Top News:
Taylor Hatmaker / TechCrunch:
Ev Williams announces that all Medium paywalled stories will be free for readers that 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, @bmccandless, @ev, @sdkstl, @sdkstl and @chronotope
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:
@dankennedy_nu, @jpodhoretz and @mattyglesias
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, @joeycoleman, @niemanlab, @freepress, @utknightcenter, @rispolimike, @vincecathomas, @steve_katz and @niemanlab
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:
Engadget, Tubefilter, The Verge, /Film, Fortune and Multichannel News
RELATED:
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
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
Discussion:
The Big Lead, @jbflint, @eriqgardner, @pareene, @jbflint, The Hill, @billsimmons, @thrmattbelloni, Deadline, New York Times, Fortune, TechCrunch, Observer and Wall Street Journal
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
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:
One Man & His Blog, The Guardian, BBC, @jimwaterson, @mtrc, @vickiturk, The Independent, Metro.co.uk and Snopes.com
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 …
Discussion:
Federal Trade Commission, TikTok Newsroom, @profcarroll, Music Ally, Washington Post, MediaNama, Sensor Tower Blog, @pimpmasteryoda1, @tiktok_us, Hong Kong Free Press HKFP, @shiraovide, @cheddar, @kerrymflynn, @jwherrman, Tubefilter, BBC, Ad Age, The Daily Caller, Fast Company, Boing Boing, Engadget, CNET, The Verge, Variety and Tubefilter, more at Techmeme »
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.
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 …
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 …
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 VitalThrills.com