Top News:
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Stewart Bainum and Hansjörg Wyss say they can personally contribute $600M+ total toward their $680M bid, up from $200M, as Alden's bid loses favor — Tribune likely to deem new bid superior to agreement with Alden, according to sources — A Maryland hotel magnate …
Discussion:
@wsj, @blairkamin, @royalpratt, @harrysiegel, @petersagal, @anthony, @cararlombardo, @hotlinejosh, @brianstelter, @jbenton and @lalpert1
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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.
Josh Marshall / The Atlantic:
Many digital news outlets are just not financially viable, and those that sought scale lost to platforms; survivors nurture durable ties to specific customers — On March 9, management at HuffPost notified 47 employees that they were being laid off as part of a cost-cutting effort following …
Discussion:
contextisking.com, @elizatalks, @yappelbaum, @tylrfishr, @mitalilive, @ckrewson, @jaredshopkins, @hchawlah, @jayrosen_nyu, @ginaspadafori, @dougfisher, @adriennelaf, @sstossel, @ahmed, @genepark and @theatlantic
The Princetonian:
EICs of all eight Ivy League papers are women for the first time: they discuss what this milestone means, priorities moving forward, and more — For the first time, women hold the highest editorial positions at all eight Ivy League papers. — The path to leadership …
New York Times:
Profile of Bill Hwang, who led Archegos Capital Management to being the top shareholder in ViacomCBS, behind ~$20B in shares before the price halved in a week — Banks were eager to do business with Bill Hwang and his Archegos Capital Management — until he ran out of money.
Discussion:
The YEET
The Guardian:
Sicilian prosecutors looking into human trafficking wiretapped Italian journalists covering the Mediterranean migrant crisis and allegedly exposed their sources — Conversations recorded ahead of cases in which rescuers from charities charged with collaboration with people smugglers
Discussion:
@lorenzo_tondo, @ioannisekolovos, @dariadavitti, @darachos, @manisha_bot, @seawatch_intl and @trillingual
Tatiana Cirisano / Billboard:
Profile of Bandcamp, profitable since 2012 without ads or major investors, which has paid out $196.3M to artists since March 2020, often foregoing its fees — Without advertisers or major investors, Bandcamp turned a profit helping musicians at all levels make a living.
Discussion:
@sonixcursions, @txmusicoffice, @kr8cken, @tatianacirisano and @billboard, more at Techmeme »
Om Malik / On my Om:
Unsplash, a startup that hosts freely usable images and was designed to upend behemoths like Getty Images, sells to Getty Images — Knowing of my growing distaste for the Facebookization of Instagram, Evgeny Tchebotarev, the co-founder of 500px, sent me an email about a new project from Crew, a freelancer-focused design company.
Discussion:
@ampressman, Data Operations, @bikehugger, @waskov6, @olli101, @om, @givemefoxes, @lukechesser, @readdanwrite, @davemark, @davewiner, Digital Photography Review, Getty Images Press Room, Digital Information World, Hindustan Times, BetaKit, MUO, PetaPixel, @dangillmor, Unsplash and @unsplash
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 …
Danny Konstantinovic / The Business of Business:
Gumroad's CEO on the company's first 10 years, competitors like Patreon and Substack, the rise of the creator economy, and how app store “taxes” stifle growth — When you visit Gumroad's website, one of the first things you see is a simple promise. — “Gumroad makes it possible for you to: Escape your 9-5 desk job.
Discussion:
@trengriffin, @efeng and @thebizofbiz, more at Techmeme »
David Agren / The Guardian:
An argument over press freedom erupted in Mexico after its president attacked a US human rights report that highlighted Mexico's failure to protect journalists — A growing row over press freedom has engulfed Mexico after the country's nationalist president maligned a routine US human rights report …
Discussion:
@kenroth, @kenroth, @statedept, @usmission2asean, @dawn_, @agnescallamard, @duncantucker, United States Department … and Fronteras
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:
@niemanlab, @lenny_mendonca, @mydesert, @julie_makinen, @gintautasd, @niemanreports, @jbenton, @jbenton and @julie_makinen
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