Memo: Business Insider founder Henry Blodget says he is leaving BI's board, will remain an adviser and contribute occasional columns, and plans to write a novel (Chris Roush/Talking Biz News)
Mediagazer: Memo: Business Insider founder Henry Blodget says he is leaving BI's board, will remain an adviser and contribute occasional columns, and plans to write a novel (Chris Roush/Talking Biz News)
Top News:
Talking Biz News:
Memo: Business Insider founder Henry Blodget says he is leaving BI's board, will remain an adviser and contribute occasional columns, and plans to write a novel— Business Insider founder Henry Blodget sent out the following on Friday: — Team, — Seventeen years ago …
Discussion: @samro, @jfberke, @walthickey and @benmullin
Discussion:
Sam Ro /
@samro: #JOLTS Epic run. @hblodget paved the way for a lot of careers. BI diaspora everywhere
Jeremy Berke /
@jfberke: End of an era. Congrats on a great run @hblodget.
Walter Hickey /
@walthickey: Henry Blodget has the single most impressive coaching tree in business media right now. Great guy, good for him, on to the next one.
The Wrap:
News Corp reports Q1 revenue up 3% YoY to $2.58B, net income up 148% YoY to $144M, Dow Jones revenue up 3% YoY to $552M, and WSJ subscriptions up 7% YoY to 4.3M— The Murdoch-led media company reported 5.9 million Dow Jones subscribers, up 11% — News Corp., the home to The Wall Street Journal …
Discussion:
The Times, News Corporation and Reuters
RELATED:
Wall Street Journal:
News Corp names Lavanya Chandrashekar as its next CFO, succeeding Susan Panuccio, starting January 1 with an annual $1.4M base salary— Chandrashekar most recently served as CFO at Diageo — News Corp named Lavanya Chandrashekar as its next chief financial officer, succeeding Susan Panuccio …
Discussion:
News Corporation
New York Times:
Memo: WaPo CEO Will Lewis tells staff they'll be expected to work from the office five days a week, instead of three, by June 2, and by February 3 for managers— All employees at The Post will be expected to return to the office by June 2. Managers must be back in the office full time by Feb. 3.
Discussion:
TVNewsCheck, @benmullin, @patriciaeguino, @benmullin, Washingtonian, @film_girl@threads.net, @talia.barrington@threads.net, @ellaeliz@threads.net, @mkarolian@threads.net, New York Post, Benjamin Mullin on LinkedIn, @scotian.bsky.social, @juwanthecurator.bsky.social and MediaPost
Discussion:
Ben Mullin /
@benmullin: NEWS: Washington Post Guild responds to new 5-day-a-week edict from Will Lewis: “Guild leadership sees this for what it is: a change that stands to further disrupt our work rather than to improve our productivity or collaboration.” [image]
Patricia Eguino /
@patriciaeguino: The only explanation for this is that Bezos and Washington Post's upper management want journalists to quit.
Ben Mullin /
@benmullin: Full memo: [image]
Christina Warren /
@film_girl@threads.net: Glad to see WaPo, like all Amazon companies, does layoffs disguised as RTO mandates.
Talia Barrington /
@talia.barrington@threads.net: Seems like a really good way to avoid having to pay out severance laying people off to me...
Ella Holst /
@ellaeliz@threads.net: I think “tone deaf” kind of under sells it. My god...it's like a carefully constructed path to brand destruction.
Matthew Karolian /
@mkarolian@threads.net: Announcing this on the heels of a management decision that nuked 250,000 subscribers might be the most absolutely tone deaf move I've ever witnessed. https://www.washingtonian.com/ ...
