Top News:
Ruth Marcus / New Yorker:
Ruth Marcus explains why she quit WaPo, not wanting to tell readers “what Jeff Bezos thinks I should think”, and publishes her spiked column in The New Yorker — Owner Jeff Bezos wants to transform the Opinions section of the paper, where I worked for forty years.
Saleah Blancaflor / Adweek:
SiriusXM undergoes another round of layoffs after reportedly cutting about 100 jobs in January; source: cuts affect the product and technology group primarily — Layoffs primarily impact the product and technology group within the operations department, sources say.
Discussion:
Billboard, Cord Cutters News, WTKR-TV, The Desk, Radio Ink, Digital Music News, Inside Radio, The Ankler and Reuters
Michael Savage / The Guardian:
Sources: the BBC plans to ask the UK government to take on the full costs of the World Service to counter Russia's and China's “aggressive” disinformation drive — Ministers must cover full costs of championing western values abroad, senior BBC figures to argue
Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
Hamish McKenzie says Substack now has 5M paid subs, up from 4M four months ago and 3M a year ago, with 82% of its top 250 creators posting audio and video often — Substack co-founder Hamish McKenzie says that creators jumping ship from ‘mainstream media’ like Jim Acosta, Joy Reid and Mehdi Hasan are a big driver of the growth.
Discussion:
@erik_hayden, @valentinenews_, @jimacosta.bsky.social, The Hill and TVNewsCheck
Daniel Thomas / Financial Times:
Blackstone rebrands Hipgnosis to Recognition, less than a year after buying the $3B group that owns the rights to Red Hot Chili Peppers, Fleetwood Mac, and more — Investment group with rights to songs by Shakira will be ‘fundamentally different’ under unified structure
Discussion:
Digital Music News, Music Ally, Music Business Worldwide, Billboard and City A.M.
Jacob Gallagher / New York Times:
A profile of fashion magazine i-D, acquired by model Karlie Kloss in 2023; EIC Thom Bettridge aims to restore “the spirit of what it was but for right now” — The art and fashion worlds convened at Rick Owens's austere Left Bank house to celebrate the relaunch of Karlie Kloss's i-D Magazine.
Laura Wagner / Washington Post:
A profile of NPR reporter Anas Baba, who has spent 17 months in Gaza, one of the few journalists working full-time with a US news organization to remain in Gaza — The Palestinian journalist said it's his calling to stay in his native land and report on what happens.
Derrick Bryson Taylor / New York Times:
Netflix signs a deal with comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, who angered people with insults about minority groups at a Trump rally, in a bid to appeal to Trump voters — Hinchcliffe's set at Madison Square Garden in October drew sharp criticism after he described Puerto Rico as a “floating island of garbage.”
David Cohen / Adweek:
Yahoo Sports launches a sports collectibles hub featuring news, video analysis, and more; The Athletic debuted a similar vertical in August 2024 — Partners include cllct, Mantel, and Sports Card Investor — Yahoo Sports debuted a new hub dedicated to coverage of collectibles …
Discussion:
Sam Farber on LinkedIn, Barrett Media and Ryan Spoon on LinkedIn
Emanuel Maiberg / 404 Media:
Spotify appears to have removed Andrew Tate's “pimping hoes” class; internal communications show some Spotify employees complained about offering the course — Some Spotify employees are not happy that the audio streaming giant was, until this week, hosting and profiting from a course about …
Chris Heath / The Atlantic:
How profane blogger Aidan Kearney, aka Turtleboy, came to believe a woman was framed for murder, terrorizing those who disagree; he was arrested in October 2023 — On overpasses and by roadsides they gather, holding banners and placards. In the early days, only a few people showed up …
Discussion:
@theatlantic, @stossel.bsky.social, @karynregal.bsky.social and Longreads
Anna Nicolaou / Financial Times:
Spotify says it paid $10B+ in royalties in 2024, “the largest in music history”, making up 60%+ of its $17.13B+ 2024 revenue, with ~1,500 artists earning $1M+ — Company has long drawn ire from musicians who say streaming model does not remunerate them enough
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