Top News:


Minute Media, which bought Mental Floss in 2018, buys sports and pop culture site The Big Lead from Gannett; The Big Lead co-founder Jason McIntyre will leave — Minute Media said Thursday that it has purchased sports, media and pop culture website The Big Lead from USA Today parent company Gannett Co. …
Discussion:
Adweek, Awful Announcing, New York Post, Deadspin and @markjburns88


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.


Axios and NBC confirm they have hired an editor to suggest changes to their Wikipedia entries; the editor has also worked for a Facebook PR firm and Nextdoor — Executives at the news company Axios were outwardly unperturbed when Jonathan Swan, one of the Politico-for-kids site's star reporters …
Discussion:
@donie, @ashleyfeinberg, @jwitmer, @saramorrison, @craigsilverman, @marinafang, @katienotopoulos, @mmasnick, @jcstearns, @alexckaufman, @gregotto, @claireefallon, @b52malmet, @krmaher and @zachdcarter


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


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:
Poynter, WWD, @markharrisnyc and Adweek
RELATED:

People magazine names Dan Wakeford, currently a deputy editor, as its new editor in chief starting April 1
Discussion:
Adweek, CNN, @media_ink and MediaPost


Facebook is rolling out Watch Party support for live TV, testing first in Groups with live sports events, adds music features including in India and Thailand — Today at SXSW, we're sharing updates on how we're bringing people together around video and music on Facebook …
Discussion:
Billboard, Music Business Worldwide, RAIN News, Engadget and 9to5Mac


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:
@juliathomas317, @ramanewdelhi and @niemanlab


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 »


The Hallmark Channel cuts ties with star Lori Loughlin after her arrest in a college admissions scam — LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Hallmark Channel cut ties Thursday with favored star Lori Loughlin, a day after her arrest in a college admissions scam put the family-friendly network …
Discussion:
Hollywood Reporter, NBC News, Business Insider, TMZ.com, Fast Company, TVWeek.com, Fortune, BuzzFeed News, Vanity Fair, ABC13, The Daily Caller and Jezebel


Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin's ties to the film industry fall under scrutiny as the US pushes China for more favorable treatment of Hollywood films — WASHINGTON — “Wonder Woman,” the 2017 film that Steven Mnuchin helped produce before becoming Treasury secretary, hauled in about $90 million at the box office in China.
Discussion:
@mbaram, @robertmaguire_ and @lisabirnbach


The public will suffer and dodgy politicians will thrive as the number of reporters from regional outlets covering Congress and federal issues dwindles in DC — When Jerry Zremski started reporting in 2017 on the questionable financial activities of Chris Collins, a Buffalo-area member of Congress …
Discussion:
@sambrodey, @ericschultz, @tatecurtis, @janebsinger, @katzonearth, @sambrodey and MinnPost


Charlotte's Raycom Sports is ending its 37-year run as ACC basketball broadcaster, to be replaced by ESPN as it launches its ACC Network in August — The pilot still sails, quietly, behind the scenes. — Before the first game of the ACC tournament in Charlotte, the Raycom television crew will listen …
Discussion:
Richmond Times-Dispatch and Awful Announcing