Top News:
European Federation of Journalists:
A Swiss journalist, a UK Sky News team, and two Danish journalists have been attacked by Russian forces in Ukraine in three separate incidents since February 26 — Within just a few days, a UK Sky News crew, as well as a Swiss independent journalist, were attacked by Russian forces in Ukraine.
Michael M. Grynbaum / New York Times:
NYT says it is temporarily removing its journalists from Russia in the wake of the law that effectively renders independent reporting in the country illegal — Other news organizations, like the BBC and Bloomberg, have suspended their operations in Russia in response to a new law that effectively criminalizes independent reporting.
Discussion:
@dylanbyers, Washington Post, @cliffordlevy, Variety, Mediaite, The Wrap, The Hill, @mschwirtz, @nytimesbusiness, @sbg1, @ewong, Bloomberg, bookforum.com, @grynbaum, @kasparov63, @cliffordlevy, @cliffordlevy and Deadline
Brian Steinberg / Variety:
Apple announces Friday Night Baseball on Apple TV+, comprising two exclusive Major League Baseball games every week — Apple has snared rights to a Friday-night package of Major League Baseball games, extending Silicon Valley's reach into the world of sports.
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Amazon launches Amp, an app that lets people host live “radio shows”, take calls, and play tracks licensed to Amazon Music; the app is not yet widely available — Amazon's Clubhouse competitor has arrived. The retail giant on Tuesday launched a new mobile app called Amp …
Discussion:
insideradio.com, CNET, About Amazon, ZDNet, Variety, @caseynewton, Engadget, Music Ally, Protocol, The Verge and @liahaberman, more at Techmeme »
RELATED:
Max Goldbart / Deadline:
BBC resumes reporting in Russia, having “considered the implications of the new legislation alongside the urgent need to report from inside” the country — The BBC has resumed reporting in Russia after the passing of a censorship law late last week that could lead to up to 15 years …
Discussion:
bbc.co.uk, The Wrap, The Guardian, Variety, @louisecstewart1, Metro.co.uk, @jonathancmunro, @breandanmcc and Hollywood Reporter
Reggie Ugwu / New York Times:
How podcast companies like Leon Neyfakh's Prologue Projects are funding their shows, such as by licensing to Hollywood and selling exclusive distribution rights — Independent companies like Prologue Projects, Campside Media and Rococo Punch try different strategies in a market roiled by Silicon Valley and Hollywood.
Josef Adalian / Vulture:
Q&A with NBCUniversal's Peacock president Kelly Campbell on the service's “record-breaking” February, the Olympics, original films, long-term business, and more — It has been a bumpy two years for Peacock, the NBCUniversal-owned streaming service that first poked its head …
Discussion:
Too Much TV Newsletter
Brian Steinberg / Variety:
WarnerMedia starts selling “brand blocks” on the ad-supported version of HBO Max to advertisers for commercials that run before a movie starts — WarnerMedia wants to give Madison Avenue something the advertising industry has long craved but could never have.
Discussion:
The Streamable and @bristei
Will Sattelberg / Android Police:
Spotify, Discord, and other services are down, possibly due to an AWS issue — It's never good when an outage hits a service you rely on regularly, but it's even worse when a widespread outage takes down multiple websites and apps. If you're trying to use Spotify, Discord, or Wikipedia …
Discussion:
Variety, TechCrunch, Discord Status and The Verge, more at Techmeme »
Adi Robertson / The Verge:
Google releases the code for its open-source Harassment Manager, which helps journalists and other public figures manage abusive comments, starting with Twitter — Starting with Thomson Reuters Foundation reporters in June — Google's Jigsaw unit is releasing the code …
Discussion:
Fast Company and Engadget
Anthony Vargas / AdExchanger:
Gumball, whose tech helps scale the buying process for host-read ads in podcasts, announces a $10M Series A, bringing its total funding to $12M — Podcast monetization is often framed as a zero-sum game that pits the intimacy of host-read ads against the scale of programmatic.
Condé Nast:
Condé Nast CEO says the company is suspending publishing operations with Condé Nast Russia — In a memo to Condé Nast's global staff, CEO Roger Lynch today announced the company is suspending its publishing operations in Condé Nast Russia. — Dear all,
Discussion:
WWD and @sarafischer