Top News:
Orlando Sentinel:
Orlando Sentinel's editorial board says an impending takeover of Tribune by Alden Global Capital feels like “an existential moment for our newspaper's future” — The Orlando Sentinel's extensive coverage of Joel Greenberg started getting attention this week.
Discussion:
@scribeguy, Poynter, @saragregory, @sammy_roth, @royalpratt, @scott_maxwell, @jayrosen_nyu, @bgrueskin, @jayrosen_nyu, @blackamazon, @skylerswisher and @davidfolkenflik
Matt Grossman / Wall Street Journal:
HYBE, which manages K-pop's BTS, is buying Ithaca Holdings, the company behind artists and labels including Justin Bieber and Big Machine Label, for $1B+ — Deal would unite South Korean media company with Scooter Braun's Ithaca Holdings — The South Korean media company that manages K-pop group BTS …
Discussion:
Hollywood Reporter, Variety, Bloomberg, The FADER, Pitchfork, Music Business Worldwide, Paula's Newsletter, Music Business Worldwide, NME and Metro.co.uk
Joshua Benton / Nieman Lab:
Study: political polarization slowed in Palm Springs, CA, in July 2019 when the local paper, The Desert Sun, covered only local issues in its opinion section — Shifting the focus of a newspaper's opinion section from national (Trump! Pelosi! distant, scary!) to local (schools! development! …
Discussion:
@mydesert, @julie_makinen, @gintautasd, @jbenton, @niemanreports, @jbenton, @julie_makinen and The Desert Sun
Tom McKay / Gizmodo:
WaPo published a piece revealing an anti-QAnon researcher's real name, when it learned he was writing for them under a pseudonym for safety, contrary to policy — One of the hosts of the anti-conspiracy theory podcast QAnon Anonymous is no longer so anonymous.
Discussion:
Washington Post, @justinbaragona, @misterepete, @thetomzone, @arictoler, @swin24, @ejdickson, @gayleforce22, @travis_view, @iwriteok, @davidcovucci, @pinealdecalcify, @dylanreeve, @arictoler and @walldo
Lauren Harris / Columbia Journalism Review:
An overview of the journalism crises happening globally, with significant closures and job losses in the US, Europe, Australia, India, and elsewhere — Early in the pandemic, media closures, layoffs, furloughs and salary cuts spread across the globe, encompassing the US, Canada, Mexico …
Discussion:
@cjr, jamlab, @cjr and @vwpickard
Julia Alexander / IGN:
Nielsen: Over half the most-watched streaming programs this week came from ViacomCBS, NBCUniversal, or Disney, but were watched on Netflix or Amazon Prime Video — Netflix's biggest helper is actually Criminal Minds and iCarly. — Talk to any Netflix executive, and they'll likely boast …
Discussion:
@nina_metz, @loudmouthjulia, @loudmouthjulia and Bloomberg
Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
Voice artists are experiencing a surge in demand as Netflix and other streamers offer a broad range of programming from around the world in local languages — Wendel Bezerra, a voiceover artist in Sao Paulo, attained modest fame when he became the Portuguese-language voice of SpongeBob SquarePants a couple of decades ago.
Discussion:
@lucas_shaw, @christopherkay, @codaunite, @business and @lucas_shaw
Alexandra Bruell / Wall Street Journal:
How Bacardi, Clorox, and Cadillac are preparing for the loss of third-party cookies, including investing in first-party data and changing their ad tech partners — Bacardi, Clorox and Cadillac are among the marketers preparing for new Google restrictions that will include the blocking of third-party cookies
Discussion:
@mkraidy, @mkatz0630 and Ad Age
Neda Ulaby / NPR:
TRG Arts' analysis of box office sales: US dropped 86.1% from March 2020 to March 2021, UK dropped 89.3%, and Canada dropped 90.3% — Economic fallout due to the pandemic has been “catastrophic” for the performing arts, according to new data from the industry consulting group TRG Arts.
Discussion:
@npr
Financial Times:
Snap confirms it was testing probabilistic matching to track iOS users for a few months, but will discontinue the program after Apple rolls out tracking changes — Owner of Snapchat has explored how to track users with data from third party companies — Snap has explored how it can circumvent …
Discussion:
9to5Mac, @itsjeffhiggins, @thezedwards, @patrickmcgee_, 9to5Mac, @jason_kint, @martijnrasser and @patrickmcgee_, more at Techmeme »
Brian Steinberg / Variety:
A look at TV news' push into streaming, which has created opportunities for young anchors, bypasses Nielsen ratings pressure, and has space for in-depth content — TV streaming wars have erupted in Hollywood and are wreaking havoc on Madison Avenue. They are even making a splash in places like Gainesville, Ga.
Discussion:
@tvkatesnow, @sarahscire and @bristei
Amelia Pollard / American Prospect:
How right-wing nonprofit PragerU, known for viral videos, has pushed content into US schools through its PREP program, used by 6,000 educators — The right-wing nonprofit, known for viral videos like ‘The Left Ruins Everything,’ launched a program specifically designed for teachers last fall.
Discussion:
@taylorlorenz, @bernstein, @jbouie, @amandalitman and @parkermolloy