Mediagazer: Sources: AT&T board is meeting on Sunday to approve a deal to combine WarnerMedia with rival Discovery, creating a media giant with an enterprise value of $150B (Financial Times)

10:55 PM ET, May 16, 2021

Top News:

Israeli airstrike destroys a high-rise in Gaza City that housed offices of AP and Al-Jazeera, after the military warned people to evacuate the building — GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel slammed the Gaza Strip with airstrikes, in a dramatic escalation that included bombing the home …

Discussion: Associated Press, Associated Press, Jerusalem Post, The Definitive Source, Committee to Protect …, @linahalsaafin, Al Jazeera, @idf, New York Times, @tomgara, @ajenglish, @eylonalevy, Mediaite, @presssec, The Guardian, New York Times, @w7voa, @jpacedc, @wesleylowery, Washington Post, @willdizard, NPR, The Daily Beast, Slate, Associated Press, Variety, @rafaelshimunov, @snowden, @brianstelter, @abihabib, Vanity Fair, @tomgara, Tugboat for Twitter, @annaknelson_rsf, New York Post, The Indian Express, @imtiaztyab, @isobelroe, @ap, APOLLO NETWORK Newsletter, @ap, @eylonalevy, The Chief Brief, @mirza9, @kredo0, Defector, @jpacedc, @ztsamudzi, @mirza9, CNN, @karenattiah, @imtiaztyab, @jimlaporta, @mattmcbradley, @jimlaporta, @ggreenwald, @cbsnews, @brandondarby, @seldeeb, @lsarsour, @adamjohnsonnyc, @mitchellreports, @johnmdonnelly, @snowden, @gchikermane, @alastairmca30, @redsteeze, @margbrennan, @dloesch, @jongambrellap, @jerrydunleavy, @ranaayyub, @mrglenn, @sdkstl, @misstessowen, @alexcrawfordsky, @phillipsian, @dillonreedrose, @jasonrantz, @golan_yarden, @piersmorgan, @raniakhalek, @ostrov_a, @nytimes, @kenroth, @harryslaststand, @ajenglish, @rssliam, @wesleylowery, @ap, @berniceking, @richardgrenell, @bendepear, @johncardillo, @ajenglish, @ajenglish, KRON4, @naveedajamali, @ase, @iamumer1, A. Khaled's Blog, Newser, National Press Club, The Hill, The Week, The Independent, Reuters, Daily Sabah, Agence France-Presse, The Straits Times, Wall Street Journal, Insider and The Wrap

David M. Halbfinger / New York Times:

IDF spokesman is suspected of misleading the international press on a ground invasion in Gaza to dupe Hamas, which was mistakenly reported by NYT and others — A spokesman led the international media to believe that Israeli forces had entered Gaza. They hadn't. But the army wanted Hamas to think they had.

Discussion: Politico, @hotlinejosh, @kenklippenstein, @adammilstein, @hotweatherisbad, Melanie Phillips, @amyspiro, @geraldngom, @doranimated, @wolfe321, @huwlemmey, @mazdaki, @octavianasr, @marietjeschaake, @leahmcelrath, @e_h_carpenter, @sebusher, @zaidjilani, @alistaircoleman, @davidgura, @jvplive, @sasapetricic, @qifanabki, @sameralatrush, @sameralatrush, @sameralatrush, @janinedigi, @naveedajamali, @pseudocia, @eliothiggins, @digiphile, @lukeisamazing, @mazdaki, @jonathancohn, @lisang, @markberman, Newser, @scottdetrow, @evanlaksmana, @aaschapiro, @hichamyezza, @multied, @sameralatrush, @janearraf, @eylonalevy, @danaelkurd, @saimamohsin, The NewsGuild - CWA, @bbcjonsopel, @maxblumenthal, @danaafana, @yousefmunayyer, @theblahdalia, @mariambarghouti, @nytimes, @halbfinger, @davidgura, @dellcam, @therealestspoon, @wesleylowery, @chrstphr_woody, @froomkin and Insider

Committee to Protect Journalists:
IDF destroyed two buildings in Gaza City housing 12+ media outlets; IDF says the buildings were targeted as sites of Hamas' intelligence and military offices

Discussion: Foreign Exchanges, Dispatch from the San Juans, @anealla, Al Jazeera, @emilygorcenski, @briannawu, @winter, The Daily Beast, The Hill, Slate and @mtracey

Financial Times:

Sources: AT&T board is meeting on Sunday to approve a deal to combine WarnerMedia with rival Discovery, creating a media giant with an enterprise value of $150B — Structure of deal remains unclear, but AT&T is expected to control most of combined entity

