Mediagazer: Reed Hastings' representative says he donated to Missouri legislators to support charter schools, after controversy over lawmakers' vote for 8-week abortion ban (Gene Maddaus/Variety)

7:10 AM ET, May 31, 2019

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Study on behavioral ad targeting finds that publishers only get about 4% more revenue for an ad impression that has a cookie enabled than for one that doesn't — Finding could affect where publishers line up in brewing privacy battles — Are creepy advertisements really necessary to support the free web?

Discussion: Fast Company, MediaPost, Marketing Dive, @jason_kint and @profcarroll, Thanks:@beet_tv

Gene Maddaus / Variety:

Reed Hastings' representative says he donated to Missouri legislators to support charter schools, after controversy over lawmakers' vote for 8-week abortion ban — Netflix CEO Reed Hastings has long advocated for charter schools, giving money to Republicans and Democrats across the country in support of the education reform movement.

Discussion: @sdkstl, TVWeek.com, Mashable and TechCrunch

Katie Kilkenny / Hollywood Reporter:

WarnerMedia, AMC, Sony Pictures Entertainment, and NBCUniversal say they will reevaluate filming in Georgia if a restrictive abortion law goes into effect — A slew of major Hollywood studios with business in the state finally spoke up about how the “highly restrictive legislation” …

Discussion: The Wrap, Deadline, @thr, @juddapatow, Fortune and The Verge

Popular Information:
Netflix said it would rethink filming in GA pending abortion law, but CEO has given $143K to GOP members of MO legislature, which passed an 8-week abortion ban

Discussion: @juddlegum, @juddlegum, @charlesjaco1, Mother Jones, @juddlegum, Vox and Quartz

Lisa Richwine / Reuters:
Disney's Bob Iger said it would be difficult to film in Georgia if a new abortion law takes effect: “Many people who work for us will not want to work there”

Discussion: Variety, Deadline, The Wrap, CNN, Consequence of Sound, @brianstelter, The Daily Caller, Washington Post, Business Insider, Fox News, NPR, HuffPost, The Playlist, KTLA, PAPER, io9, /Film, @reuters, New York Times, Mediaite, Vanity Fair, The Week, Forbes, USA Today, BGR, EW.com, Fortune, thedisinsider.com, The A.V. Club, The Wrap and Hollywood Reporter

Wall Street Journal:

Sources: Gannett has held merger talks with GateHouse Media, which would unite the US's two biggest newspaper groups; it's also spoken to McClatchy and Tribune — The potential tie-up would bring together the two largest newspaper groups in the country — USA Today publisher Gannett Co …

Discussion: Nieman Lab, @jbenton, @howardowens, @dangillmor, @chriscincibiz, @ctrent, @mathewi, @lalpert1, USA Today and New York Post

Carlos Maza / @gaywonk:

[Thread] Despite policies against harassment, YouTube lets Steve Crowder videos stay up, with repeated attacks on Carlos Maza's sexual orientation and ethnicity — So, I have pretty thick skin when it comes to online harassment, but something has been really bothering me.

Discussion: @brfreed, @revrrlewis, @justin_ling, @yoda, @ekp, @karenkho, @jaredlholt, @kurtbardella, @lpolgreen and @moneyries

David Cohen / Adweek:

The Trust Project, which helps assess news sources, is launching as a nonprofit, with $2.25M via Craig Newmark Philanthropies, Facebook, and the Democracy Fund — It received a $2.25 million infusion from Facebook, Craig Newmark Philanthropies, the Democracy Fund

Discussion: Axios, The Verge, @craignewmark, @journethics and @journethics, more at Techmeme »

Daniel Funke / Poynter:

Though fact checks of the Pelosi video on Facebook had small audiences, fact checks for other falsehoods have had more reach than what they debunked — Nancy Pelosi didn't slur her words at an event in Washington, D.C., last week. But a video making it look like she did has been viewed millions of times on Facebook.

Discussion: @dpfunke, KQED and NBC News

Farhad Manjoo / New York Times:
Critics slammed Facebook and Twitter for hosting a doctored video of Pelosi, but many overlooked Fox News, which smeared Pelosi via a separate video montage

Discussion: The Verge, @jayrosen_nyu, Washington Post, @techreview, Techdirt, @ddayen, @techreview, The Guardian, @oliverdarcy, @ryanlcooper, @drewharwell, @nicoleperlroth, @max_read, @walldo, @lolgop, @fmanjoo, Politico, Bloomberg and Mediaite

Michael M. Grynbaum / New York Times:

In interview, Michael Wolff says as a non-institutional reporter it's “silly” to ask subjects for their responses to claims when you know what they will be — “I'm a New York guy,” the author says. “Trump is a New York guy. In the end, we know a lot of the same people.”

Discussion: @oliverdarcy, @dicktofel, @dylanbyers, @isaacdovere, @yashar, @nytimesbusiness, @joepompeo, @jayrosen_nyu, The Daily Caller, Washingtonian, Mediaite and CNN

Katie Kilkenny / Hollywood Reporter:

Study of reviewers on Rotten Tomatoes finds men and women comprise 66% and 34%, respectively, of film critics working for print, broadcast, and online outlets — The latest Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film study of Rotten Tomatoes reviewers found male film critics dominated …

Discussion: The Wrap and Variety

Dani Deahl / The Verge:

In the age of music streaming, missing, bad, or inconsistent song metadata is estimated to have left billions on the table unpaid to artists and musicians — Recently, a musician signed to a major indie label told me they were owed up to $40,000 in song royalties they would never be able to collect.

Discussion: @karenmcgrane, @sammyandrews, @danideahl and @reckless, more at Techmeme »

Sarah Sluis / AdExchanger:

New York Post CEO Sean Giancola plans to diversify revenue with a commerce program to recommend products and a digital subscription launching later this year — The New York Post promoted Sean Giancola to publisher and CEO in January after Jesse Angelo left the company.

Mark Sweney / The Guardian:

Netflix raises prices in UK by £1 to £8.99 for its standard plan and by £2 to £11.99 for a premium plan; the price for a basic plan remains unchanged at £5.99 — Streaming firm says increases will let it spend more on shows as it looks to see off Disney+

Discussion: The Verge, FierceVideo and Engadget, more at Techmeme »

Brent Lang / Variety:

The Atlantic signs a first-look deal with Anonymous Content for the magazine's past and present content; Emerson Collective is an investor in both companies — The Atlantic and Anonymous Content have signed a first-look agreement, Variety has learned. Under the pact, Anonymous …

Discussion: The Wrap