Mediagazer: Facebook, Lenfest, Local Media Association partner to offer a total of $1M in grants of up to $5K for local newsrooms in US, Canada for costs linked to COVID-19 (Dorrine Mendoza/Lenfest Institute …)

12:25 PM ET, March 17, 2020

Top News:

Fox News hosts have quickly shifted their tone on the COVID-19 pandemic from media conspiracy to crisis, after Trump declared it a national emergency on Friday — For weeks, some of Fox News's most popular hosts downplayed the threat of the coronavirus, characterizing it as a conspiracy …

Discussion: The Daily Beast, @maggienyt, Gizmodo, Mother Jones, @mrbromwich, @timobrien, CNN, @charlesornstein, @juliettekayyem, Four Freedoms, @oliverdarcy, @id4ro, @slpng_giants, @tedlieu, @paulkrugman, @andyglockner, The Philadelphia Inquirer and FTVLive

Jason Gurwin / The Streamable:

Universal Pictures to make digital rentals of some new movies now in theaters available for $20 from March 20, and upcoming Trolls World Tour on its release day — In light of the movie theaters being brought to a standstill, Universal Pictures is changing the game.

Julia Alexander / The Verge:

AMC Theaters, the largest theater chain in the US, to close for 6-12 weeks, following in the footsteps of Regal, Landmark, Alamo Drafthouse, and others — Following the worst box office weekend in 20 years — AMC Theaters, the largest theater chain in the United States, will shut its doors nationwide for between six to 12 weeks.

Discussion: TechCrunch, Business Wire, ComingSoon.net and Variety

Rebecca Rubin / Variety:
North American box office plunged to around $55.3M this weekend, its worst weekend since sales of $54.5M from September 15 to 17 in 2000

Discussion: Jacob's Letter, Hollywood Reporter, Jezebel, The Daily Beast, Mumbrella, @ecareyo, @variety, @ewagmeister, @ecnalhanid, Hollywood Reporter, The Wrap, Fortune, /Film, The Verge, The Guardian, CNN, The Playlist, MediaPost, Wired and Vanity Fair

Dorrine Mendoza / Lenfest Institute for Journalism:

Facebook, Lenfest, Local Media Association partner to offer a total of $1M in grants of up to $5K for local newsrooms in US, Canada for costs linked to COVID-19 — Today, the Facebook Journalism Project is partnering with the Lenfest Institute for Journalism and the Local Media Association …

Discussion: Variety, @leahktodd, @juliemmoos, @lenfestinst, @ckrewson and @melaniesill, more at Techmeme »

Poynter:
Facebook partners with the International Fact-Checking Network to offer $1M in grants of up to $50K to support fact-checkers working on COVID-19 misinformation

Discussion: @ampress, @poynter and Axios

Stefanie Murray / Nieman Lab:

A look at some of the collaborative efforts by independent newsrooms in states like Oregon, North Carolina, and New Jersey to cover the COVID-19 pandemic — Having access to accurate information can mean the difference between life and death during a crisis.

Discussion: American Press Institute, @thenewsan, @edercampuzano, @jtierney6, @johnupton, @niemanlab, @niemanfdn and Oregonian

Steve Herman / Voice of America:

WHCA enforces social distancing in the White House briefing room, limiting the number of correspondents to 25, and TV networks have agreed to pool their cameras — The White House took enhanced precautions Monday against an invisible threat — the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.

Discussion: Columbia Journalism Review, @rtcacapitolhill, The Hill and Fox News

Catalin Cimpanu / ZDNet:

Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Microsoft, Reddit, Twitter, and YouTube say they're working with each other and healthcare agencies to tackle misinfo about COVID-19 — Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Microsoft, Reddit, Twitter, and YouTube put out joint statement promising to fight COVID-19 fraud and curb misinformation.

