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The latest congressional hearing was another parade of bad-faith arguments about Section 230, best illustrated by Senate Republicans mischaracterizing the law — The latest congressional hearing with Facebook's and Twitter's CEOs was another parade of bad-faith arguments.
Discussion:
Electronic Frontier Foundation, The Information, Roll Call, ABC News and Variety, more at Techmeme »


YouTube is introducing audio-only ads for users who listen to music or podcasts in the background and letting advertisers buy ads targeted by mood — YouTube claims to be the world's biggest jukebox — and now it wants to wring more ad dollars from the platform's music fans.


Radio France Internationale accidentally published about 100 prewritten obituaries for prominent people as it moved its site to a new content management system — Queen Elizabeth II, Pelé and Clint Eastwood were among about 100 celebrities briefly reported as dead online by French public radio.
Discussion:
@nytimes, @bmccandless, @tessgerritsen, @greenpnyt, @stevebellovin, @pamelapaulnyt, @dancow, @sacruikshank, @ckrewson, @ebstatto, @stanfordc, @clivesimpkins, @hoffm, The Hill, New York Post, The Guardian, Newser and BBC


Should Trump decide to write a memoir, publishers would have to weigh huge sales against possible revolts by staff and authors and concerns about veracity — Some publishing executives worry their authors and staff might rebel, but they say their bigger concern would be ensuring the book's accuracy.
Discussion:
@tinajordannyt, @andrewlavallee, @typesandspells, @silvermanjacob, @raju and Personanondata
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Bandcamp launches its own ticketed livestreaming service, Bandcamp Live, where artists choose ticket prices starting at $1; fees are waived until April 2021 — Artists will receive 100% of their ticket sales through the end of March 2021, after which Bandcamp will collect 10%.
Discussion:
Bandcamp Daily, @bandcamp, @danideahl, @1aurenmoose, @jasperhoiby, @josephaparker, TechCrunch, Engadget and NME


Sources: Instagram is considering a plan to create a revenue share program with publishers for IGTV ads; it's funded BuzzFeed and ATTN: content recently — Instagram is mulling plans to pay publishers on its platform as it grows as a news and information source for users, sources tell Axios.
Discussion:
Business Insider, @mattnavarra, @leratomannya, @jason_kint and New York Post


Sources: Sinclair is considering selling the naming rights of its 21 regional sports networks, possibly to sports betting partners — Sinclair Broadcast Group is considering selling naming rights to the 21 regional sports networks it acquired from Disney, according to multiple people familiar with the plans.
Discussion:
Awful Announcing and The Streamable


A journalist and mother of a victim of a car accident describes how IPSO failed to punish Mail Online for posting a video of the fatal accident — At 9.45pm on 19th February my 20-year-old daughter Anisha was catapulted out of this world when a driver doing over 60mph in a 30mph zone drove …
Discussion:
@garria10, @stevenjbarnett, @hackinginquiry, @ladyvaletta and @huwspanner

After its management bought the outlet from Uzabase, Quartz says it had a record week of signups, adding ~1,200 paying members, for a total of 25,000+ globally — Quartz enjoyed its best week ever for membership last week, adding nearly 1,200 new members. The wave of signups came …
Discussion:
Talking Biz News, @michellemanafy and Talking Biz News


Sources: News Corp is making a bid for Simon & Schuster; at least one offer for the publisher is for more than $1.7B, far above the minimum ViacomCBS had set — A sale of the venerable publisher of Stephen King and Hillary Clinton could fetch $1.7 billion and rev up consolidation in book publishing.
Discussion:
Financial Times, @naomiaklein, @dreamoforgonon, @clairegcoleman, @vwpickard, @smh, @haymarketbooks, @runwithskizzers, @ryanlcooper, @constancegrady, @sarahw, @agentemurph, @mariskreizman, @d_libris, @raju, @lynnjohnstonlit, @rwindrem, @alexweprin, @tomtaylormade, @nytimes, @jeffjarvis, Bookseller News and Publishers Weekly


How Real Clear Politics took a sharp right turn after donations from funds used by wealthy conservatives soared and it made business ties with The Federalist — Real Clear Politics has been catering to campaign obsessives since 2000. It pitches itself as a “trusted, go-to source” for unbiased polling.


Conan O'Brien says he is ending his late-night TBS show in June 2021, then launching a weekly variety series on HBO Max — Conan O'Brien will end his late-night series “Conan” on TBS next year, but he's not leaving the WarnerMedia family. He will then launch a new weekly variety series on HBO Max.
Discussion:
Variety, CNN, Bloomberg, @scottwamplerbmd, The Week, Hollywood Reporter, @alexedelman, @variety, @jackocarey, @goedharted, @finessemitchell, Forbes, @tvgrimreaper, @kevinbrueck, @danieljpowell, @strombo, @kellydiamond_, @joshgondelman, C21Media, @lucas_shaw, @paulaebben, @papitommyrico, @thomasfloyd, @james_dasilva, @sherman4949, @frankpallotta, @ditzkoff, @garymlevin, @ditzkoff, @geoffmintz, @pkafka, @alexweprin, Always Be Watching, ComingSoon.net, Engadget, The A.V. Club, Collider, IndieWire, Mediaite, The Hill, Adweek, TVLine, New York Post, Deadline, GameSpot and Fox News