Victor Nava /
New York Post: Washington Post orders employees to return to the office five days a week
Benjamin Mullin /
Benjamin Mullin on LinkedIn: My phone is blowing up from staffers at The Washington Post weighing in on this. What do you think of this move, announced two days after the election? @scotian.bsky.social: everyone knows the best reporting can only be done from your desk in the office [embedded post] @juwanthecurator.bsky.social: Hoping to get as many resignations as possible so the “democracy dies in darkness” era is fully dead and gone in time for the new administration [embedded post]
TechCrunch:
TikTok launches Share to TikTok, which lets users directly share music from Apple Music and Spotify in a post to their TikTok Feed or in DMs via TikTok Messages— TikTok on Thursday debuted a new feature that will more closely connect its app, which already influences which songs top the charts …
Discussion:
Colin Kirkland /
MediaPost: ‘Share To TikTok’ Opens Up Music Sharing With Apple, Spotify Spotify: Spotify Rolls Out New TikTok and Instagram Integrations That Make Sharing and Saving Easier Than Ever
Jan-Paul Jeffrey /
Jan-Paul Jeffrey on LinkedIn: Big news from Spotify! Sharing and saving your favorite music, podcasts, and audiobooks just got easier with new TikTok and Instagram integrations. …
Dylan Smith /
Digital Music News: Spotify and Apple Music Roll Out ‘Share to TikTok’ Feature, Enabling Users to Link Directly to Songs, Audiobooks, and More
Elias Leight /
Billboard: Sharing Music on TikTok Keeps Getting Easier
Daniel Tencer /
Music Business Worldwide: TikTok deepens integration with Spotify and Apple Music via new feature that lets streamers ‘Share to TikTok’
Nieman Lab:
A look at Votebeat's use of a Slack channel to answer questions for journalists on the election, connecting reporters with experts through at least December 8— “The problem with voting stories is that the people who make themselves most available don't know what the hell they're talking about.”
Discussion:
Civic News Company on LinkedIn and @jessicahuseman
Discussion:
Civic News Company on LinkedIn: Great piece in Harvard's NiemanLab on Votebeat's “expert desk” for journalists covering today's election: https://lnkd.in/ekQrfPXH
Deadline:
The UK government launches a forum that includes the BBC, Sky, and Ofcom to examine ways of preserving linear TV for older and underprivileged audiences— The UK government plans to examine ways of sustainably preserving linear television for older and underprivileged audiences amid the streaming revolution.
Discussion:
The Hollywood Reporter, @francarnell.bsky.social and GOV.UK
Discussion:
Lily Ford /
The Hollywood Reporter: U.K. Government Forum to Scrutinize Future of TV Broadcasting Amid Streaming Concerns
Fran Carnell /
@francarnell.bsky.social: Firstly, they need to look at the content of BBC and Sky (all under tory media control) and dismiss the BBC tory appointed board. We needs some kind of unbiased media in this country and the BBC is the only one they can have any control over. Then we need Leveson 2 and Ofcom to be given some teeth!
Reuters:
A US federal judge dismisses Raw Story and AlterNet's copyright lawsuit against OpenAI over LLM training, for now, saying the outlets couldn't show enough harm— A New York federal judge on Thursday dismissed a lawsuit against artificial intelligence giant OpenAI that claimed it misused articles …
Discussion:
The Wrap, Gizmodo, The Hill, The Decoder, Windows Central, @rustybrick, Music Ally, CCN.com, @carnage4life@threads.net and @reuterslegal, more at Techmeme »
Discussion:
Julia Shapero /
The Hill: Judge dismisses news outlets' lawsuit against OpenAI
Matthias Bastian /
The Decoder: OpenAI scores key legal victory as judge throws out copyright case brought by news websites
Kevin Okemwa /
Windows Central: OpenAI beats copyright infringement lawsuit after complainants failed to allege cognizable injury: “Let us be clear about what is really at stake here.
