Mediagazer: 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 (Sara Fischer/Axios)

8:55 PM ET, April 3, 2020

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

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

Scott Nover / Adweek:
Sources: 20-30 people have been laid off from CQ Roll Call, mostly from the editorial department; the news outlet was bought by FiscalNote for $180M in 2018

Discussion: @fawnjohnson, @ericmgarcia, @jackietothdc, @alexclearfield, @scottnover, @cahnemily and @joshtpm

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 …

Discussion: /Film, Hollywood Reporter, Los Angeles Times, The Wrap, Multichannel News, @scottgustin, @markwillard85, @callmenapkins, @zachhayesyt, @scottgustin, @scottgustin, @scottgustin, The Hill, Deadline and Variety

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

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More News:

Syed Raza Hassan / Reuters:
Pakistan re-arrests four men, whose convictions for the 2002 murder of journalist Daniel Pearl were overturned by lower courts, as it prepares an appeal

John Gruber / Daring Fireball:
A deep dive into the deal between Apple and Amazon which lets the retail giant process some payments in Prime Video app, and the motivations of both companies

Discussion: The Mac Observer, The Verge, Multichannel News and MediaNama, more at Techmeme »

Paul Farhi / Washington Post:
An OANN correspondent returned to the White House briefing room despite a WHCA vote to bar the outlet; WHCA president says she should sit with WH press aides

Discussion: @erikwemple, @cooperchip1, @erikwemple, @erikwemple, @lukeobrien, @therockyfiles, @farhip, @atrupar, @davidnakamura, @oliverdarcy, @chrismegerian and @jonlemire

Jennifer Maas / The Wrap:
T-Mobile is offering a free subscription to short-form video service Quibi for one year, for customers of its unlimited wireless family plan

Discussion: MediaPost, Business Wire, /Film, Adweek, The Streamable, Broadcasting & Cable, TechCrunch and CNET

Earlier Picks:

Todd Spangler / Variety:
HBO is offering 500+ hours of free programming, including The Sopranos and Succession, starting Friday, for a limited time via HBO Now and HBO Go

Tatiana Siegel / Hollywood Reporter:
Amazon Prime Video teams up with SXSW to offer free streaming of films that were to be screened at the canceled festival, likely in late April for 10 days

Discussion: The Wrap, Variety, Forbes, @immyyoume, @sxsw, @primevideo, @thr, @kimmasters, @texasfilmcomm, The Verge, The Hill, Lifewire, Adweek and /Film

Jim Waterson / The Guardian:
Ofcom warns broadcasters of sanctions if they air false COVID-19 health advice after a radio station aired a baseless suggestion that the virus is linked to 5G

Discussion: Press Gazette, @jimwaterson, Fast Company, @karlbode, @jimwaterson and @alistaircoleman

From Techmeme:

Manish Singh / TechCrunch:
X raises US Premium+ prices by 37.5% to $22 per month, starting on December 21, and EU prices from €16 to €21 per month; the basic subscription still costs $3

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple is working on a smart doorbell system with advanced facial recognition that can wirelessly connect and unlock third-party smart locks

Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
Donald Trump announces that Sriram Krishnan, until recently a general partner at a16z, will serve as senior policy advisor for AI at the White House OSTP

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