Top News:
Brian Steinberg / Variety:
Stephen Hayes, The Weekly Standard's former EIC who broke ties with Fox to protest Tucker Carlson's January 6 special, joins NBC News — tephen Hayes, the conservative political analyst who raised eyebrows in November when he took to The New York Times to announce his breaking ties …
Ashley Carman / The Verge:
Internal messages detail Spotify's lax health content policy, as staff are told multiple Joe Rogan podcast episodes “didn't meet the threshold for removal” — Leaked messages reveal the company has reviewed every Rogan episode and none ‘meet the threshold for removal’
Discussion:
Deadline, The A.V. Club, @themadstone, @reckless, @dylanreeve, @mmasnick, Dazed, @reckless, @natjarv, @reckless, @mattdpearce, @datadrivenmd, @mickpuck, @evoterra, @caseynewton, @robaeprice, @joshsternberg, @kimzetter, @subjectburst, @ashleyrcarman and Los Angeles Times, more at Techmeme »
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Randall Roberts / Los Angeles Times:
A look at Neil Young's history of feuding with corporations and big institutions, from MTV to Spotify, and his own startup effort for digital music, Pono — When Neil Young announced he was pulling his entire discography from music streaming giant Spotify over the platform's alliance …
James Hale / Tubefilter:
YouTuber Hank Green unfavorably compares TikTok's creator fund, where a creator's revenue falls as more join, to YouTube, which pays a percentage of ad revenue — In 2020, TikTok established a creator fund that distributes $200 million annually to creators based in the U.S.
Discussion:
Platformer, @caseynewton, NBC News, @martinsfp, Blue Tape, @theblakeguidry, @mvzelenks, @shiraovide, @carnage4life, @hankgreen, TechCrunch and Engadget, more at Techmeme »
Joanne Kenen / Politico:
Some experts say David Leonhardt, author of the influential NYT newsletter “The Morning” underestimates and underplays COVID-19's risks by cherry-picking data — THE NIGHTLY READS ‘THE MORNING’ — With 5 million readers, David Leonhardt, the author of The New York Times …
Discussion:
New Republic, @froomkin, @alexanderrusso, @lpdonovan, @demfromct, @rameshponnuru, @michaelkruse, @dankennedy_nu, @thrasherxy, @jayrosen_nyu, @garettjones, @abbydphillip, @alexanderrusso, @alexthomp, @froomkin, @jbarro, @michaelbd, @joannekenen, @eggerdc, @coreypein, @awinston, @jlcroner, @joannekenen, @joannekenen, @zackstanton, @whstancil, @yeselson, @mikiebarb, @evanmcmurry, @mdaware, @conorpwilliams, @joannekenen and @zackstanton
Rick Edmonds / Poynter:
Hearst Newspapers claims 300K digital-only subscribers, up 50% YoY, of which 140K are the San Francisco Chronicle's, as it plans a shared product and data hub — Heart's newspapers represent a sort of counterpoint to the perception that the industry is all about financial distress and contraction.
Discussion:
@risj_oxford, @medici1, American Press Institute, @timafranklin, @timothyorourke, @poynter and @caseyseiler
Erik Wemple / Washington Post:
The Salt Lake Tribune offers to reimburse staffers who hire services to scrub their personal info from the internet, after threats followed a pandemic editorial — The Salt Lake Tribune alerted police to threats that the newspaper received after publishing a Jan. 15 editorial that ripped state leaders …
Discussion:
@nickparkerstet, @dabeard, @deborahblum and @oliverdarcy
Gene Maddaus / Variety:
A US judge refuses to dismiss a defamation lawsuit brought by a Georgian chess master against Netflix over a mention of her in an episode of The Queen's Gambit — A judge on Thursday refused to dismiss a lawsuit filed by a Georgian chess master who alleged that she was defamed in an episode of the Netflix series “The Queen's Gambit.”
Discussion:
Engadget, @jenshahade, The Guardian, New York Post, SlashFilm, The A.V. Club, Hollywood Reporter and The Wrap
Anna Nicolaou / Financial Times:
Netflix's results suggest streaming television is going to make entertainment companies less money than cable did because it demands high capital investment — Share price collapse points to worries over the streaming business model — The corporate narrative on Netflix has always been high drama.
