Mediagazer: CBS, ABC, NBC, and other networks are demanding that Nielsen submit to a third-party audit, alleging it undercounted TV viewership during the pandemic (Brian Steinberg/Variety)

8:15 AM ET, April 16, 2021

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Hamish McKenzie / Substack Blog:

Substack announces Substack Local, a $1M initiative to help up to 30 independent writers build local subscription news outlets via a cash advance, advice, more — A panel of independent judges will work with Substack to select up to 30 local news writers to participate in the program.

Katie Robertson / New York Times:

Reuters is introducing a paywall: after registration and a free preview period, subscriptions will cost $34.99/month; it also plans to launch newsletters — Reuters will begin charging for access to its website as it tries to capture a slice of the digital subscription business.

Brian Steinberg / Variety:

ViacomCBS combines CBS News and local stations in a single unit to be led by former ABC stations chief Wendy McMahon and former Hearst exec Neeraj Khemlani — Neeraj Khemlani and Wendy McMahon have been named to lead a new unit that combines CBS News and CBS local stations …

Discussion: New York Times, NBC News, Business Wire, ABC News, @grynbaum, @nytimesbusiness, @davidfolkenflik, @bristei, The Hill, @brianstelter, @mattpieper, Adweek, @jayrosen_nyu, Broadcasting Cable, TVSpy, Hollywood Reporter, The Daily Beast and TVNewser

Michael Grothaus / Fast Company:

Simon & Schuster says it won't distribute the book written by one of the police officers who shot Breonna Taylor last year, to be published by Post Hill Press — Publishing giant Simon & Schuster has announced it will not distribute the book written by one of the police officers who shot Breonna Taylor last year.

Discussion: Courier-Journal, The Guardian, New York Times, The Wrap and New York Post

Margaret Sullivan / Washington Post:

Study: of the five values espoused by journalists, including oversight, transparency, and factuality, only factuality has the support of a majority of Americans — Ask almost any group of journalists to name the core values of their profession, and they'll probably deliver a list like this:

Mark Stenberg / Adweek:

Ziff Davis union is staging a 24-hour walkout after failing to reach a contract establishing a $65K salary floor with Ziff Davis, owner of PC Mag and others — The union represents the editorial staffs of Mashable, PC Mag, Ask Men, and Geek

Discussion: @zdcreatorsguild, @loudmouthjulia, @vickyleetuh, @morgan_sung, @dimeford, @futureboy, @tricia_gilbride, @film_girl, @jordanwminor, @realkrauswife, @markhachman, @andrewwrites, @futureboy, @bfnewsunion and @_emmahinchliffe

Aidan McLaughlin / Mediaite:

Twitter permanently suspends James O'Keefe, founder of Project Veritas, for violating rules on platform manipulation and spam — James O'Keefe, founder of Project Veritas, was permanently suspended from Twitter on Thursday. — When reached for comment, a Twitter spokesperson said the account …

Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism:

Interview with journalism professor Nikki Usher on the return of partisan news outlets, how big news organizations are increasingly by and for elites, and more — In this episode of our podcast, we look at challenges around equity, diversity and sustainability with the help of Nikki Usher

Discussion: reutersinstitute …, @sharmasupriya, @nikkiusher, @rasmus_kleis, @fedecherubini, @averyholton and American Press Institute

Brian Steinberg / Variety:

CBS, ABC, NBC, and other networks are demanding that Nielsen submit to a third-party audit, alleging it undercounted TV viewership during the pandemic — CBS, ABC, NBC and other TV networks want the company that audits their audiences every day to submit to an audit of its own.

Discussion: MediaPost, Hollywood Reporter and Adweek

Aye Min Thant / New Naratif:

Clarissa Ward's reporting in Myanmar for CNN endangered those who spoke to her and provided little information that local reporting hadn't already uncovered — CNN reporter Clarissa Ward's shallow coverage of the Myanmar coup, her endangerment of her sources and her embarrassing rationalisations …

Discussion: @tostevinm, @the_ayeminthant, @alannavagianos, @mymilkteh, @elisewho, @kemc, @matthewfsmith, @rover829, @veronicakoman, @rasmus_kleis, @vidyakrishnan, @natrani, @tchau01, @kudsia_kahar, @eileenguo, @newnaratif and The Rural Blog

Sarah Scire / Nieman Lab:

A look at theguardian.org, The Guardian's US-based philanthropic arm, which raised $9M in the last year and seeks out subject-specific funding — There has been much (understandable!) handwringing over how the pandemic would affect big donor support for news organizations.

Discussion: @sarahscire, @lenny_mendonca, @radiofreeasha, @miguel_castro, @niemanlab and What's New in Publishing

Alex Weprin / Hollywood Reporter:

Amazon says it spent $11B on video and music content in 2020 for Amazon Prime Video and Amazon Music, up from $7.8B in 2019, as Prime passes 200M subscribers — In his final letter to Amazon shareholders, Jeff Bezos says new CEO Andy Jassy “will muster the energy needed to keep alive in us what makes us special.”

Discussion: Observer, CNBC, @alexweprin, Digital TV Europe, @dee_bosa, Too Much TV Newsletter, Engadget, Insider, The Verge and Cord Cutters News, more at Techmeme »

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