Barry Schwartz /
@rustybrick: Early OpenAI copyright lawsuit win
Stuart Dredge /
Music Ally: OpenAI prevails (for now) in lawsuit over ChatGPT training
James Morales /
CCN.com: OpenAI Wins Court Battle Over Data Scraping: Copyright Claims by News Outlets Rejected
Dare Obasanjo /
@carnage4life@threads.net: OpenAI just beat a lawsuit from news outlets Raw Story and AlterNet who claimed damages from their news articles being used to train ChatGPT because the judge said said that the outlets could not show enough harm to support the lawsuit. It's going to be easier said than done to win lawsuits related to AI training on web content. @reuterslegal: OpenAI defeats news outlets' copyright lawsuit over AI training, for now @blakebrittain https://www.reuters.com/... [image]
New York Times:
US prosecutors claim a second Iranian-directed plot existed to assassinate US-based activist and journalist Masih Alinejad, along with a plot to kill Trump— The allegation came in a complaint that said Masih Alinejad, a Brooklyn activist, had been the target of a second assassination attempt.
Discussion:
New York Post, NBC News, UPI, The Times of Israel, Daily Mail, Forbes, @timobrien, @leorsapir, @alinejadmasih, Semafor, The Hill, CBS News, The Gateway Pundit, NBC Bay Area, Metro.co.uk, WJXX-TV, ABC7, freebeacon.com, Fox News and The Sun
Discussion:
Matt Troutman /
New York Post: Prominent NYC journalist, Iran critic reveals she was target of would-be assassins linked to Trump murder plot
Don Jacobson /
UPI: DOJ charges Iranian man in alleged plot to assassinate Trump, others on U.S. soil The Times of Israel: US Justice Department charges Iranian over alleged IRGC plot to assassinate Trump
Nic White /
Daily Mail: Journalist Masih Alinejad was second target of Iranian assassination plot to kill Donald Trump
Ty Roush /
Forbes: US Files Charges Over Iranian Plot To Assassinate Donald Trump Before Election Day
Tim O'Brien /
@timobrien: Federal prosecutors in Manhattan said that Iranian plotters had discussed a plan to assassinate Trump before he was re-elected as president this week. One of the plotters said that he was assigned in September to carry out the plan. https://www.nytimes.com/...
Leor Sapir /
@leorsapir: “'The charges announced today expose Iran's continued brazen attempts to target U.S. citizens, including... Donald Trump, other government leaders and dissidents who criticize the regime in Tehran,'” said Christopher Wray, director of the F.B.I." https://www.nytimes.com/...
Masih Alinejad /
@alinejadmasih: I am shocked. I just learned from the @FBI that two men were arrested yesterday in a new plot to kill me at Fairfield University, where I was scheduled to give a talk. I also learned that the person assigned to assassinate @realDonaldTrump was also assigned to kill me on U.S. [video]
Zach Schonfeld /
The Hill: Justice Department unseals alleged Iranian plot to kill Trump
Robert Legare /
CBS News: Iranian operative charged in pre-election scheme to assassinate Trump, other U.S. targets
Cullen Linebarger /
The Gateway Pundit: NOW THEY TELL US: Biden Department of ‘Justice’ Allegedly Uncovers Iranian-Linked Plot to Kill President Trump Before the Election - Two Arrested, One Remains at Large
Gergana Krasteva /
Metro.co.uk: Man on the run after FBI thwarts Iranian plot to assassinate Donald Trump
Matthew Xiao /
freebeacon.com: US Charges Iranian Asset in Regime's Assassination Plot Against Trump
Deadline:
Paramount Q3: revenue down 6% YoY to $6.73B, operating income down 43% to $337M, DTC revenue up 10% to $1.86B, DTC adjusted OIBDA of $49M, 72M Paramount+ subs— Paramount Global posted mixed third quarter financial numbers as its TV and film divisions dipped, but bosses are pointing …
Discussion:
Daniel Frankel /
StreamTV Insider: Paramount DTC revenue spikes 10% in Q3, adds 3.5M subs
Janet Stilson /
TVNewsCheck: Political And DTC Lead The Way For Paramount
Victoria McNally /
AdExchanger: Paramount's CTV Wing Achieves Its Second Quarter Of Profitability In A Row
Mark Stenberg /
Adweek: Paramount Sees Streaming Success, TV Declines in Third Quarter
Erik Gruenwedel /
Media Play News: Paramount+ Added 3.5 Million Q3 Subscribers to Reach 72 Million Worldwide
David Satin /
The Streamable: Paramount+ Adds 3.5 Million Streaming Subscribers in Q3 2024 to Hit 72 Million
Lucas Shaw /
@lucas_shaw: The good news for legacy media companies: Their streaming services are growing and now profitable. The bad news: They are still shrinking because streaming isn't offsetting the rapid decline of cable. https://www.bloomberg.com/...
