Top News:
CNN:
Twitter pulls funding for BuzzFeed's AM to DM due to the business impact of COVID-19, forcing BuzzFeed to suspend the show, with staffers' last day on April 28 — Some right-wing media personalities are encouraging Americans to protest stay-at-home orders, arguing it is time to start to re-open the economy.
Discussion:
@bfnewsunion, Nieman Lab, Variety, @oliverdarcy, @rachelysanders, @theferocity, @alannabennett, @juliareinstein, @jbenton, Mediaite, @hshaban, Newser and abc7NY
Kevin G. Hall / McClatchy Washington Bureau:
McClatchy's two largest creditors, Chatham Asset Management and Brigade Capital Management, offer to buy the company, setting a price “well in excess” of $300M — McClatchy's largest creditors offered to buy the company Thursday, a move that, if approved, would kick off …
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, @murphindc, @dannagal, @janetpattonhl, @clarencehilljr and @mathewi
Brian Steinberg / Variety:
Nielsen: 31M people watched NBC, CBS, and ABC's evening shows between March 16 and April 7, a 42% rise YoY; PBS' NewsHour says its audience rose 34% — Every Friday evening, Steve Hartman takes “CBS Evening News” viewers “On The Road,” in an end-of-show segment that was originally devised …
Discussion:
Poynter, @spj_tweets, @reportinglabs, @sarajust, @tednesi and @cbsnewspress
Committee to Protect Journalists:
Report documents Trump administration's harassment of reporters at US borders and prosecution of leakers as Trump targeted media owners and press credibility — Attacks on press credibility endanger US democracy and global press freedom — The Trump administration has stepped up prosecutions …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Committee to Protect …, @courtneyr, @pressfreedom, @maxfrumes, @arusbridger, @aaschapiro, @stevesilberman, @pressfreedom, @pressfreedom, Deadline, @jonathanwpeters, @jonathanwpeters, @jonathanwpeters, @jonathanwpeters, Multichannel News, The Daily Beast, @pressfreedom, @jayrosen_nyu, @pressfreedom, @digiphile, @smith_jeffreyt and @pressfreedom
Jason Lynch / Adweek:
AMC rolls out Upfront Connect for online sales, with Screening Room, which airs first looks at upcoming shows, and gives access to its branded content studio — Access is also free to new branded studio The Content Room — Key insights: — The site includes information …
David Robb / Deadline:
WGA East files complaint with NLRB, accusing NBCU of union busting by reassigning staffers from unionized Peacock Productions, now defunct, to NBC News Studios — UPDATED with NBCUniversal response, 1:49 PM: The WGA East today accused NBCUniversal of “union busting” in a dispute over the shuttering …
Discussion:
VICE, Writers Guild of America … and Multichannel News
Gene Park / Washington Post:
Jason Schreier, who has covered work conditions in game development, is leaving Kotaku, citing dismay with G/O Media; Gizmodo EIC Kelly Bourdet quit Wednesday — Jason Schreier, a journalist known in the video game industry for covering working conditions inside tight-lipped game development studios …
Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
64% of the 14 media companies that published 2019 gender pay gap info in the UK saw their gaps grow from 2018; The Economist Group had the highest gap of 29.5% — Six out of ten UK news media companies saw their gender pay gaps increase in in 2019, according to the latest figures.
Discussion:
@charlottetobitt
Dan Parks / The Chronicle of Philanthropy:
American Journalism Project, which supports nonprofit local news sites, names Sarabeth Berman as its new CEO, previously head of public affairs at Teach for All — Struggling news organizations have benefited in recent years from a growing number of philanthropic efforts to support journalism.
Steve Herman / Voice of America:
Trump calls Voice of America's work “disgusting”, threatens to adjourn Congress so he can appoint his candidates to posts, including head of the agency over VOA — WHITE HOUSE - U.S. President Donald Trump is threatening to adjourn Congress because lawmakers have not approved …
Discussion:
@mitchellreports, Mediaite, @jbenton, @farhip, @pekingmike, Boing Boing, Vox, @senbooker, The Nation, @baggottcarter, @spytalker, @svdate, @noahbierman, @miafarrow, @acosta, @christinawilkie, @coreypein, @tedstew, @rosieogrady53, @meetthepress, @wehearpodcast, @jkuhnhenn, @w7voa, @christinawilkie, @emzorbit, @aru_pande, Business Insider, Vanity Fair, Mediaite, Deadline and The Hill
Scott Alexander / Slate Star Codex:
Early on, when media cited experts saying a pandemic was unlikely, it should have better conveyed the level of uncertainty in those expert opinions — I. — Vox asks What Went Wrong With The Media's Coronavirus Coverage? They conclude that the media needs to be better at “not just saying what we do know, but what we don't know”.
Discussion:
@marcjbrooker, @a_fellow_of, @mrianleslie, @diegoescosteguy, @zeynep, @sanneblauw, @nephstar, @mattyglesias, @paulg, @marcjbrooker, @jasoncrawford and Raw Story
Jon Lafayette / Broadcasting & Cable:
Ad Council launches a programmatic private marketplace to which media companies can donate inventory for digital PSAs to fight COVID-19 — Cadreon, Trade Desk, Acxiom, EMX power pro bono programmatic — Working with several ad tech companies, the Ad Council has launched …
Discussion:
Adweek, AdExchanger, Ad Age, MediaPost and Campaign