Mediagazer: Q&A with J.J Abrams on his deal with Apple and his production company Bad Robot, which is exploring storytelling through films, TV, movie-related games, more (Fast Company)

Joseph Kieta / @josephkieta:

[Thread] Fresno Bee and McClatchy say lawsuit by Nunes is an attack on local journalism and a “misuse of the judicial system”, claim CA is proper venue for suit — Statement from @FresnoBee and @mcclatchy:We understand that @devinnunes filed a lawsuit yesterday in Charlottesville, Virginia, claiming defamation against McClatchy, based on a story published by his hometown news source, The Fresno Bee. A thread ...

Discussion: Mediaite, @brianstelter, Washington Examiner, @dangillmor, @senyorreporter, Fox News Insider, Mediaite and The Week

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 …

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: Washington Post, YouTube, Mediaite, @donie, Vanity Fair, Splinter, The Verge, @oneunderscore__, @jjmacnab, @mehdirhasan, @tonyromm and The Daily Beast

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

Discussion: Poynter

Claire Atkinson / NBC News:

Former 60 Minutes correspondent Lara Logan will start a three-month assignment on May 1 as a special correspondent for Sinclair covering the US-Mexico border — Logan's hiring adds to recent moves by Sinclair that hint at the company's national news ambitions outside of the journalism produced by its local TV stations.

Discussion: Hollywood Reporter, TVNewser, Mediaite, Contemptor, Raw Story and RealClearPolitics

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

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

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 »

Nicholas Quah / Nieman Lab:

Luminary, a paid audio content app, plans to roll out on April 23, will cost $8/month with its exclusive shows being ad-free — Welcome to Hot Pod, a newsletter about podcasts. This is issue 203, published April 9, 2019. — Luminary to launch at the end of the month.

Discussion: Hot Pod News

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, @newsbyschmidt, @jbenton and @marcusgilmer

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

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.

Itay Hod / The Wrap:

Kate Ward, Bustle Digital Group's founding editor in chief, announces she's leaving the company after six years — Bustle founder and editor-in-chief Kate Ward is leaving the company after six years. — “In 2013, I joined a start-up in the hopes of creating a new digital publication …

Discussion: @katewardbustle

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

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, Mashable, YouTube Blog and Engadget

Fast Company:

Q&A with J.J Abrams on his deal with Apple and his production company Bad Robot, which is exploring storytelling through films, TV, movie-related games, more — J.J. Abrams, one of Hollywood's most successful and prolific TV creators and filmmakers (Lost, Alias, Cloverfield, Star Trek) …

Discussion: io9, /Film, The Playlist and IndieWire

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