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Stratechery's Ben Thompson announces a service called Passport to let creators manage their subscriptions and communicate with subscribers — Seven years ago, when I initially launched the paid Daily Update, there weren't really any tools designed for independent subscription businesses …
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@stratechery, @sarthakgh, @vgr, @trengriffin, @caseynewton, @mathewi, @edwinwee, @alex, @alecellin, @tomcritchlow and @steven_aquino, more at Techmeme »


Former Treasury official is sentenced to 6 months in prison after admitting she leaked documents to BuzzFeed News; the docs formed the basis of the FinCEN Files — A former Treasury Department official was sentenced to six months in prison on Thursday after she admitted …


Sources: Facebook plans to end its controversial policy that shields politicians from the content moderation rules that apply to other users — Going forward politicians will be treated more like everyone else — Facebook plans to end its controversial policy that shields politicians …
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@alexeheath, New York Times, Reuters, Insider, SiliconANGLE, @dellcam, New York Post, @karissabe, @brandonrichards, @digiphile, @shiraovide, @jesselehrich, @oneunderscore__, @gerritd, @brandyzadrozny, @rvawonk, @karenkornbluh, @noupside, @taraemcg, @sarahfrier, @kreissdaniel, @klonick, @carolecadwalla and KFOR-TV, more at Techmeme »


Twitter launches its subscription service Twitter Blue on iOS in Canada and Australia for CAD$3.49 and A$4.49/month, with Undo Tweet, Bookmark Folders, more — - Twitter Blue is designed for power users who are willing to pay a monthly fee for exclusive features.
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Twitter, Variety, CNN, Protocol, New York Times, The Verge, Pink's Bottom Line on Media …, The Information, @sinamonchild, @jyarow, @profgalloway, @ebonyteach, @fourverts, @samuelaadams, @manishm, @b52malmet, @angelafritz, @fredericl, @minsingular, @exavierpope, @remztheawesome, @mlozada, @danmassoud, @mep, globalnews.ca, BBC, Gizmodo Australia, Bloomberg, Reuters, USA Today, BNN and Hypebot, more at Techmeme »


Trump shutting down his blog shows the significance of social media platforms' amplification mechanics and how they give free and huge reach to the worst actors — What a failed blog tells us about the power of Twitter — Last month, after months of hyping up a forthcoming “social media platform” …
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HBO Max head Andy Forssell says news and sports may require new formats on the service and WarnerMedia is weighing whether CNN content can be part of HBO Max — News and sports programming are a significant factor in keeping consumers tethered to cable and satellite subscriptions in an era rife …


30+ newsrooms have signed a Climate Emergency Statement recognizing the need for better climate coverage, but some outlets fear the phrase sounds like activism — TV newsman Bill Moyers likes to tell the story of how Edward R. Murrow, the pre-eminent US broadcast journalist of his time …


Sources: Pershing Square Tontine Holding, a SPAC that began trading last year, is close to taking Universal Music Group public, valuing Universal at about $40B — Prospective deal puts a valuation on the world's largest music business at $42 billion with debt
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Financial Times, Variety, CNBC, Insider, Forbes, New York Times, Bloomberg and Billboard


Visual journalists must rethink their ethical obligations to protesters, who are vulnerable groups, and need to ask for consent to photograph and publish images — In the age of viral media and punitive surveillance, visual journalists have an ethical obligation to minimize harm when covering protests.
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@ericmstahl, @morisy, @curtwoodward, @mathewi, @professorbock, @ericmstahl and @donaldrwinslow


IDG, owner of PCWorld, Macworld, and IDC, to be acquired by Blackstone for $1.3B — It's been a busy week for private equity with Cloudera, Stack Overflow and FireEye coming off the board on Tuesday and Wednesday. Today Blackstone bought media and data company IDG for $1.3 billion.
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The Boston Globe and Business Wire, more at Techmeme »


WaPo diversifies its opinion section with the launch of Voices Across America, featuring local writers, and will launch an opinion-based podcast Please Go On — Fans of The Washington Post's opinion section will get to experience a wider range of viewpoints starting this month.
Discussion:
@niemanlab, @maxboot and @jameshohmann


An Australian court fines 12 media outlets a total of over A$1M for reporting on a cardinal's child sex abuse conviction while the case was being appealed — Victoria's supreme court fines the Age $450,000 and News Corp more than $400,000 for contempt of court over coverage of cardinal's initial conviction
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Sydney Morning Herald, BBC, Associated Press, @karenlsweeney, @karenlsweeney and @karenlsweeney