Mediagazer: The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, owned by Lee Enterprises, is outsourcing copy editing and design to Munster, IN; at least 11 editors are leaving as of May 1 (Avis Meyer/Gateway Journalism Review)

6:00 PM ET, March 5, 2019

Top News:

Ashley Carman / The Verge:

A look at how Spotify plans to crack the podcast market: making it easier to find podcasts, investing in creation tools, exclusive original content, and more — Spotify has been on a media blitz to hype up its plans. Most everyone involved in the deals, including Spotify CEO Daniel Ek …

Discussion: Nieman Lab, @backlon, @danielpmcdermot, @verge, @ashleyrcarman, MacRumors, @reckless, @dansinker, @leoncrawl, @letsgoayo and Engadget, more at Techmeme »

Financial Times:

The Financial Times has acquired a majority stake in Amsterdam-based tech blog and events company The Next Web — 5 March 2019: The Financial Times has acquired a controlling stake in TNW (The Next Web), an events and media company with a focus on new technology and startups in Europe.

Discussion: Digiday, @thekenyeung, @rafat, @oliversmitheu, @jonsjanssens, @bryanclark, @fedecherubini, @robertgaal, @nalden, @hlp, @steverubel, @bmorrissey, @m4tt, @emilybell and Fast Company, more at Techmeme »

Tom Cardoso / Globe and Mail:

Google to ban political ads in Canada ahead of federal election, says complying with new ad transparency rules required by Bill C-76 would be too challenging — Google is banning political advertising on its platforms ahead of the Canadian federal election because of new ad transparency rules …

Discussion: The Drum, Beyond Search, @tonyromm, @ctv_jon, @andybeal, Engadget, Mashable, @danaditomaso, @baekdal and @amarapossian, more at Techmeme »

Nick Statt / The Verge:

Comedian Miel Bredouw's fight with Barstool Sports after they posted her video without credit shows how Twitter's copyright system can hurt creators — “It's insane to me that the platform is allowing them to do this.” — Earlier today, Los Angeles-based writer and comedian Miel Bredouw claims …

Discussion: Business Insider, TechCrunch, @kerrymflynn, Techdirt, @jason_kint, @nickstatt, @anildash, Deadspin and Mashable, more at Techmeme »

Benjy Egel / Sacramento Bee:

Police detained a Sacramento Bee reporter and shoved a staff photographer down, damaging his camera, during a protest over the lack of prosecution of two cops — Sacramento Bee reporter Dale Kasler was detained Monday night while covering a Stephon Clark protest in East Sacramento.

Discussion: New York Times, Sacramento Bee, The Guardian, ABC News, The Daily Beast, @cforman, @dabeard, Sacramento Bee, Hit & Run, @will_bunch and @penamerican

Ben Collins / NBC News:

On Amazon, a book pushing QAnon conspiracy theories climbs the charts, aided by Amazon's algorithmically generated recommendations — The book is currently No. 9 in all books about politics and No. 1 in all books about “Censorship,” one slot ahead of Ray Bradbury's “Farhenheit 451,”

Rick Edmonds / Poynter:

Blockchain journalism startup Civil will try relaunching on Wed., after it failed to sell blockchain tokens before, but is still hampered by an opaque structure — Civil, an ambitious and idealistic venture to nurture journalism startups, will “relaunch” Wednesday.

Avis Meyer / Gateway Journalism Review:

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, owned by Lee Enterprises, is outsourcing copy editing and design to Munster, IN; at least 11 editors are leaving as of May 1 — A reflection — And then there were none. — The executives at Lee Enterprises, which bought the Post-Dispatch in 2005 …

Discussion: @pdbeth

Patience Haggin / Wall Street Journal:

Content recommendation engine Taboola is buying Israeli-based startup Start Magazine to bolster its service for Android users — Deal will put Taboola recommendations on more Android phones' lock screens — Taboola Inc., the “content recommendation” engine best known for placing sponsored links …

Discussion: @jackshafer

Recode:

Q&A with David Chavern, president and CEO of the News Media Alliance, on how Google and Facebook are the de facto regulators of the news industry and more — Chavern's organization advocates on behalf of 2,000 print and online media outlets. — On the latest episode of Recode Decode …

