Mediagazer: 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 (Mike Fleming/Deadline)

8:05 PM ET, April 9, 2019

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Joseph Kieta / @josephkieta:

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Josh Feldman / Mediaite:

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Ted Johnson / Variety:

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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.

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: CNBC, TVWeek.com, Bloomberg, @uhnet, @laurasmiscmovie, /Film, @theflitecast, @r2b2walton, @davidscottjaffe, The Playlist, The Week, @functionalnerd, @thathagengrrl and The A.V. Club

Lauren Easton / Associated Press:

AP announces it will expand its fact checking of false and misleading information that appears on Facebook, now also vetting video and Spanish-language content — The Associated Press announced today it will expand its robust efforts to debunk false and misleading information …

Discussion: Poynter

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

Discussion: The Verge, @buzzfeednews and @miriamelder

Joshua Benton / Nieman Lab:

Amazon is rolling out an Alexa feature in the US that provides radio-like long-form news from Bloomberg, CNBC, CNN, Fox News, Newsy, and NPR — Hey, owners of an Amazon Echo! (Or hell, owners of that voice-controlled Amazon microwave!) Ever ask Alexa for some news?

Discussion: TechCrunch, Engadget, @jbenton, Mashable and @jbenton

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, Gizmodo, The Wrap and Engadget, more at Techmeme »

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: @ismaelnafria, @toddjolmstead, @janebsinger, @erikholmwsj, @laurakusisto, @niemanlab, @sarahnassauer, @laurahazardowen, @womenatdj, @coralproject, @gvipers and Talking Biz News

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

Sarah Whitten / CNBC:

At CinemaCon in Las Vegas last week, movie distributors and theater owners alike said streaming services like Netflix were not impacting theater 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.

Discussion: IndieWire, @ckrewson and @cnbc

Allegra Frank / Vox:

“Kill This Love” video from K-pop group Blackpink hits milestones on iTunes and YouTube, surpassing 100M YouTube views within two days and 14 hours — Destiny's Child held the iTunes record for 15 years before Blackpink came along. — What do Destiny's Child and Psy have in common?

Discussion: TechCrunch, The Verge, YouTube Blog, Mashable and Engadget

Joshua Benton / Nieman Lab:

A study of 11 California newspapers and 46 municipalities shows that cities with sharp declines in newsroom staffing had reduced competition in mayoral races — “In a well-functioning system, citizens need to be actively engaged in their government and aware of decisions made by their elected representatives.

Discussion: SAGE Journals, @marcusgilmer, @newsbyschmidt and @jbenton

Andrew McCormick / Columbia Journalism Review:

Brooklyn-based online news site Bklyner is producing a free print compilation of its best stories about once a month, supported in part by local advertisers — Last Thursday, at 8:30am in Brooklyn's Park Slope neighborhood, Liena Zagare, editor of the hyperlocal news site Bklyner …

Discussion: @bklyner

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 …

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, @jazdidwhat, @betsy_klein, @abbydphillip, @springer, @alyssanewcomb, @abcworldnews, @kfaulders, @nia_official, @myhlee, @iamamnanawaz, @mattgutmanabc, Politico, New York Post, The Wrap, Fox News, TVWeek.com and gofundme.com

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.

Discussion: Adweek and AList

Jon Seidel / Chicago Sun-Times:

Chicago's historic Johnson Publishing Company, which started the magazines Ebony and Jet, files for Chapter 7 bankruptcy; it sold the magazines in 2016 — Chicago's historic Johnson Publishing Company has filed for bankruptcy, court records show. — The Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition …

Discussion: @samjcharles, @broderickgreer, @adamserwer and Roland Martin

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