Mediagazer: At a UN Human Rights Council session, about 60 media groups support a draft document on the safety and independence of journalists (James Walker/Press Gazette)

5:05 PM ET, March 21, 2019

Top News:

Taylor Lorenz / The Atlantic:

Instagram, which has largely escaped scrutiny, is teeming with conspiracy theories, misinformation, and extremist memes, boosted by its recommendation algorithm — When Alex, now a high-school senior, saw an Instagram account he followed post about something called QAnon back in 2017 …

Discussion: CNN, @taylorlorenz, Engadget, @cwarzel, @jameshamblin, @qhrizpolley and @elizabethethorp, more at Techmeme »

Richard Lawler / Engadget:

Comcast's Xfinity Flex, a $5/month service for its broadband customers, comes with a 4K set-top box and access to paid and free, ad-supported streaming services — Comcast's latest bundle isn't a cable TV service, exactly, since it's aimed at the increasing number of subscribers who only have internet.

Discussion: Variety, Broadcasting & Cable, Multichannel News, Ad Age, Deadline, CNBC, Bloomberg, @shiraovide, @gerryfsmith, @pkafka, @pkafka, @pkafka and @pkafka, more at Techmeme »

David Sharman / HoldtheFrontPage:

Google DNI grants €500K to publishers Reach and JPIMedia for a local audio news platform and €398K to Newsquest for a community news sharing tool — Two regional publishers have won half a million Euros worth of funding for a joint project aimed at improving their audio output.

Discussion: Press Gazette, Press Gazette and The Keyword

Facebook:

The NZ shooting video was harder to block on Facebook than official terrorist propaganda videos because the latter aren't rebroadcast or reshared widely — We continue to keep the people, families and communities affected by the tragedy in New Zealand in our hearts.

Anthony Ha / TechCrunch:

Former Recode EIC Dan Frommer launches The New Consumer, covering e-commerce and direct-to-consumer brands with a twice-a-week newsletter, for $200/year — Dan Frommer has worked at some of the best-known publications in tech and business journalism — he was editor in chief of Recode …

Discussion: Talking Biz News, The New Consumer, @rafat, @fromedome and @fromedome

Peter Kafka / Recode:

Sources: Apple's new TV service to be unveiled Monday will be a storefront for other streaming services, where Apple will set and offer its own bundles — Apple's TV plans, explained. (Spoiler: Apple isn't taking on Netflix yet.) — After years of circling the TV business …

Discussion: @pkafka, @pkafka, The Information, @mollywood, Bloomberg, @waltmossberg, @pierce, Engadget, BGR, 9to5Mac, @benbajarin, MacRumors, @pkafka, @pkafka, @pkafka, @lucas_shaw, @pkafka, Talking Biz News and Editor & Publisher, more at Techmeme »

Mike Isaac / New York Times:
Sources: WSJ plans to join the new paid tier of Apple News to be announced on Monday, expected to cost $10/month; NYT and The Washington Post have opted out

Discussion: Forbes, The Verge, Fortune, CNBC, @nytimesbusiness, Gizmodo, @caro_milanesi, @mdudas, @mikeisaac, @zidanism, Engadget, MacRumors, 9to5Mac, MAC blog and Business Insider, more at Techmeme »

James Vincent / The Verge:

Four European Wikipedia sites are blocking access and directing users to contact their EU representatives on March 21 to protest the copyright directive — Sites including Reddit, Twitch, and PornHub are also encouraging users in the EU to contact local politicians

Discussion: Upvoted, Wikimedia Foundation, Slate, Common Dreams, Business Insider, Boing Boing, @wikipedia and The Next Web, more at Techmeme »

Julia Jacobs / New York Times:

Bustle names Dan Peres as editor in chief of Gawker.com; Peres was editor in chief of Condé Nast's men's fashion magazine Details for 15 years — Gawker's parent company, Bustle Digital Group, has named the journalist Dan Peres as the editor in chief of Gawker.com …

Discussion: @allegraehobbs, @scottbix, @jpmanga, @yoda, @jamesfdennin, @mlcalderone, @jeremymbarr and @johannabarr

Paige Leskin / Business Insider:

YouTube shut down Fantastic Adventures, a channel with 800K subscribers, as creator gets arrested for allegedly mistreating her kids who performed in the shows — - YouTube creator Machelle Hackney, behind the popular channel “Fantastic Adventures,” has been arrested in connection …

Discussion: NBC News, The Wrap, BuzzFeed News, Washington Post, @broderick, @brionykidd, @ambiej, The A.V. Club and The Daily Caller

Emily Bell / Columbia Journalism Review:

After the events in New Zealand, journalists and tech companies should once again reflect on their roles in how extremist material enters the public square — Journalism has a panopticon problem. Just like the watchman in the center of Jeremy Bentham's theoretical circular prison …

Discussion: @jbenton and @columbiajourn

Ryan Faughnder / Los Angeles Times:

Sources: expected layoffs begin after the close of the Disney-Fox deal, with about two dozen senior-level executives at 20th Century Fox affected so far — Anticipated layoffs have begun at Fox, following the storied studio's sale to Walt Disney Co. earlier this week.

