Top News:
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Spotify closes its office in Russia indefinitely, removes all content from RT News and Sputnik, and adds a guide on the platform to “trusted news” sources — Spotify has taken several steps in response to Russia's military attack on Ukraine, including closing its offices in Russia “indefinitely.”
Discussion:
Billboard, The Wrap, Engadget, Rolling Stone, Reuters, Protocol, @yoyoel, TechCrunch and MediaPost, more at Techmeme »
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Paresh Dave / Reuters:
Google will remove RT News and Sputnik News from the Play Store, after removing Russian state outlets from its news features, following a similar move by Apple — Alphabet Inc's (GOOGL.O) Google said on Tuesday that it has blocked mobile apps connected to RT and Sputnik from its Play store …
Discussion:
Mediaite, TechCrunch, Wired, Polygon, Protocol and Silicon Republic, more at Techmeme »
Politico:
The EU officially bans Sputnik, RT English, RT UK, RT DE, RT France, and RT en Español; it's up to national regulators to ensure that the sanctions are enforced
Discussion:
@laukaya, Next TV, consilium.europa.eu, Techdirt, @fabiochiusi, Engadget, Euractiv, TechCrunch and Politico
Euan O'Byrne Mulligan / The Guardian:
The BBC stops all content licensing in Russia and requests that remaining episodes of two programs for which it sold rights are not aired on Russian state TV
Discussion:
The Verge, (Ir)rational Politics and Wall Street Journal
Oliver Darcy / CNN:
DirecTV drops RT “effective immediately”, accelerating this year's contract expiration timeline; DirecTV and Dish are the only major US TV providers carrying RT
Discussion:
Axios, @broderick, Axios, Reason, @billprady, @kantrowitz, @scottienhughes, @paulrieckhoff, @olganyc1211, @karlbode, @michaelsocolow, @brianstelter, @sarafischer, @jkarsh, UPROXX, Fox News, The Week, CNET, Mediaite, Deadline, Hollywood Reporter, Rolling Stone, The Wrap and Politico
Ethan Diamond / Bandcamp Updates:
Epic Games acquires Bandcamp, which will continue operating as a standalone marketplace and music community; Bandcamp has paid nearly $1B to artists and labels — I'm excited to announce that Bandcamp is joining Epic Games, who you may know as the makers of Fortnite and Unreal Engine, and champions for a fair and open Internet.
Discussion:
The Verge, @bandcamp, Variety, Music Ally, CNET, @ctrlshifti, PC Gamer, New York Times, @jubileedj, ScreenRant, @ricmac, @toadsanime, @skatunenetwork, The A.V. Club, @ronmknox, Engadget, @mattetti, Protocol, @pathedger18, @katselesnya, @ronmknox, @marcissist, @theneedledrop, @vahn16, Input, Billboard, @mowtendoo, @dcseifert, @chronowolfmusic, @mowtendoo, @emmablackery, @acertainabbie, TechCrunch, @ronmknox, @gibiz, @jujuadams, @dada_drummer, @zoecello, @tedgioia, @ohboyrecords, @future_of_music, @ronmknox, Tubefilter, @backxwash, @tha_rami, GOOD INTERNET, @loudmouthjulia, UPROXX, @rjcc, @punkrevnow, @danozzi, Bloomberg, AppleInsider, Polygon and Boing Boing, more at Techmeme »
Naman Ramachandran / Variety:
The BBC says Russia's invasion of Ukraine led to record audiences for its Russian and Ukrainian sites; BBC also launched two shortwave frequencies in the region — The Russian invasion of Ukraine has led to record audiences for the BBC's Russian and Ukrainian language news service websites.
Discussion:
The Hill, bbc.co.uk and @insidecablenews
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Stephen Harrison / Slate:
How Russia's war with Ukraine is playing out on Wikipedia; Russian Wikipedia editors decided to call an invasion what it is, rejecting the Kremlin's narrative — On Thursday, President Vladimir Putin issued the order for Russian forces to invade Ukraine. Since then, Russians …
Erik Crouch / Committee to Protect Journalists:
Yevhenii Sakun, a camera operator for Ukrainian TV station LIVE, was killed Tuesday along with four other people when Russian forces shelled a TV tower in Kyiv — New York, March 2, 2022 - In response to reports that Ukrainian journalist Yevhenii Sakun was killed on Tuesday, March 1 …
Alex Sherman / CNBC:
Sources: Apollo Global is in talks with Australia-based PointsBet Holdings and other sports betting companies about merging their assets with Yahoo Sports — - Apollo Global is considering merging Yahoo Sports with a sports betting company, sources say. — A deal could set …
Discussion:
@sherman4949, @richlightshed, @sherman4949, @thedomino, @jgsventures, @yoda, @jacobfeldman4, @adamlevitan, @butlerbets and @loudmouthjulia
Annie Palmer / CNBC:
Amazon plans to close 68 brick-and-mortar retail locations across the US and the UK, including all of its Amazon Books, 4-star, and Pop Up stores — - Amazon plans to close all locations of its Pop Up, Amazon Books and 4-star stores, the company confirmed to CNBC.
Discussion:
Reuters, New York Times, The Wrap, CNET, TechCrunch, The Information, Crain's New York Business, Insider, Protocol, @booksmith, GeekWire, The Verge, New York Post, Engadget, @richontech, @jasonshen, @andrewlapin, @paulconstant, @mariskreizman, @gregbensinger, @quinnypig, @elkmovie, @kyweise, @paperhaus and Cracked Bowl, more at Techmeme »
CNN:
Journalists from TV Rain, also known as Dozhd, leave Russia after employees received threats and the country set up a digital roadblock of the network — New York (CNN Business)Journalists from the last remaining independent news network in Russia have left the country for their own safety …
Discussion:
@brianstelter, @cliffordlevy and Reuters
Vikas SN / Moneycontrol:
Netflix acquires Finnish mobile game developer Next Games for ~$72M; the studio specializes in games based on entertainment franchises, such as Stranger Things — Next Games had released ‘Stranger Things: Puzzle Tales’, a role-playing game based on the streaming giant's hit 80s horror drama series in October last year.
Discussion:
Variety, Next Games, CNET, UPROXX, Tubefilter, @zhugeex, Los Angeles Times, @brandolightshed, Next TV, Bloomberg, Tech.eu and TechCrunch, more at Techmeme »
J. Clara Chan / Hollywood Reporter:
BuzzFeed Studios and podcast company Acast strike a multiyear deal to collaborate on six shows, with Acast leading production, distribution, and monetization — The studio and podcast company will work together on a slate of six shows, with the first expected to release later this year.
NC Local News Workshop:
North Carolina digital magazine The Assembly aims to raise a $3M philanthropic journalism fund over two years and pledges 5% to other outlets starting in 2023 — Workshop Note: Kyle Villemain is The Assembly's editor-in-chief. The below post is a special announcement written by Kyle and shared with the Workshop.
Discussion:
@barry_yeoman, @awaxman, @ncnewsworks, @shanbow, @themhartman, @johnfnewsom and @kylevillemain
Brian Welk / The Wrap:
Source: Netflix is pausing future projects and show and film acquisitions in Russia; Netflix has four Russian-language series in production or post-production — Netflix is pausing all future projects and acquisitions of shows and films in Russia amid Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine, a source confirmed to TheWrap.
Discussion:
Variety, Hollywood Reporter, SlashFilm and IndieWire
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