Top News:
Washington Post:
Some staff at a think tank called No Labels have objected to its hiring of Mark Halperin, fired in 2017 by NBC and MSNBC after accusations of sexual misconduct — A nonpartisan political organization is facing blowback from its employees after hiring journalist Mark Halperin …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, @jayrosen_nyu, @seungminkim, @sarahellison, @authorkimberley, @laurachapin, @meredithshiner, @paulwaldman1, @yashar, @jbarro, @jkarsh, @edbott and @clarajeffery
Anne Steele / Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Spotify plans to announce a Apple Podcasts Subscriptions competitor that will let podcasters set their own prices without charging them or taking a cut — Podcasts exploded in popularity during the lockdown and are on track to bring in more than $1 billion in U.S. ad revenue this year
Discussion:
The Verge, MacRumors, @clew_less, AppleInsider and 9to5Mac, more at Techmeme »
Joshua Benton / Nieman Lab:
A look at the flaws in the study claiming a gap between Americans and the values espoused by journalists, whose conclusions aren't quite supported by its data — A study that seemed to claim they had was treated as “bad news for journalists: the public doesn't share our values.”
Discussion:
@lauralauradat, @jbenton, Poynter, CJR Galley, @emilythorson, @jswatz, @froomkin, @lyman_brian, @mmasnick, @benjamintoff, @froomkin, @jbenton, @jeffjarvis, @charliebeckett and MediaPost
Allissa V. Richardson / Vox:
TV news outlets should be fined under the Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act for airing fatal police shootings, footage that doesn't deserve casual viewing — What's the purpose of sharing violent police videos anymore, other than to traumatize Black communities? — George Floyd cried out for his mother in his final moments.
Discussion:
Fast Company, Columbia Journalism Review, @jamilsmith, @cbcsteve and @bkcharvard
Ashley Carman / The Verge:
Instagram says it's going to start testing ads in Reels in India, Brazil, Germany, and Australia before expanding to other countries — Plus a test of Sticker ads — Instagram puts ads just about everywhere in its app, and now, they're coming to Reels. The company says today it'll start testing ads …
Discussion:
Reuters
RELATED:
Charlie Warzel / Galaxy Brain:
Charlie Warzel says his Substack newsletter has steady growth, though Glenn Greenwald called its start “slow”, as some see it as a test case for ex-NYT writers — There are hundreds of us...*HUNDREDS! … Welcome to Galaxy Brain, where we're off to a very slow start.
Discussion:
@ggreenwald, @cwarzel, @tomscocca, @msmacb, @laurenlipsay, @sean_mcbeth, @ggreenwald, @sean_mcbeth, @ggreenwald, @nickstatt, @genepark, @kateaurthur, @lyzl, @sean_mcbeth, @alex, @delong, @cwarzel, @them_l_g, @rottenindenmark, @ezraklein, @jbouie, @laura_june, @davidsirota, @sean_mcbeth, @sean_mcbeth, @edbott, @davidsirota, @dangillmor, @sean_mcbeth, @mattyglesias, @rottenindenmark, @loganjaffe, @mat, @martinsfp, @lollardfish, @markberman, @scottnover, @nicdawes, @slpng_giants, @parkermolloy, @jamesrbuk, @ceciliakang, @jeffjarvis, @taylorlorenz and @taylorlorenz
Eriq Gardner / Hollywood Reporter:
Federal judge rejects motion to dismiss a lawsuit against Apple that alleges the “Buy” option in iTunes is deceptive as Apple can still terminate access — Rejecting a motion to dismiss, a federal judge says it is plausible that consumers don't know that access to purchased content can be revoked.
Discussion:
The Verge, The A.V. Club, 9to5Mac, AppleInsider, MediaPost and /Film
Mark Stenberg / Adweek:
FT's digital subscriptions grew 6% YoY in 2020 to 960K; it also has 140K print subscribers and a 150-person team for subscriber acquisition and retention — After a windfall year of subscriber acquisitions, the Financial Times has found itself in the enviable position of needing to solve …
Discussion:
@niemanlab, @raju and Simon Owens's Media Newsletter
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Facebook launches a series of global News Feed ranking tests to solicit user feedback on posts they're seeing and what posts users find valuable — Facebook may be reconfiguring its News Feed algorithms. After being grilled by lawmakers about the role that Facebook played in the attack …
Discussion:
About Facebook, Reuters, TechRadar, CNET, @ddudgeon, The Verge, Social Media Today, 9to5Mac and Nieman Lab, more at Techmeme »
Nieman Lab:
A study based on interviews with 488 readers in the US and four other countries explores why people still get print newspapers, including to fire up the grill — The persistence of print — and why it matters — In a digital era dominated by mobile and social media, why do people still get print newspapers?
Discussion:
@aboutmattlaw, @hkingsmores, @billadairduke, @dankennedy_nu, @c_gorski, @laurahazardowen, @kevinokeefe and @laurahazardowen
Steven Perlberg / Insider:
A look at Government Executive, now GovExec, whose publications cover federal government and which made $20M in revenue last year with a 20%+ profit margin — - GovExec expects to make more than $30 million in revenue this year. — The company has a profit margin north of 20%, its chairman said.
Discussion:
@perlberg, @timhartman, @defensebaron, @aexm, @rafat, @jryedinak and @mediainsider
Salvador Rodriguez / CNBC:
Snap Q1: revenue of $770M, up 66% YoY, DAUs up 22% YoY to 280M, and free cash flow hit $126M, its first quarter of free positive cash flow as a public company — - Snap's stock rose in after-hours trading on Thursday after the company reported its first-quarter results despite beating Wall …
Discussion:
Adweek, Ad Age, @somospostpc, @stevekovach, @variety, @richlightshed, ScreenRant and ZDNet, more at Techmeme »