Mediagazer: The Austin American-Statesman is being sold to GateHouse Media for $47.5M, ending 41+ years of ownership by Cox Enterprises; deal expected to close April 2 (Shonda Novak/Austin American-Statesman)

1:10 AM ET, March 7, 2018

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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: Techmeme News, @gaberivera, CNET, Scripting News, @brianmcc, Apple Podcasts, @gaberivera, @anthonyha, Fast Company, TechCrunch, Adweek, @jyarow and @selviano, more at Techmeme »

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 — How publishers are racing to own the money-printing machine that is the daily news podcast. — I USED TO think that podcasts …

Discussion: @art19co, @ezraklein, @kelseyproud, @marcoarment, @juiceboxca, @noahchestnut, @scottriggs, @scottmcgrew, @cyberjournalist and Fast Company

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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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 …

Discussion: CNNMoney, Washington Post, New York Magazine, Washington Post, @hadas_gold, Mediaite, @ckrewson, @washingtonian, Fox News, Vanity Fair, @brianstelter, @benmullin, @digiphile, @erikwemple, Splinter, Brian Stelter, @kfile, Poynter, Mediaite, Newser and Mother Jones

Women's Media Center:

Women's Media Center report: women of color represent 7.95% of US print newsroom staff, 12.6% of local TV news staff, and 6.2% of local radio staff — “It seems like there is a cap on people of color in newsrooms” — WASHINGTON — Fifty years after the Kerner Commission criticized …

Shonda Novak / Austin American-Statesman:

The Austin American-Statesman is being sold to GateHouse Media for $47.5M, ending 41+ years of ownership by Cox Enterprises; deal expected to close April 2 — The Austin American-Statesman is being sold to New York-based publishing company GateHouse Media, executives said Tuesday …

Discussion: @zwcomeau, @jodyseaborn, @caitlinrcruz, @gregrajan, @blake_mitchell, @jayrosen_nyu, Gatehouse Media and @seanfdriscoll

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, The Wrap, The Wrap, Financial Times, @thr, The A.V. Club, Glamour, TVWeek.com, Fortune and Variety

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, MacRumors, TechCrunch, Fast Company, MacStories, Engadget, Mashable, VentureBeat, 9to5Mac 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: @rafat, @bill_shea19, @dcsportsbog, @chadgraff, @_brian_hamilton, @benmullin and Awful Announcing

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 …

Amol Rajan / BBC: Transcript of BBC Media Editor Amol Rajan's lecture at the University of Kent in England, on the myths surrounding journalism

Alexandra Bruell / Wall Street Journal:

Fox is aiming to reduce TV ad time to 2 minutes per 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: FierceCable, TVWeek.com, Business Insider and The Wrap

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: The Daily Caller, The Week, @prehstrcforest, @erinscafe, @johnamato, @evenbev, @brianstelter and @lenpoz

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: @yorkierosie, @byline_media, @johnprescott, Evolve Politics, @byline_media, @jacquihames and @dadgey

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Alex Kantrowitz / BuzzFeed:
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Benjamin Mullin / Wall Street Journal:
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Earlier Picks:

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Joe Pompeo / Vanity Fair:
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Yahoo! Finance:
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Alex Nichols / The Outline:
A look at the tweets of those making money from private accounts with Premo: John Schindler appears to earn $17K/month and Eric Garland $3K/month

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From Techmeme:

Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority:
Source: Google has canceled the development of a second-generation Pixel Tablet, planned for release in 2025, due to concerns that it wouldn't sell very well

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple is testing a more conversational version of Siri, dubbed “LLM Siri”, with plans to release it in spring 2026 as part of iOS 19 and macOS 16

The Information:
Sources: OpenAI considered making a browser, discussed deals to power AI features on Samsung devices and search on sites and apps from Condé Nast and others

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