Top News:
Katie Roof / Bloomberg:
Sources: Clubhouse is in talks to raise funding from investors in a round valuing the business at about $4B, following its reported valuation of ~$1B in January — Clubhouse, the buzzy audio-based social network, is in talks to raise funding from investors in a round valuing the business …
Discussion:
Insider, @joshsternberg, @dgisserious, @paul__armstrong, @justinhendrix, @scottnover, @chrismessina, @jacobwolf, @profgalloway, @mhbergen, Loot Box Investing, @jeffjarvis, @levynews, @ericbahn, @rolandsmartin, @jamespindell, Clubhouse Convos, @thekenyeung, @jaykapoornyc, @exavierpope, @pkafka, @alexrkonrad, @mcwm and Gizmodo, more at Techmeme »
Joshua Benton / Nieman Lab:
English is the most spoken language in the EU, so UK-centric outlets dominate how the EU is represented; more English-language analysis by EU writers is needed — We've written often about the sense of dislocation brought about by the switch from local, analog news sources to national, digital ones.
Paul Farhi / Washington Post:
Up until this point, White House reporters have faced a lack of leaks from the Biden administration, a sharp contrast to Trump's tenure — After two and a half months of Joe Biden's presidency, something is missing from the news coverage of his administration: Leaks.
Discussion:
Poynter, @davidmackau, @erichaywood, KDFX-TV, @wilson__valdez, @soledadobrien, @farhip, @brianstelter, @owillis, @nickconfessore, @jayrosen_nyu, @froomkin, @jayrosen_nyu, @drvolts, @msignorile, @shannonfreshour, @msignorile, @tomlevenson, @davidnir, @haleaziz, @wfkars, @asteadwesley, Politico, UPROXX, Raw Story, This Is a Newsletter, Insider and It's The Mileage
Jacob Kastrenakes / The Verge:
YouTube says that 18 out of every 10K views in Q4 2020 were of videos that violate its policies, down from 72 out of every 10K views in Q4 2017 — ‘Violative View Rate’ fell steeply after 2017 — YouTube wants the world to know that it's doing a better job than ever of enforcing its own moderation rules.
Discussion:
Washington Post, YouTube Official Blog, Beyond Search, Variety, @mattnavarra, @nealmohan, @gerritd, ScreenRant, The Economic Times and Neowin, more at Techmeme »
Maria Armental / Wall Street Journal:
Patreon raises $155M Series F led by Tiger Global Management at a $4B valuation, up from $1.2B in September, bringing its total raised to $411M — Online company raises $155 million in latest round, led by new investor Tiger Global Management — Patreon Inc., an online platform …
Discussion:
Variety, @samyamiam, @alexisohanian, @jpgg, @ljin18, @caseynewton, @carnage4life, @danprimack and TechCrunch, more at Techmeme »
Paul Sandle / Reuters:
UK launches the Digital Markets Unit, tasked with halting anticompetitive acts by Big Tech, starting with platform relationships with publishers and advertisers — LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's new regulator for tech giants Facebook and Google launches on Wednesday with an initial remit …
Discussion:
TechCrunch, GOV.UK, Wall Street Journal and Al Jazeera, more at Techmeme »
Bloomberg:
Sources: Meredith is working with a financial adviser on a potential sale of its 17 TV stations, which would let the conglomerate focus on its magazine division — Meredith Corp. is considering selling its television stations, according to people familiar with the matter …
Discussion:
The Desk
Joe Rossignol / MacRumors:
Apple details two ad measurements technologies that advertisers can use without tracking users, ahead of imminent rollout of App Tracking Transparency feature — Starting with iOS 14.5, iPadOS 14.5, and tvOS 14.5, Apple will be requiring apps to receive a user's permission to track …
Discussion:
TechCrunch
Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
UK's Telegraph is creating 60 jobs in the first half of 2021 as it surpasses 600K subscribers and aims for 1M subscribers by 2023 — The Telegraph is investing millions of pounds in its newsroom, creating 60 jobs in the first half of 2021. — The investment comes after The Telegraph's …
Naman Ramachandran / Variety:
India quietly scraps the censorship appeals body Film Certification Appellate Tribunal; aggrieved filmmakers will now have to go to court — The Indian federal government has passed an order that scraps the Information and Broadcasting ministry's Film Certification Appellate Tribunal (FCAT) …
Discussion:
Forbes
Committee to Protect Journalists:
At least 3 journalists, including CNN correspondent Matthew Chance, were briefly detained while covering the jailing of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny — “Detaining journalists who try to cover Alexei Navalny's imprisonment is a blunt effort to censor coverage of Putin's leading critic …
Discussion:
@mchancecnn, Mediaite, The Guardian, @pressfreedom, @pressfreedom and The Hill