Discussion: /Film, Deadline and Hollywood Reporter

Brooks Barnes / New York Times:
Analysts say ripple effects of the Disney-21st Century Fox deal may not be clear for years: predictions include 3,000+ layoffs and more competition in streaming

Discussion: Fox News, Variety, @tonkohouse, @thr, Fox News, Hollywood Reporter, Hollywood Reporter, FierceVideo, Multichannel News, Business Insider, Vanity Fair, MacRumors, The Week and Variety

Spencer Soper / Bloomberg:

Sources: Amazon is beta testing video ads on its shopping app on iOS with plans for a similar product for Android later in 2019 — - Online retailer pushing video ad space in its smartphone apps — Product-related video content can keep shoppers from defecting

Discussion: @rasmus_kleis, more at Techmeme »

Mark Sweney / The Guardian:

Report: for the first time, music streaming accounted for more than half, at 54%, of UK record label income in the UK in 2018 as it hit £468M, up 35% YoY — Revenue from Spotify, Amazon and Apple rises as CD sales continue to fall — Music streaming services generated more than half …

Andrew Liptak / The Verge:

MPAA: streaming video subscriptions surpassed those for cable TV for the first time in 2018 globally, rising 131.2M or 27% YoY to 613.3M, as cable fell to 556M — But cable TV still rakes in more money — The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) reported today …

Discussion: The Wrap, 9to5Mac, GeekWire, Los Angeles Times, Engadget and Deadline

Laura M. Holson / New York Times:

After Rep. Devin Nunes sued Twitter and the @DevinCow account claiming defamation, the parody account gained 465K+ followers, surpassing his own follower count — Consider this: A parody account pretending to be an imaginary cow owned by Representative Devin Nunes, the California Republican …

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More News:

James Walker / Press Gazette:
At a UN Human Rights Council session, about 60 media groups support a draft document on the safety and independence of journalists

Michelle Castillo / Cheddar:
Sources: Netflix is upping its “marketing partnership” efforts, which include licensing characters and doing product placements in its shows

Discussion: @jonesonthenba

Mike Isaac / New York Times:
With no spammy notifications, bots and troll mentions, email newsletters are becoming a more attractive medium than news feeds for writers

Discussion: @millie, @alexisohanian, @nikillinit and Boing Boing

Caroline Haskins / Motherboard:
Interviews detail the ongoing battle on YouTube between children-focused channels making animated videos and those featuring humans

Sara Guaglione / MediaPost:
Forbes launches Forbes8, a streaming service aimed at entrepreneurs, featuring over 2,000 pieces of video content for $8.99 per month

Sarah Feldberg / Columbia Journalism Review:
A lawsuit in California about the employment misclassification of delivery truck drivers prompts some companies to stop working with freelance reporters

Discussion: @malenawatrous, @rachaelmyrow, @paperalphabet, @candjattorneys, @wordchem and @bu_law

Vlad Savov / The Verge:
By integrating Stadia into YouTube, Google plans to cement YouTube's dominance, as 200M users already watch gaming content there every day

Discussion: @oscb, @intelligencer, @glenngabe, @glenngabe, 9to5Google, Business Insider and TechCrunch

Rita Liao / TechCrunch:
In its first quarter since going public, Tencent Music posts net loss of $127M on $785M revenue, mainly due to a one-off share-based charge to label partners

Discussion: RAIN News, Billboard, CNBC, Billboard, Variety and Tencent Music, more at Techmeme »

Earlier Picks:

Reading Eagle:
The Reading Eagle Company in PA, with 236 full-time employees, is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, plans to keep publishing its newspaper as it seeks a buyer

Discussion: Poynter, CNN, @rogerdupuis2, @riley_yates, @bobcesca_go and @richterific

Margaret Sullivan / Washington Post:
Despite a diverse Democratic field for president in 2020, national media outlets focus on three white men, depicting candidates as characters in a drama

Discussion: @sulliview, @nprinskeep, @jrubinblogger, @amy_siskind, @amlwhere, @jayrosen_nyu, @katzonearth, @bobstep, @projomike, @heidilifeldman, @bykowicz, @sulliview, @sullivanamy, @nickconfessore, @karaswisher, @sjdemas and Slate

Jamie McGee / The Tennessean:
LifeWay Christian Resources, the publishing arm of the Southern Baptist Convention, says it will close all 170 of its brick-and-mortar bookstores in 2019

Discussion: WHNT-TV, The Alabama Baptist and Baptist Press News

Lauren Easton / The Definitive Source:
AP's VP for Standards, John Daniszewski, highlights attacks on journalists globally, at an International Press Institute event at the UN: “We need to get angry”

Discussion: @dabeard

Abner Li / 9to5Google:
Google launches two new fact-checking tools for journalists and says 50 partners are working with Subscribe With Google, including The Washington Post and FT

Discussion: Digiday, @googlenewsinit, @google, Search Engine Land, The Keyword and Fortune

Norberto Santana Jr / Voice of OC:
Around 33 newsrooms in California, including The LA Times and the Orange County Register, join forces to report on recently released police misconduct files

Discussion: Nieman Lab, @garveymcvg, @aclu_norcal, @jeremiahdobruck, @raju, Sacramento Bee and LAist

EU Press Room:
The European Commission has fined Google €1.49B for “abusive practices in online advertising” and breaching EU antitrust rules

Todd Spangler / Variety:
Deloitte Digital Media Trends: 47% US consumers are frustrated by subscriptions, 75% prefer pay TV with fewer ads, 82% say companies don't protect user data

Discussion: MediaPost, USA Today, Adweek, USA Today, @usatodaymoney, @karlbode, @rafat, American Press Institute, Awful Announcing and @macemoneta, more at Techmeme »

From Techmeme:

Forbes:
AI startup founders and VCs hope that a Trump administration will lead to lighter regulations and the return of real acquisitions, not “contorted” ones

Igor Bonifacic / Engadget:
Pocketpair says Nintendo and Pokémon Company are seeking ~$65K in damages in their lawsuit and lists the three patents the studio is accused of infringing

Financial Times:
Sources: TSMC told Chinese customers it would no longer manufacture AI chips at advanced process nodes of 7nm or smaller as of this coming Monday

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