Top News:
Michael M. Grynbaum / New York Times:
Fox News has regained its dominance of Nielsen ratings by elevating pro-Trump pundits like Dan Bongino while sidelining liberal voices and Trump critics — Donna Brazile, a Democratic analyst, has left the Murdoch-owned network as some hosts and journalists who questioned Donald Trump have exited or been sidelined.
Discussion:
Variety, @amy_siskind, The Full Belmonte, @escrimshaw, @charlesarthur, @karoli, @nprinskeep, @whatthebit, @jannwolfe, @tripgabriel, @ichotiner, @varadmehta, @badfoxgraphics, @grynbaum, @naima, @oliverdarcy, Mediaite and The Wrap
Richard J. Tofel / Second Rough Draft:
National funding for local news has grown, but the Tribune deal showed few local funders stepping up, which are needed to save or revive local news — There has been an explosion in funding for local news, but most of it is national. — 14 hr ago — Welcome to Second Rough Draft …
Discussion:
@dicktofel, @cagejulia, @rickholter, @repmattschaefer, @evanasmith, @saksappeal, @benyt and @nicdawes
Paul Farhi / Washington Post:
VOA management took months to address the fact that an executive producer and a freelancer regularly plagiarized others' work, despite being alerted by staff — Last summer, a Voice of America staffer noticed something odd in the radio scripts that a Paris-based freelancer was submitting …
Discussion:
@jasonleopold, @bradmoreso, @davidfolkenflik, @kaedotcom, @dashdecosta, Voice of America and @blmohr
Wall Street Journal:
Profile of James Bond film producers Michael Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, whose control over the franchise isn't expected to change after Amazon's MGM purchase — To make the most of the Bond franchise, Amazon will need permission from the powerful family that owns the rights
Discussion:
@deadliftgrl, @wpbf_sandra, @philnobilejr, Daily Mail, @mathewi, @jbflint, Hollywood Reporter, Insider, Reuters and Polygon
Zachary Petrizzo / Salon:
Pollster Frank Luntz concealed his work for Republican Rep. Kevin McCarthy's PAC at a time when he was also producing focus group videos hosted by the LA Times — Luntz embarrasses another media outlet by not revealing who's paying him. Why do they keep falling for his act?
Discussion:
The Daily Beast, @grace_panetta, @lisadubbels, @maxwelltani, @maxwelltani, @sfpelosi, @reptomcoleman, @shiplives and @adriana_lacy
Sarah McCammon / NPR:
Survey finds that close to half of Americans who say they consume far-right news sources, such as Newsmax and OANN, believe in the tenets of QAnon — Religion, education, race and media consumption are strong predictors of conspiracy theory acceptance among Americans, according to a new survey …
Discussion:
@imillhiser, @nprpolitics, @npr, @nprpolitics, @nytimes, @zaleskiluke, @michaelshermer, @chuckwendig, @tylerdinucci, @robertpjones, Mediaite, @prripoll, New York Post and theweek.com
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Google is nearing a settlement of an antitrust case in France alleging it abused its power in online ads, and is likely pay a fine and make changes — French investigation alleged Google's ad server favored its own ad exchange — Alphabet Inc.'s Google is nearing a settlement …
Discussion:
@martinapennisi, @geradinlaw, @jason_kint, New York Post, Light Reading and Ad Age
Chance Miller / 9to5Mac:
In an email to podcasters, Apple says it is delaying the launch of its Podcasts Subscriptions and channels until June and plans improvements to its Podcasts app — Apple has announced in an email to podcasters today that it is delaying the launch of Apple Podcasts Subscriptions.
Discussion:
The Verge and Macworld, more at Techmeme »
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Clubhouse has hired Kelly Stoetzel, head of conferences and speaker curation at TED, to lead efforts to attract “thoughtful people” like authors and scientists — Clubhouse has hired Kelly Stoetzel, a 17-year veteran of TED and the executive responsible for lining up the company's famous TED Talks.
Discussion:
@om, SheThePeople TV and Social Media Today
Eriq Gardner / Hollywood Reporter:
A federal judge declines to dismiss a libel suit against Netflix for the portrayal of a retired police sergeant in its Making a Murderer documentary — Andrew Colborn gets to discovery as a federal judge won't dismiss a libel suit over the celebrated docuseries.
Discussion:
@eriqgardner, Tyla, Reason and Wausau Pilot & Review
Carrie DeCell / Knight First Amendment Institute:
In a court filing, the Biden administration indicates it will defend a Trump-era rule that requires US visa applicants to register their social media handles — Indicates that it may retain Trump-era requirement — In a terse court filing today, the Biden administration indicated …
Kate Kaye / Digiday:
Google says it won't build itself Privacy Sandbox backdoors, but whether it will allow itself to use individual-level data from Chrome users remains unclear — Google promised on Thursday it won't carve out separate rules for itself as it forces data privacy restrictions on others navigating …
Discussion:
@robinberjon and @kyotonio