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, Vox, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, New York Times, CNBC, Variety, CNN, Insider, The Wrap, @annaknicolaou, @lucas_shaw, @eriqgardner, @kimmasters, Hollywood Reporter, Pink's Bottom Line on Media …, @richlightshed, @loudmouthjulia, @loudmouthjulia, Gizmodo, @bluthcapital, @pkafka, @selectjournal, @brianmcc, The A.V. Club, @hblodget, @sherman4949, @alexweprin, @kimmasters, Mediaite, @pkafka, @blowryontv, Variety, @brianstelter, The Streamable, @joecarlsonshow, @richlightshed, @annaknicolaou, @brianstelter, @loudmouthjulia, @kerrymflynn, @stephanie_link, @jfk_america, @vivian, @pkafka, @arcadegirl64, @karlbode, @ashkan, @dmccabe, @rubecube12, @oliverdarcy, @bendreyfuss, nexttv.com, @bobdigi69, @jeffjarvis, @kimmasters, @edmundlee, @cgasparino, @teddyschleifer, TVNewser, @mgsiegler, @rasmussen_poll, @lpolgreen, Hollywood Reporter, The Verge, @sherman4949, @taralach, @billkuchman, @jimwaterson, @brianstelter, @mediumbuying, @donie, Engadget, @jaysonrodriguez, @karlbode, @wblau, Adweek, @optionshawk, @lucas_shaw, Reuters, @loudmouthjulia, @roybelly, AppleInsider and The Hill

Josef Adalian / Vulture:

How Netflix uses both personalization and objective rankings in its lists of popular shows, and how it continues to test rankings to encourage more viewing — This story is the second in a two-part series about the inner workings of Netflix's homepage. Read the first story here.

Discussion: @tvmojoe, @vulture, @tvmojoe and @blackamazon

Matt Pearce / Los Angeles Times:

A look at the Ambies, Podcast Academy's annual podcast awards whose nominees across 23 categories were chosen by 100+ members, ahead of its inaugural show — Podcasts: Where can you listen to them? Anywhere podcasts are available! — But how do you know the best podcasts to try?

Discussion: @stephenwilson, @davewiner, @mattdpearce, @laura_nelson, @neddonovan, @teddwoods, @mattdpearce and @latimes

The Intercept:

The Intercept stands by its reporting on Gab and “Riot Squad”, after it was accused of doxxing conservative journalists, says its reporters have been harassed — Over the past several days, wild and unfounded accusations have been hurled at The Intercept.

Discussion: @jeremyscahill, @jeremyscahill, @ryanlcooper, @therealhoarse, @natsecgeek, @ijbailey, @ggreenwald, @richiemcginniss, @jasonrantz, @malcolmnance, @shoq, @elijahschaffer, @gpingersoll, @jeremyscahill, @jason_kint, @maassp, @mehdirhasan and The Intercept

The Daily Beast:

Unlike many in the media, MSNBC's Mehdi Hasan and Ayman Mohyeldin are granting airtime to Palestinians instead of heavily relying on Israeli government accounts — NEW VIEW — Much of the American television news coverage of the ongoing violence in Israel and the Gaza Strip has followed a familiar …

Discussion: Financial Times

Jack Crosbie / Discourse Blog:

In internal meeting, CEO Meredith Levien defended NYT's refusal to voluntarily recognize The NYT Tech Guild, saying its members are tech people, not journalists — In a meeting with staffers, Meredith Levien had several reasons for why she's fighting her paper's newest organizing effort.

Joe Flint / Wall Street Journal:

Jason Kilar says he expects no long-term negative effects of releasing 2021 movies on HBO Max; sources: Warner Bros. paid $200M+ to appease talent — WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar fired the streaming service's top brass, blew up the movie business and angered Hollywood royalty. He says it's a recipe for success.

Discussion: Ad Age, Bloomberg, @drewfitzgerald, @brooksbarnesnyt, @wsj and @jbflint

Manish Singh / TechCrunch:

Amazon launches miniTV, an ad-supported free video streaming service that is available within the Amazon shopping app in India — Amazon has long maintained that its video streaming service, Prime Video, helps drive more sales on the shopping app. Now the e-commerce giant is testing …

Discussion: @yourstoryco, @8ap, @amazonin, @sub8u, Hindustan Times, Livemint, NDTV Gadgets 360, Engadget, BGR India, The Indian Express, IN Day One Blog, India Today, The Economic Times and The Verge

Paul Volpe / Politico:

Why WaPo likely looked outside its own ranks to hire a female EIC, including a shrinking newsroom before Bezos' takeover, plus structural and cultural issues — When the Washington Post on Tuesday named Sally Buzbee of the Associated Press as its next executive editor—the first woman to have the role …

Discussion: @isabelberwick, @jonnelle, The Guardian, @jonfortt, @pamaples, @lizseymour, @mitrakalita, @emilyingram, @lizsly, @katchow, @alyssarosenberg, @everdeenmason, @sominisengupta and @brigidschulte

Julia Alexander / IGN:

Nickelodeon is a primary reason people are signing up for and watching streaming service Paramount+, says ViacomCBS CEO Bob Bakish — Nickelodeon is key to Paramount+'s success — Between 2010 and 2020, Nickelodeon lost more than 60% of its audience. — Snapped up by Netflix, YouTube …

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RFE/RL's bank accounts in Russia have been frozen; Russia's media monitor has imposed fines on the news outlet for failing to label itself as a foreign agent

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