Top News:
BBC:
Facebook agrees to pay a £500K fine to the UK for its role in the Cambridge Analytica scandal but makes no admission of liability — Facebook has agreed to pay a £500,000 fine imposed by the UK's data protection watchdog for its role in the Cambridge Analytica scandal.
Discussion:
Data & Society, Press Gazette, Reuters, VentureBeat, CNBC and @mathewi, more at Techmeme »
Peter Kafka / Vox:
HBO Max to launch in May and cost $15 a month, same as the existing HBO; AT&T plans to bundle free subscriptions for some customers of its other services — HBOMax, WarnerMedia's new streaming service, will feature all of HBO's shows, like Game of Thrones, plus new programing. HBO
Discussion:
@jonerlichman, Fast Company, Financial Times, @hbomax, Variety, The Wrap, CNBC, Variety, The Streamable, @arttavana, Financial Times, @karlbode, Light Reading, MediaPost, @reckless, @pkafka, @marvelology, @reckless, @id_aa_carmack, Consequence of Sound, @mgsiegler, @reckless, @xpangler, @richlightshed, @xpangler, @xpangler, @xpangler, Wall Street Journal, Broadcasting & Cable, The Streamable, The Wrap, The Verge, /Film, Multichannel News, Hollywood Reporter and Variety, more at Techmeme »
Maxwell Tani / The Daily Beast:
Sources: following public criticism of autoplay ads from G/O Media's editorial team, Farmers Insurance Group has pulled an ad deal, reportedly worth $1M+ — The ads were axed after G/O Media staffers at Deadspin and other sites spoke out against irritating autoplay ads …
Discussion:
@bradinage42, @davidmackau, @futterish, @kateconger, @chrisgayomali, Fox News, HuffPost, @jaythenerdkid and Mediaite
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Sahil Patel / Wall Street Journal:
Sources: G/O Media decided to autoplay ads from Farmers Insurance Group after missing targets for a deal that required 43.5M impressions through September 2020 — Management and staff battle over ad strategies and editorial edicts — The publisher of the former Gawker Media websites …
Discussion:
@megancarpentier, @ryanlcooper and The Daily Beast
Ryan Glasspiegel / The Big Lead:
Deadspin's interim editor-in-chief, Barry Petchesky, who has worked for the publication for 10 years, says he has been fired for “not sticking to sports”
Discussion:
@barry, The Outline, @kerrymflynn, @gmgunion, @dansolomon, @bubbaprog, @gmgunion, Poynter, The Guardian, New York Post, @sarahspain, @megreenwell, Breitbart, @outline, @jemelehill, @byjoelanderson, @jonbernhardt, @goldietaylor, @maxkennerly, @dansolomon, @robneyer, @stephentotilo, @ashleyfeinberg, @libbycwatson, @bruce_arthur, @dceiver, @brianpshea, @taylorcocke, @catmsilverman, @sdkstl, @jonbolds, @natalieweiner, @maxwelltani, @weareyourfek, @sportsrapport, @ryanlcooper, @kentremendous, @mlcalderone and Awful Announcing
Kelsey Mckinney / @mckinneykelsey:
Deadspin writer says G/O Media management removed a letter to the readers from Deadspin staff that criticised the recent addition of autoplay videos to the site
Discussion:
@sueonthetown, CNN, @chronotope, @gmgunion, VICE, @barry, @williamfleitch, @katiedrumm, @mckinneykelsey, @ashleyfeinberg and Awful Announcing
Maxwell Tani / The Daily Beast:
G/O Media Editorial Director Paul Maidment calls Deadspin's focus an “incredibly broad mandate”: “We are sorry that some on the Deadspin staff don't agree”
Discussion:
Sports Media Guy, @sgtjanedoe, @andrewkirell, @shortformernie, @kantrowitz, @yc, Deadline, @espiers, bookforum.com, The Wrap and Business Insider
New York Times:
NBC News Digital employees say they are forming a union of 150 workers with the News Guild of New York, driven partly by the network's handling of misconduct — Employees of NBC's digital news division announced on Wednesday that they intend to form a union representing about 150 workers …
Discussion:
The Hill, TVNewser, The Daily Caller, @jimwindolf and @benmullin
Will Cathcart / Washington Post:
WhatsApp sues NSO Group after investigating an attack that sent malware to 1,400 devices, targeting 100+ journalists and human rights defenders — Will Cathcart is head of WhatsApp, which is owned by Facebook. — In May, WhatsApp announced that we had detected and blocked a new kind …
Discussion:
Financial Times, @wcathcart, Financial Times, Boing Boing, @rasmus_kleis, @jifa, @botherder, The Verge, @alexstamos, @scarybeasts, @karenattiah, @zeynep, MediaNama, Beyond Search, The Next Web, @pierasselin, @marietjeschaake, @citizenlab, @ericgeller, Engadget, @financialtimes, Inquirer, Adweek, Gizmodo, The Citizen Lab, Fortune, The Register, The Hill, CNET, New York Times and TechCrunch, more at Techmeme »
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Erik Wemple / Washington Post:
Fox has repeatedly failed to credit CNN scoops critical of Democrats as it undercuts its opinion hosts' claims about CNN's credibility and bias — Sixth in a series on the relationship between Fox News and the mainstream media. (Part 1. Part 2. Part 3. Part 4. Part 5.)
Discussion:
@mdornic
Benjamin Mayo / 9to5Mac:
Student subscribers to Apple Music, which costs $4.99 per month, will get Apple TV+ at no extra charge — In a surprise announcement, Apple has announced its first bundle deal for Apple TV+. For subscribers to Apple Music on the student plan, $4.99 per month, Apple will giveaway Apple TV+ at no additional charge.
Discussion:
VentureBeat, The Streamable, TechCrunch and AdExchanger, more at Techmeme »
Financial Times:
Sources: the Barclays are considering selling the Telegraph Media Group, bought in 2004 for £665M, but have rebuffed an approach by the owner of the Daily Mail — The billionaire Barclay brothers, who own The Ritz hotel in London and Britain's Telegraph newspaper …
Discussion:
The Times & The Sunday Times, Bloomberg and HoldtheFrontPage
Judd Legum / Popular Information:
Facebook says it won't remove Pages promoting Daily Wire content because they're “run by real people”, but at least two are owned by Daily Wire's parent company — This is the online version of the Popular Information newsletter. You can get independent accountability journalism in your inbox every week.
Discussion:
@juddlegum, @juddlegum, @juddlegum, @mollyjongfast, Washington Post, @thependrake and The Intercept, more at Techmeme »
Jim Waterson / The Guardian:
BBC tells employment tribunal that its rolling news channel is too niche to warrant Samira Ahmed receiving equal pay to presenters of high-profile shows — Presenter was paid much less than Jeremy Vine as she was working on ‘relatively niche’ service, says BBC
Discussion:
Press Gazette, Press Gazette, Deadline, Deadline, @yorksranter, @jimwaterson, @david_challen and @mrjohnnicolson
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Spotify launches its Kids app in beta in Ireland for its Premium Family plan subscribers; it includes 6K songs, with some licensed from Disney and Nickelodeon — Spotify is trying to sell more multi-account family-plan subscriptions — by setting up a special “playground of sound” just for kids.
Discussion:
Adweek, The Hill, Spotify, The Verge, TechCrunch and Engadget, more at Techmeme »
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