@semaforben:
In a note to staff, Roula Khalaf says US editor Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson is leaving the FT for Semafor and will be replaced by Derek Brower from December 1— A huge hire for @semafor Business, and more news to come on this front.
Discussion:
Talking Biz News
Discussion:
The Wrap:
AMC Networks report Q3 revenue down 5.9% YoY to $599.6M, operating income down 22% YoY to $93.7M, 11.8M streaming subscribers, $316M in subscription revenue— Subscribers to AMC+ grew 5% in the third quarter of 2024 and now total 11.8 million — AMC Networks posted disappointing earnings results during …
Discussion:
The Streamable, Deadline, Variety, AMC Networks Inc., Media Play News, The Hollywood Reporter and Benzinga
Discussion:
David Satin /
The Streamable: AMC Networks See Continued Revenue Declines, But Streamers Add Customers
Dade Hayes /
Deadline: AMC Networks Reports Downturn In Many Financial Areas, But Stock Perks Up On Q3 Beat
Jennifer Maas /
Variety: AMC Networks U.S. Ad Sales Fall 10% in Q3 as Streaming Subscribers Tick Up by 200,000 to Reach 11.8 Million
Erik Gruenwedel /
Media Play News: AMC Networks Adds 700,000 Quarterly Streaming Subs to Tally 11.3 Million
Georg Szalai /
The Hollywood Reporter: AMC Networks U.S. Ad Revenue Drops 10 Percent, Streaming Subs Rise to 11.8M
User Mag:
How conservatives nurtured and funded a vast network of online influencers and creators, and how structural disadvantages prevent the left from replicating it— Minutes after Donald Trump was declared the winner of the 2024 election, Dana White took the stage to thank the influencers who helped lead Trump to victory.
Discussion:
Adweek, Semafor, @briantylercohen, @tonywinton@threads.net, @ncblake, @cheyennehuntca, @benghazi_ebooks, @claireeshaffer, @chronotope, @claireeshaffer, @iamnickreynolds, @ethangach, @realvanjackson, @sowmyak, @karavoght, @joeholder_, @rebexxxxa, @maxwelltani, @walthickey, @bernstein, The Independent, @renee.diresta@threads.net, Instapundit, Taylor Lorenz on LinkedIn, Aaron Huertas on LinkedIn, MediaPost, @drjoehanson@threads.net, @avecruth@threads.net, Fast Company, The Free Press, Le Monde.fr, The Hollywood Reporter, @michaelbishop.me, @dansinker@omfg.town, @taylorlorenz@mastodon.social, Ad Age, Wired and The Information
Discussion:
Colin Daniels /
Adweek: Video Uploads on LinkedIn Have Grown 34% Year-Over-Year as the Platform Makes a Big Play for Creators
Benjy Sarlin /
Semafor: A very simple prescription for Democrats: Just wait
Brian Tyler Cohen /
@briantylercohen: A note to Dem politicians and campaigns: You won't persuade voters with a one-off appearance on a popular podcast the week before the election (which is not a knock on Harris' campaign; she only had a couple months so they did all they could). The reason Republicans are winning
Tony Winton /
@tonywinton@threads.net: Not mentioned: hundreds of fact-based nonprofit news sites such as those part of INN. They are not influencer based. Thoughts, @taylorlorenz ?
