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The UK has created the Digital Markets Unit, which will write a new code of practice for Big Tech and mediate between platforms and news outlets — Alok Sharma says dominance of a few big companies hurts innovation and curtails customer choice — A new tech regulator will work to limit …
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GOV.UK, Press Gazette, Financial Times, MediaNama, @rasmus_kleis, nuj.org.uk, The Tech Portal, MediaPost, @badams, Light Reading, @smykos, @samuelstolton, @jasonfurman, @rasmus_kleis, @privacymatters, @lordscommscom, @pressgazette, @dcms, @oliverdowden, @ameliafletecon, @liv_mcmahon, @renewparty, @beisgovuk, @sharonodea, @cyberalexi, Engadget, Forbes, CNBC, Al Jazeera and HoldtheFrontPage, more at Techmeme »
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Ben Smith, best ever NYT media columnist, personifies a morally indefensible fact of journalism: each journalist robs others of their stories to tell their own — Let's be honest: Ben Smith is the best media columnist The New York Times has ever had. He instantly surpassed …


How the mantle of “fake news” is being used in Belarus, Jordan, Thailand, and Nicaragua to intimidate journalists, and how they're fighting back — A look at four countries — Belarus, Jordan, Thailand, and Nicaragua — where the mantle of “fake news” is used to intimidate and threaten, and how journalists are responding
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@marklittlenews
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NYT offers free digital subscriptions to all US high school students and teachers until September 2021 as part of a partnership with Verizon — The New York Times says it will offer U.S. high school students and teachers free digital subscriptions to the Times's content through next year.
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New York Times, @cliffordlevy, The Desk, @r_diamond, @samwashdc, @sifill_ldf, @mikiebarb, @maragay and @davidfolkenflik


Sources: Fox producers have been told to avoid booking some regular guests if the latter kept doing Newsmax appearances after being encouraged to stop — New York (CNN Business)Fox News is taking action to stave off newfound competition from Newsmax TV. — Producers on some Fox programs …
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@jayrosen_nyu, @kimmasters, @stephgracela, @shayeganam, @florianederer, Breitbart, @jackshafer, @newsmax, @ericbolling, @brianstelter and Business Insider


Last month Intel quietly shut down Intel Studios, its 10,000-square-foot AR/VR volumetric capture stage in LA that opened in 2018 — Intel Studios was operating a 10,000-square-foot stage in Los Angeles. — Intel has pulled the plug on one of its most ambitious AR/VR projects to date …
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@philipkrejov, @jessedamiani and @timlobes


Comcast plans to raise again its Broadcast TV fee, which currently ranges from $7.90 to $14.95 per month, by as much as $4.50 per month starting in January — Internet prices to rise $3 a month; “Broadcast TV” hidden fee going up $4.50. — Comcast is raising prices for cable TV …
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HotHardware.com News, Light Reading, @ischlakman, Deadline, Variety, Engadget, CNET, nexttv.com, @karlbode and The Verge


N. Ireland police to pay £875K to the makers of documentary No Stone Unturned, for arresting them in 2018 alleging theft of a police report used in the film — Settlement announced at Belfast high court brings end to years-long controversy — The Police Service of Northern Ireland …
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ABC News, @stevejgoodrich, @anntravers6, @martinobrien17, @annacafolla, @rebecca_vincent, @anntravers6, @krwlaw, @jimwaterson and @iancobain


As Spotify continues to test its stories feature, it has tapped popular musicians to contribute to select Spotify-created playlists — If you're in the festive spirit and you're already listening to seasonal music, you might have noticed Spotify's Christmas Hits playlist is looking a little different.
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@chriscantino, @seyitaylor, @brsabel, @h_thoreson, @taylorlorenz, @scottcowley, @cxy, @chrismessina and @drewcoffman, more at Techmeme »


How stage theater companies have adapted to the pandemic and expanded their audiences, from producing podcast series to livestreaming productions on Twitch — A series of immersive audioplays performed and mixed live, using tech developed by theatrical sound designers and engineers.
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@jeremyoharris, @castingnetworks, @gcoxvariety, @artsjournalnews, @stephinteevee, @gcoxvariety and @jetscott


A deep look at newsroom diversity over the years, and how unions have begun to push for contracts with binding language for diversity in hiring — Media companies haven't made newsrooms inclusive. Can unions? — For two decades, from its genesis in the mid-nineties, Vice Media branded itself in the image of the dispossessed.


UK publisher Reach says 42M+ people visited its sites last month and that it now has 4.25M+ customer registrations, on track to meet its target of 10M in 2022 — (Reuters) - Daily Mirror publisher Reach Plc said on Friday its performance for the current fiscal year was above market expectations …
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The Drum, Financial Times, Telegraph, Yahoo News, businessInsider, Daily Business, Reach PLC and CityAM


Book publishing has been consolidating to increase its bargaining power in the face of Amazon's dominance, whose lock on the book business must be addressed — In 1960, Dwight Eisenhower's attorney general, William Rogers, read the paper with alarm. He learned that Random House intended …
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@melaniempierce, @xioaxelrod, @peterlattman, @kyliescottbooks, @victoriastrauss and @franklinfoer
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ViacomCBS to sell publisher Simon & Schuster to Bertelsmann, owner of Penguin Random House, for $2.175B in cash
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