Top News:
H.G. Watson / JSource:
Canadian fast-food chain Mary Brown's Chicken & Taters partners with Postmedia to drop newspaper paywalls in April, part of an effort to serve the public — Fried chicken chain partnership lets newspaper company drop paywall in April — We live in unprecedented times.
Discussion:
Nieman Lab, National Post, @perreaux, @jbenton, @hg_watson, @briandijkema, @mountroyalaudio, @laurahowellsnl, @michellemanafy, @benjaminmillar and @graemedmoffat
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Bustle closes The Outline a year after acquiring it, amid broader layoffs of 24 people and pay cuts; Josh Topolsky to explore “alternative paths” for the site — YouTube Beauty Guru James Charles on Launching His ‘Instant Influencer’ Reality Show and Coping During COVID-19
RELATED:
Sara Jerde / Adweek:
G/O Media, parent of Gizmodo, Kotaku, Jalopnik, Deadspin, and Lifehacker, has laid off 14 people, or less than 5% of its staff — It's not the first media company to announce layoffs today — G/O Media laid off 14 people—less than 5% of its staff—today in what it characterized as a “small restructuring.”
Discussion:
Digiday, @gmgunion, The Wrap, @megreenwell, @benmullin and @maxwelltani
New Zealand Herald:
Bauer Media New Zealand, publisher of some of the country's most popular magazine titles, shuts down; about 300 people have lost their jobs — New Zealand's biggest newsstand magazines have folded, as Bauer Media NZ abruptly closed its doors permanently as a result of the Covid-19 crisis.
Discussion:
RNZ Business Headlines, @meljbunce, @theproject_nz, @rudemrlang, @helenclarknz, Newshub and @judithcollinsmp
Pew Research Center:
Pew: 92% of MSNBC viewers said the media covered COVID-19 at least somewhat well vs. 58% of Fox News viewers; the former were likelier to know the virus' origin — Coverage of COVID-19 has dominated the news and resulted in skyrocketing ratings for the nation's cable news networks.
Discussion:
The Daily Beast, @_cingraham, @conradhackett and @rezendi
Jill Goldsmith / Deadline:
ViacomCBS closes its purchase of 49% of Miramax from beIN Media Group, which retains 51%; ViacomCBS paid $150M at closing, will invest $225M more over 5 years — ViacomCBS said Friday it's closed on the acquistion of a 49% stake in Miramax from owner beIN Media Group, whih will retain 51% in the company.
Discussion:
The Wrap, The Wrap and Broadcasting & Cable
Sarah Scire / Nieman Lab:
Survey in Germany, UK, US, China, India, South Korea, and Germany: 16% of people pay for news, those under 34 are likelier to pay for news than people over 55 — The kids are all right, according to a new World Economic Forum report. Young people (ages 16 to 34) are twice as likely to pay …
Discussion:
American Press Institute, @sarahscire, @niemanlab and World Economic Forum
CampaignUK:
Cannes Lion, a major awards festival and conference in the ad industry, has been canceled after initially being postponed to October — Neither festival nor awards will take place this year. — Cannes Lions has announced it is cancelling the annual Festival of Creativity …
Discussion:
Ad Age, Mumbrella, @arvindhickman, MediaPost, Forbes, CNBC, Cannes Lions Festival 2020, @tobyrolla, @tkawaja, @paulmarkbailey, @creature_dan, The Drum and Ad Age
Sara Fischer / Axios:
Twitter says it will now allow ads mentioning COVID-19 under some conditions, such as ads about changes to business practices, a day after Google lifted its ban — Twitter will now allow advertising containing references to the coronavirus under certain use cases, according to a note …
Discussion:
Ad Age, Search Engine Journal, Mashable, Bloomberg and The Verge
Axios:
Sources: new WH chief of staff discussed hiring Pentagon spokesperson Alyssa Farah or Trump campaign spokesperson Kayleigh McEnany as a new press secretary — White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows has privately discussed bringing on Pentagon spokesperson Alyssa Farah or Trump campaign …
Discussion:
@jonathanvswan and Raw Story
Sarah Whitten / CNBC:
Disney plans to furlough some non-union employees in its parks, experiences, and products unit starting April 19, will pay for health insurance during furlough — - Disney will furlough its non-union park employees starting on April 19. — During the furlough, employees …
Steve Waldman / Columbia Journalism Review:
Report for America cofounder's ideas for local news: easing conversion to nonprofit, deconsolidating papers, treating local journalism as a public service, more — Discussions of how to save local news now need to balance two awkward realities. On the one hand, local news organizations need urgent help …
Discussion:
Poynter, @torystarr3, @howardmortman, @cjr and @stevenwaldman