Top News:
Jack Morse / Mashable:
Twitter says it will add a newsletter subscribe button to user profiles in the coming weeks, available to those with a Revue account; Twitter will take a 5% cut — Newsletters are coming to a Twitter profile near you. Or, at least the chance to sign up for them is.
Brian Stelter / CNN:
Jeffrey Toobin, fired by The New Yorker and suspended by CNN after exposing himself in a Zoom call with colleagues, returns to CNN as chief legal correspondent — New York (CNN Business)Jeffrey Toobin, CNN's longtime chief legal analyst, has returned to the network eight months …
Discussion:
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Steve Dent / Engadget:
NMPA files a $200M lawsuit against Roblox for alleged music copyright infringement, and launches a “major ramp-up” of its takedown campaign against Twitch — The National Music Publishers' Association (NMPA) has filed a $200 million lawsuit against Roblox for allowing the illegal use …
Discussion:
Wired, Forbes, The Verge, Variety, Complete Music Update, PC Gamer, Music Business Worldwide and musically.com, more at Techmeme »
Rachel Aroesti / The Guardian:
Podcast Reply All is set to return this week; its recovery will depend on hosts Goldman and Dzotsi recreating the original's DIY charm — Gimlet's smash hit podcast returns from an enforced hiatus this week ... minus one of its hosts. But its future, and that of other shows blighted by controversy, is now precarious
Discussion:
@davemolloy and @caseyriankelly
New York Times:
Netflix launches an online store with Shopify, featuring merch tied to its shows, expanding its retail business which includes deals with Walmart and others — You streamed it. Now you can buy it at Netflix.shop, a new site that will offer everything from a “Lupin” side table to a “Yasuke” clock.
Discussion:
Adweek, The Streamable, Variety, Insider, CNET, @eringriffith, Reuters, @shiraovide, POPSUGAR, @sapna and @stacyperman, more at Techmeme »
Freddy Mayhew / Press Gazette:
Director of GB News John McAndrew says it “won't be a hate-filled divisive shout-fest”, over concerns it will bring Fox News-style TV to the UK — “I didn't ask anyone at their interview how they voted,” GB News director John McAndrew tells me when I ask whether the channel will lean to the right politically.
Discussion:
Journalism.co.uk
Pew Research Center:
11% of news stories about the Biden administration during the first two months relied on anonymous sources; 5% in right-leaning and 13% in left-leaning outlets — Roughly one-in-ten news stories about Joe Biden's early days as president cited an anonymous or unnamed source …
Discussion:
Pew Research Center, @pewresearch, @pewresearch, @pewresearch, @johngramlich and @pewjournalism
Laura Miller / Slate:
Some authors are changing lines in their published books after coming under fire from small posses of online critics about something fictional characters said — Elin Hilderbrand writes novels about people who summer in Nantucket and have lots of family secrets and complicated love lives.
Mark Schoofs / New York Times:
BuzzFeed EIC says Biden should pardon Natalie Mayflower Sours Edwards, who was sentenced to six months in prison for passing Treasury documents to BuzzFeed News — Mr. Schoofs is the editor in chief of BuzzFeed News and a visiting professor at the Annenberg School for Communication …
Discussion:
@jentaub, @nytopinion, @nytopinion, @jasonleopold, @schoofsfeed, @schoofsfeed and @bgrueskin
Adam Jacobson / Radio & Television Business Report:
BIA: local TV station revenue reached $19.7B in 2020, up from $18.3B in 2019, with political advertising accounting for $4.4B and offsetting pandemic losses — Yes, the COVID-19 pandemic had a big impact on local television revenues in 2020. But the 2020 elections ultimately kept the industry in a good position by year's end.
The Information:
Sources: BuzzFeed is in talks to raise around $200M in bonds on top of cash it gets in a SPAC merger, to help fund the purchase of Complex Networks for $300M — BuzzFeed is in discussions to raise about $200 million in convertible bonds to supplement cash it will raise by merging …
Jeff Kotuby / The Streamable:
ZEE5, a streaming service with Indian, Pakistani, and Bangladeshi movies and shows, launches in the US on June 22, offering content in 18 languages for $50/year — ZEE5, the world's largest streaming platform for South Asian content, has announced it will launch in the United States on June 22.