Vipal Monga / Wall Street Journal:
Shopify denies copyright infringement claims from publishers and says court is the wrong venue to force changes in copyright laws that shield tech companies — E-commerce company says it isn't liable for copyright infringement by sellers; has responded to takedown requests
Zachary Petrizzo / The Daily Beast:
Google suspends Dan Bongino's website from monetizing with ads for “persistently” breaching guidelines about COVID-19 pandemic and election misinformation — ‘DEMONSTRABLY FALSE’ — Fox News host Dan Bongino's website has been temporarily suspended from monetizing with Google ads over …
Discussion:
@checkmyadshq, Engadget, @mhbergen and Mashable
Mark Sweney / The Guardian:
UK regional publisher Archant is for sale again, 18 months after private equity firm Rcapital's acquisition; it is expected to be sold for between £5M and £10M — Exclusive: Publisher of dozens of local titles was sold to Rcapital in deal that promised ‘bright future’
Discussion:
HoldtheFrontPage and @jimwaterson
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Apple had 785M paying subs globally across all services in Q1, up 27% YoY; Cook says Apple doesn't make “purely financial decisions” about Apple TV+ content — And CEO Tim Cook acknowledged that it isn't necessarily looking for a financial payback on that investment.
Discussion:
The Streamable, MediaPost, @stevesi and @xpangler
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J. Clara Chan / The Hollywood Reporter:
Services revenue for Apple, which includes Apple TV+, Apple Music, the App Store, and iCloud, brought in $19.5B in Q1, up from $15.8B a year ago
Discussion:
SlashFilm, Apple, Light Reading, Billboard, The Register, Music Ally and Apple Inc., more at Techmeme »
Elizabeth Dwoskin / Washington Post:
Center for Countering Digital Hate: Substack makes at least $2.5M/year via anti-vaccine posts; Substack defends hosting “writers with whom we strongly disagree” — Newsletter company Substack is making millions off anti-vaccine content, according to estimates
Discussion:
@alexhern, @lulumeservey, @alexhern, Unmade, Podcast Movement, North Stars and Cowboy Bars, eugyppius, @kixes, @gabemschneider, @gabemschneider, @gabemschneider, @gabemschneider, @ddayen, @get_innocuous, @jefftaylorhuman, @ccdhate, @jamisonfoser, @sarahposner, @sarahposner, @sarahposner, @sarahposner, @kayaoakes, @sarahposner, @rothschildmd, @chelseaclinton, @fka_tabs, @l_e_whyte, @gorskon, @sarahposner, @ike_saul, @evelyndouek, @jayvanbavel, @meeranavlakha, @alexhern, @alexhern, @ccdhate, Depresh Mode, American Press Institute and The Guardian, more at Techmeme »
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On Substack:
Substack says it will stick to its hands-off approach to content moderation amid increased pressure to censor what some see as dubious or objectionable content
Discussion:
@lulumeservey, Defector, The Monday Mole, @lulumeservey, @nameshiv, News Café, Creator Economy Tips, Dude with Decency, @helpmeskeletor, @epistemiclyrich, @glennbeck, @shannoncoulter, @ggreenwald, @kaivanshroff, @jeffjarvis, @ethanvansciver, @infosec_taylor, @soledadobrien, @karlbode, @espiers, @lulumeservey, @lulumeservey, @lulumeservey, @lulumeservey, @lulumeservey, @lulumeservey, @lulumeservey, @slpng_giants, @tomgara, @dloesch, @nickgillespie, TK News, @bartnijman, Today in Tabs, @plinz, MB's Word on the Street, @glennf, @emilymiller, Press Gazette, @davidu, Are We Having Fun Yet?, @rrhoover, @epro, A public health …, @binarybits, @cjgbest, @yugacohler, @lmatsakis, @doombergt, @caseynewton, @substackinc, @dongwon, bookforum.com, Words TK, How To with Yuri Bezmenov, Cracked Bowl and Sub Pub
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