Top News:
Cat Zakrzewski / Washington Post:
Biden's FCC nominee Gigi Sohn tells the White House she is dropping out after her nomination stalled for 16 months amid industry opposition and personal attacks — Gigi Sohn notified the White House she would drop out after her nomination stalled for 16 months, amid industry opposition
Discussion:
Fox News, CNET, Next TV, Ars Technica, @rob_weissman, Engadget, Inside Radio, Radio & Television …, The Desk, The Hill, National Review, Breitbart, Breitbart, NPR, @scott_wiener, Techdirt, Light Reading, New York Post, Gizmodo, @vanschewick, @granick, The Verge, Politico, CNN, Deadline, Reuters, @brooklynmarie, @mayawiley, @karlbode, @heritage_action, @vwpickard, @karlbode, @robpegoraro, @cruickshank, @berinszoka, @normative, @lindseyboylan, @seungminkim, @karlbode, CBS News, @publicknowledge, @karlbode, @notaaroncraig, @karlbode, @karlbode, @cat_zakrzewski, Free Press, TVNewsCheck and @joshsternberg@mstdn.social, more at Techmeme »
Mark Sweney / The Guardian:
Reach's CEO says the company published its first three AI-written articles last week and that AI may be reliable enough to produce data- and list-based content — Chief executive says journalists should not fear it means being replaced by machines — The owner of the Daily Mirror …
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Axios:
Filing: Gannett had 11,200 employees as of December 31, 2022, down from 21,255 after its 2019 merger with GateHouse and 562 more than before the merger — A major leadership shakeup at Gannett, along with drastic cost-cutting and strategy shifts, underscores just how much pressure …
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American Press Institute:
Study of nearly 6K Americans aged 16 to 40: 60% pay for or donate to news, including 47% for independent content and 22% for traditional sources like newspapers — - Gen Z and Millennials pay for or donate to a wide range of media sources. — This report outlines the Americans ages 16 …
Discussion:
Poynter, @niemanlab, @ampress, @williamsjon, @celesteheadlee, @ryp__ and @jason_kint
Christianna Silva / Mashable:
TikTok launches Series, letting select creators sell Collections of up to 80 paywalled videos, each up to 20 minutes; creators initially keep 100% of earnings — Series puts premium content behind a paywall, which means more money for creators. … TikTok is introducing new ways for creators to get paid.
Discussion:
TikTok, The Information, Variety, Gizmodo, TechCrunch, @friede, @taylorlorenz, ZDNet, The Verge, Tubefilter, CNET, Engadget, The Wrap, Digital Music News and @bowblax, more at Techmeme »
Sara Fischer / Axios:
Former The Week executives launch Heatmap News, a subscription-based climate media outlet, with eight staff and a $4M Series A at an $11.5M post-money valuation — The former executives in charge of The Week magazine are launching a new subscription-based climate media company on Wednesday called Heatmap News, its founders told Axios.
Discussion:
@raju
J. Clara Chan / The Hollywood Reporter:
An interview with YouTube Global Head of Gaming Leo Olebe on the appeal of YouTube's exclusivity model and the growth of YouTube Gaming, which has 500M+ DAUs — The video giant said it hit more than 120 billion hours of watch time for gaming-related content on the platform in 2022.
Discussion:
Tubefilter
Masha Gessen / New Yorker:
How TV Rain and dozens of other exiled Russian media outlets fled to Latvia's capital Riga, only to encounter a distrustful public and strictly enforced laws — Dozens of media outlets have fled to the capital of Latvia, only to encounter a distrustful public and a set of strictly enforced laws and regulations.
Discussion:
@jodieginsberg, Reuters Institute, @newyorker, @ilvestoomas, Columbia Journalism Review, @sevslv and @brianstelter
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Sara Fischer / Axios:
Graydon Carter says Air Mail plans to expand into print and makes $15M+ in annual revenue but isn't profitable; Air Mail debuted the Look vertical on March 3 — Air Mail, the subscription-based digital magazine company launched by former Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter …
Benedict Evans:
Analysis: Amazon had $38B in 2022 ad revenue, more than the entire global newspaper industry and likely more than the revenue Prime generated from subscriptions — I first started paying attention to Amazon's ad business a couple of years ago, when a line called ‘other’ in the back of the accounts started to grow really fast.
Discussion:
@minethatdata, @btsavage, Substack, @aparanjape, @vilile, Inside Radio, @riolongacre, @benedictevans and Cord Cutters News
Axios:
Semafor draws criticism in the US for partnering with the Center for China and Globalization, a Chinese think tank that has obscured its close ties to the CCP — Semafor, the 5-month-old news startup, is drawing criticism in the U.S. for partnering with a think tank in China that is known …
Discussion:
Semafor, @joshrogin, @michaelsobolik, @michaelsobolik, @michaelsobolik, @matt_schrader_, @chuckrossdc and @michaelsobolik
David Pierce / The Verge:
All TV streaming boxes suck in 2023, as the ever-cheaper, ad-supported commodity items fail to improve on smart TVs, most of which are slow and riddled with ads — There are no good streaming boxes, and I blame everybody. — Streaming boxes had so much potential.
Discussion:
SPY, @matthewkeyslive, @despair, @pierce@mas.to, @tvgrimreaper, @steven_aquino, @angelostzelepis and The Streamable, more at Techmeme »
David Folkenflik / NPR:
Legal experts say the $1.6B Dominion lawsuit puts Fox News in real jeopardy as the amount and weight of evidence surpasses other major, recent defamation cases — Outside legal observers say the Fox News Channel finds itself in real legal jeopardy in a $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit brought …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Associated Press, @joshmankiewicz, @joanespositochi, @paulcshipley, @deggans, @stengel, @aaronblake, @jackshafer, @oliverdarcy, @joeconason, @wajahatali, @davidsacks, @dbauder, @badfoxgraphics, @kimmasters, @casmudde, @unrealdmgold, @thekenbarnett, @mattgertz, @sharonwaxman, @davidfolkenflik, @davidamoyal, @juliusgoat, Insider, Florida Politics, The Wrap, @darnell@one.darnell.one and @GreenFire@climatejustice …
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Wall Street Journal:
Dominion lawsuit documents show how Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott deals with the Murdochs, Rupert's involvement in editorial, the influence of top hosts, and more
Dominion lawsuit documents show how Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott deals with the Murdochs, Rupert's involvement in editorial, the influence of top hosts, and more
Discussion:
@jbflint, @maynereport, @dicktofel, @noahcrothman, @phil_rosenthal, @jtoonkel and Media Matters for America