Mediagazer: BBC Studios' streaming channel BBC Select launches today in the US on Amazon Prime and Apple TV for $4.99/month, with non-fiction culture and politics shows (Manori Ravindran/Variety)

12:55 PM ET, February 18, 2021

Top News:

Australia's concentrated media industry, dominated by News Corp, is aligned with the prime minister and has sought compensation from tech companies for years — Pathbreaking legislation showed that even a small nation can get the tech giant to bend. But the United States seems unlikely to follow.

Discussion: Fast Company, American Press Institute, Dana Blankenhorn, Wall Street Journal, @davidglynnejon1, @dicktofel, @mlothianmclean, @dvanboom, @rasmus_kleis, @aaschapiro, @deccanherald and @jessedamiani

Casey Newton / Platformer:

Banning Australian news makes sense for Facebook and may prompt people to visit news sites directly; Google's payoffs, though, will invite global shakedowns — Yesterday, I wrote that Australia's News Media Bargaining Code threatened to splinter the internet.

Campbell Brown / Facebook:

Facebook News Partnerships VP: Australia's planned law “fails to recognize ... the fundamental nature of the relationship between our platform and publishers” — Today we made an incredibly difficult decision to restrict the availability of news on Facebook in Australia.

Reuters and Associated Press:

Facebook says it generated ~5.1B free referrals to Australian publishers worth ~AU$407M last year, as Australia's Media Bargaining law passes the House — - Facebook will no longer allow people in Australia to read or share news — The move is a response to the country's proposed Media Bargaining law

Discussion: @andrewbrownau, The Guardian, Sydney Morning Herald, @joshgnosis, news.com.au, @carolecadwalla, @slpng_giants, @withmeaa, @joshgnosis, @mrkrudd, @acookiecrumbles, @caseybriggs, @caseybriggs, New York Post, @emilybell and The Indian Express

Benedict Evans:

Australia's proposal for media compensation, which covers raw link sharing, is presented as a competition case when it's actually a tech tax and media subsidy — Newspaper revenue really started to collapse well over a decade ago, and we've been discussing what to do about it for almost as long.

Discussion: Financial Times, Voice of America, @benedictevans, @adamnash, @jackshafer, Newser, Snopes.com, @katebevan, @modestproposal1, @benedictevans and @spignal, more at Techmeme »

William Easton / About Facebook:

Ahead of proposed media law, Facebook says it's banning Australians from sharing/viewing news and all users from sharing from and viewing Australian news Pages — In response to Australia's proposed new Media Bargaining law, Facebook will restrict publishers and people in Australia from sharing …

Discussion: Sydney Morning Herald, @dylanbyers, MediaPost, Insider, The Guardian, Columbia Journalism Review, CNN, OneZero, @joshfrydenberg, @matthewstoller, Media Nation, @mikeisaac, Journalism.co.uk, Digiday, Reuters, Vox, @caseynewton, The Status Kuo, National Review, ABC, Fast Forward, @mattburgess1, Marketing Land, CNBC, Foreign Policy, Gizmodo, Digital Marketing …, @davidleyonhjelm, Press Gazette, @daphnehk, @jayrosen_nyu, @mja_editor, @normative, @damiancollins, The Verge, @pt, @belindajones68, @_claireconnelly, Are You Engaged?, MacRumors, @kashhill, @jeffjarvis, What's New in Publishing, Ad Age, @jonahstein, @mikarv, The Muffin por Mauricio …, @itsbouquet, @jamesrbuk, @profgalloway, New York Times, @jakefmooney, @timmarchman, @juhasaarinen, @katecrawford, @jeffreyatucker, @erratarob, @mikeisaac, @gaberivera, @deniseshrivell, @timmarchman, @caitoz, @caitoz, @jordanlperkins, @a_d_morgan, @mariabustillos, @amyremeikis, @shannonpareil, Hollywood Reporter, @emilybell, ZDNet, RNZ, @bdsams, @walthickey, @profgalloway, @mathewi, @andrewlawton, @emilybell and @carlfranzen, more at Techmeme »

Nicholas McElroy / ABC:
Australian authorities in public health, weather, and other areas say Facebook has removed posts from their feeds following Facebook's news ban

News Corp:
News Corp announces a multi-year, global partnership with Google to provide content from its news sites “in return for significant payments by Google”

Nicholas Quah / Vulture:

Reply All's P.J. Vogt is leaving the show and Sruthi Pinnamaneni is stepping back from its series on Bon Appétit after staffer said they created a toxic dynamic — Oh, you like podcasts? Sign up for Vulture's new recommendation newsletter 1.5x Speed here.

Hanaa' Tameez / Nieman Lab:

NYT debuts a Slack app that provides a daily recommended read, a “save for later” button, and alerts users if a link they shared was discussed in other channels — On Thursday, The New York Times launched a Slack app that's designed to help foster conversations about Times stories …

Discussion: NYT Open and @annadubenko

Marc Tracy / New York Times:

Profile of Stewart Bainum, who set up a nonprofit to buy The Baltimore Sun; filing shows price of $65M for The Sun and other papers under nonbinding term sheet — Stewart Bainum, a hotel magnate and former politician, has swooped in with a plan to run it and other papers in Maryland as part of a nonprofit.

