Mediagazer: Digital locker service Movies Anywhere to launch Screen Pass, which will let customers share up to three movies a month with others, but without Roku support (Ty Pendlebury/CNET)

4:55 PM ET, March 18, 2020

Top News:

Janelle Irwin Taylor / Florida Politics:

Layoffs hit the Tampa Bay Times, including longtime environmental reporter Craig Pittman; source says 11 employees were laid off — Tuesday saw the Tampa Bay Times newsroom gutted of essential staff in a series of layoffs that rocked the Tampa Bay media landscape. Wednesday followed with another gut punch.

Discussion: @craigtimes, @danuscripts, @jeffweineros, @fineout, @davidovalle305, @neeneinnyetno, @roslehtinen, @mikegrunwald, @dianamoskovitz, @fitz_ly, @fahrenthold, @jbenton, @mikesherman, @bobbyhometeam and @mikesherman

Sarah Scire / Nieman Lab:

Google News Initiative teams up with LION Publishers, UNC, others to launch Project Oasis, with the aim of helping local news startups at key stages of growth — So you want to start a digital news organization for your community. Where would you go to look up the ownership structure of your favorite local outlet?

Discussion: The Keyword, @lionpubs, @ckrewson, LION Publishers, Engadget, @mediatwit, Center for Innovation … and TechCrunch

Freddy Mayhew / Press Gazette:

BBC announces new COVID-19 measures including making local radio stations hubs for helping the elderly, more educational content, pausing cuts to CBBC, more — The BBC has set out new changes to its output during the coronavirus pandemic, which include turning the One Show into a consumer programme for “all aspects of the crisis”.

Jim Waterson / The Guardian:
BBC's current affairs show Question Time will be broadcast without a studio audience and will move to 8pm from 10:35pm, as other shows are suspended

Discussion: bbc.co.uk, Press Gazette, @imajsaclaimant and Guido Fawkes

Manish Singh / TechCrunch:

WhatsApp announces two initiatives to combat COVID-19 misinformation: an Information Hub in partnership with WHO and others, and a $1M grant to IFCN — Grappling with the spread of misinformation on the platform, WhatsApp today announced two initiatives to fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

Discussion: Adweek, @facebook, Engadget, The Guardian, Washington Post and About Facebook, more at Techmeme »

Jay Peters / The Verge:

Facebook says it has fixed a bug in its anti-spam system that marked some legitimate COVID-19 news articles and information as spam on Tuesday — The company is fixing the posts and bringing them back — Facebook started marking some posts linking to information and articles about the coronavirus …

Margaret Harding McGill / Axios:

TikTok announces the first members of its US content moderation committee, including experts in child safety, hate speech, and misinformation — TikTok on Wednesday unveiled a group of outside advisers with expertise in child safety, hate speech, misinformation and other areas that will help guide its content moderation policies.

Discussion: Newsroom | TikTok and TechCrunch, more at Techmeme »

Jeff vonKaenel / SN&R Extra:

The Sacramento News & Review will suspend publication of its print edition next week and lay off nearly all of its staff, but will continue to post online — Over the last 30 years, we have financed SN&R with advertising, mainly from local businesses promoting social gatherings at concerts …

Discussion: Sacramento Bee, Talking Biz News, @thisisreno, @chris_macias, @andyfurillo, @wordstospill, @captain_hooks, @chris_macias, @nickmiller510, @bedwardstiek, @genepark, @timothyorourke and @jackshafer

Reuters:

Sources: Gray Television withdrew its $8.5B offer to acquire Tegna because of concerns about the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on US regional TV station operators — (Reuters) - Gray Television Inc (GTN.N) has withdrawn its offer to acquire larger peer Tegna Inc (TGNA.N) …

Discussion: The Streamable

Karlene Lukovitz / MediaPost:

Sling introduces Stay in & Sling!, a free service with access to streaming news channel ABC News Live alongside movies and shows for kids and families — Sling TV is looking to win some goodwill and attract new prospects for its paid streaming services by introducing a free …

Discussion: Broadcasting & Cable

Elizabeth Dwoskin / Washington Post:

Facebook says it is rolling out a COVID-19 information center placed atop all users' feeds to help surface news and resources — The portal aims to be a one-stop shop for its more than 2.5 billion users to find news and resources about the pandemic. — Facebook on Wednesday announced …

Discussion: CNET, @mikeisaac, @mikeisaac, @mikeisaac, @sarahfrier and @alexeheath, more at Techmeme »

Ty Pendlebury / CNET:

Digital locker service Movies Anywhere to launch Screen Pass, which will let customers share up to three movies a month with others, but without Roku support — Movies Anywhere users will soon be able to share three movies a month with loved ones, but the feature won't come in time for current ‘social distancing’ requirements.

