Top News:
Frederic Lardinois / TechCrunch:
Google shutters FLoC, its controversial replacement for cookies, and details Topics, which organizes browsing into 300+ topics — FLoC (Federated Learning of Cohorts), Google's controversial project for replacing cookies for interest-based advertising by instead grouping users into groups of users with comparable interests, is dead.
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Wall Street Journal, Axios, GitHub, New York Times, Ad Age, AdExchanger, Digiday, The Keyword, Engadget and MarTech, more at Techmeme »
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Javier Espinoza / Financial Times:
Hundreds of German advertisers and publishers, including Axel Springer, say Google is breaking EU law by phasing out third-party cookies from Chrome by 2023 — Axel Springer among the media groups demanding that Brussels intervene on search giant's plan — Google is facing a fresh complaint …
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New York Post, What's New in Publishing, TechCrunch, The Drum, Media Voices, @emilybell, @eric_seufert, @wblau, MediaPost, AdExchanger and AppleInsider, more at Techmeme »
Michael M. Grynbaum / New York Times:
Fox News' Peter Doocy says Biden called him to “clear the air” about an hour after the president was caught on a hot mic calling Doocy “a stupid son of a bitch” — The president later called Peter Doocy and “cleared the air,” Mr. Doocy said.
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@alexthomp, @brianstelter, Mediaite, @kaitlancollins, Fox News, CBS News, CNN, The Hill, The Federalist, Yahoo News, @noahcrothman, Washington Post, Insider, @ashleestrong, @jason_kint, Insider, @akilahobviously, @acampanajjar, Hollywood Life, @billscher, Deadline, Vanity Fair, Breitbart, @vickerysec, @xeni, @byyourlogic, @nytimes, @repswalwell, The Guardian, @grynbaum, @elienyc, New York Post, @redsteeze, @atrupar, Rolling Stone, The Wrap, The Source, New York Magazine, Variety and Barrett Media
Jeremy W. Peters / New York Times:
A look at likely First Amendment ramifications of the Sarah Palin v. The New York Times libel case, as reporters face aggressive defamation allegations — The trial comes at a time when those who argue that news outlets should pay a steeper price for getting something wrong are more emboldened than they've been in decades.
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@janewester, Reuters, Insider, NBC News, NPR, Washington Post, The Guardian, Politico, The Guardian, Reuters, TVNewsCheck, @terri_rupar, @clarajeffery, @digiphile, @greta, @greta, @realstanvg, @reuterslegal, @renato_mariotti, @cernovich, @spj_tweets, @jessicahuseman, @mattnegrin, @npr, @jannwolfe, @boutrousted, American Press Institute, @sazeracnela, @bgrueskin, @joshgerstein, @shannonrwatts, @tedstew, @tedstew, @davidfolkenflik, Bloomberg, Poynter, CNN, @erikwemple and The Hill
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Andy Greene / Rolling Stone:
Neil Young posts and then deletes a letter to his management team demanding they remove his music from Spotify over Joe Rogan's vaccine misinformation — Neil Young posted a since-deleted letter to his management team and record label demanding that they remove his music from Spotify.
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The Guardian, Forbes, USA Today, The Daily Beast, Billboard, UPI, The Verge, @jimwaterson, @anthonylfisher, @benschwartz_, Hollywood Life, The Wrap, UPROXX, Breitbart, Insider, The A.V. Club, WGN-TV, Variety, Music Ally, Consequence and Digital Music News
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Shannon Bond / NPR:
Over 1,000 health professionals sign an open letter calling on Spotify to crack down on COVID-19 misinformation following a Joe Rogan podcast controversy — An open letter urging Spotify to crack down on COVID-19 misinformation has gained the signatures of more than a thousand doctors …
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Gawker, @rexchapman, Reason, @justinhendrix, @npr, Bartl Bright, The Starting Block, TheGrio, The Falcon Report and And Other Things
Alex Weprin / Hollywood Reporter:
CBS News overhauls its streaming service to capture TV news viewers moving online, by adding hosts, reviving classic programming, and expanding local offerings — Talent like Norah O'Donnell and Tony Dokoupil will host streaming shows, including revivals of Edward R. Murrow's ‘Person-to-Person’ and doc series ‘CBS Reports.’
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Variety, CNN, The Wrap, CBS News, @bristei, Too Much TV Newsletter, @alexweprin, @cbsnewspress, @alexweprin, @alexweprin, The Streamable, TVNewser, Next TV, Daily Herald, Los Angeles Times and MediaPost
Jem Aswad / Variety:
Sony announces it acquired Bob Dylan's recorded music back catalog and rights to future new releases in July 2021; sources say the deal is worth $150M-$200M — Sources tell Variety that the deal was worth between $150 million and $200 million, although the number was not confirmed; reps for Sony and Dylan declined comment.
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Billboard, The Guardian, @sterlewine, Rolling Stone, @bowiesongs, Forbes, @billboardbiz, The Wrap, Bloomberg and Consequence
Viola Zhou / VICE:
Fight Club, newly released on Tencent Video in China, features an alternative ending whereby police thwart Tyler's anarchist plan — Someone tried very hard to please Chinese movie censors. — VZ — Fight Club is getting an entirely different ending in a new online release in China …
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Agence France-Presse, @tomgara, The A.V. Club, South China Morning Post, @erichschwartzel, @vladsavov, @mrbrianfirenzi, The Independent, Bloomberg, @viceworldnews, SlashFilm, Polygon, @gladstein, @hurtingbombz, @whitebison66, ScreenRant, Collider, @gerryshih, @rhokilpatrick, @oliverjia1014, @violazhouyi and Consequence
Anthony Cormier / BuzzFeed:
Natalie Mayflower Sours Edwards, who was sentenced to six months in prison for providing BuzzFeed News with US Treasury Department documents, has been released — Revelations by Natalie Mayflower Sours Edwards prompted sweeping reform to the financial industry.
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@jasonleopold, @bitmeehan, @seamushughes, @buzzfeed, @arielkaminer, @jasonleopold, @brianstelter and @thetweetofjohn
Alex Webb / Bloomberg:
PitchBook: VCs invested $1.4B in US and European publishing startups in 2021, more than twice the investment of any previous year — Spiffy online news outlets are hot again. Every month seems to welcome a new publication built on an established journalist's existing audience.
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@acoyne
Elsa Keslassy / Variety:
Netflix signs France's new windowing rules to get movies 15 months after their release; other streamers wait 17 months and free-to-air channels wait 22 months — After months of heated debates and clashes, the French film industry has set new windowing rules for movies that are released in local theaters.
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@frasermatthew and Deadline