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Memo: T&R Productions, the production company behind RT America, the US version of Russia's state-funded RT, will lay off most of its staff and cease production — New York (CNN Business)The production company behind the American version of the Russian state-funded network RT laid off …
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TALKERS magazine, The Daily Beast, Protocol, Fox News, CNBC, TVNewser, Mediaite, Variety, The Hill, Insider, @ericowensdc, @mmasnick, Deadline, The Wrap, TheBlaze, Newsbusters, @hopeseck, @therickwilson, @tonyajoriley, The Kyiv Independent, @glemgreenwald, @exumam, @eliothiggins, @bendreyfuss, Hollywood Reporter, Axios, @billprady, @karlbode, @sarafischer and @jkarsh
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RT says it will begin broadcasting on Rumble, a video platform popular with right-wing users, after tech companies restricted Russian state-controlled media — Russian state-controlled news network RT said on Thursday it will begin broadcasting on Rumble, a YouTube-like video site …
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Engadget, @amandacarpenter, @therickwilson, @rumblevideo, @gpingersoll and @mattpalumbo12


Russia-backed RT disappears from all UK TV broadcast platforms, due to a ban imposed by the EU that stops companies in Luxembourg and France from offering feeds — Russian-backed news channel RT has disappeared from all broadcast platforms in the UK. — UK access to the TV network …
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@toadmeister, Reuters, FIPP, Techdirt, Digital TV Europe, The Guardian and Press Gazette


The DOJ unseals an indictment charging ex-Fox News producer Jack Hanick with working for a sanctioned Russian oligarch to build TV networks in Russia and Europe — Jack Hanick, a onetime producer at Fox News, has been indicted on charges of working for a sanctioned Russian oligarch …


Netflix promotes Marian Lee to CMO, replacing Bozoma Saint John, who joined the company in August 2020 after senior roles at Uber, Apple, and Endeavor — She replaces Bozoma Saint John, who boarded the streaming giant in 2020 after serving in senior executive roles at Uber and Apple.


After Russia takes Ekho Moskvy off the air for spreading “deliberately false information”, the board of directors votes to liquidate the liberal radio station — Russia's iconic liberal radio station Ekho Moskvy (Echo of Moscow) has been wound up after falling afoul of Russia's censorship of coverage of the war in Ukraine.
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@kevinrothrock, Vanity Fair, @juliaioffe, @katyayushchenko, @cliffordlevy, @antontroian, Al Jazeera, @sbg1, @orlovakarine, @murphymike, Committee to Protect … and CNN
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Russian journalists from independent outlets describe Kremlin pressure that shut them down, or soon will: “Everything that's not propaganda is being eliminated” — “Everything that's not propaganda is being eliminated,” a Nobel Prize winning editor said as Russian authorities moved …
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@anthony, @nickpearce_3, Deadline, @bykenarmstrong, @alanmillernlp, @sensanders, Just Security, @damomac, @jimrutenberg, @penamerica, @clarajeffery and New York Post


The New York Times' tech workers vote 404-88 to unionize as the New York Times Tech Guild, becoming the largest US unit of tech workers with bargaining rights — The new unit, which is organized by the NewsGuild, is now the largest unit of tech workers with bargaining rights in the country.
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HuffPost, New York Times, @katie_robertson, @greenhousenyt, The NewsGuild, @nytguildtech, @katie_robertson, @greenhousenyt and @greenhousenyt


Source: Disney is discussing launching a cheaper, ad-supported Disney+ tier in the US to fire up slowing subscriber growth and hit its 2024 profitability goal — Disney is discussing launching a cheaper, ad-supported tier of its Disney+ streaming service in the U.S., according to a person involved in the discussions.


An investigation details Operation Safety Net, a sprawling surveillance program in Minnesota to track protesters and journalists after George Floyd's murder — An investigation by MIT Technology Review reveals a sprawling, technologically sophisticated system in Minnesota designed for closely monitoring protesters.
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@ziibiing, @aoc, @reillymj, @haymarketbooks, @taterymo, @ilhanmn, @breenewsome and @mat, more at Techmeme »


ITV buys out the BBC's share of BritBox UK ahead of streaming service ITVX's launch; BritBox International will remain a 50/50 venture between ITV and the BBC — ITVX will integrate BritBox U.K. although the latter best-of-British offering will remain a “separate entity” within the app and require a paid subscription.
Discussion:
Radio Times and The Streamable
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ITV announces ITVX, a free streaming service with ads or paid without ads, to replace its Hub service later in 2022; ITV will invest £1.35B in content by 2023
Discussion:
The Guardian, The Drum, Press Centre, Deadline, Junghoon's Direct Media …, Financial Times and London Evening Standard


A look at plans for CNN+, scheduled to launch the last week of March despite the turmoil at CNN, initially for $2.99 per month; a bundle with HBO Max is planned — The show must go on, even in streaming video. — Employees at CNN are keeping that adage in mind as they prepare to launch …


Q&A with Guardian Head of Editorial Innovation Chris Moran on covering breaking news on Ukraine and fine-tuning the newspaper's live blogs to meet users' needs — Head of Editorial Innovation Chris Moran explains how he and his team have shaped the newspaper's live blog to meet users' needs
Discussion:
@anthony, @chrismoranuk, @badams, @niemanlab, @risj_oxford and @risj_oxford