Top News:
Christine Schmidt / Nieman Lab:
With $150K in funding, the Charlotte Journalism Collaborative, a partnership among nine media orgs in NC, will cover the housing crisis in its first year — In its first official local expansion, the Solutions Journalism Network is partnering with the Knight Foundation to launch …
Discussion:
Poynter, Center for Cooperative Media, @centercoopmedia and Editor & Publisher
Lynette Rice / EW.com:
People magazine's editor in chief, Jess Cagle, is stepping down after five years at its helm and 32 years at Time Inc. — “I've decided it's time to do some other things while I'm still young — or at least alive," he wrote in a staff memo. “It's also time for me to live in Los Angeles full …
Discussion:
WWD, Poynter, @markharrisnyc and Adweek
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Jaclyn Peiser / New York Times:
People magazine names Dan Wakeford, currently a deputy editor, as its new editor in chief starting April 1 — A changing of the guard is underway at People magazine under its new ownership. — Jess Cagle is stepping down after a five-year run as editor in chief.
Discussion:
Adweek, MediaPost, CNN and @media_ink
Eli Rosenberg / Washington Post:
A look at Media Matters, which monitors conservative media, and its researcher Madeline Peltz, who dug up Tucker Carlson's chats on Bubba the Love Sponge's show — Madeline Peltz works the night shift at the liberal media watchdog group Media Matters for America.
Discussion:
CNN, The Daily Caller, @emrosenberg, @mattdpearce, @hshaban, @owillis, Rolling Stone, @barthsnotes, @msmacb, Business Insider and Variety
Julia Thomas / Nieman Lab:
A look at how outlets like 263Chat, Kukurigo, and Magamba are distributing news via WhatsApp, which accounts for almost half of all internet usage in Zimbabwe — A look at how outlets like 263Chat, Kukurigo, Center for Innovation and Technology, and Magamba Network are distributing news via the app.
Discussion:
@ramanewdelhi, @juliathomas317 and @niemanlab
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
Rakuten TV, with 7M users, expands to 30 new countries in Europe, and signs deal with Samsung, LG, and others to add Rakuten TV button to their remotes — Rakuten TV, the Japanese e-commerce giant's effort to take on Netflix and Amazon in the world of video streaming, has been a minor player …
Emil Protalinski / VentureBeat:
Google says it removed 2.3B bad ads in 2018, down 28% from 2017 and terminated ~1M bad advertiser accounts, including ~734K publishers and app developers — Around this time of year, Google shares how many “bad ads” it killed the year before. And every year, the number grows. But not this time.
Discussion:
Adweek, support.google.com, TechCrunch, @epro and The Keyword, more at Techmeme »
Orla McCaffrey / Ad Age:
Report: US esports ad revenue to reach $178M in 2019, up 25%, and $213M in 2020; 30.3M people in US will watch esports at least once a month in 2019, up 18% YoY — Brands are drawn to the younger audiences — As esports keeps creeping towards the mainstream, more brands are jumping in.
Sahil Patel / Digiday:
Email: Amazon to cut royalty rates in the US for Prime Video Direct creators from 6-15 cents/hour viewed to 4-10 cents/hour viewed, beginning April — Amazon is making new changes to a royalty program for content owners that upload videos directly into Prime Video.
Stuart Dredge / Music Ally:
Spotify files an anti-trust complaint against Apple with the European Commission, claiming App Store rules limit choice and stifle competition — Spotify is filing a complaint against Apple with the European Commission, accusing the latter company of anticompetitive behaviour in the way it manages …
Ryan Faughnder / Los Angeles Times:
Gary Barber and Lantern Entertainment have formed new studio Spyglass Media Group, which will own and oversee Weinstein Company assets bought by Lantern in 2018 — Former Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Chief Executive Gary Barber has a new job. — The veteran South African-born executive …
Reuters:
Slovakia charges Marian K., identified as businessman Marian Kocner by Slovak newspapers, with ordering the murder of investigative journalist Jan Kuciak — BRATISLAVA (Reuters) - Slovak police have charged a man with ordering the murder of investigative journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancee …
Discussion:
Press Gazette, New York Times, BBC and Politico