Top News:
Sara Fischer / Axios:
Subscription-based sports site The Athletic is launching 20 ad-free podcasts across its app and website on Tuesday, produced by 12 new hires — The Athletic, a subscription-based digital sports media company, is launching a multi-million dollar podcasting business.
Josh Feldman / Mediaite:
After suing Twitter, Rep. Devin Nunes is suing McClatchy and others for alleged defamation, referring to a McClatchy-owned Fresno Bee article, seeks $150M — Congressman Devin Nunes is filing another lawsuit. — Following the lawsuit he filed last month against Twitter, Liz Mair …
Discussion:
New York Times, Fox News, Techdirt, Gizmodo, @emlas, @verambergen, @mollyjongfast, @jennycohn1, @juddlegum, @pittgriffin, @realjameswoods, @briantylercohen, @palafo, @jaycaruso, @jeremyherb, @jeffreyguterman, @greta, Washington Examiner, HuffPost Australia, Raw Story, New York Post and Splinter
Sahil Patel / Digiday:
Magna Global: OTT-based advertising reached $2.7B in revenue in 2018, up 54% YoY, and is expected to grow 39% in 2019 to $3.8B and 31% in 2020 to $5B — Disney, WarnerMedia and other media giants are going “direct to consumer” with new subscription streaming services.
Discussion:
Broadcasting & Cable and FierceVideo
Louise Story / Nieman Lab:
The Wall Street Journal has redesigned its comments section, renaming it “Conversations”, in an attempt to engage readers who do not comment often — Our readers this week will see a lot of changes built around the goal of elevating the quality of community discourse on WSJ.com.
Discussion:
Talking Biz News, @toddjolmstead, @janebsinger, @ismaelnafria, @niemanlab, @laurahazardowen and @gvipers
Mike Fleming / Deadline:
Sources: Netflix is in talks to buy the Egyptian Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles, which would be its first brick and mortar theater acquisition — EXCLUSIVE: Netflix is in preliminary talks with American Cinematheque to buy the venerable Egyptian Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard.
Discussion:
/Film, The Week, Bloomberg, The A.V. Club, @uhnet, @theflitecast, The Playlist, @r2b2walton, @functionalnerd and @thathagengrrl
Megha Rajagopalan / BuzzFeed News:
A profile of The Whistle, the only fact-checking organization in Israel working with Facebook, which has just five staffers and a handful of student volunteers — The only Israeli organization working with Facebook to fact-check news ahead of Israel's elections started last week, just days before voters go to the polls.
Discussion:
The Verge, @buzzfeednews and @miriamelder
RELATED:
Wendy Davis / MediaPost:
Major ad industry associations, including ANA and IAB, are launching Privacy for America, a new lobby group that will advocate for a federal data privacy law — A group of major ad industry associations is launching a new organization, Privacy for America, that aims to shape federal privacy laws.
Kelly McCarthy / ABC News:
ABC News producer Alexa Valiente passed away over the weekend at the age of 27 — She will be remembered for her bright personality and infectious love of life. — Alexa Valiente, a producer for ABC News for six years, passed away over the weekend. — Valiente, who had been facing health issues …
Discussion:
People.com, TVWeek.com, Politico, @jazdidwhat, @betsy_klein, @abbydphillip, @springer, @alyssanewcomb, @abcworldnews, @kfaulders, @nia_official, @myhlee, @iamamnanawaz, @mattgutmanabc, The Wrap, Fox News and gofundme.com
William D. Cohan / Vanity Fair:
Sources: CBS is struggling to recruit a CEO, as potential candidates are wary of the Redstones and the company's culture; Richard Plepler turned down the job — Plepler is a no. Katzenberg is a no. Ianniello wants to stay—but he's a Moonves guy. Will an A-lister come to clean up Redstone's mess?
Discussion:
@gerryfsmith and @media_evan
Sarah Whitten / CNBC:
At CinemaCon in Las Vegas last week, movie distributors and theatre owners alike said streaming services like Netflix were not impacting theatre ticket sales — - At CinemaCon in Las Vegas last week, movie distributors and theater owners alike say there is little to fear from a growing population of streaming services.
Nieman Foundation:
Mother Jones CEO Monika Bauerlein and Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery have been awarded the 2019 I.F. Stone Medal for Journalistic Independence — In recognition of their enduring support of investigative reporting and independent journalists, Monika Bauerlein and Clara Jeffery of Mother Jones magazine …
Discussion:
@tasneemraja, @carletoncollege, @niemanfdn, @davidcorndc, @nobleideas, @jayrosen_nyu, @juliachanb and @7im
Ted Johnson / Variety:
YouTube has disabled comments on a livestream of the House Judiciary Committee's hearing on hate crimes because it was generating too much hate speech — WASHINGTON — YouTube has disabled the commenting function on a livestream of a House Judiciary Committee hearing on hate crimes …
Discussion:
Mediaite, Splinter, NBC News, @oneunderscore__ and The Daily Beast
Aliya Iftikhar / Columbia Journalism Review:
Rising Kashmir editor Syed Shujaat Bukhari's murder remains unsolved after 10 months, perpetuating a climate of fear and censorship among Kashmiri journalists — Ahead of India's national elections, the mystery of Shujaat Bukhari creates a climate of fear and censorship
Discussion:
@cjr, @pressfreedom, @jameelyusuf, @aliyazeba, @pressfreedom, @pressfreedom, @pressfreedom, @pressfreedom, @pressfreedom, @gijn, @jclassrooms and @stphnfwlr
Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
YouTube says it will begin developing choose-your-own-adventure-style shows under a new unit, following the success of Netflix's “Bandersnatch” and others — - Video site is steering program dollars into new technology — Company to announce new slate of shows next month in New York
Discussion:
Variety, Hollywood Reporter and The Wrap
Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
Press Association says eight regional news companies have signed up to its robot-powered news service, Radar, which has filed 100K stories since June 2018 — Eight regional news providers have signed up as the first paying subscribers to the Press Association's “robot-generated” news service.
Discussion:
@puzzlesthewill
Carolyn Giardina / Hollywood Reporter:
NAB CEO Gordon Smith has called on tech companies including Apple to embed broadcast chips in smartphones to enable broadcasting without a cell network — Gordon Smith called on lawmakers to address the “threat” to local journalism by tech companies by “increas[ing] regulation on the tech industry …