Friday Edition

Cancer has gotten less deadly overall, but cases are on the rise among young people. (U.S. News & World Report)

A new American Cancer Society report:

• U.S. cancer diagnoses are projected surpass 2 million this year, an all-time high.

• From 1991 to 2021, cancer mortality dropped 33% (4.1 million fewer deaths).

• In the last 30 years, Americans under 50 were the only group to see an overall rise in cancer cases.

• During this time, cancer diagnoses among those over 65 dropped slightly from 61% to 58%, while the rate for those aged 50-64 stayed pretty much the same.

Zooming in on the rise in cancer in young people, which has baffled doctors: Between 2000 and 2019, the rate of U.S. cancer cases in people under 50 increased by nearly 13%, per federal data. A study in BMJ Oncology noted a significant global increase in cancer cases in people under 50, especially in North America, Australia, and Western Europe. Cancer incidence rates have risen for colorectal, uterine, kidney, stomach, and pancreatic cancers between 1999 and 2019. In 2019, one in five new colorectal cancer patients was under 55, a significant increase since 1995.

Dr. Andrea Cercek, co-director of a program at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, to The Wall Street Journal: “The patients are getting younger. It’s likely some environmental change, whether it’s something in our food, our medications or something we have not yet identified.”

Despite infusions of billionaire cash, some of the biggest news companies in the country are struggling, a sign of the industry’s struggle to make news a viable business. (Axios)

The Los Angeles Times’ billionaire owner Patrick Soon-Shiong has invested nearly $1 billion into the company, which includes a $500 million purchase price and an estimated $300 million in additional costs over five years. The L.A. Times is reportedly losing $50 million a year. Yesterday, the L.A. Times Guild called an emergency meeting in response to an incoming round of major layoffs.

The Washington Post, which is owned by Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos, is reportedly losing $100 million per year and bleeding subscribers. In the past four years, its audience has declined from 160 million monthly visitors to less than 60 million. The Post has eliminated 240 jobs through voluntary buyouts in recent months.

Local news continues to steadily decline. An average of 2.5 newspapers closed each week in 2023, up from two a week in the previous year, according to a recent study. The U.S. is on track to lose 3,000 newspapers in two decades, leaving under 6,000 by next year.

Cable news ratings on the whole are down, which has led some networks to start thinking hard about adapting to a new media environment. Last year, streaming overtook cable as the most-watched viewing platform. Also, news consumption habits have shifted.

$0.02

Mainstream news outlets are reeling in their quest for profitability. They’re missing the mark in myriad ways, as evidenced by record-low trust in media. The content is overwhelmingly slanted, the experience is awful for audiences (as of yesterday evening, there are a half-dozen headlines about Donald Trump on The New York Times’ homepage) and countless alternatives to the mainstream press have sprung up.

Argentine President Javier Milei’s fiery pro-free market speech before big wigs at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Wednesday has caused a stir. (Bloomberg)

On socialism: “Today I am here to tell you that the western world is in danger, and it's in danger because those who are supposed to defend the values of the west are co-opted by a vision of the world that inexorably leads to socialism, and thereby to poverty.”

On the lesson of Argentina: “The impoverishment produced by collectivism is no fantasy, nor it is fatalism, it's a reality that we in Argentina have known very well for at least 100 years. We have lived through it, and we are here to warn you about what can happen if the countries in the western world — that became rich through the model of freedom — stay on this road to serfdom.”

On capitalist ambition: “I would like to leave a message to all businesspeople here. … Do not be intimidated either by the political class or by parasites who live off the state. … Do not surrender to a political class that only wants to stay in power and retain its privileges. You are social benefactors, you are heroes. Let no one tell you that your ambition is immoral. If you make money, it is because you offer a better product at a better price.”

Bloomberg Opinion columnist Juan Pablo Spinetto on what made Milei’s speech unique: “Milei’s message stands out in a forum often devoted to politically correct topics like ‘Closing the gender gap in health’ and ‘AI: The great equalizer?.’ Even Donald Trump spent part of his last Davos speech touting that his government was creating ‘the most inclusive economy ever to exist’ and bragging about how they were lifting ‘Americans of every race, color, religion, and creed,’ goals that Milei would probably deem a form of socialism.”

A growing number of billionaires who were not known for supporting the right are now receiving praise from conservatives. (CNN)

JP Morgan CEO and Democratic Party donor Jamie Dimon on Donald Trump and his supporters: “I wish the Democrats would think a little more carefully when they talk about MAGA. …Just take a step back and be honest: [Trump] was kind of right about NATO. He was kind of right about immigration. He grew the economy quite well. Tax reform worked. … I don’t like how he said things about Mexico. But he wasn’t wrong about some of these critical issues and that’s why they’re voting for him.”

Hedge-fund billionaire Bill Ackman, who recently pledged $1 million to Minnesota Democrat Rep. Dean Phillips’ presidential campaign, has become one of the most prominent critics of diversity, equity and inclusion. Ackman campaigned to get Claudine Gay removed from her role as Harvard president over her plagiarism and handling of campus antisemitism.

Elon Musk might be synonymous with anti-woke trolling now, but it wasn’t long ago the Tesla CEO was a reliable Democratic Party supporter. Musk voted for Barack Obama twice, for Hillary Clinton in 2016 and for Joe Biden in 2020.

A lot of ink has been spilled about the rise of “woke capital” and big business becoming more liberal, but research suggests there’s more to the story. A 2022 study by Harvard and Cornell researchers found the share of top business executives who lean GOP has actually been growing.

Harvard Business School professor Elisabeth Kempf: “It seems to be that there hasn’t been an ideological shift necessarily in the executive suite, and their public statements may have more to do with how it could be perceived by their customers, by their employees, or by investors rather than their own political ideology.”

Here are two political developments with big implications for the weeks and months ahead.

President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris’ first joint campaign appearance of the year will be focused on abortion rights, a sign they’ll look to capitalize on what has been a vulnerability for Republicans since Roe was overturned. A Wall Street Journal-NORC poll released in November found support for abortion access is at a near record. (CNN)

Ahead of the New Hampshire primary next week, Donald Trump is polling at 47% in the state. Nikki Haley is in second with 34%, and Ron DeSantis sits in a distant third with 5%. (FiveThirtyEight)