Discussion: @peterfranchot, @jayrosen_nyu, @davidmwessel, @marcatracy, @pwoodreporter, @ckrewson and @luciana_f_lopez

Ashley Carman / The Verge:

Recent deals like the iHeart Media's purchase of Triton Digital suggest that ad tech, not exclusive content, will be the key to long-term success in podcasting — iHeart Media acquires Triton Digital for $230 million — iHeartMedia, the company behind podcasts like Stuff You Should Know and hundreds …

Discussion: Valdosta Daily Times, The Drum, Podcast Pontifications …, @cedfunches, @scottmonty, @ashleyrcarman, @mattnavarra and @reckless, more at Techmeme »

Manori Ravindran / Variety:

BBC Studios' streaming channel BBC Select launches today in the US on Amazon Prime and Apple TV for $4.99/month, with non-fiction culture and politics shows — With this week's launch of streaming service BBC Select, one of the world's most recognizable media brands is joining North America's streaming ranks …

Hannah Murphy / Financial Times:

Court filing says a Facebook manager warned that the company reported revenues it “should have never made” by overstating how many users advertisers could reach — Lawsuit cites product executive's qualms over figures provided to advertisers — A Facebook employee warned …

Discussion: CNBC, @future_of_music, @doctorow, TechCrunch, The Verge, Engadget, @northmantrader and @epsilontheory, more at Techmeme »

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More News:

Todd Spangler / Variety:
Google adds the Apple TV app to its newest Chromecast device with Google TV and has made it available on Sony and TCL smart TVs that Google TV

Discussion: @laurengoode, FierceVideo and The Verge

Todd Spangler / Variety:
UFC signs partnership with TikTok, under which it will produce live content including interviews and training segments for the platform

Sean Burch / The Wrap:
Triller CEO says the company never inflated user numbers after a report said the app had half the 50M users it claimed

Reuters:
Belarusian court sentences two journalists who filmed protests to two years in prison; they were accused of orchestrating the protests by filming them

Discussion: The Daily Caller, New York Times, Voice of America, @tsihanouskaya, @christopherjm, @tsihanouskaya and Financial Times

Etan Vlessing / Hollywood Reporter:
Apple and Skydance Animation cut a deal for feature films and TV series for Apple TV+, starting with Luck and Spellbound movies and The Search for WondLa series

Discussion: Deadline and @zemthings

Earlier Picks:

Brian Steinberg / Variety:
WarnerMedia, known for Cartoon Network and Adult Swim, plans a preschool brand, Cartoonito, and will work to attract more young girls and families as viewers

ProPublica:
ProPublica says Richard Tofel, its founding general manager and president since 2013, will retire from the company when a successor is found

Discussion: @dicktofel, @jeffjarvis, @michaelluo, @ibarguen, @celrae, @pressgazette, @kleinmatic, @jbenton, @mollydeaguiar, @ariana_tobin, @kenwardjr, @carolineylchen, @nicdawes, @dancow, @dlind and @jonathanalter

Brian Flood / Fox News:
Rush Limbaugh has died at the age of 70 after a battle with lung cancer

Discussion: @richlowry, New York Times, @pastpunditry, HEATED, CNN, @jessbravin, The Wrap, Mediaite, @ichotiner, @drjeffreypjones, Media Nation, NPR, Vox, The Nation, Mother Jones, @brianros1, National Review, UPROXX, Newser, @johnjcook, Sean Hannity, @kevinmkruse, @maxwelltani, @tressiemcphd, @karaswisher, @capeannsky, @richlowry, @sarahljaffe, @juliaioffe, Daimnation! Direct, @karaswisher, @ichotiner, @jbouie, @davidcayj, @kevinmkruse, @watchdogdiva, @jayrosen_nyu, @tpm, @bosnerdley, Axios, @jessicavalenti, @froomkin, @adamgoldmannyt, @kayleighmcenany, @jbouie, @froomkin, @titonka, @glennbeck, @melaniatrump, @christnnitemare, @mattoswaltva, @bessbell, @ichotiner, @austin_walker, @maragay, @sentomcotton, @joelpollak, @davidklion, @froomkin, @atrupar, @govkristinoem, @greenfield64, @franklin_graham, @johnastoehr, @janicedean, @senrickscott, @60minutes and @brianstelter

Erik Wemple / Washington Post:
CNN nullified its rule that prevented Chris Cuomo from covering Andrew Cuomo when the Gov. was flying high, only to invoke it during the nursing home scandal

Discussion: Axios, New York Times, Trending Politics, Gothamist, CounterPunch and New York Post

From Techmeme:

Foo Yun Chee / Reuters:
Sources: EU may accept Apple's proposal to open its NFC payments tech to rivals, and may close its antitrust probe in May, letting Apple avoid hefty fines

George Steer / Financial Times:
Nvidia closed down 10% on Friday, falling the most since March 2020 and losing more than $200B of its market value, as investors pull back from AI bets

Foo Yun Chee / Reuters:
Pornhub, Stripchat, and XVideos will have to comply with additional obligations, such as submitting risk assessment reports, under the EU DSA starting next week

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