Mediagazer: AMC says its movie ticket subscription service, AMC Stubs A-List, now has over 800K members, after adding 200K in 2019 (Etan Vlessing/Hollywood Reporter)

Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:

Sources: ByteDance, owner of TikTok, is developing a paid music service via a new app it expects to debut as early as this fall, mostly in emerging markets — - ByteDance plans to target listeners in emerging markets — Company has already secured rights from Indian record labels

Discussion: Digiday, Fast Company, TechCrunch, Engadget, @singareddynm, Digiday, @venkatananth and @luluyilun, more at Techmeme »

The Daily Beast:

Sources: Fox News host Pete Hegseth had multiple private conversations with Trump since January, asking him to pardon US servicemen convicted of war crimes — The president isn't just watching the network, he's taking policy advice from its morning hosts. — If the president pardons U.S …

Discussion: @willsommer, New Republic, @chillmage, @thedailybeast, @shaneharris, @kenklippenstein, Hmm Daily, @heerjeet, Mediaite, Mediaite and Slate

Don Seiffert / Boston Business Journal:

Boston Globe digital subscribers surpassed weekday print subs for the first time earlier this year, likely making it the first regional US daily to have done so — The Boston Globe reached a milestone earlier this year when the number of its digital subscribers surpassed …

Discussion: Media Nation, @dskok, @daviduberti and Dan Kennedy

Abbey Crain / al.com:

Alabama Public Television refuses to air an episode of children's animated series “Arthur” that featured a gay wedding; APT has no plans to air it in the future — Alabama Public Television chose not to air PBS's Arthur episode that included a same-sex marriage.

Discussion: @nycsouthpaw, ScreenRant, @dabeard, The Hill, @aldotcom, Complex, NBC News, @saladinahmed, @thedweck, TVLine and Mediaite

Josh Constine / TechCrunch:

Instagram quietly overhauls the design of IGTV to have just one central feed, much like TikTok, as it tries to ramp up the app's growth a year after launch — Instagram conquered Stories, but it's losing the battle for the next video formats. TikTok is blowing up with an algorithmically suggested vertical …

Discussion: @joshconstine, 9to5Mac, @joshconstine and Digiday, more at Techmeme »

Max Willens / Digiday:

Salon's new owner, Chris Richmond, says profitability will be achieved through improved tech, operations, and better ad rates, not job cuts — Salon's new owners say they see an easy path to profits for the troubled news publisher. — On May 8, Salon Media Group disclosed in a filing …

Discussion: @jbenton, @jbenton, @mathewi, @jbenton and @digiday

Hannah Murphy / Financial Times:

Snap says it has appointed Derek Andersen, its VP of finance, as CFO, and Lara Sweet, its chief accounting officer and interim CFO, as chief people officer — Snap has opted to promote two executives internally to its finance and human resources chief roles, as part of a management overhaul …

Discussion: Variety, TechCrunch and The Wrap, more at Techmeme »

Daniel Funke / Poynter:

Analysis of 36 fact-checking outlets finds gender disparity similar to newsrooms: 41% of fact-checkers are women, 71% of fact-checking sites are run by men — Independent fact-checkers are the first line of defense against misinformation. — They debunk fake news stories …

Discussion: @brooklynmarie

Discussion: @fullfact, Tech Digest and Research Live

Brian Steinberg / Variety:

NBC News hires Chris Berend, head of digital video at CNN, as executive vice president of NBC News Digital, replacing Nick Ascheim — Chris Berend, an executive who has been overseeing digital video for CNN and helped launch Great Big Story, a streaming-video site aimed at younger audiences …

Discussion: MediaPost and TVNewser

Etan Vlessing / Hollywood Reporter:

AMC says its movie ticket subscription service, AMC Stubs A-List, now has over 800K members, after adding 200K in 2019 — The mega-movie chain says its program is now the No. 1 movie ticket subscription offering in North America. — AMC Theaters' monthly movie ticket subscription program AMC Stubs …

Discussion: Variety

Patrick Shanley / Hollywood Reporter:

Sony Interactive Entertainment has launched PlayStation Productions, a production studio to adapt the company's video game catalog for film and television — PlayStation Productions, headed by Asad Qizilbash and overseen by SIE chairman of Worldwide Studios Shawn Layden …

Discussion: USgamer.net, ScreenRant, @kcoxdc, @toadsanime, Variety, The A.V. Club, Polygon, /Film and Engadget

Julia Alexander / The Verge:

Professional gamer Tfue sues esports org FaZe Clan over allegedly “oppressive” contract, says FaZe violates CA law by acting as an unlicensed talent agency — The lawsuit could be a turning point for e-sports organizations — A new lawsuit filed against Faze Clan …

Discussion: Hollywood Reporter, The Atlantic, Fortnite INTEL, @eriqgardner, @loudmouthjulia, Fortnite INTEL, Dot Esports, @nickstatt, Dexerto.com, Newsweek, ESPN, CNET, USA Today and Kotaku, more at Techmeme »

Electronic Frontier Foundation:

EFF launches TOSsed Out, a project to highlight how content moderation by platforms, whether automated or by human intervention, unfairly bans people — San Francisco—The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) today launched TOSsed Out, a project to highlight the vast spectrum of people silenced …

Discussion: @rasmus_kleis, @eff, @jilliancyork, Gizmodo and Boing Boing