Mediagazer: Relativity Says It Has Closed $400M Financing Deal With Maple Leaf Films (Anita Busch/Deadline)

9:50 PM ET, March 16, 2016

Top News:

Alex Hern / Guardian:

Major sites including New York Times and BBC hit by ‘ransomware’ malvertising — Adverts hijacked by malicious campaign that demands payment in bitcoin to unlock user computers — A number of major news websites have seen adverts hijacked by a malicious campaign that attempts to install …

John Plunkett / Guardian:

Forbes investigates after ‘contributor’ asks PR for £300 to write online profile — Freelance journalist asked for ‘someone to fund my time’ saying they were 'only paid a very small sum by Forbes which doesn't stretch far' — US business publisher Forbes has launched an investigation …

Discussion: @richleighpr, @penenberg, @josephfcox, @felixsalmon, @berkowitzbt, @charlesarthur, @mikejjennings, @coreypein, @antonioregalado, @alexhern, @djbentley and @tarahaelle

Hadas Gold / Politico:

Trump campaign blocks Politico reporter Ben Schreckinger from Tuesday night press conference — POLITICO reporter denied access to Trump event — POLITICO reporter Ben Schreckinger was denied entry to Donald Trump's press conference on Tuesday night, despite having previously been granted credentials by the campaign.

Patrick Caldwell / Mother Jones:
The number of publications shut out by Trump keeps growing, has now included National Review, the Des Moines Register, Univision, Mother Jones, more

Discussion: @gideonresnick and NBC News

Tina Nguyen / Vanity Fair:
Sources: Breitbart News Chairman Stephen Bannon must approve everything written about Trump at site

Discussion: The Daily Beast and Salon

Gregg Kilday / Hollywood Reporter:

Producers of Spotlight movie, Open Road Films, acknowledge fictionalized dialog after Boston College worker Jack Dunn asks for scene to be removed — ‘Spotlight’ Distributor Absolves Boston Man of Complicity in the Church Cover-Up — EMAIL ME — Open Road, which distributed the Oscar-winning movie …

Discussion: New York Times, Associated Press, Boston Herald, Guardian and NECN

Cynthia Littleton / Variety:

Les Moonves says CBS will sell, swap, or spin off its radio assets in the coming year — CBS Plans to Sell Radio Station Group — CBS plans to sell or spinoff its radio assets in the coming year, acknowledging that the business has become slow-growth and a drain on resources …

New York Times:

Analytics firm Jellybooks shares ebook data: most ebooks not read in full by a majority of readers, and just 5% of ebooks finish by more than 75% of readers — Moneyball for Book Publishers: A Detailed Look at How We Read — Andrew Rhomberg wants to be the Billy Beane of the book world.

Discussion: Melville House Books and bookforum.com

Wall Street Journal:

Sources: FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler poised to circulate draft order approving Charter-TWC deal as soon as this week, with clauses ensuring growth of online video — FCC Drafting Order to Approve Charter-Time Warner Cable Deal — Order, expected as soon as this week, will set conditions focusing on promoting online video competition

Discussion: The Hill, Digital Trends, Los Angeles Times, Free Press Blog, ZDNet, Light Reading, Consumerist, The Wrap, The Verge, Los Angeles Times, Reuters, Variety and Deadline

Nathalie Tadena / Wall Street Journal:

Retailer Lord & Taylor settles with FTC for not making clear disclosures that it paid for Nylon magazine article and social influencer Instagram posts — Lord & Taylor Reaches Settlement with FTC Over Native Ad Disclosures — FTC said retailer didn't make clear that it paid for magazine article, social influencer posts

Discussion: Federal Trade Commission, Adweek, CNBC, Reuters, CBS News, ABC News, USA Today, Marketing Land, Ad Age, Associated Press, Fortune and Refinery29

Mike Shields / Wall Street Journal:

CNN investing $20M, hiring 200+ and cutting 50+ in shift to better compete with new media firms like BuzzFeed, adds team for custom Snapchat, Facebook content — CNN to Pump $20 Million Into Digital Expansion — Turner network plans to hire over 200 people, invest in mobile and video products

Discussion: TVNewser, @digitalshields, Washington Post, @elanazak, The Wrap, FishbowlNY, @mlcalderone, @jasonabbruzzese and New York Times

Jacob Silverman / The Baffler:

How a writer went from earning $150 per piece for the Atlantic to $2K for one story for its paid content wing, and discovered there is money in journalism — The Rest Is Advertising — Recently, I landed the tech-journalism equivalent of a Thomas Pynchon interview: I got someone from Twitter to answer my call.

Discussion: @kgreen, @herandrews, @bellamackie, @mathewi, @annabrones, @chaykak, @kmonson, @mythilirao, @heydonnelly, @michaelroston, @dangb88, @davebry9, @stevesilberman, @ravisomaiya and The Awl

Washington Post:

Chinese website publishes, then pulls, explosive letter calling for President Xi's resignation — Two weeks after China's President toured state media offices and called for absolute loyalty from the press, a website with links to the government published an explosive letter asking him to resign …

Discussion: @williamsjon, @annafifield, Guardian, BBC and Wall Street Journal

Geoffrey Mohan / Los Angeles Times:

Tribune Publishing's bid for O.C. Register faces antitrust hurdles, DOJ says — Newspaper boxes outside the Orange County Register in Santa Ana. A $45.5-million bid from Digital First Media for the assets of parent Freedom Communications will be the “stalking horse” bid in an auction Wednesday.