Mediagazer: Media advocacy group Free Press has proposed a tax on targeted advertising to fund noncommercial journalism and support new news distribution models (Christine Schmidt/Nieman Lab)

6:50 AM ET, February 28, 2019

Top News:

Christine Schmidt / Nieman Lab:

Media advocacy group Free Press has proposed a tax on targeted advertising to fund noncommercial journalism and support new news distribution models — Facebook and Google aren't going to stop targeting ads to Internet users, and advertisers aren't likely to stop loving the data …

Discussion: Free Press, @niemanlab, @joeycoleman, @niemanlab, @freepress, @utknightcenter, @rispolimike and @vincecathomas

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Source: Disney is in talks with AT&T to acquire WarnerMedia's 10% stake in Hulu to add to its existing 30% stake and the 30% Disney gains from 20th Century Fox — Disney wants to get even more control over Hulu: The company is in active discussions with AT&T to acquire the 10% stake …

Discussion: The Verge, /Film, Fortune and Multichannel News

Eriq Gardner / Hollywood Reporter:

Arbitrator awards the team behind TV series Bones $179M after ruling that 21st Century Fox execs fraudulently hid profit info from stars and executive producer — In a long-running legal battle over profits from the David Boreanaz-Emily Deschanel hit, an arbitrator's stunning decision calls …

Discussion: Deadline, The Hill, @pareene, @eriqgardner, @jbflint, @jbflint, @billsimmons, @thrmattbelloni, New York Times, Fortune, TechCrunch, Observer and Wall Street Journal

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

FTC settles with Musical.ly, now TikTok, for $5.7M, over the app's violation of US child privacy laws; TikTok's app updates with a new UX for users under 13 — A significant FTC ruling issued today will see video app TikTok fined $5.7 million for violating U.S. children's privacy laws …

Variety:

Brazil's antitrust regulators have approved Disney's purchase of 21st Century Fox assets on condition it sells the Fox Sports channel and related sports rights — Disney took a big step closer to completing its $71.3 billion purchase of 21st Century Fox with Brazil's conditional approval of the deal Wednesday.

Discussion: Bloomberg, Hollywood Reporter, Fantha Tracks, Reuters, Comic Book, Los Angeles Business Journal, Los Angeles Times, ScreenRant and Deadline

Marguerite Clark / Radio World:

iHeartMedia, via its subsidiary RCS, has acquired Greece-based Radiojar, which offers tools to transition broadcast radio into digital stations and podcasts — iHeartMedia, through its subsidiary RCS, has purchased Athens, Greece-based online audio technology company, Radiojar Information Technology S.A. (Radiojar).

Discussion: Engadget, Billboard and Music Ally

Siobhan O'Connor / OneZero:

Medium launches OneZero, a tech and science publication with analysis and commentary, as part of its plan for a portfolio on tech, business, health, and more — Introducing Medium's new tech and science publication — Today, Medium is launching a new forward-looking tech and science publication.

Discussion: @pacificleo, @dlberes, @dlberes and @dlberes

Thomson Reuters:

Reuters expands its video and photo sports offerings through partnerships with the Players' Tribune, AFLO, Panoramic, Sporting Images, and MB Media — Reuters, the world's largest international multimedia news provider, announced today that it is further expanding its sports content offering …

Jon Lafayette / Broadcasting & Cable:

Sinclair Broadcast Group's Q4 earnings: net income fell to $206.2M from $443.5M last year but revenue was up 25.4% YoY to $893M — Sinclair Broadcast Group reported lower fourth quarter profits despite big gains in revenue, including political advertising.

Discussion: TVNewsCheck, StreetInsider.com, PR Newswire, AllAccess.com, Baltimore Business Journal, TVWeek.com and Deadline

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Study estimates Netflix could be losing $192M/month from people who freeload by account sharing, with Amazon losing $45M/month and Hulu losing $40M/month — As many as 1 in 5 people today are mooching off of someone else's account when streaming video from Netflix, Hulu or Amazon Video, according to a new study from CordCutting.com.

