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Ashley Carman / The Verge:
Spotify's Joe Rogan controversy shows the newfound danger for podcast platforms that have moved away from open RSS distribution to high-profile exclusive deals — Every platform should be worried — This story originally ran in Hot Pod, The Verge's preeminent audio industry newsletter.
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Columbia Journalism Review, The Hill, @ashleyrcarman, @ashleyrcarman, @ashleyrcarman, @syracuseunews, @ultraviolet and @lucas_shaw
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Zack Sharf / Variety:
Graham Nash and India Arie follow Neil Young and Joni Mitchell, pulling their music from Spotify to protest content on Joe Rogan's podcast — Nash said in a statement that he “completely agrees” with his Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young bandmate Neil Young after “having heard the COVID disinformation spread by Joe Rogan on Spotify.”
Dawn Chmielewski / Reuters:
Host and executive producer of Gimlet's Science Vs podcast Wendy Zukerman says she'll devote the show to fact-checking misinformation on other Spotify podcasts — The executive producer and host of Gimlet Media's Science Vs podcast said she would devote her fact-checking show exclusively …
Ryan Broderick / Garbage Day:
Spotify made an editorial choice by paying $100M to be Joe Rogan's publisher and can't shirk its responsibility by just adding a content warning to his episodes — Read to the end for Pumpkin Cowboy — Please Do Not Let Spotify Convince You That Joe Rogan Is A Content Moderation Problem
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New York Times, Elizabeth Spiers, @broderick, American Press Institute, Doug's Newsletter, Reason, Strands of Genius, @louisanslow, @ericnewcomer, A Public Witness, @ceciliakang, @tedcruz, @karaswisher, @outkick, @evelyndouek, @pamela_vogel, Poynter, @thedailybeast, @mattwelch, @bostonjoan, @martinsfp, @kevinroose, @gwynnion, @rob_sheridan, @xor, @scottnover, @jaspar, @karlbode, @no_nazis_please, @codinghorror, @mathewi, @lackofrealism and @lucas_shaw
Sam Byford / The Verge:
Joe Rogan posts a video to Instagram defending booking contentious guests, apologizes to Spotify for the backlash, and says he may book more “experts”
Joe Rogan posts a video to Instagram defending booking contentious guests, apologizes to Spotify for the backlash, and says he may book more “experts”
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Vanity Fair, @joerogan, New York Times, @wendyzuk, Mediaite, Instagram, PRWeek, Newsweek, The Wrap, @b_fung, @reckless, @lucas_shaw, @justinhendrix, @caseybriggs, @bostonjoan, @kittypurrzog, @derjarjour, @_loveallthis, @danilic, @mmasnick, @arthur_affect, @debunk_the_funk, @espiers, @noupside, @coldxman, @robinblackmma, @adambaldwin, @ischafer, @loudmouthjulia, @robslater10, @asranomani, @jordanbpeterson, @espiers, @garylegum, @fka_tabs, @justinhendrix, @b_fung, @kilmeade and @jessicashaw, more at Techmeme »
The New York Times Company:
The New York Times acquires Wordle, the simple word game that has amassed “millions of daily players”, for “an undisclosed price in the low-seven figures” — Wordle, Josh Wardle's stimulating and wildly popular daily word game, is joining The New York Times's portfolio of original …
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Charlotte Klein / Vanity Fair:
NYT internet culture reporter Taylor Lorenz moves to The Washington Post as a columnist writing about technology, online life, influencers, business, and more — The star reporter with a massive online following thinks the Post gets the internet in ways other outlets don't.
Discussion:
@taylorlorenz, Washington Post, @teddyamen, @charlottetklein, @joshconstine, @larakate, @dpaqreport, @noahshachtman, @jeremymbarr, @hunterw, @thunderwooddd, @sophiasgaler, @adamdavidson, @carloslozadawp, @angelmendoza___, @stuartathompson, @smilotweets, @jakesherman, @vahn16, @willoremus, @wpjenna, @rzhongnotes, @miriamelder, @micsolana, @djlavoie, @esaagar, @thefineprintnyc, @ashleyrparker, @choire, @levinejonathan, @philiprucker, @genepark, @pbump, The Hill, bookforum.com and Barrett Media
Jim Waterson / The Guardian:
Sources: Vice Media secretly organized a music festival in Saudi Arabia; staffers have raised concerns about its work in the country after Khashoggi's murder — Youth media company organised March 2020 event despite pledge to stop all work in Saudi Arabia — When social media influencers turned …
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@ericgarland, @dabeard, The Wrap, @kenbensinger, @maryamalkhawaja, @jimwaterson, @dralakbarov, @deankissick, @gumby4christ, @ayocaesar, @thoughtland, @ankaravoice, @joshspero, @anthony, @mediaevan, @jessehawken, @emilybell, @adamjohnsonnyc, @errolnazareth, @evanhill, @rocco_castoro and @jwsal
Todd Spangler / Variety:
AT&T structures its WarnerMedia split as a spinoff, giving shareholders an estimated 0.24 shares of WarnerMedia-Discovery stock for each share of AT&T stock — The transaction will spin off 100% of AT&T's interest in WarnerMedia to AT&T's existing shareholders in a pro-rata distribution …
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Sara Fischer / Axios:
After a disappointing IPO, Jonah Peretti tells staff BuzzFeed will limit hiring to critical positions and projects a single-digit decline in commerce sales YoY — BuzzFeed is limiting hiring to only critical positions, and will not be adding any new jobs unless there's a business-case justification …
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@michellemanafy, @joshsternberg, @ashkan, @jeremymbarr, @stevekovach and @simonowens
Claudia Morell / WBEZ Chicago:
Chicago Public Media completes its Chicago Sun-Times acquisition, after raising $61M in support for the deal; the funding is mostly pledged over five years — URL Copied! — DONATE … Chicago Public Media and the Chicago Sun-Times have made their partnership official Monday …
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Chicago Sun-Times, insideradio.com, Barrett Media, @w_katz1, @mattmoog, @jimfriedlich, @danahoule, @davemckinney, Current, @whuntah, @mattmoog and Robert Feder
Manori Ravindran / Variety:
HBO Max continues its European expansion, coming to 15 countries on March 8, including the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Hungary, Romania, Serbia, and Croatia — HBO Max is continuing a steady roll-out in Europe with its second wave of countries. … This covers Bosnia and Herzegovina …
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TechCrunch, The Wrap, Reuters, Mashable, Advanced Television, CNET, Media Play News, 9to5Mac, The Streamable, Digital TV Europe, @jasonkilar, Broadband TV News, C21Media, Deadline, MediaPost and Next TV
Jennifer Elias / CNBC:
Google's Q4 ad revenue came in at $61.24B, up 33% YoY; YouTube's ad revenue rose to $8.63B, up 25.4% YoY — - Alphabet beat on the top and bottom lines for the fourth quarter. — The stock jumped in extended trading after the report. — The company also announced a 20-for-1 stock split.
Discussion:
Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, @richlightshed, @jasxnallen, @somospostpc and Wall Street Journal