Top News:


Google will delay plans to block third-party cookies from early 2022 to late 2023, to find ways to protect privacy without hurting ad-dependent publishers — It takes time to fix privacy problems without hurting ad-dependent websites, the search giant says.
Discussion:
Axios, Nieman Lab, Digiday, CNBC, The Verge, MediaPost, @jbenton, Wall Street Journal, Vox, Marketing Dive, @benedictevans, TechCrunch, Digiday, Why is this interesting?, @lockheimer, Mumbrella, @julespolonetsky, @justinbrookman, @ashk4n, @wsj, @gerritd, @aripap, @jbenton, roirevolution.com, Financial Times, 9to5Google, Associated Press, Bloomberg, Insider, Engadget, Ad Age and Competition Policy …, more at Techmeme »


BuzzFeed announces plans to go public via SPAC merger, targeting a $1.5B valuation, and will acquire digital publisher Complex Networks for $300M — BuzzFeed, a 15-year-old digital media company, announced Thursday it plans to go public via a merger with a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company.
Discussion:
@felixsalmon, CNBC, @buzzfeedpr, Variety, CNN, @pkafka, Fortune, Insider, Vanity Fair, @froomkin, Reuters, Axios, The Verge, Business Wire, @ashkan, Digiday, @emilybell, @davecoion, @alexkotch, @kustoo, @rafat, @stevekovach, @ellievhall, @mathowie, @mylesudland, Vox, New York Times, BuzzFeed, The Hill, The Guardian, Los Angeles Times, Deadline, Bloomberg, Yahoo Entertainment, Hollywood Reporter, Adweek and bookforum.com


UK's largest commercial publisher Reach says it will hire an online safety editor, the first of its kind in UK, to tackle “endemic” abuse of its journalists — Reach has created an online safety editor role, the first of its kind in the UK, to tackle “endemic” abuse and harassment of its journalists “head on”.
Discussion:
Reach Jobs, HullLive, @alisongow, gbnews.uk, @mrjohncrowley, @jonbir90, @davidbartlett1, @davidhiggerson, @kristian_walsh, @rasmus_kleis and HoldtheFrontPage

NY's Ulster Publishing survived the pandemic by ceasing separate print editions for towns in the Hudson Valley and consolidating them into a countywide paper — In late March, just as the pandemic was beginning to ravage the news industry with a slew of furloughs, pay cuts, and more …
Discussion:
@jcstearns, @__gabbymiller, American Press Institute, The Guardian and @helaineolen


Research: POC make up 27.7% of local TV news workforce in the US; all local TV newsrooms have women on the news team; 85% of radio news workforce is white — Graphics credits: Chandler Claire Dewgard / Syracuse University — This is the fifth and final installment of this year's RTDNA/Newhouse School at Syracuse University Survey.
Discussion:
TV Technology, @deborahabc17 and @spj_tweets


How Navajo Nation radio stations connected with listeners during the pandemic, dealt with folk remedies for COVID, and helped with donations — KTNN radio station's headquarters in St. Michaels, Arizona is less than ten minutes away from the Navajo Nation capital of Window Rock …


Amazon acquires Art19, a major podcast hosting and monetization platform, for an undisclosed sum — Art19 goes to Amazon Music — Amazon Music is getting more serious about its podcast endeavors. Today, the company announced that it's acquiring Art19, a major podcast hosting and monetization platform for an undisclosed sum.
Discussion:
Variety, Tubefilter, Marketing Dive, @kintan, @ashleyrcarman, @jyarow, @highfiverpg, @jesselehrich, @techwontsaveus and AppleInsider, more at Techmeme »


Journalists say Amazon's PR team uses aggressive, manipulative, and sometimes outright deceptive tactics to intimidate and mislead reporters — Let our journalists help you make sense of the noise: Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily newsletter and get a recap of news that matters.


Recording Academy and its former CEO Deborah Dugan reach an agreement over her termination amid allegations of workplace bullying — Dugan left the body that organizes the Grammys in acrimonious circumstances in March 2020.
Discussion:
Variety and New York Times


Three Al Jazeera journalists who were tear-gassed in Ferguson have settled a lawsuit with the county, which has agreed to pay $280K — Three journalists with Al Jazeera who were tear-gassed during a protest in Ferguson, Missouri, after Michael Brown's death in 2014 have settled a lawsuit …
Discussion:
Kansas City Star, @gregghoush, @coreyhutchins, @melissakchan, @timjeby and Newsweek


Microsoft adds integrations with local news creators and authors to highlight local sources and support people with donations in Windows 11 — Support local news with your leftover Microsoft points — Supporting local news sources is suddenly something the tech industry worries about …


Murdoch asks UK govt to abolish legal restraints on his interference in the editorial independence of the Times and Sunday Times, paving the way for a merger — News UK asks government to scrap legal curbs at Times and Sunday Times, paving way for full-blown merger
Discussion:
@jimrhoughton, @bat020, @m0kujin, @johntwelvetrees, @nicholasguyatt and @realnatalierowe