Top News:
Joshua Benton / Nieman Lab:
An example of the usability issues trying to find stories on Apple News+: a search for The Highlight by Vox — Eleven days ago, Apple unveiled its premium news subscription service, Apple News Plus. And as I wrote at the time, it was kind of disappointing.
Discussion:
@niemanlab and @laurahazardowen
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Apple Music has been growing at a monthly rate of 2.6% to 3% and had 28M US users in Feb., compared to Spotify's 26M US users and growth of 1.5% to 2% — Apple's music-streaming service has surpassed Spotify's in paid U.S. subscriptions yet lags its Swedish competitor globally.
Discussion:
CNBC, The Indian Express, Android Police, Recode, The Week, MediaPost, USA Today, @tomwarren, TechCrunch, @ow, 9to5Mac, @pkedrosky, @carlquintanilla, MacRumors, RAIN News, Ars Technica, hypebot and Music Business Worldwide, more at Techmeme »
CNN:
Netflix's DVD service, with its 2.7M US subscribers, appeals not only to those with poor broadband but also to many in urban areas seeking an extensive catalog — (CNN)Remember when Netflix used to be a DVD-by-mail company? Well, for 2.7 million subscribers in the US, it still is.
Discussion:
@harrymccracken, @pitdesi, @adriana_lacy, @sulliview and FYIMusicNews, more at Techmeme »
Daniel Green / Journalism.co.uk:
Journalists from India, Malta, and Turkey call on social media companies to crack down on political groups using their platforms to harass journalists — Examples of harassment of journalists in India, Malta and Turkey indicate how political groups are using online platforms to silence their critics
Discussion:
Variety, @maggienyt and @mollypriddy
Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
Analysis: the gender pay gap favoring men in UK media rose at 11 news outlets and declined at 22 in 2018; bonus gap was 56.3% at CNN and 50.2% at Hearst — Almost a third of UK media companies have seen their gender pay gaps increase (in favour of men) on the year before, new figures reveal.
Discussion:
Fast Company, The Guardian and Deadline
Katherine Rosman / New York Times:
As Cosmo's EIC, Jessica Pels has focused on the magazine's online presence, growing digital subscriptions, affiliate revenue, and using Instagram as inspiration — Jessica Pels, the editor, is trying to save the magazine from the jaws of Instagram. — “Bad ideas first!” …
Discussion:
@michellemanafy, @sarahccaldwell, @eholmes, @racheld, @katierosman, @juliaccarpenter and @ekingc
Benedict Evans:
Apple's subscription announcements last week were aimed at increasing incremental revenue, reducing churn, and emphasizing its brand of safety and curation — - We expected a TV event and got a subscription event - news & magazines, games, a credit card and Oprah.
Discussion:
@timothybucksf, more at Techmeme »
Lesley Goldberg / Hollywood Reporter:
The creators of HBO's Westworld, Lisa Joy and Jonah Nolan, are leaving Warner Bros. TV to join Amazon, in what sources estimate is a deal worth $30M+/year — Lisa Joy and Jonah Nolan have exited their home at Warner Bros. TV but will remain involved with the HBO genre drama.
Discussion:
Deadline, /Film, @sharontalyguado and The Verge
Rob Williams / MediaPost:
Vogue returns to Greece after shutting down in 2012 due to the economic crisis; its 29-year-old EIC Thaleia Karafyllidou is the youngest of any Vogue title — This week, Vogue returned to Greece after a seven-year absence as the Mediterranean country's economy enters its third year of growth after bottoming in 2016.
Harry A. Jessell / TVNewsCheck:
Borrell report: Facebook, Google received 70% of the $60B in local digital ad spending in 2018; TV comprised 9% of local ad spend, beating newspapers, a first — The social media giant and search engine now account for 70% of the $60 billion spent on digital advertising in 2018 …
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
Africa-focused music streaming service Boomplay raises $20M, bringing the total raised to $25.5M, says it has 42M MAUs and is adding ~2M users/mo — While Spotify dukes it out with Apple and other big tech names to target high-end users in mostly developed markets, a startup out of China …
Discussion:
@seyitaylor, more at Techmeme »
Julia Ziemer / Polis:
Google News Initiative and LSE's journalism think tank are collaborating on Journalism AI, a project to survey media usage of AI and foster AI literacy — Introducing Journalism AI, a collaboration between LSE's Polis and the Google News Initiative to foster literacy in newsrooms globally about artificial intelligence.
Paul Karp / The Guardian:
Australia passes law penalizing content service providers and hosting services for failing to quickly remove abhorrent violent content, despite tech opposition — Labor supports legislation in response to Christchurch shooting that threatens jail for executives, despite media companies' concerns
Discussion:
Associated Press, @donie, The Wrap, @vickerysec, TIME, New York Times, ZDNet, @baekdal, iTnews, ZDNet, ARN, Boing Boing, aph.gov.au, Engadget, 9to5Google and NPR
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