Top News:
Jennifer Maas / Variety:
Amazon finalizes its $8.5B acquisition of MGM, two days after the deal received clearance from the EU's antitrust regulator — Amazon has closed its $8.5 billion acquisition of MGM first announced last May, the companies said Thursday. — “MGM has a nearly century-long legacy …
Discussion:
About Amazon, Financial Times, Next TV, Adweek, Wall Street Journal, Deadline, CNET, Input, Gizmodo, @variety, globalnews.ca, Nerdist, The A.V. Club, SlashFilm, New York Post, WHDH-TV, Vanity Fair, Media Play News, @henereyg, @leojtravis10, @colinhantsco, The Streamable, The Verge, @barbaracrampton, TechCrunch, @willmckinley, The Hollywood Reporter, @richlightshed, @jacobqknight, IndieWire, WORLD SCREEN, Consequence and Cord Cutters News, more at Techmeme »
Rick Edmonds / Poynter:
Gannett moves the printing of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and 10 other Wisconsin dailies 220 miles to Illinois' Peoria Journal Star, cutting 180 jobs — The move will result in the shuttering of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's printing plant and the loss of 180 jobs.
Discussion:
members.charlesriverchamber …, @greg_reibman, @peterrobison and @bradhoylman
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Dan Kennedy / Media Nation:
Gannett closes at least 19 print weekly newspapers in Eastern Massachusetts and merges nine weeklies into four — Gannett is closing at least 19 print weekly newspapers serving at least 26 communities in Eastern Massachusetts, according to notices posted on those papers' websites.
Discussion:
@johnguilfoil
Andrew Kersley / Press Gazette:
The Times says it crossed 400K digital subs earlier this year after gaining 60K in 2021, and added an average of 1,000/day during Ukraine war's first two weeks — The Times gained an average of 1,000 new digital subscribers a day during the first two weeks of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, one of its highest ever growth rates.
Shraddha Chakradhar / Nieman Lab:
Interview with Amethyst Davis, founder of the six-month-old Harvey World Herald in a Chicago suburb, on her non-traditional journalism route and building trust — Tales of local news dying are abundant, but against the odds of today's media landscape, there are many new ventures taking root.
Discussion:
@apurple_reign, American Press Institute, Newmark J-School, @niemanlab, @ckrewson and @pilhofer
Washington Post:
How Volodymyr Zelensky and associates from his former TV production company, now in government jobs, are using media expertise for strategic war communications — When President Volodymyr Zelensky, speaking to U.S. lawmakers on Wednesday, aired a video documenting the human toll of Russia's assault …
Discussion:
CNET, The Nation, @lrozen, @fabiochiusi, @seanmcfate, @paulsonne, @aaronblake, @appcpenn, @oknox, @tim_hayward_, @tim_hayward_, @nycjim, @thedeshbhakt, Today's Edition Newsletter and The Daily Beast
Brian Steinberg / Variety:
Magna hires NewsGuard to give “nutrition labels” for 20+ networks and 100+ news programs, to be used by parent company Interpublic's media clients like J&J — Anchors like Don Lemon, Joy Reid and Sean Hannity have long looked at Nielsen ratings as one of the primary measures of their performance on air.
Michael M. Grynbaum / New York Times:
Justin Smith says his startup with Ben Smith will hire English-language-educated journalists globally and will launch in the US and at least one other market — The former Bloomberg Media C.E.O. offered new details on the venture he is starting with the journalist Ben Smith.
Discussion:
@gerritd, @grynbaum, @niemanlab, @dlknowles, @gabekahn, @shibanimahtani, @matinastevis, @africasacountry, @shibanimahtani, Columbia Journalism Review, @shibanimahtani, @shibanimahtani, @d_jaishankar, @shibanimahtani, @f_potkin, @heatherchen_, @jyarow, @jbhavan, @kenli729, @burgessev, @andrewbeatty, @joshgerstein, @dcbigjohn, @bensherwood, @taylorlorenz, @beachwoodreport, @robinsonmeyer, @dandrezner, @mikemadden, @leighgiangreco, @nanjala1, @maxjrosenthal, @mattyglesias, @bendreyfuss, @alicemuwu, @anthony, @adamfeuerstein, @amandabecker, @mediaevan, @katenocera, @missanabeem, @mattzeitlin, @jamesrbuk, @scottnover, Gawker, The Wrap, @craftworksxyz and @chrisgeidner
Max Goldbart / Deadline:
ITV announces an £80M Diversity Commissioning Fund to be spent over the next three years on shows produced by or related to BAME or disabled people — ITV has forged an £80M ($105M) Diversity Commissioning Fund to be spent over the next three years on shows produced by or related to Black …
Discussion:
Variety and Hollywood Reporter
Aisha Malik / TechCrunch:
Meta plans to test tools that let brands prevent their ads appearing next to improper Facebook and Instagram content in H2 2022 and roll them out in early 2023 — Meta, formerly known as Facebook, says it will begin testing new content tools designed to give advertisers control over where their ads …
Discussion:
Facebook, Social Media Today, Zefr, AdExchanger and Adweek, more at Techmeme »
Pjotr Sauer / The Guardian:
Food blogger Veronika Belotserkovskaya, who lives in France, is one of the first three Russians charged under the country's fake news law for anti-war posts — Socialite and food blogger Veronika Belotserkovskaya says she is both amused and shocked to be charged
Discussion:
Daily Mail, @brianstelter, @pjotrsauer, @pjotrsauer, The Week and New York Times
Sara Fischer / Axios:
A study by The Advertising Research Foundation found 36% of Americans share their Netflix passwords with relatives, while 13% share them with friends — Streaming companies are cracking down on password sharing, as the number of quarterly subscription cancellations in the U.S. grows.
Discussion:
Forbes, Variety, The Verge and @ashleyrgold, more at Techmeme »
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