Nick Blake /
@ncblake: The Young Turks Network was bankrolled by the former chairman of Disney. Again, it's editorial agenda prioritizes progressive infighting instead of building power. Their main “anchor” tried to launch (patently unconstitutional) 3rd party presidential run to sabotage Biden!
Nick Blake /
@ncblake: There are plenty of “leftist channels” that “receive widespread financial backing” from billionaires on ideological grounds. e.g. The Intercept, founded + funded by eBay's cofounder. The problem is that The Intercept's ideological project is to criticize Democrats.
Cheyenne Hunt /
@cheyennehuntca: And, take it from a leftist creator herself, we get WAY less support from our own team. Left leaning audiences just don't consume this content the way right wing audiences do. If we want a thriving and competitive information ecosystem, we have to support it. You have to like, @benghazi_ebooks: Plenty of “left-leaning” podcasters, streamers, influencers, content creators, etc. have taken tech money. Why isn't THAT the problem?
@benghazi_ebooks:
All of these people have been in tech company and VC offices, have had money laundered through Patreon, taken grants, loans, other investments, been given other jobs, signed to talent agencies all through and because of tech billionaires. That is a lie from Taylor
Claire Shaffer /
@claireeshaffer: this has always been the case for progressive causes and careers writ large but I really do fear how an online media ecosystem backed by right-wing billionaires is going to make it so much worse
Aram Zucker-Scharff /
@chronotope: It's not just that the right has ways to successfully fund its influencers. It's also that the right has successfully perpetrated a campaign to cut off funding at every possible level from leftist influencers and news.
Aram Zucker-Scharff /
@chronotope: Then the campaigning against minimum wage raises and support for M&A gobbling up small businesses means that even the ecosystem of potential local advertisers and small-donation patrons are at risk and failing out of the mix as funding options.
Aram Zucker-Scharff /
@chronotope: I'll add something: we *did* have a network of leftist media that was broad, well connected to the community, and very active: it was the alt-news and even the biggest like The Village Voice collapsed or was acquired by big corporations that erased their voice...
Claire Shaffer /
@claireeshaffer: support local radio stations, support left-leaning newsletter writers and video makers and podcasts, support places like @democracynow that are actually shining a light on Gaza and not turning away
Nick Reynolds /
@iamnickreynolds: Not to mention that a lot of the liberal influencers I saw in the lead-up to the election were still critical of Democrats and Harris days before the election. Even their own messengers weren't buying in — and probably why so many young people stayed home. Just one example: [image] @ethangach: In addition, it's clear the major platform algos, owned and operated by tech billionaires, aggressively push right-wing content.
Van Jackson /
@realvanjackson: Resourcing has hindered every left project in America that wasn't a Bernie presidential campaign (also state repression) https://inkstickmedia.com/...
Sowmya Krishnamurthy /
@sowmyak: This is bleak. This also explains why you're seeing this alt-right rise even in unrelated media like hip-hop. In the next four years, you'll be seeing all these bro podcasters and streamers vying for an invite to Mar-A-Lago. It started with Kanye but it doesn't end with him.
Kara Voght /
@karavoght: @rebexxxxa @TaylorLorenz I think that's a part of the answer, but the other is that a big swath of the left still believes in what the mainstream media ecosystem offers. It's a less fertile environment for influencers to dominate.
Joe Holder /
@joeholder_: @rebexxxxa @TaylorLorenz eh. It's valid but at same time misses the point...people don't want “leftist” media. They want center left media. Channels that will engage in good faith with ideas. we want honest skepticism. Not propaganda like makes up most of the right wing media ecosystem. And we don't
Rebecca Jennings /
@rebexxxxa: .@TaylorLorenz on the glaringly obvious reason why the left can't compete with the right-wing influencer ecosystem: https://www.usermag.co/...? [image]
Max Tani /
@maxwelltani: rogan's show is mostly about stand up comedy and working out/eating and yapping about random stuff, he has much more in common with what used to be drive time talk radio than pod save america.
Walter Hickey /
@walthickey: also, this is just conan.
