Top News:
Lukas I. Alpert / Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Patrick Soon-Shiong is exploring a sale of LA Times and considered transferring management of The San Diego Union-Tribune to Alden's MediaNews Group — Patrick Soon-Shiong seeks exit after less than three years at the helm, as losses mount — Billionaire biotech investor Patrick Soon-Shiong …
Discussion:
@drpatsoonshiong, The Wrap, @katie_robertson, @sewellchan, @chaykak, Bloomberg, @pauledroberts, @ggreeneva, @timmarchman, @seungminkim, @loisbeckett, @johnmyers, @bobshrum, @johnjcook, @alex_roarty, @mollymotoole, @benfritz, @benfritz, @karavoght, @jbenton, @sarahsholder, @hshaban, @nycsouthpaw, @kenli729, @jbflint, @jbenton, @maxwelltani and @mikeisaac
Jason Scott / Bloomberg:
Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg says he will hold talks with Zuckerberg to “see if there's a pathway forward”, but says news legislation will go ahead — - ‘The world is watching us very closely,’ says Treasurer — News content law expected to pass through parliament next week
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Sheldon Chanel / The Guardian:
Facebook's Australia ban is acute for people in places like Fiji, who rely on phone plans with cheap Facebook access as going to news websites costs more data — Media experts fear that communities reliant on the site for information will suffer significant impact
Poynter:
Three fact-checking organizations, including two members of Facebook's fact-checking program, haven't been able to operate their Facebook pages in Australia
Discussion:
ScreenRant, @stephanlivera and @mantzarlis
Mike Masnick / Techdirt:
Facebook's refusal to pay a misguided media tax, pushed by Rupert Murdoch, is a defense of the open web and criticizing it for rejecting a link tax is bizarre
Discussion:
@mmasnick, Axios, Mashable, Washington Post, @digiphile, @mattbruenig, @zenjournalist, @theophite, Reason, @marklittlenews, @mmasnick, @mmasnick, @mmasnick, @robpegoraro, @b_fung, @emilybell, @emilybell, @foofdawg, @rasmus_kleis, The Lightbulb, @jeffjarvis, @emilybell, @saramorrison, @likpiara, What's New in Publishing, @benthompson, @hughhewitt, @hkanji, @lachlan, @evan_greer, @bobbyallyn, @randyebarnett, @wexler, @mathewi, TechCrunch, Reason and BBC, more at Techmeme »
Daniel Hurst / The Guardian:
In a media diversity hearing, ex-PM Kevin Rudd said that Australian politicians are afraid of Murdoch media; a News Corp exec dismissed Rudd's claims
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
Discussion:
New York Times, Just Security, New York Post, Known Knowns, The Verge, @jayrosen_nyu, @damiencave, The Guardian, @mikarv, @skynewsaust, @mariachong, @hotlinejosh, @ketanj0, @cameronwilson, @brianstelter, @jason_kint, @alecstapp, @nxthompson, @hunterwalk, Institutional Economics, @sarthakgh, @gadyepstein, @caseynewton, The Information, @s8mb, @journalismfest, @caseynewton, @emilybell, @emilybell, @emilybell, @emilybell, @emilybell, CNN, @karaswisher, @waxy, @beneltham, @evadienel, @_claireconnelly, @evanspw, @joshelman, @swesterman, @gaberivera, @laurenweinstein, @adamnash, American Press Institute, Vox, Breitbart, MediaNama, Foreign Policy, Beyond Search and Reuters
Alex Mahadevan / Poynter:
An early analysis of Birdwatch, Twitter's crowdsourced fact-checking pilot with about 1,000 users, shows partisan rhetoric and a lack of source citations
Discussion:
Engadget, @joshuahol, @jimhenleymusic, @blackamazon, @fideljefe, @timcast, @alexmahadevan, @chris_buckley, @alexmahadevan, @timcast, @janebsinger and @poynter, more at Techmeme »
Georg Szalai / Hollywood Reporter:
Amid a gold rush in the music library space, a look at Hipgnosis, which has spent $1.75B on 129 catalogs, accumulating 60,836 songs, as of the end of January — A former music manager's company has acquired more than 100 publishing catalogs, including a 50 percent stake in Neil Young's …
Discussion:
Bloomberg, Variety, @lucas_shaw and The Wrap
Denise Petski / Deadline:
Insider, formerly BI, Mark Wahlberg's Unrealistic Ideas, and Assemble Media are producing a docuseries about the rise and fall of MoviePass — EXCLUSIVE: Mark Wahlberg's Unrealistic Ideas, the company behind HBO's Emmy-nominated McMillions, is taking another deep dive into the absurdities …
Discussion:
Insider, Gizmodo, /Film, @jasonguerrasio, @joimariewrites, @nmcalone, Engadget, UPROXX, IndieWire and Cord Cutters News
Nardine Saad / Los Angeles Times:
Nielsen debuts Gracenote Inclusion Analytics, to measure onscreen diversity in terms of gender, race, and sexual orientation and how much it reflects audiences — Ratings titan Nielsen has begun tracking inclusion in television to accelerate diversity and equity in media.
Discussion:
@marcusryder, @inclusionists, PR Newswire, Deadline and Hollywood Reporter
Ashley Carman / The Verge:
Sweden-based podcast host and ad network Acast says it is acquiring RadioPublic; RadioPublic's podcast app will remain live and its team will stay in the US — It already claims to be the biggest everywhere else — Acast, a podcast host and ad network, is looking to improve its tech and broaden its reach.
Discussion:
Forbes, Axios, RAIN News and Current, more at Techmeme »
Sarah Scire / Nieman Lab:
Column, a startup that charges a small fee to process the placement of public notices, has partnered with McClatchy, Wick Communications, and Ogden Newspapers — Five months after launching with the goal of modernizing public notices in newspapers, the startup Column has formed partnerships with McClatchy …
Sara Luterman / Nieman Reports:
Disabled people are poorly represented in newsrooms and lack resources, like formal talent pipelines, leading to lower quality coverage of disability — Disabled people make up 20% of the U.S. population but take up little space on mastheads and in coverage. Why? — ARTICLE BY
Discussion:
National Center …
Tony Romm / Washington Post:
US Chamber of Commerce and Big Tech lobbying groups sue Maryland over its new online ad tax that targets tech companies that do more than $100M in ad sales/year — The lawsuit from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and groups such as the Internet Association, whose members include Amazon …
Discussion:
Adweek, CNN, @hypervisible, @tonyromm and The Verge
Vivian Wang / New York Times:
Hong Kong replaces head of public broadcaster with civil servant, accuses it of a lack of objectivity, calls for supervision by government-appointed advisers — The broadcaster, Radio Television Hong Kong, is known for independent reporting often critical of the government.
Rozanna Latiff / Reuters:
Malaysian court finds news portal Malaysiakini fully responsible for publishing readers' comments that were critical of the judiciary and fines it about $124K — KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysia's highest court on Friday found news portal Malaysiakini in contempt over comments …
Discussion:
The Drum, @behlihyi, International Press Institute, New York Times, Reuters, The Indian Express and Committee to Protect …
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