Top News:
Jason Rezaian / Washington Post:
Reporters without Borders has released its annual press freedom report-card and the US is ranked 45th in the world; Philippines slid to #133 and Turkey to #157 — Last weekend, as Nicaragua's police brutally cracked down on protesters demonstrating against President Daniel Ortega …
Natalie Jarvey / Hollywood Reporter:
Netflix orders one of its first shortform series, Follow This, a weekly docuseries following BuzzFeed News journalists as they work, premiering July 9 — The shortform series will follow the journalists at BuzzFeed News as they report a variety of stories.
Discussion:
Digiday, MediaFile, YouTube, Nieman Lab, Variety, Columbia Journalism Review, The Verge, VideoInk, The Wrap, @mattmittenthal, @kantrowitz, @dcbigjohn, @isaacfitzgerald, The Daily Caller, @mathewi, @scaachi, @pranavdixit, @buzzfeedben, @journalistslike, Fast Company, @believekarolina, @azeen, @cwarzel, @tessatkinson and Slate
Lucia Moses / Digiday:
Snap says it will begin testing six-second non-skippable ads in select Snapchat Shows beginning May 15 — Once reluctant to force ads on its users, still-unprofitable Snapchat is going to start testing nonskippable ads in its TV-like shows, according to three sources with direct knowledge …
Cale Guthrie Weissman / Fast Company:
Digg, formerly owned by Betaworks, has been sold to Boston-based ad-tech company BuySellAds; new CEO Todd Garland plans to streamline Digg and build up ad stack — This story has been updated. — Last month, Digg, an old beloved content aggregation destination, made the sad announcement …
Discussion:
@caleweissman, @inafried, Business Insider, Gizmodo, TechCrunch and @caleweissman, more at Techmeme »
Wall Street Journal:
Chris Hohn, a London-based activist investor, has built about a $3B stake in 21st Century Fox, say sources, may influence a sale amid Disney and Comcast offers — London-based firm holds roughly $3 billion in Fox shares, making TCI one of its top shareholders
Discussion:
@shalini, @alexfrangos and New York Times
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Christopher Williams / Telegraph:
Comcast makes £22B bid for British broadcaster Sky, at £12.50 a share, sparking a bidding war with 21st Century Fox and Disney
Discussion:
Multichannel News and Broadcasting & Cable
Jem Aswad / Variety:
US House unanimously passes Music Modernization Act to streamline licensing and ensure royalty protection for pre-1972 performances; bill now goes to Senate — As expected, the Music Modernization Act unanimously passed the House of Representatives Wednesday afternoon.
Discussion:
Multichannel News
Allison Graves / Poynter:
Lee Williams, a columnist and editor at GateHouse's Sarasota Herald-Tribune, advocates for the NRA while editing breaking news, raising ethical questions — A little more than a month after the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., Lee Williams sat down with Marion Hammer …
Discussion:
@indira_l, @davidmastio, @emily_lecoz and @indira_l
Jonathan Randles / Wall Street Journal:
Filing: Peter Thiel agrees to withdraw bid for Gawker website and archives, will give eventual buyer legal release for archived articles — Billionaire venture capitalist will sit out sale of dormant blog to avoid potential legal claims against him — Billionaire investor Peter Thiel …
Sahil Patel / Digiday:
Viacom says it is working with Snap on multiyear original content and ad deal that would include Snapchat influencers in new and existing shows — Viacom and Snapchat are working together to create new shows that would star top Snapchat stars. — In a multiyear original content …
Discussion:
Ad Age and @kerrymflynn
RELATED:
Peter Kafka / Recode:
Jonathan Carson, who joined Mic as president in April 2017, is transitioning out of the company over next few months; CEO says Mic isn't hiring a replacement — Jonathan Carson, who joined Mic as its president in April 2017, is headed out. The millennial-focused publisher hasn't named a replacement.
Washington Post:
The Washington Post, The New York Times, Politico, Associated Press, and CNN ask court to unseal records from Mueller's Russia investigation — A coalition of news organizations, including The Washington Post, asked a federal court on Tuesday to unseal materials used by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III …
Todd Spangler / Variety:
AT&T says it netted 312K new DirecTV Now customers in Q1 to reach 1.46M subscribers as it reports revenues of $38B, down 3.4% YoY, missing targets — AT&T added 312,000 DirecTV Now net new customers in the first three months of 2018 to reach 1.46 million subscribers — offsetting losses on the traditional pay-TV front.
Discussion:
The Wrap, TechCrunch, AT&T, CNET and Hollywood Reporter, more at Techmeme »
Michael E. Kanell / Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
Pandora says it plans to add about 250 jobs in Atlanta over the next three years in engineering, sales, legal, and human resources — Pandora, the largest music streaming service in the U.S., has announced plans to add 250 jobs in Atlanta during the next three years.
Discussion:
Atlanta Business Journal and Associated Press
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