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Senate votes 50-48 to repeal Obama-era regulations requiring that ISPs ask before sharing customer data — The Senate voted Thursday to make it easier for internet service providers to share sensitive information about their customers, a first step in overturning landmark privacy rules …
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Filing: Oaktree sells Tronc holdings back to company in $56M deal, days after Patrick Soon-Shiong increased holdings to become second-largest shareholder — Oaktree Capital Management, the third-largest shareholder in Los Angeles Times' parent tronc Inc., is selling its holdings back to tronc …
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Reuters and MarketWatch
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Sources: a bitter feud has emerged between Patrick Soon-Shiong and Michael Ferro as they compete for larger stakes in Tronc — Ousted director Patrick Soon-Shiong adds to stake in Los Angeles Times publisher, setting up for showdown with its biggest shareholder and chairman Michael Ferro
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Adweek, @robertfeder, @peternickeas, @joewalkerwsj, @matthewherper, @scotthensley, @joepompeo, @lesliepicker, @asharma and @srabil


Filing: SoundCloud raises $70M in debt funding to build a “financially sustainable platform”, following a $100M raise in June 2016 — Music streaming service SoundCloud has raised $70 million (£56 million) in debt funding, according to documents filed with Companies House in the UK.
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TechCrunch, Recode, Forbes, Variety, RAIN News, hypebot and Tech.eu, more at Techmeme »

Philadelphia Media Network guild members vote down contract that would have ended seniority protections in the event of a layoff — Journalists and other union members at the Inquirer, Daily News, and Philly.com have decisively rejected a contract offer that would have provided solid …
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@poynter, @thegoalkeeper and @davisshaver


Twitter confirms it is considering paid TweetDeck subscription service with new features including analytics and breaking news alerts for brands and news orgs — New analytics inside TweetDeck — Twitter is considering offering a paid subscription to power users, including brands and news organizations, The Verge has confirmed.
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TechCrunch, VentureBeat, 9to5Mac, Mashable, Softpedia News, Digital Trends, @martinsfp, Marketing Land, @backlon, @chillmage, @profjeffjarviss, @kennethn and @drpizza, more at Techmeme »


Disney extends Bob Iger's contract as CEO until July 2019 amid concerns that there is no immediate successor within the company's executive ranks — The exec has now re-upped his contract until July 2, 2019 amid concerns among industry observers that there is no heir apparent within the company's executive ranks.
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New York Times, Fast Company, @thrmattbelloni, TVWeek.com, Investor's Business Daily, Seeking Alpha, Financial Times and Bloomberg


Judge approves class action settlement that will see The Hollywood Reporter pay out $900K for misclassifying freelancers — Over three years after The Hollywood Reporter was accused of playing fast and loose with how it classified contributors to get out of paying benefits and more …
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Talking Biz News


Miroslava Breach Velducea, 54, shot and killed leaving her home in Chihuahua, becoming the third Mexican journalist killed this month — Journalist Miroslava Breach Velducea, 54, was killed on the morning of March 23 after receiving at least four shots to the head.
Discussion:
@longdrivesouth and @borderreporter


Chartbeat and CrowdTangle expand Offsite Social globally, offering publishers more data on social engagement and distribution — Chartbeat and CrowdTangle today announced a major expansion of a tool for measuring how stories are performing on social platforms.
Discussion:
Poynter, Marketwire, Chartbeat Blog and Digiday


Sources: American Media Inc. cuts about 40 jobs at Us Weekly, including Editor in Chief Michael Steele and Editorial Director Jaimee Zanzinger — Among those cut were editor in chief Michael Steele and editorial director Jaimee Zanzinger, both of whom had to lead the meetings about the job cuts.


Conservative news outlets like Breitbart are singling out federal staffers for criticism, questioning their loyalty to Trump — A spate of stories in Breitbart and other outlets have singled out individual career employees, questioning their loyalty to Trump.
Discussion:
@ericgeller, @tcwittes, @brucebartlett and @blakehounshell