Top News:
Taylor Hatmaker / TechCrunch:
Ev Williams announces that all Medium paywalled stories will be free for readers who come to the site from Twitter — If you're not the paying sort, Medium has a mile-wide new hole in its paywall that might interest you. (But really, you should be the paying sort.)
Discussion:
@ev, Adweek, @ev, @bmccandless, @chronotope, @sdkstl and @sdkstl
Mike Allen / Axios:
Jonah Goldberg to leave the National Review and partner with ex-Weekly Standard EIC Steve Hayes to launch conservative media company, starting with newsletters — Jonah Goldberg is leaving National Review in the coming months to start a new conservative media company with Steve Hayes …
Discussion:
The Wrap, @jpodhoretz, @mattyglesias, @dankennedy_nu and @arkloster
Jim Waterson / The Guardian:
UK charities declare the Momo challenge a hoax after the media publishes hundreds of articles on it, causing a moral panic despite absence of evidence — Groups say no evidence yet of self-harm from craze, but resulting hysteria poses a risk — It is the most talked about viral scare story …
Discussion:
The Guardian, One Man & His Blog, Fast Company, The Atlantic, The Independent, Metro.co.uk, @zeynep, The Drum, BBC, @mtrc, @dralangreene, @parkermolloy, @jimwaterson, @vickiturk and TMZ.com
Janko Roettgers / Variety:
CNN launches an app on Magic Leap's AR headset, streaming live programming and on-demand videos for users who log in with TV Everywhere — CNN is coming to augmented reality: The news network launched an app on Magic Leap's AR headset Thursday, streaming live programming and on-demand videos on the device.
Discussion:
@jbenton
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:
@steve_katz, @rispolimike, @freepress, @utknightcenter, @vincecathomas, @joeycoleman, @niemanlab, @niemanlab and Free Press
Hollywood Reporter:
AMC Networks beats fourth quarter expectations with $773M in revenue and profit of $72M, down from $145M in Q4 2017; ad revenue rose 1.4% YoY — The cable networks company on an analyst call talked about an upcoming spin-off series for its flagship zombie drama now closing in on its tenth year.
Discussion:
Broadcasting & Cable, The Wrap, Variety, The Wrap and Broadcasting & Cable
A.J. Katz / TVNewser:
Greta Van Susteren joins Gray Television, a network of local TV stations in 91 markets, as chief national political analyst — You've seen Greta Van Susteren on cable news for decades, and now roughly 1/4 of U.S. TV households will be able to see her on local news.
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, Comic Book, Reuters, Los Angeles Business Journal, Los Angeles Times, ScreenRant and Deadline
Luis Paez-Pumar / Deadspin:
SB Nation Editor-in-Chief Elena Bergeron is stepping down on March 15 with Executive Producer Ryan Nanni filling in in the interim — After almost two years as SB Nation editor-in-chief, Elena Bergeron is stepping down from the role, according to a company-wide email sent out on Wednesday by Vox Media publisher Melissa Bell.
Discussion:
Awful Announcing
James Mattone / Thinknum Media:
The NBA's G League boasted an average Twitch stream of 8,300+ concurrent viewers in first two weekends of its 2019 season, beating streams of NBA's videogames — For years, NBA's G League, the minor leagues of basketball, was lost in the shuffle of NBA's massive television deals.
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
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:
TechCrunch, LaughingPlace.com, MacRumors, Tubefilter, Engadget, The Verge, /Film, Fortune and Multichannel News
France 24:
Police arrest a dozen journalists at an Algiers rally, attended by ~100 journalists, against alleged censorship of protests against fifth term for president — Algerian police arrested a dozen journalists participating in a rally Thursday against alleged censorship of coverage of protests …