Ronn Blitzer / Law & Crime:

Report: former FoxNews.com reporter Diana Falzone settled lawsuit with Fox News, after suing following demotion over Stormy Daniels story which was spiked — A massive New Yorker report on the ongoing and evolving relationship between Fox News and President Donald Trump included details …

Discussion: Mediaite, @janemayernyer, Slate, @zevshalev, @michaelavenatti, @drdenagrayson, @carolecadwalla and @bobcywinski

Jane Mayer / New Yorker:
Since Trump was elected, Fox News has swerved from being a partisan news network to the closest thing the US has to state TV

Discussion: @hadas_gold, @theplumlinegs, Mediaite, Poynter, Columbia Journalism Review, @mikiebarb, Axios, Slate, Contemptor, @tedlieu, @gabrielsherman, @jeremymbarr, @maggienyt, Vox, @jayrosen_nyu, BloombergQuint, The Week, bookforum.com, @dangillmor, Washington Post, CNN, Deadline, Ars Technica, @brizzyc, The Daily Beast, @repadamschiff, @garossino, @mollymckew, @janemayernyer, @wilson__valdez, @nycsouthpaw, @ianbremmer, @eliothiggins, @neal_katyal, @kazweida, @mehdirhasan, @bretstephensnyt, @chriscuomo, @jeffjarvis, @brianschatz, @brianklaas, TVNewser, @renato_mariotti, @maggienyt, @mattwaxman1, @ange_amene, @lolgop, @scout_finch, Recode, @adamgoldmannyt, @cfidd, @goldietaylor, @dandrezner, @athertonkd, @sifill_ldf, @anneapplebaum, @peterbakernyt, @janemayernyer, @azalben, @joycewhitevance, @tribelaw, @fawfulfan, @karpmj, @jwgop, Multichannel News, The Daily Caller, The Hill, Boing Boing, The Guardian, Jezebel, Vanity Fair, The Wrap, Splinter, Newser, Variety, Media Matters for America, Fast Company, kottke.org and Politico

James Walker / Press Gazette:

Investigative site Bellingcat has been awarded €500K which it is using to launch an office and training centre in The Hague — Investigative journalism group Bellingcat has been awarded €500,000 of funding which it will use to set up an office and training centre in The Hague.

Beth Daley / The Conversation:

The Conversation US names Beth Daley, formerly of The Boston Globe and InsideClimate News, as its new editor — I am thrilled to join this nonprofit journalism organization so singular in our nation's crowded media landscape. — The Conversation US plays an indispensable role in our democracy …

Discussion: @dabeard and @conversationus

Cynthia Littleton / Variety:

Q&A with Bob Greenblatt, chairman of WarnerMedia Entertainment, who has been tasked with leading AT&T's forthcoming streaming service — AT&T has just handed the keys to WarnerMedia's most high-profile business initiative to Bob Greenblatt, the seasoned TV executive whose resume includes helping …

Discussion: Awful Announcing, TVWeek.com, Wall Street Journal, Yahoo Finance, Vanity Fair, Vanity Fair, The Verge, @murrelldan, @gerryfsmith, @benmullin and MediaPost

Lesley Goldberg / Hollywood Reporter:
Bob Greenblatt named as chairman of WarnerMedia Entertainment; Jeff Zucker named chairman of WarnerMedia News & Sports and remains President of CNN

Discussion: Variety, Variety, @bristei, @melsil, TechCrunch, Vanity Fair, Observer and Ad Age

Christine Schmidt / Nieman Lab:

Democracy Fund report details the history and current state of African-American press, including black digital media, and offers recommendations for advocates — “We are watching organizations like Huffington Post determine what Black stories are elevated to national news stories.

Discussion: @spj_tweets, @niemanlab, @niemanlab and @niemanlab

Meg James / Los Angeles Times:

Disney names Fox Networks Group CFO Ravi Ahuja as president of its business operations and CFO of Walt Disney television — Walt Disney Co. is continuing to bolster its television team with Fox executives, this time bringing over Ravi Ahuja to serve as president of business operations …

Discussion: Variety, Multichannel News and Broadcasting & Cable