Max Willens / Digiday:

Some Spider Studios, a publisher that owns parenting sites Scary Mommy and The Dad, acquires media startup Fatherly — Some Spider Studios, a profitable social-focused publisher that owns parenting sites Scary Mommy and The Dad and employs close to 100 people, has acquired Fatherly …

Discussion: Adweek

Margaret Sullivan / Washington Post:

How reporters at the Plain Dealer in Cleveland, Ohio are struggling with deep staff cuts while reporting on COVID-19's spread in the state — News organizations everywhere are under immense pressure as a pandemic sweeps the globe. — Reporters scurry to cover an eruption of breaking news …

Discussion: @jeremylittau, @davidfolkenflik, @benpershing, @kimmasters, @gchristcle, @alanmillernlp, @annabruchez, @sulliview, @mmlederman1 and @blmckean

Tmera Hepburn / Cord Cutters News:

Acorn TV, AMC's film and TV streaming service with a focus on British content, extends its free trial from 7 days to 30 days for a limited time — The streaming service Acorn TV is giving new members a 30-day free trial, up from its usual 7-day free trial so you can start binge-watching new shows while you're cooped up inside.

Discussion: ComingSoon.net

Tim Ingham / Music Business Worldwide:

Tencent Q4: ~$1.03B in total online music revenue, of which $160M from music subscribers, up 60.1% YoY; paying music subscribers up 47.8% YoY to 39.9M — Tencent Music Entertainment, parent of China's biggest streaming music platforms, ended 2019 with 39.9m paying users worldwide.

Discussion: Billboard, Reuters, Seeking Alpha and MarketWatch

Jamie Lang / Variety:

European media firms are navigating the loss of live sports during COVID-19 lockdown with replays of old games, free content, reduced prices of sports packages — A continent mad about sports has gone mad without sports. This past weekend was the first in which nearly …

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More News:

Michael Schneider / Variety:
A look at Camel Rock Studios, a New Mexico film studio owned by a Native American tribe, as it capitalizes on the state's filming boom from Netflix and others

Pete Brown / Columbia Journalism Review:
Study of 13K+ stories on News Corp's Knewz between February 4 and March 2 shows that the news aggregator frequently defaults to Murdoch titles and Daily Mail

Discussion: @jbenton, @cjr, @cjr, @dangillmor and @niemanlab

Rachel Abrams / New York Times:
Inside The Seattle Times' COVID-19 coverage, as nearly all of its 58 reporters cover a pandemic affecting their neighbors and friends while trying to stay safe

Discussion: Poynter, @alizaslav, @blatchfordtr, @goldsteinstreet, @ctguild, @jamesgeary, @mccanner, @mackenziemays, @davidakaye, @ylichterman, @rachelabramsny, @rachelabramsny, @rachelabramsny, @oliverdarcy, @davechensky, @rachelabramsny, @bymikebaker and @brianmrosenthal

Elsa Keslassy / Variety:
French pay TV group Canal Plus says it will be free for the next few weeks or months during the country's lockdown due to the coronavirus outbreak

Earlier Picks:

Manori Ravindran / Variety:
Disney Plus has partnered with O2 as its exclusive UK mobile network distributor, a week ahead of its launch

Discussion: The Streamable

YouTube Creator Blog:
YouTube says it will be relying more on automated systems as content moderators stay home, and creators may see fewer strikes against videos but more removals

Discussion: The Keyword, The Verge, @susanwojcicki, @mhbergen, @ytcreators, @youtubeinsider, Adweek, Business Insider, Marketing Land, Variety, Engadget and 9to5Google, more at Techmeme »

BBC:
BBC says it will delay its plan to charge over-75s for license fees, originally set for June 1, until August 1 due to coronavirus

Discussion: @dianajohnsonmp, @bbcwalesnews, @kevinbrennanmp, @nicholashellen, @paullewismoney, @mrjohnnicolson, @angelarayner, @jimwaterson, @dehennadavison, The Independent, Telegraph and CityAM

From Techmeme:

Raffaele Huang / Wall Street Journal:
Apple removes WhatsApp and Threads from its App Store in China, saying it was ordered to do so by China's cyberspace officials citing national security concerns

Ryan Morrison / Tom's Guide:
Microsoft researchers introduce VASA-1, an AI model that can create a realistic talking face video from a portrait photo and an audio file, in research preview

Zaheer Kachwala / Reuters:
Google says it will consolidate teams that focus on building AI models across Research and DeepMind, and move its Responsible AI teams in Research to DeepMind

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