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| Scott Morrison |
Australian prime minister Scott Morrison has asked the country’s ambassador to the U.S. to look into the police treatment of two Australian journalists covering a Monday protest outside the White House. Tim Myers, a cameraman for Australia’s Channel 7 and reporter Amelia Brace were roughed up by police officers dispersing a crowd shortly before D.C.’s 7 p.m. curfew. Footage of the incident was aired live on WJLA, the city’s ABC affiliate. In a statement to the New York Times, Channel 7 spokesperson Craig McPherson called the police action toward Myers and Brace “nothing short of wanton thuggery.” Australian foreign minister Marise Payne said the country’s government will support Channel 7 if it lodges its concerns over the actions with U.S. authorities. The incident follows complaints from both Russian and German journalists claiming that police shot at them with rubber bullets while they were covering recent demonstrations.
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Adweek has been acquired by Shamrock Capital, a Los Angeles-based investment firm. The publication was previously owned by Beringer Capital, which purchased the title from Mediabistro Holdings in 2016. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed. Current Adweek CEO Jeffrey Litvack will continue to lead the company, and its editorial and business operations are not expected to change. The deal also encompasses Adweek’s event, community and education portfolio. Shamrock currently has $1.9 billion of assets in the media, entertainment and communications sectors. “We look forward to working with Adweek to continue to drive strong growth, both organically and through acquisitions,” said Shamrock Capital partner Laura Held. Adweek says it has six million unique monthly visitors, 4.3 million social media followers and a print magazine readership of more than 150,000.
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BizBash, a media company that serves the event industry, has named Ashton Pike editor-in-chief and Claire Hoffman executive editor. Pike joined BizBash as senior editor in December, when Connect Meetings, a subsidiary of UK-based tradeshow company Tarsus Group, acquired the brand. She was previously editor-in-chief of Modern Luxury Medicine + Doctors Atlanta. In her new position, Pike will oversee the editorial team responsible for all content on BizBash.com and in BizBash magazine. Hoffman has been with Bizbash since 2013, most recently serving as West Coast bureau chief. "Ashton and Claire have already done an excellent job expanding our reach and power in the world of live experiences," said Bisbash president Matt Johnson.
Versant Media Group, the NBCUniversal cable TV spin-off, today reported its first financial results as 2025 revenues dipped 5.3 percent to $6.7B and standalone EBITDA dropped 9.1 percent to $2.2B.
Trump Media & Technology Group is discussing a spin-off of the Truth Social platform following the expected closing of its $6B merger deal with TAE Technologies... Condé Nast sells off Them, the digital LGBTQ-focused platform it launched in 2017, to Equalpride, publisher of Out, The Advocate, Out Traveler, Health PLUS Wellness and Pride.com... CBS News has parted ways with longevity influencer Peter Attia, one of the 19 contributors that editor-in-chief Bari Weiss brought on as part of her plan to present a wider variety of voices on the platform. 
Symbolic.ai forms a partnership with News Corp to begin using the company’s AI-native publisher platform in the newsrooms of News Corp publications to augment research, writing and publishing... Mediaite launches a newsletter that promises to give readers a summary of—media newsletters... The Fund for American Studies launches the Journalism Excellence Fellowship, a program that will provide promising young journalists the opportunity to work alongside top writers, reporters, and media professionals.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, which has roots going back to 1786, is going out of business, the paper’s owners, Block Communications, announced on Jan. 7... GQ editor Will Welch is stepping down to take on a new Paris-based role with the musician Pharrell, who is also men’s creative director at Louis Vuitton... Semafor says it has raised $30 million on a $330 million valuation, following its first profitable year. 
The Walt Disney Company and OpenAI reach an agreement that will make a set of more than 200 animated, masked and creature characters from Disney, Marvel, Pixar and Star Wars available for use by Sora, OpenAI’s short-form generative AI video platform... CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss has moved Tony Dokoupil, a co-host at “CBS Mornings” since 2019, into the anchor’s chair for the “CBS Evening News,” following the departure of John Dickerson and Maurice DuBois... USA Today editor-in-chief Caren Bohan has left the paper.
