Top News:
Christine Schmidt / Nieman Lab:
Facebook to give 60+ academics around the world access to its data for projects on news polarization, disinformation, and more — Facebook knows it screwed up, is trying to do better, and is spending some of this year actually listening to critiques and suggestions (supposedly).
Discussion:
items.ssrc.org, Facebook, @nanjala1, SOCIAL SCIENCE ONE, @mshannahmurphy, @kadhimshubber, @niemanlab, @ssrc_org, Engadget, The Verge, The Hill, CNET, Poynter, Adweek and VentureBeat, more at Techmeme »
Joshua Benton / Nieman Lab:
Amazon doorbell company Ring searches for an editor to deliver breaking crime alerts; local TV has already led Americans to overestimate crime rates — When news organizations think about competition from tech companies, it's usually in terms of the audience's attention and advertisers' dollars.
Discussion:
@jbenton, @byrosenberg, @byrosenberg, @stephmbuck, @andrewkragie, @michaelbarthel, @samanthaculp and @vectorpoem, more at Techmeme »
VICE News:
Fox News dominates Facebook with 80% more engagement than CNN through a mix of traditional news and viral content, despite having 17M followers vs CNN's 31M — By the time Robert Mueller's report on Russian interference landed, the battle to spin it had already begun, with politicians …
Discussion:
@jason_koebler, @viacristiano, @caseynewton, Media Matters for America and Slate
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Twitter announces live streaming content deals with Univision, WSJ, and Time and new initiatives with previous partners including Viacom, the NFL, and ESPN — - Twitter Expands Live-Streaming Video Lineup, Sets Content Deals With Viacom, ESPN, Live Nation, Univision, and More
Discussion:
The Wrap, TechCrunch, Deadline and Tubefilter, more at Techmeme »
Roger Parloff / Yahoo Finance:
Profile of Chris Cox, who, despite being chief product officer for years, never drew the attention for Facebook's scandals that Zuckerberg and Sandberg did — In late 2003, during his senior year at Stanford, Chris Cox, the future Chief Product Officer at Facebook (
Discussion:
@hkanji, @zooko, @hardcorevalue, @mathewi, @alexeheath, @mikeisaac, @yahoofinance, Business Insider and Beyond Search
Stuart Dredge / Music Ally:
Royalties from digital services to UK copyright society PRS for Music rose 17% to £145.7M in 2018, the first year of its licensing deal with Facebook — British collecting society PRS for Music saw its collections grow by 4.4% to £746m (around $965.4m) in 2018, setting a new record.
Discussion:
The Guardian, NME and Music Business Worldwide
Bloomberg:
Sources: Walmart plans to create at least 6 original Vudu shows over the next year, which will make money by advertising products, testing “shoppable content” — - Decade-old streaming service plans to tout new ad technology — Walmart Inc. already sells more TVs than anyone.
Discussion:
@lucas_shaw, TechCrunch, Gizmodo, Streaming Observer, Engadget, MacRumors, The Verge and Forbes, Thanks:@lucas_shaw
Washington Post:
Inside Lou Dobbs' TV career and his unusual relationship with Donald Trump as he helps shape the President's border policy — One day in mid-March, President Trump gathered his top economic team at the White House to get its read on the state of the nation's financial health.
Discussion:
@loudobbs, @snlester, @mattgertz, @costareports, @rolandsmartin, @swin24, @brianstelter, @philiprucker and Mercury News
Amanda Meade / The Guardian:
Nine Entertainment sells its Australian Community Media & Printing business, which includes 160+ former Fairfax regional papers, to ex-Fairfax exec for AU$115M — Former Domain boss Antony Catalano and Thorney Investment Group reach deal for Canberra Times, Newcastle Herald and others to change hands
Discussion:
ABC, Reuters, @lukehgomes, @grogsgamut, The West Australian, Australian Financial Review and NEWS.com.au
Ben Smith / BuzzFeed News:
The relationships between some political candidates and their supporters can resemble social media fandoms, making media vetting less relevant — If you covered American politics between 1976 and 2012, you developed a sense of the rhythm of a party primary: A big field of candidates would rise …
Discussion:
American Press Institute
Spotify:
Spotify reports Q1 revenue of €1.5B, up 33% YoY, reduces net loss to €142M, says it has 217M MAUs, up 26% YoY, with 100M premium subscribers, up 32% YoY — Spotify Technology S.A. (NYSE:SPOT) today reported financial results for the first fiscal quarter of 2019 ending March 31, 2019.
Discussion:
New York Times, The Guardian, Variety, Wall Street Journal, Forbes, @richbtig, @pkafka, USA Today, Business Insider, 9to5Mac, TechCrunch, Engadget and VentureBeat, more at Techmeme »
RELATED:
Nic Fildes / Financial Times:
Sources: UK's Telegraph Media Group plans to cut about 50 jobs in its commercial department as it continues its shift to a subscription-first revenue strategy — Telegraph Media Group has launched its latest round of restructuring as it presses ahead with its shift to a premium subscription-based model.
Discussion:
Digiday, @orskov and @jayrosen_nyu
IAB:
Advertisers to spend $18M on digital video, up nearly 25% YoY; half to be spent through programmatic buys, 70% of digital video advertisers use influencers — Advertisers report that they expect, on average, to spend $18M in 2019 in digital video—nearly 25% over last year.