Discussion: Fast Company

Washington Post:

White House excluded reporters from the AP, Reuters, and other outlets from covering Trump's dinner with Kim Jong Un because they had shouted questions earlier — HANOI — The White House abruptly banned four U.S. journalists from covering President Trump's dinner here Wednesday …

Matt Donnelly / Variety:

Oscar winners behind Free Solo on why documentaries are hot now: sophisticated audiences, a “psychotic” news cycle, and big budgets from streaming companies — On a bustling post-Oscar Monday, “Free Solo” co-directors Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin arrive …

Discussion: Multichannel News and MediaPost

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More News:

The New York Times Company:
The New York Times has named Adam Nossiter as its Paris bureau chief, where he will be joined by veteran correspondent Nori Onishi

Tanya Dua / Business Insider:
Former LA Times CEO and publisher Ross Levinsohn claims allegations of inappropriate behavior made against him amounted to “character assassination”

Discussion: @nichcarlson, @nichcarlson, @digitalshields and @lmoses

Jim Waterson / The Guardian:
The BBC and UK broadcaster ITV have confirmed plans to launch a joint, paid streaming service called BritBox by the end of 2019

Discussion: BBC, Hollywood Reporter, @thr, @quendergeer, @jimwaterson, @elenacresci, @tommundaycs, @leahhather, @mrjkilcoyne, Fortune and WIRED UK

Lucinda Southern / Digiday:
In late January, The Economist tightened its paywall to five articles per month from three per week, in hopes of increasing subscribers

Discussion: @digiday and @m_c_b

Cherie Hu / Bello Collective:
Investments in podcasts like Spotify's Gimlet acquisition will allow artists to share their own narratives directly with fans and avoid traditional music press

Discussion: @digg, @sesmith, @bellocollective, @chartroommedia and @cheriehu42

Earlier Picks:

Tiffany Stevens / Columbia Journalism Review:
In the past year, more reporters are living among residents in US-Mexico border cities, helping national outlets like LAT and NYT improve immigration coverage

Discussion: @thetinavasquez, @tiffanymstevens, @sadieeehdz, @patrickwtimmons and @mollyhf

Financial Times:
Study estimates 1,000-1,500 US newspapers, many owned by private equity and hedge fund investors, are “ghost newspapers” mainly filled with wire copy and ads

Gus Garcia-Roberts / USA Today:
Twitter has permanently suspended Jacob Wohl for creating and operating fake accounts, after he shared plans to make deceptive accounts before the 2020 election

Josh Constine / TechCrunch:
Facebook policy doc shows it wants up to a 30% cut of Fan Subscriptions, vs Patreon's 5%, and to reserve right to offer free trials with no creator compensation

Discussion: Digiday, @hankgreen, Tubefilter, Mashable, Boing Boing, @joshconstine, @joshconstine, The Verge and Gizmodo, more at Techmeme »

East Bay Times:
After inadvertently releasing a list of thousands of cops with criminal convictions under public records law, CA's AG threatened two reporters with legal action

Discussion: @trevortimm, Techdirt, @trevortimm, @caseytolan, @a_mendelson, @reveal, @csmcdaniel, @digiphile, @dangillmor, Boing Boing and Hit & Run

From Techmeme:

Sara Fischer / Axios:
Meta adds Dina Powell McCormick, who served as deputy national security adviser to Trump in his first term, and Stripe CEO Patrick Collison to its board

Ellen O'Regan / Politico:
Ireland's DPC opens an investigation into how personal data in public X posts was used to train xAI's Grok, which could stoke tensions between the EU and the US

Anton Shilov / Tom's Hardware:
China exempts products from AMD, Nvidia, Intel, Qualcomm, and others that are made by Taiwanese companies like TSMC from the 125% tariff on US products

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