Joe Bernstein /
@bernstein: One of the problems with the argument that liberals need to “build their own Joe Rogan/Theo Von” etc. is that while those podcasts all have politics, they were not constructed with politics in mind
Josh Marcus /
The Independent: After Trump wins the ‘influencer election’, why some Democrats want to create their own Joe Rogan
Renee DiResta /
@renee.diresta@threads.net: The right has invested, since 2016, in building participatory, activist, factional social media networks that are directly tied into its “small batch” propaganda media ecosystem (hyper partisan outlets, Substacks, Rumble) and its mainstream outlets (Fox, OANN, etc) + elites. …
Ed Driscoll /
Instapundit: LOL: CNN Says Trump Won Because The Left Doesn't Have a ‘Media Ecosystem.’ …
Taylor Lorenz /
Taylor Lorenz on LinkedIn: “We need a Joe Rogan for the Left” a lot of people have been saying since Tuesday. That will not happen. …
Aaron Huertas /
Aaron Huertas on LinkedIn: Taylor Lorenz has an important essay about what's holding Democrats and liberal funders back from creating their own media ecosystem. …
Colin Kirkland /
MediaPost: Trump Campaign Spent Less On Social Media, Channeled Influencers To Reach Young Males
Joe Hanson /
@drjoehanson@threads.net: Putting this out there: If anyone wants to create a media ecosystem dedicated to reason, science, and liberal enlightened thought, to build an infrastructure of media and ideas to counter the rotten alternate reality built by Prager, Daily Wire, TPUSA, and more... call me. I'm in.
Hannah Yoest /
@avecruth@threads.net: it's going to take someone like Melinda Gates or Mackenzie Scott taking an interest in funding it at their own expense https://www.usermag.co/...
River Page /
The Free Press: Trump's Podcast Offensive Worked
Taylor Lorenz /
The Hollywood Reporter: How Trump Won the First “Influencer Election”
Michael Bishop /
@michaelbishop.me: Admittedly I haven't read the piece, just seen screenshots of a few points, but let's not forget the other obvious point about this: people on the left aren't going just go out there and tell lies. — These “conservative” influencers and creators have no ethics. Not grounded in reality. …
Dan Sinker /
@dansinker@omfg.town: Taylor's analysis of how the right has built such a powerful, well-funded, multifaceted media ecosystem and how replicating that on the left is structurally impossible (or close to it) is very good. https://www.usermag.co/... [image]
Taylor Lorenz /
@taylorlorenz@mastodon.social: “This is not a cultural war that you can win just by doing fucking podcasts. You have to still have a solid defense mechanism at the top, that aligns with the interests of [the base]. If the Democratic party is running around being like, 'everything is fine actually, just vote for us …
Taylor Lorenz /
@taylorlorenz@mastodon.social: I wrote about why Democrats won't “build their own Joe Rogan” and the vast differences in how the right wing influencers ecosystem functions vs left wing creator world https://www.usermag.co/...
Gillian Follett /
Ad Age: 4 creator economy predictions and trends to watch in 2025
Makena Kelly /
Wired: The Future of Political Influencers
Kaya Yurieff /
The Information: How Trump Used Influencers to Win Over Voters
RELATED:
New York Times:
How Trump, a master of the media, embraced online celebrities and podcasts in the 2024 election cycle, evolving beyond tabloids, reality TV, X, and cable news
Discussion:
Newslaundry, Bloomberg, The Guardian, HuffPost, Arijit Bhaduri on LinkedIn and Vanity Fair
Discussion:
Kalpana Sharma /
Newslaundry: Trump's return: The threat to US press freedom runs parallel to India's media crisis
Ashley Carman /
Bloomberg: Podcasters Smoked Cigars, Interviewed Mobsters and Patched in From Mar-a-Lago on Election Night
Kelby Vera /
HuffPost: Elon Musk Explains What He Thinks Convinced Americans Trump Is Just A ‘Normal Person’
Arijit Bhaduri /