Top News:
Josh Constine / TechCrunch:
Facebook launches new Ad Library that now makes all active ads and inactive political ads searchable, opens Ad Library API to all Facebook-verified developers — Now you can search Facebook for how much Trump has spent on ads in the past year, which Pages' ads reference immigration, or what a Page's previous names were.
Discussion:
New York Times, MediaPost, Facebook, Facebook, CNBC, @joshconstine, @facebook, Engadget and Fast Company, more at Techmeme »
Jon Russell / TechCrunch:
Sources: Financial Times' parent company Nikkei will buy one-third of Singapore-based Deal Street Asia in a ~$5M deal that is expected to close in April — Fresh from picking up a majority stake in Europe-based The Next Web, the Financial Times is buying another tech blog.
Alexandra Stevenson / New York Times:
Rappler's Maria Ressa is arrested and posts bail in the Philippines for allegedly violating a law that prohibits majority foreign ownership of a media outlet — Maria Ressa, the co-founder of an online news start-up critical of President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines …
Janko Roettgers / Variety:
Sony Pictures TV sells Crackle to CSS Entertainment, which will launch a joint venture called Crackle Plus; Sony gets stock warrants, contributes backend tech — Sony Pictures Television has found of a new home for its Crackle ad-supported streaming service: The company struck a deal …
Discussion:
TechCrunch, MediaPost, Associated Press, Engadget, @reckless, Hollywood Reporter, The Wrap, Adweek and Deadline
Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
Nickelodeon acquires learning app Sparkler and plans to fold it into Noggin, its video service for preschoolers, which has ~2.5M subscribers — Nickelodeon wants to turn kids' living rooms into classrooms. — The Viacom Inc.-owned kids' network has acquired the learning app Sparkler …
Discussion:
Business Wire
Maxwell Tani / The Daily Beast:
Staff at Conde Nast's Ars Technica and Pitchfork have unionized under the NewsGuild of New York — Employees told managers Friday they intend to join the NewsGuild, joining a wave of journalists organizing across the industry. — Staff at two more Condé Nast publications announced Friday …
Discussion:
@p4kunion and @ars_union
Aidan McLaughlin / Mediaite:
Source: while at the White House, Bill Shine called Fox News control room during an Ivanka Trump interview asking producers to change the chyron; they refused — Bill Shine was accustomed to calling into control rooms at Fox News when he served as co-president of the network.
Discussion:
TVNewser
Chaim Gartenberg / The Verge:
YouTube TV completes its US rollout and is now available in all 210 US TV markets — All 210 US TV markets now have access to YouTube TV — YouTube TV has officially completed its US rollout, with the company announcing that the over-the-top internet streaming service is now available in the Glendive …
Discussion:
BGR, Tubefilter, FierceVideo, MacRumors, Engadget and Android Police
Jay Rosen / PressThink:
Jay Rosen, who helped The Correspondent in its campaign to fund its English-language expansion, says mistakes were made in communications as plans evolved — A decision not to have its headquarters in New York or the US, and to base the English-language site in Amsterdam, has drawn criticism from supporters.
Discussion:
@tasneemraja, @jbenton, @jbenton, @jayrosen_nyu, @dansinker, @jbenton, @davewiner, @mjenkins, @mjenkins, @mjenkins, @vivian, @emilybell, @dansinker, @mjenkins, @stphnfwlr, @jbenton, @mathewi, @mattbors, @jessicahuseman, @digiphile, @arictoler, @mathewi, @mathewi, @dangillmor, @petersterne, @michellemanafy and Nieman Lab
Rita Liao / TechCrunch:
Alibaba invests $171M in publicly traded Qutoutiao in the form of a convertible loan which would convert into a 4% stake in the Chinese news content aggregator — The race to give Chinese users their daily dose of news intensifies as Qutoutiao, a rival to TikTok parent Bytedance, net an installment of sizable backing.
Discussion:
Qutoutiao Inc. and Bloomberg
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Apple to close Texture on May 28, will offer Texture customers a one-month free trial to Apple News+, which will be available only to Apple users — A year ago, Apple acquired the digital newsstand app Texture to form the basis of its new subscription-based service, Apple News+, which launched on Monday.
Discussion:
MacRumors and 9to5Mac, more at Techmeme »
Andrew Liptak / The Verge:
MGM's Epix rolls out its Epix Now streaming service to Roku and Amazon Fire TV subscribers for $5.99/month — It has a decent library of shows and films — In February, MGM launched a streaming service for its premium channel Epix called Epix Now for iOS and Android users.
Discussion:
Multichannel News, Pocket-lint, Engadget, MediaPost and Broadcasting & Cable