Top News:
Simon Lewis / Reuters:
Reuters reporters Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo have been freed from prison after being jailed in Myanmar for more than 500 days — Simon Lewis, Shoon Naing — YANGON (Reuters) - Two Reuters journalists jailed in Myanmar after they were convicted of breaking the Official Secrets Act walked free …
Discussion:
@reuters, New York Times, Columbia Journalism Review, @kylepope, The Atlantic, SPJ News, Press Gazette, American Press Institute, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, @reuters, Reuters, @freedomofpress, @lthometafp, The Week, @journotopia, @miafarrow, @nickkristof, @jrezaian, Poynter, @jayrosen_nyu, @verambergen, @jon_allsop, @senjeffmerkley, @justintrudeau, @nickpbrown, @verambergen, Talking Points Memo, @petergreste, @caoilfhionnanna, @snolen, @unesco, NPR, Multichannel News, The Daily Caller, PEN America, Committee to Protect …, Quartz and PEN Hong Kong
Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg / Wall Street Journal:
A look at the investments Condé Nast-owner Advance Publications is making to diversify away from its media holdings as it embarks on a $10B shopping spree — Advance Publications Inc., owner of the Condé Nast magazine empire and metropolitan newspapers, is on a $10 billion …
Discussion:
@david_marcelis, @graham_couch, @jarroddicker, @brianstelter and @raju
Joe Pompeo / Vanity Fair:
Rolling Stone will begin publishing its own music charts, updated daily, beginning next Monday, in a challenge to Billboard — Mini media mogul Jay Penske is pushing into territory Billboard has held since the 1940s. But is the music world ready to switch?
Discussion:
Music Business Worldwide, Variety, @gloriousnoise, hypebot, @sterlewine and VICE
Caroline Crampton / Nieman Lab:
Luminary says it will allow podcasters to include links in their show notes, after previously removing them for “security” reasons — Welcome to Hot Pod, a newsletter about podcasts. This is issue 208, published May 7, 2019. — Luminary cleans up its show notes links situation.
Discussion:
RAIN News, hearluminary, The Verge and @hearluminary
Ashley Carman / The Verge:
Podfund, launching today, is making one-time investments in podcasts in exchange for a share of their revenue; the company raised $2.3M in its seed round — In exchange for part of their yearly revenue — The podcast industry is growing, but independent creators can still have a hard time making money.
Discussion:
@ashleyrcarman and @rafat
Kara Swisher / New York Times:
While social media platforms, as private entities, aren't bound by First Amendment guarantees, their self-descriptions as public squares creates confusion — The First Amendment doesn't say you can tweet whatever you want. — Ms. Swisher covers technology and is a contributing opinion writer.
Deadline:
More than 100 CNN employees accept voluntary buyouts amid company-wide WarnerMedia restructuring as AT&T seeks to reduce its debt, which reached $170B in 2018 — CNN is the latest division of AT&T's WarnerMedia to feel the effects of company-wide restructuring, with voluntary buyouts …
Peter Kafka / Vox:
Sources: Amazon in talks with big US publishers about paying them to expand internationally so it can reach more shoppers with its affiliate business — Big US publishers already make money from Amazon's “affiliate” business. Amazon wants them to make more, and may pay them upfront.
Discussion:
Nieman Lab, Fast Company, @mims, @pkafka, @caleweissman, @mariskreizman, @joshsternberg, @filloux, GeekWire, @martinsfp, @rafat and @jbenton
Rick Edmonds / Poynter:
CEO pay in 2018 stayed healthy at public newspaper companies: $6.1M for NYT's Mark Thompson, $5.3M for Gannett's Bob Dickey, $2.9M for McClatchy's Craig Forman — Million-dollar payouts common to news CEOs despite layoffs, cutbacks and stagnant salaries on the ground
Discussion:
@cecilwink65, @matthewkeyslive, @rickedmonds and @poynter
Lyz Lenz / Columbia Journalism Review:
Leadership of the NewsGuild, a union representing 20K+ journalists, may change in the upcoming election, as some members say the guild has been too passive — On May 13, the NewsGuild-CWA will begin tallying votes for its historic presidential election. The union, which represents …
Discussion:
@suhaunah, @cjr, @gaufre, @peternickeas, @thomaswilburn, @boxall, @lyzl, @pringlelatimes, @peternickeas, @pringlelatimes and @hamiltonnolan
Christine Schmidt / Nieman Lab:
Richland Source, a six-year-old digital news outlet in Ohio, is now automating high school sports articles and trying to expand its tech to other newsrooms — In the robots-are-coming-for-journalism world, it's usually big news organizations like The Washington Post or The Associated Press experimenting with automating their articles.
Discussion:
@jayallred651, @redlightvoices and @niemanlab
Eriq Gardner / Hollywood Reporter:
Federal judge rules in a case brought by the DOJ that the owner of a Washington, DC, radio station rebroadcasting Sputnik must register as foreign agent — A first-of-its-kind decision from a Florida federal judge rejects reasoning from RM Broadcasting on why it shouldn't have to register.