Top News:
Benjamin Mullin / Wall Street Journal:
Internal memo: CNN is closing its US offices to all nonessential employees as COVID-19 cases rise at the network and nationwide — President Jeff Zucker cited a surge of cases at the network in a memo on the decision — CNN is closing its offices to nonessential employees …
Ben Bowman / The Streamable:
YouTube TV reaches a deal with Disney to bring back 17+ channels including ABC, Disney, ESPN, Freeform, FX, and National Geographic — After one day of being dark, YouTube TV and Disney have reached a deal which will see more than 17 Disney-owned channels, including local ABC affiliates, Disney Channel, and ESPN return to the service.
Discussion:
MediaPost, USA Today, @youtubetv, @reckless, UPI, @cnn, 9to5Google, @thestreamable, Deadline, CNET, @mgsiegler, Awful Announcing, @film_girl, @pkafka, @epro, Variety, Cord Cutters News, The Verge, nexttv.com, Sports Illustrated, The Wrap, Newser, Hollywood Reporter and Sportico, more at Techmeme »
Mathew Ingram / Columbia Journalism Review:
The pursuit of “scale” drives media companies to merge, such as in the Vox-Group Nine deal, but what constitutes sufficient scale changes when valuations shrink — On Tuesday, Vox Media and Group Nine announced plans to merge their operations, in what Jim Bankoff …
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, @chronotope, @cjr, @mathewi, @jackmarshall and The Fix
Andy Maxwell / TorrentFreak:
Malaysia passes a bill to imprison people who facilitate access to pirated content via illegal streaming, for up to 20 years — Laws that forbid the illegal uploading and downloading of copyrighted content are common around the world but the rise of streaming has sometimes exposed gaps in legislation.
Discussion:
Malaysiakini, thesundaily.my and Lowyat.NET, more at Techmeme »
Rebecca Rubin / Variety:
Spider-Man: No Way Home generated $587M globally during its opening weekend, $253M in the US, making it the third-largest debut on record — Don't underestimate Peter Parker. — That's the takeaway this weekend after Sony's comic book adventure “Spider-Man: No Way Home” …
Discussion:
Numlock News, Rambling Mind, @murrelldan, The Week, New York Times, Vanity Fair, ScreenRant, @variety, SlashFilm, UPI, @paulsmovietrip, The A.V. Club, Los Angeles Times, @dkthomp, CNN, @variety, JoBlo, Murphy's Multiverse, TIME, Rotten Tomatoes, @variety, MediaPost and Hollywood Reporter
Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
Spotify, Facebook, Instagram, and even Netflix find Gen Z elusive in a way TikTok never has; Spotify says its Blend playlist feature is mostly used by Gen Z — Good afternoon from Puerto Rico. Hope you all are staying safe out there. Hollywood is celebrating the good news …
Discussion:
@lucas_shaw and @sleepwellcap
The Guardian:
The BBC says UK political editor Laura Kuenssberg will step down at Easter to take on a senior presenting and reporting role — Kuenssberg says she will ‘miss daily drama’ as BBC confirms she will take senior presenting and reporting role — Laura Kuenssberg will step down as the BBC's political editor …
Discussion:
Press Gazette, Telegraph, Daily Mail, London Evening Standard, @femi_sorry, @jamesrbuk, @bbcnewspr, @bbcnewspr, bbc.co.uk, @bbclaurak, @bbclaurak and Guido Fawkes
Barbara Allen / Poynter:
How NYT reporters handled a recent feature on online resources for suicide without prominently naming the service, by speaking to experts, veterans, and editors — The team relied on advice and conversations with experts, veterans, editors and each other — The ethical issues running throughout …
Pew Research Center:
Analysis of news tweets from 500 US adults shows a focus on entertainment, politics, and sports; only 2% of news tweets had a hashtag, down from 34% in 2015 — Most Americans who use Twitter get news on the platform, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey.
Discussion:
The Starting Block, @killedbygoogle, @jenmercieca, @pewresearch, @pewresearch, @asmitch, @pewjournalism, @pewjournalism, @spj_tweets, @pewjournalism and @jamcnn
Danny Leigh / Financial Times:
Universal Pictures chair Donna Langley on releasing Trolls World Tour online at the start of the pandemic, shrinking theatrical release windows, and more — Donna Langley only looks ahead. She moves at pace through the packed dining room of La Petite Maison, a French Mediterranean restaurant in a Mayfair side street.
Discussion:
@patrickvons, @raju and @markghuneim
Daniel Tilles / Notes From Poland:
Polish parliament passes a bill that limits foreign ownership of media, affecting Discovery-owned TVN; the president hinted he may veto the bill — A bill to restrict foreign ownership of Polish media was unexpectedly passed by parliament today. The proposed law is seen to be aimed …
Discussion:
The Guardian, Bloomberg, @mooonlightbby, @ecpmf, @notesfrompoland, @globalfreemedia, Variety, Politico, C21Media, The Hollywood Reporter, DW.COM and Deadline
Jeremy Barr / Washington Post:
NYT fires a Wirecutter editor for “repeatedly invoking the NYT's name in an unprofessional way” in messages she allegedly sent to a gun rights advocacy group — Erin Marquis, a staffer for the popular product-review site, had also lashed out at a gun-rights organization on Twitter.
Discussion:
@jeffjarvis, @jeremymbarr, New York Post, The Hill, Talking Biz News and Mediaite
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