube to justify Meta's use of copyrighted data for AI training — Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg appears to have used YouTube and its battle to take down pirated content to defend his own company's use …
Discussion:
Rolling Stone, more at Techmeme »
Romain Dillet / Tech Crunch:
Mistral announces a content deal with the Agence France-Presse to improve answer accuracy in Le Chat, marking the French AI startup's first such partnership — Just a day after Google inked a deal with The Associated Press, Mistral is also announcing a content deal with the Agence France-Presse …
Discussion:
Mistral AI, Agence France-Presse, Benzinga and Financial Times, more at Techmeme »
Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
Sources: Blackstone hires advisers to explore the sale of song rights, including from Bob Dylan, Adele, and Ariana Grande, that it expects to fetch $3B or more — - Music valuations have soared since Blackstone acquired SESAC — Apollo, Warburg, Pincus are among firms that looked at assets
Discussion:
@lucas_shaw
Urvi Dugar / Reuters:
UMG says Bill Ackman-led Pershing Square exercised its right to request a US offering and secondary listing of the record label; UMG has been based in Amsterdam — Universal Music Group (UMG.AS) said on Wednesday that billionaire Bill Ackman-led Pershing Square (PSH.AS) …
Discussion:
Billboard, @billackman, Universal Music Group N.V., Digital Music News, Bloomberg and Music Business Worldwide
Todd Spangler / Variety:
NBCUniversal's head of content distribution, Matt Bond, is stepping down after 20+ years at NBCU and Comcast, as NBCU prepares to spin off some cable networks — Exec will serve in an advisory role to NBCU for ‘the next few years’ … “In the spirit of leaving on a high note …
Discussion:
Deadline, Media Play News, The Wrap and The Hollywood Reporter
Bloomberg:
Vietnam slashes at least 16 state media outlets as part of a cost-cutting drive that will eventually leave just one national station on air — - State media outlets are slashed in cost-cutting drive — Communist Party plans to reduce size of government by 20%
Discussion:
RTÉ
Brian Steinberg / Variety:
Fox Sports plans to stream its February 9 telecast of the Super Bowl on Tubi, its ad-supported streaming hub, for free — Fox is taking the Super Bowl to a new frontier — or, at least to one that is new for Fox. — Fox Sports will stream its February 9 telecast of Super Bowl LIX …
Discussion:
Sports Media Watch, Engadget, TVLine, BetaNews, FOX 7 Austin, Pocket-lint, Streaming Better, Adweek, Light Reading, Deadline, BGR, The Streamable, Cord Cutters News, Fox News, The Verge, CNET, TVNewsCheck, Awful Announcing, The Desk, The Hollywood Reporter, Media Play News and Rolling Stone
Ted Johnson / Deadline:
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre held her final press briefing, her 306th time at the briefing room lectern; Karoline Leavitt will succeed her — Marking her 306th time at the briefing room lectern, Jean-Pierre took a moment from the day's big news, the ceasefire deal reached between Israel …
Discussion:
TheGrio, Newsbusters, Daily Caller News Foundation, RedState, Washington Times, Advocate, The Hill, Washington Examiner and Twitchy
Jaffer Zaidi / The Keyword:
Google says it has partnered with the AP to deliver a feed of real-time information to enhance the usefulness of results displayed in the Gemini app — The AP will now deliver a feed of real-time information to help enhance the usefulness of results displayed in the Gemini app.
Discussion:
Google Workspace Blog, TechRadar, Ridhima Khurana on LinkedIn, Paul Dearlove on LinkedIn, Colleen Kapase on LinkedIn, Tosin Ajayi on LinkedIn, Frédéric Arnoux on LinkedIn, Abdul Rahman Al Thehaiban on LinkedIn, Digital Trends, Associated Press, Engadget, 9to5Google, @bradw.illiams.com, Benzinga, TechCrunch, @glenngabe@mas.to and Digiday, more at Techmeme »
Colin Kellaher / MarketWatch:
Ad-tech company Criteo names former Dentsu Americas CEO Michael Komasinski as its next CEO and a board member; he'll join the Paris-based company on February 15 — Criteo has hired Dentsu executive Michael Komasinski as the commerce media company's next chief executive.
Discussion:
Adweek, Criteo S.A., Adweek, Digiday and Retail Times
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