Top News:
Rani Molla / Vox:
Parse.ly: article views grew ~50% this week with those on coronavirus making up 13% of all views; Chartbeat: time spent actively reading is up 30% this week — A San Francisco newspaper headline announces the closure of large events on March 13, 2020. Eric Risberg/AP
Discussion:
Digiday, Nieman Lab, What's New in Publishing, Digital Content Next, @niemanlab and Margins, Thanks:@amontalenti
Reuters:
Netflix says it will reduce its bit rates across all its streams in Europe for 30 days, in effect cutting traffic on its European networks by 25% — Netflix said on Thursday it would reduce its bit rates across all its streams in Europe, in effect cutting traffic on its European networks …
Discussion:
Business Insider, TechCrunch, Politico, @kylebrussell and Engadget, more at Techmeme »
RELATED:
Financial Times:
EU calls on streaming services such as Netflix and YouTube to limit broadband use and offer programs only in standard, rather than high, definition — Brussels tells streaming companies to limit services as Facebook says managing traffic is a “challenge” — The EU has called on streaming services …
Discussion:
CNN, CNBC, The Streamable, Multichannel News, Engadget, The Hill, @financialtimes, Reuters, CNET, @jmakamba, Fast Company, @realjdittmer, @joebeone and @sedyst, more at Techmeme »
Joshua Benton / Nieman Lab:
Alt-weeklies faced a double blow of ad revenue loss and distribution points closing this week; local magazines and news and arts sites will feel the pain too — COVID-19 is “a nearly perfect weapon against alternative weeklies.” In dozens of cities, papers are asking for donations …
RELATED:
Rachel Kurzius / DCist:
An overview of the effects of the pandemic on local DC outlets Washingtonian Magazine, Washington City Paper, Local News Now, and Brightest Young Things — Even as local news outlets are seeing record traffic on their websites, one of their main revenue sources is drying up.
Discussion:
@curious_kurz, @nateclaydiller, @madsruns, @megreenwell, @c_cauterucci, @curious_kurz, @reporterjoe, @timcarman and Washington City Paper
Creative Loafing:
The alt-weekly Creative Loafing of Tampa Bay, owned by Euclid Media Group, lays off seven staff members in response to ad cutbacks due to COVID-19
Detroit Metro Times:
Detroit Metro Times lays off eight as most advertisers cease operation with quarantine measures going into effect; remaining staffers are taking pay cuts
Jeremy Kohler / St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
The Riverfront Times, an alt-weekly founded in 1977 in St. Louis, lays off most of its editorial staff and suspends publication of its weekly print edition
Discussion:
@d_towski, @goldsbie, News Blog, Riverfront Times, News + Opinion …, @d_towski and News Blog, Riverfront Times
Pulitzer Center:
Pulitzer Center announces the Coronavirus News Collaboration Challenge, a ~$5K-$30K grant for interstate or international approaches to reporting on COVID-19 — The Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, a non-profit organization that supports independent global journalism …
Discussion:
Pulitzer Center, @womensmediacntr, @sulliview and @tabeszyk
Torsten Ingvaldsen / HYPEBEAST:
Report: the total streams for the top 200 most-streamed songs on Spotify dropped in Italy, the US, UK, France, and Spain, as users in the countries self-isolate — Data from Spotify may suggest that widespread self-isolation is to blame. — Olly Curtis/Getty Images
Lukas I. Alpert / Wall Street Journal:
Playboy magazine will stop publishing its print edition in the US with its spring issue, due to coronavirus; it will publish special print issues occasionally — After 66 years, magazine to continue publishing online, with an occasional special edition in print
Discussion:
Naked, Newser, @jimwaterson, @jbenton, The Guardian, Fortune, @robcooperpr, @timothynoah1, The Independent, Reason, New York Magazine, Vulture and Deadline
Sahil Patel / Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Disney is looking to sell adtech company TrueX, which Fox had bought in 2014; Disney hasn't integrated it into its sales or tech organizations — TrueX is best known for offering interactive ads — Walt Disney Co. is looking to sell TrueX, an advertising-technology company …
Discussion:
MediaPost and AdExchanger
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Hulu is now available on Comcast's Xfinity Flex and will be available on X1 by the end of March; the deal doesn't include Hulu + Live TV — Hulu is at long last coming to Comcast Cable customers' set-top boxes. But the cable operator's distribution pact with Disney — which now controls Hulu …
Discussion:
The Streamable, Broadcasting & Cable, TechCrunch and MediaPost
Trip Adler / Scribd Blog:
Subscription-based Scribd opens its library of ebooks, audiobooks, magazine articles, and more to anyone for free over the next 30 days — At Scribd, we believe reading is the most powerful tool we have for connecting and sharing the human experience. — Today, with millions of people around …
Discussion:
@tripadler, @sdkstl and @tripadler, more at Techmeme »
Brittany Shammas / Washington Post:
A look at student journalists at campus news outlets across the US, diligently covering the pandemic even if they are unable to access their newsrooms — For the first time, the editors of the Cavalier Daily — the student newspaper at the University of Virginia — were having to plan out their issue via webcam.
Discussion:
@jennsmola, @eric_adelson, @ericaperel, @alexldeluca, @k_newberg, @omars81, @rachel_fradette, @josephsalvador_, @stephanymatat and @ericaperel
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Asia Credit Reporter, Seoul — 
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Multimedia Journalist, CA — 
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Editor, MA — 
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National Investigative Reporter, NY — 
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