Top News:


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, @laurahowellsnl, @benjaminmillar, @briandijkema, @mountroyalaudio, @graemedmoffat, @hg_watson, @jbenton and @michellemanafy


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


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


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, @judithcollinsmp, @helenclarknz, @theproject_nz, @rudemrlang and Newshub


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, Broadcasting & Cable and Multichannel News


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, Forbes, @arvindhickman, MediaPost, CNBC, Cannes Lions Festival 2020, The Drum, @tobyrolla, @paulmarkbailey, @creature_dan and Campaign


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 …


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, Raw Story and @jonlemire

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, @cjr, @howardmortman and @stevenwaldman


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 — KARACHI (Reuters) - Pakistani authorities ordered on Friday four men, including a British militant, convicted of the 2002 murder …


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 — Benjamin Mayo, writing for 9to5Mac yesterday: … I've been digging into this since the news broke, and I think it's even more significant than Mayo suggests.
Discussion:
Multichannel News, The Verge, MediaNama and @tigesavage, more at Techmeme »


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 — The films will stream for free on the streaming platform over 10 days, likely in late April. — South by Southwest 2020 …
Discussion:
Forbes, The Wrap, Variety, @immyyoume, @sxsw, @primevideo, @thr, @kimmasters, @texasfilmcomm, The Verge, The Hill, Lifewire, Adweek and /Film