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4:40 PM ET, February 23, 2021

Mediagazer

 Top News: 
ABC:
Australia says Facebook agreed to reinstate news content in Australia in the coming days after the government promised amendments to its proposed media bill  —  We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we live, learn, and work.
Adam Gabbatt / The Guardian:
Al Jazeera is launching Rightly, a digital media channel led by Fox News Veteran Scott Norvell, for those who “feel left out of conservative media”  —  Rightly will be led by a former Fox News journalist and is aimed at Republicans who ‘feel left out of conservative media’
RELATED:
Mathieu Rosemain / Reuters:   A 93-page report from French antitrust investigators says Google breached government orders on how to negotiate with news publishers over copyright
The Information:
Source: ~40%, or 40M, of Disney+ subscribers are in the US, and Disney has said 30% are in India, so Europe and LatAm seem to make up less than a third of subs  —  Disney's flagship video-streaming service, Disney+, has quickly emerged as the only true competitor to Netflix …
RELATED:
Chaim Gartenberg / The Verge:
Star, a new section on Disney+ for international customers that offers content Disney places on Hulu in the US, launches today
Deadline:
Movie theaters in New York City can reopen on March 5 at 25% capacity with health protocols including air filtration, mandatory masks, and social distancing  —  UPDATE AFTER EXCLUSIVE: New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Monday said movie theaters in New York City will be brought into line …
Alex Sherman / CNBC:
Sources: AT&T is nearing a deal to sell a minority stake in DirecTV, AT&T TV Now, and U-Verse to private-equity firm TPG, valuing the businesses around $15B  —  - AT&T is nearing a deal with TPG to sell a substantial minority stake in DirecTV, U-verse and AT&T TV.
Discussion: nexttv.com and FierceVideo
Sahil Patel / Wall Street Journal:
Reuters:
Police in India questioned Amazon India's head of original content for Prime Video over allegations that its show Tandav hurt religious sentiments  —  LUCKNOW, India (Reuters) - Indian police in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh questioned a top Amazon executive for nearly four hours …
Discussion: @adityakalra
Kelsey McKinney / Defector:
Internal memo: Slate indefinitely suspended The Gist host Mike Pesca over a Slack discussion; sources: he argued for the use of the N-word in some cases  —  Mike Pesca, host of Slate's daily podcast, The Gist, has been suspended from the company indefinitely according to an internal memo sent …
Paul Farhi / @farhip:
WaPo names managing editor Cameron Barr as acting executive editor while the paper searches for a successor to Marty Baron, who steps down on February 28  —  Some internal news: @washingtonpost publisher Fred Ryan has named managing editor Cameron Barr to serve as acting executive editor while the search for a permanent successor to editor Marty Baron continues, Ryan said in a staff memo today. Marty's last day as editor is Feb. 28.
Discussion: @sulliview and @mathewi
Salma Abdelaziz / CNN:
Rights groups call for the release of Yemeni journalist Adel al-Hasani, who has worked for CNN and has been detained since September  —  Yemeni journalist Adel al-Hasani with his two young sons.  He was detained at a checkpoint on the outskirts of Aden last September.
Ashley Carman / The Verge:
Q&A with Spotify's Daniel Ek on growing the number of creators on the service and engaging with them, podcast success metrics, Clubhouse, and more  —  Spotify hosted an event on Monday to discuss its ambitions in audio, and one message came through loud and clear: the company wants to play …
Dylan Byers / NBC News:
Spotify launches Renegades: Born in the USA, an exclusive, eight-episode podcast with Barack Obama and Bruce Springsteen as co-hosts  —  Barack Obama and Bruce Springsteen are making a podcast.  —  Spotify on Monday announced the launch of “Renegades: Born in the USA,” …
RELATED:
Chris Welch / The Verge:
Spotify says it will launch a subscription later this year called HiFi that will offer “CD-quality, lossless audio”; Spotify currently tops out at 320kbps audio
 
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 More News: 
Natasha Mascarenhas / TechCrunch:
Filing: Reddit, which announced a $250 million Series E earlier this month, has added over $116M to the financing event
Brian Steinberg / Variety:
NBCU says it will stop selling local commercials based on traditional TV ratings and shift transactions to impression-based deals in April
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Rob Barrett is named president of media at Maven, where he will run Sports Illustrated and The Street; Barrett was previously president of digital at Hearst
Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
UK's Independent had an operating profit £2.7M, up 18% YoY, on revenue of £30.3M, up 12% YoY; majority of readers are in the US, but UK makes up 50% of revenue
 Earlier Picks: 
Pamela McClintock / Hollywood Reporter:
Following Warner Bros., Hollywood studios are increasingly concealing their box office grosses, citing hybrid releases due to theater closures
Brian Stelter / CNN:
Networks like ABC, CBS, and NBC, sticking to “both sides-ism”, still let GOP leaders spread the “Big Lie” that Trump won the election with little or no pushback
The New York Times Company:
NYT: Maggie Haberman will take on a new beat and join Washington bureau's investigative/enterprise team and still track the post-Trump scene with Politics desk