Top News:
New York Times:
Don Lemon was taken into custody on Thursday night on charges that he violated federal law during a protest at a church in Minnesota, says his lawyer — The former CNN anchor has said he was not demonstrating, but reporting as a journalist, during the interruption of a service inside a St. Paul church earlier this month.
Discussion:
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New York Times:
Sources: WaPo's layoffs may narrow its scope to topics of expertise and reader interest based on digital traffic, with politics and video becoming more central — The changes are expected to include significant layoffs in areas like sports and international coverage. — Fewer reporters are being sent to the Super Bowl.
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Max Tani / Semafor:
To avert layoffs, WaPo's White House correspondents, not considered at risk, write a letter to Jeff Bezos highlighting collaborations among the paper's sections — The Scoop — The Washington Post's White House reporters are making an effort to avert what are expected to be large cuts impacting …
Discussion:
@maxwelltani, CNN, CNN, Poynter, @aaronwiener, @_hudsonc, @karyncaplan, @timmurtaugh, @tomfitton, @eugene_scott, @danpfeiffer, @ralph_grabowski, @jarvis_best, @escarry, @mlcalderone, @mediaevan, @mikesisak, @chucktodd, @siobhan_ogrady, @brianstelter, The Independent, @chicoharlan, @ewong, @kemettler, @bsoloway, The Wrap, Grabien and Washington Post
Gene Maddaus / Variety:
Ahead of contract talks between SAG-AFTRA and studios beginning February 9, negotiators consider ideas such as an AI “tax” on studios that use synthetic actors — Call it the Tilly tax. — In the future, studios that use synthetic actors in place of humans might have to pay a royalty into a union fund.
Discussion:
@xpangler and Oh No They Didn't!
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Michael Savage / The Guardian:
A BBC internal review found a “noticeable” gender mismatch among older presenters, with older women required to look younger or develop “idiosyncratic personas” — Older men seen as ‘gaining wisdom’ but women must keep looking younger or be ‘idiosyncratic’, review hears
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New York Times:
Peter Chernin sells North Road to France's Mediawan; sources: the agreement, paid mostly in stock, values the independent film and TV studio at ~$900M — Peter Chernin, an industry veteran who founded North Road in 2022, said his deal with Mediawan met a need to get bigger in an era of consolidation.
Discussion:
The Wrap, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter and Deadline
Roushni Nair / Reuters:
Australia's Nine Entertainment plans to sell its broadcast radio business to the Laundy family for AU$56M and buy digital outdoor ad firm QMS Media for AU$850M — Australia's Nine Entertainment (NEC.AX) on Friday deepened its pivot toward digital media, agreeing to buy outdoor advertising group QMS Media …
Discussion:
Australian Financial Review, Australian Financial Review, ABC, The Guardian, Mumbrella, TV Blackbox, Mediaweek, 9News, Capital Brief, Reuters and TV Central
Nieman Lab:
The Guardian, FT, NYT, USA Today Co., and others are blocking or limiting the Internet Archive's crawlers to prevent AI crawlers from using IA as a backdoor — Outlets like The Guardian and The New York Times are scrutinizing digital archives as potential backdoors for AI crawlers.
Anna Tingley / Variety:
Reporters from mainstream news organizations including NYT, WaPo, AP, and Vanity Fair were shut out of the premiere screening of Melania in Washington, DC — “Are you getting in?” — “No, are you?” — On Thursday afternoon, in the lobby of the Trump Kennedy Center …
The Atlantic:
The Atlantic hires David Brooks as a staff writer and host of a new weekly video podcast, starting in February, after 22 years as an NYT opinion columnist — New home for his writing, and to launch a video podcast — The Atlantic is announcing that David Brooks, who for years …
Discussion:
Media Nation, Yale News, The Nation, @chadtopaz.bsky.social, @theatlanticpr, @kungat108.bsky.social, The Wrap and @yale.edu
Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
Indie film and anti-monopoly groups urge state attorneys general to block the Netflix-WBD deal and also object to any WBD acquisition by Paramount or Comcast — Documentary filmmakers, independent movie theaters and nonprofit groups are urging state attorneys general to block Netflix Inc.'s acquisition …
Discussion:
@lucas_shaw, American Economic Liberties Project, PYMNTS.com, The Wrap and Media Play News
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Darren Aronofsky's Primordial Soup debuts its short-form Revolutionary War series, made via Google DeepMind with human voices and distributed by Time Studios — Filmmaker Darren Aronofsky used AI to travel back in time 250 years ago to the American Revolution.
Discussion:
eWeek, Dexerto, @ghostesq.bsky.social, @allpogsgo2heavn, @cinemad__, @jonlie95, @trailerjones.bsky.social, @drl.bsky.social, TVBEurope, @bassfromthepast, @seanferrick.bsky.social, @bikeman, NME, @tsos_, @ja_y007, @verchan.bsky.social, @priscillapage.bsky.social, Gizmodo, @ohhhaeee.bsky.social, Kotaku, @galegalligan.bsky.social, @whetmoser.com, @kentremendous.bsky.social, The A.V. Club, @craigcalcaterra.bsky.social, @culturecrave.co, Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter, more at Techmeme »
