Top News:
Gabriel Sherman / Vanity Fair:
Sources: Trump wants USPS to increase Amazon's shipping costs as advisers encourage the president to cancel Amazon's cloud computing contract with the Pentagon — With the West Wing finally calm, Trump is contemplating a multi-front campaign against Jeff Bezos.
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Sydney Ember / New York Times:
Washington Post's Martin Baron refutes Trump's claims that the Post acts as a lobbyist for Amazon as Trump conflates the two, which have different leadership — Amazon does not own The Washington Post. President Trump, however — impervious to certain facts and armed with a Twitter account …
Discussion:
Reporters Without Borders, Mediaite, The Week, @nytimesbusiness, bookforum.com, Deadline, @dealbook, @wesleylowery, @jdawsey1, @fbihop, @melbournecoal and Variety
Olivia Nuzzi / New York Magazine:
David Smith, the executive chairman of Sinclair Broadcast Group, said print media has no credibility and no relevance — David Smith, the executive chairman of Sinclair Broadcast Group, said he dislikes and fundamentally distrusts the print media, which he believes “serves no real purpose.”
Discussion:
Bloomberg, CNN, Business Insider, @fox47madison, Mediaite, Slate, The Wrap, Washington Post, Vox, New York Times, @chanceseales, @mmehlsak, @kylegriffin1, @davidfolkenflik, Fast Company, Politico, @danrather, KTLA, Jezebel, CBS San Francisco, TVWeek.com, USA Today, Hollywood Reporter, TV Tattle, NewsCut and Amy McGrath
Keach Hagey / Wall Street Journal:
Sumner Redstone will not have final say on potential CBS-Viacom merger as he has only one vote on National Amusements, the holding company owning voting stakes — The 94-year-old media mogul would be one vote among seven National Amusements board members — Sumner Redstone …
Discussion:
@tomgara, @keachhagey, CNBC, @theferocity, @katie_martin_fx, @jdawsey1, @sarahnassauer, @jswatz and @eorden
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David Faber / CNBC:
Sources: talks between Viacom and CBS have hit a snag, as they are divided over who would be second-in-command at the new company, Bob Bakish or Joe Ianniello — - CBS has not made a formal offer to buy Viacom after social issues raised a roadblock in the talks.
Discussion:
Broadcasting & Cable
Jeremy Barr / Hollywood Reporter:
Fox News President Jack Abernethy releases statement in support of Laura Ingraham, says network will not be “censored by agenda-driven intimidation efforts” — The cable news outlet's co-president Jack Abernethy said the network won't be “censored by agenda-driven intimidation efforts.”
Discussion:
Los Angeles Times, Bill O'Reilly, Ad Age, The Wrap, Washington Post, TheBlaze, TVNewser and Mediaite
RELATED:
Mark Sweney / The Guardian:
Disney has expressed an interest in acquiring Sky News, whether or not its acquisition of 21st Century Fox proceeds, as UK regulator scrutinizes Fox's bid — Move aims to allay media plurality fears over 21st Century Fox's takeover of British broadcaster
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Georg Szalai / Hollywood Reporter:
21st Century Fox proposes to sell Sky News to Disney or establish it as a separate entity with a 15-year funding guarantee to seal the deal with UK regulators — The news came in an update published by Britain's Competition and Markets Authority, which has been looking at concerns about Sky News' independence from Fox.
Discussion:
Independent.ie, Variety, BBC, Bloomberg, Financial Times, Sky News and Reuters
Maane Khatchatourian / Variety:
Film and TV veteran Catherine Tait named president and CEO of CBC/Radio-Canada, becoming the first female in the role — - Angelina Jolie Says Making ‘First They Killed My Father’ Was About Discovering ‘What the Film Means’ — TORONTO — Film and TV veteran Catherine Tait has been appointed …
Nicholas Diakopoulos / Columbia Journalism Review:
The age of trends is over, as social signals like retweets and likes are too easily manipulated by bots, and journalists must learn to identify their influence — Bots are everywhere. A report by The New York Times recently outed about 3.5 million of them on Twitter.
Discussion:
VentureBeat
Peter Kafka / Recode:
Spotify, which posted operating loss of $461M in 2017, thinks its reliance on labels will ease; sources: hope is more artists will work directly with Spotify — The streaming music company wants to get more music — and more profitable music — from the little guys.
Discussion:
RAIN News, SlashGear, Fortune and Recode, more at Techmeme »
Media Matters for America:
Kevin Williamson's media appearances over a decade: he said Laverne Cox is not a woman, said he supported torture, and called Mexican immigrants “peasants” — Blog ››› April 3, 2018 ››› SHARON KANN & JULIE TULBERT