Discussion: TechCrunch, AppleInsider and The Streamable

Brian Steinberg / Variety:

The @FoxNews account begins tweeting again, after stopping in November 2018, promoting COVID-19 news on its website and Fox News Channel — Fox News is making a return to Twitter, more than a year after going silent on the social-media platform. — At 2:18 p.m. on Nov. 8, 2018 …

Discussion: Deadline, Fox News, Broadcasting & Cable and Hollywood Reporter

Brent Lang / Variety:

Elisabeth Murdoch and Stacey Snider's Sister Global invested in AWA Studios, a new comic book company founded by Marvel alumni and ex-News Corp exec Jon Miller — Sister has invested in AWA (Artists, Writers & Artisans) Studios, a new comic book and digital media publisher, Variety has learned.

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More News:

NBC News:
Axios is partnering with Malcolm Gladwell's Pushkin podcast studio to launch a new daily news podcast in the summer, modeled after Axios AM morning newsletter

Discussion: @felixsalmon

Megan Graham / CNBC:
Cannes Lions, the ad industry's major awards festival and conference originally scheduled for June 22, postponed until October

Discussion: Variety, IndieWire, Forbes, @kerrymflynn, The Playlist and AdExchanger

Katie Kilkenny / Hollywood Reporter:
Netflix postpones Netflix is a Joke Fest, its weeklong comedy festival, which was scheduled to begin in LA on April 27

Abner Li / 9to5Google:
Google Discover users will now be able to report content as misleading or sensational, violent or repulsive, or hateful; the action isn't a removal request

Hanaa' Tameez / Nieman Lab:
With no sports to cover, sports journalists consider ideas like starting podcasts, while some reporters temporarily join news teams to help cover the pandemic

Discussion: @cnyari, @spj_tweets, @jwyllys, @htameez, @delfinomachin, @niemanlab, @niemanreports and @lenfestinst

Earlier Picks:

New York Times:
The pandemic means a short-term bump in TV viewers even amid a pause in live sports and shows, but experts say consumers will soon cut costs and subscriptions

Discussion: @nytimes, @mulvihill79, @cmccontent, @nielsen, @tiffkhsu, @ranimolla and @edmundlee

Tim Baysinger / The Wrap:
Fox is buying ad-supported streaming service Tubi in a $440M cash deal; Tubi will remain a separate company with founder and CEO Farhad Massoudi staying on

Anthony Ha / TechCrunch:
Conservative outlet The Dispatch says it has ~10K paying subscribers and $1M+ in annual revenue, plans to join Google's Play Me The News program for Google Home

Discussion: Nieman Lab, @adam_keesling, @jbenton and @jbenton

Marc Tracy / New York Times:
China requires American NYT, WSJ, and WaPo reporters whose press passes expire in 2020 to return them, bans them from working as journalists in China, HK, Macau

Discussion: Bloomberg, New York Times, Fox News, Press Gazette, @paulmozur, Foreign Policy, Wall Street Journal, Trajectory, CNN, Talking Biz News, Washington Post, Committee to Protect …, Poynter, @repmarkwalker, Columbia Journalism Review, Fortune, The Wrap, @max_fisher, @gerryshih, @gerryshih, @kristenmctighe, @ishaantharoor, @senrickscott, @sophiehrw, @alanmillernlp, @drewharwell, @annafifield, @repadamschiff, @hawleymo, @aaschapiro, Mediaite, @ezracheungtoto, The Week, @melissakchan, @murraymatt, @ajitxsingh, @repjimbanks, @cdeloire, @riegerreport, @sentomcotton, @laurie_garrett, @sam_vinograd, @ryn_writes, @katies, @rachel_cheung1, @ceciliakang, @ewong, @ryanl_hass, @melissakchan, @cliffordcoonan, @stephenmcdonell, @mims, @gadyepstein, @chinadaily, @onlyyoontv, Techdirt, The Guardian, NPR, Politico, Mediaite, Washington Post, New York Post, Rehak/Stuebing Mostly Media and fmprc.gov.cn

From Techmeme:

Wall Street Journal:
Apple removes WhatsApp, Threads, Signal, and Telegram from its App Store in China, after orders from the country's regulators citing national security concerns

Foo Yun Chee / Reuters:
Sources: EU may accept Apple's proposal to open its NFC payments tech to rivals, and may close its antitrust probe in May, letting Apple avoid hefty fines

Ryan Browne / CNBC:
Telegram partners with Tether to let the messaging app's ~900M users send USDT to each other through The Open Network blockchain

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