Top News:
Gwilym Mumford / The Guardian:
The 2018 Oscars experienced a 16% decline YoY in ratings, with 26.5M US viewers watching the four-hour broadcast; Trump mocked the figures on Twitter — Broadcast for 2018 Academy Awards attracted 26.5m viewers, a 16% drop on last year's ceremony … US president Donald Trump has mocked …
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@realdonaldtrump, Variety, New York Times, NPR, Fast Company, Washington Post, Splinter, The Daily Caller, Forbes, Decider, The A.V. Club, The Wrap, Fox News Insider, Mediaite, Fortune, Fox News, Mother Jones, Breitbart and Variety
Andrew Beaujon / Washingtonian:
Axios founders Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen chastised “the media” for coverage of former Trump staffer Sam Nunberg while Axios fed the same flames — “Awful scandal porn” shouted an Axios headline Tuesday. The unit of content, by Axios principles Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen …
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Washington Post, CNNMoney, New York Magazine, @hadas_gold, Mediaite, Fox News, @digiphile, @erikwemple, Vanity Fair, Poynter, @kfile, @brianstelter, Mediaite, Splinter, Brian Stelter, Newser and Mother Jones
Peter Kafka / Recode:
Technology news aggregator Techmeme, sister site of Mediagazer, is launching a daily podcast called the Techmeme Ride Home — Because everyone has a podcast. (That's a good thing!) — Techmeme is an influential site that provides concise, headline-length summaries of the day's tech news.
Discussion:
Apple Podcasts, Adweek, @jyarow, @selviano, Fast Company and @felixsalmon, more at Techmeme »
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Felix Salmon / Wired:
Serial's success, followed by Gimlet Media's proven effort to commercialize the format at scale, and then NYT's The Daily paved the way for daily news podcasts
Serial's success, followed by Gimlet Media's proven effort to commercialize the format at scale, and then NYT's The Daily paved the way for daily news podcasts
Discussion:
@ezraklein, @gaberivera, @cyberjournalist, @anthonyha, @noahchestnut, @marcoarment, @scottriggs, @juiceboxca, @scottmcgrew, TechCrunch and Fast Company
Freddy Mayhew / Press Gazette:
The Independent says BBC Media Editor Amol Rajan must have “misremembered” anecdote about traffic-boosting headline, mentioned during speech about press at uni — The Independent has said BBC media editor Amol Rajan “must have misremembered” an anecdote claiming he made a column …
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Bloomberg:
Weinstein Co. buyer Maria Contreras-Sweet said her group is pulling out of its deal to buy the studio after an examination raised questions about its viability — Weinstein Co. buyer Maria Contreras-Sweet said her group is pulling out of its deal to buy the failing film and TV studio …
Discussion:
CNNMoney, Deadline, New York Times, Crain's New York Business, The Wrap, The Wrap, Financial Times, Variety, TVWeek.com, @thr, The A.V. Club and Glamour
Dani Deahl / The Verge:
Apple confirms it will stop taking submissions for iTunes LPs, with bundled items like videos or bonus tracks, as of this month; existing LPs will be available — Existing iTunes LPs will still be available going forward — Apple has confirmed to The Verge that it will stop taking new iTunes LP submissions as of this month.
Discussion:
Metro.co.uk, TechCrunch, MacRumors, VentureBeat, 9to5Mac, Fast Company, Engadget, MacStories, Mashable and AppAdvice.com, more at Techmeme »
Benjamin Mullin / Wall Street Journal:
Subscription-based sports media site The Athletic has raised $20M Series C led by Evolution Media, plans to double staff from 120 to 200-350 employees in 2018 — The two-year-old startup plans to double staffing and expand across the U.S. and into international markets
Discussion:
@bill_shea19, @dcsportsbog, @chadgraff, @rafat, @_brian_hamilton, @benmullin and Awful Announcing
Silvia Foster-Frau / MySanAntonio.com:
Co-founder of conspiracy theory website Side Thorn arrested with partner for harassing father of Sutherland Springs victim, told him shooting didn't happen — Two conspiracy theorists who have pushed the idea that the mass shooting at Sutherland Springs on Nov. 5 didn't happen were arrested Monday …
Discussion:
@prehstrcforest, The Daily Caller, @erinscafe, @johnamato, @evenbev, @brianstelter and @lenpoz
Alexandra Bruell / Wall Street Journal:
Fox is aiming to reduce TV ad time to 2 minutes an hour by 2020, its ad sales chief Joe Marchese claimed at a private industry event in LA last week — Network announced the target at an event it hosted to discuss TV advertising's challenges — Fox Networks Group's ad sales chief …
Discussion:
TVWeek.com, Business Insider and The Wrap
Amol Rajan / BBC:
Ex-investigator for Sunday Times says he used illegal techniques to target Labour officials from 1995-2010; paper denies it commissioned anyone to act illegally — An ex-private investigator who was used by The Sunday Times has spoken about the criminal activity he was involved in to obtain information for the paper.
Discussion:
@johnprescott, Evolve Politics, @byline_media, @byline_media, @yorkierosie, @jacquihames and @dadgey
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Funny Or Die is retiring its website and migrating over to Vox Media's platform; both are exploring potential collaborations on long-form entertainment — Funny Or Die is putting its aging web platform out to pasture. — Starting this summer, the digital comedy outfit will move FunnyOrDie.com …
Discussion:
@mtmoe1, @jackallisonlol, @zkahn, @reckless, Splitsider, @clockwerks, @bankoff, @melissabell and Tubefilter
New York Times:
Right-wing journalist Peter Schweizer plans to release a documentary on tech companies' role in filtering the news, casting them as censorious and oppressive — Conservatives are zeroing in on a new enemy in the political culture wars: Big Tech. — Arguing that Silicon Valley is stifling …
Discussion:
@jbenton, @jwherrman, @shanegoldmacher, @libshipwreck, Vanity Fair, @holden, East Bay Times, New York Magazine, @profcarroll, @nathanjurgenson, @cwarzel, @brendannyhan, @slpng_giants, @owillis, @williamturton, @shiraovide, @ceciliakang, @4horsemenapoca, @bernstein and Peter O'Kelly's Reality Check, more at Techmeme »