Mediagazer: Fox News has regained its dominance of Nielsen ratings by elevating pro-Trump pundits like Dan Bongino while sidelining liberal voices and Trump critics (Michael M. Grynbaum/New York Times)

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, @jannwolfe, @grynbaum, @whatthebit, Mediaite, @ichotiner, @charlesarthur, @badfoxgraphics, @naima, @tripgabriel, @varadmehta, @oliverdarcy, The Wrap and Hollywood Reporter

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: @kaedotcom, Voice of America, @bradmoreso, @dashdecosta and @blmohr

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, @shiplives and @adriana_lacy

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, New York Post, @geradinlaw, Light Reading, @jason_kint and Ad Age, 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: Social Media Today and SheThePeople TV

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: Reason, Tyla and Wausau Pilot & Review

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, @rickholter, @cagejulia, @repmattschaefer, @evanasmith, @saksappeal, @benyt and @nicdawes

Kenneth Li / Reuters:

Reuters has postponed the launch of its paywall after a dispute with data provider Refinitiv over whether the move would breach a deal between the companies — (Reuters) - Reuters News postponed the launch of its website paywall following a dispute with financial data provider Refinitiv …

Discussion: Financial Times, @kenli729, MediaPost, @gaberivera, @ivanthek, @alex, @jackshafer, @felixsalmon and Talking Biz News

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: @kyotonio, @robinberjon and MediaPost

Brent Lang / Variety:

Lionsgate beat estimates with Q4 revenue of $876.4M, down 7.2% YoY; Starz streaming subscribers grew 69% YoY to 16.7M globally; motion picture revenue fell 25%+ — The better-than-expected results come as Lionsgate is seen as a potential acquisition target for tech giants and media conglomerates looking to get bigger.

Discussion: Marketing Science, @loudmouthjulia, MediaPost, Deadline, investors.lionsgate.com, Los Angeles Business Journal and The Wrap

Sara Guaglione / Digiday:

CNN says the 5 Things podcast accounts for 43% of its total podcast downloads, as it plans to expand the 5 Things newsletter and turn it into a franchise — CNN Digital is stretching its 5 Things email newsletter from a daily article roundup into its own franchise.

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, more at Techmeme »

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 …

Discussion: @harshwords222, @harshwords222, @cmd_dc, @evelyndouek, @smaurizi, @jameeljaffer, @jimbovard, @cmd_dc, @cmd_dc, @harshwords222, @harshwords222, @harshwords222, @cmd_dc, @losowsky and @krhawkins5, more at Techmeme »

Bloomberg:

Sources: Apple tried to buy rap battle livestreaming service Verzuz before it was acquired in March by Triller — - Tech giant floated a lower price for Timbaland's platform — Talks show Apple's continued interest in social music offering — Apple Inc. aimed to purchase …

Discussion: @gilliantan, 9to5Mac and AppleInsider, more at Techmeme »