Mediagazer: Cory Doctorow plans to sell a third audiobook via Kickstarter after refusing to consent to Amazon's DRM for Audible, which gets 90%+ of genre audiobook sales (Cory Doctorow/Pluralistic)

4:25 PM ET, March 23, 2023

Top News:

Sources: Apple plans to spend $1B per year to produce movies for release in thousands of theatres, a big increase from years past, seeking to grow TV+ awareness — Apple Inc. plans to spend $1 billion a year to produce movies that will be released in theaters, according to people familiar …

Giles Turner / Bloomberg:

Sources: Apple considers bidding for the streaming rights to a range of English soccer games, including to show Premier League games in the UK, following Amazon — Apple Inc. is considering bidding for the streaming rights to a range of English football games, according to people familiar …

Discussion: Macworld, IndieWire, The Streamable, @imbadatlife, @bloomberguk, @graceonfootball, @bloomberguk, 9to5Mac, Deadline, @irishtimesbiz, AppleInsider and Apple, more at Techmeme »

Adi Robertson / The Verge:

The FTC proposes banning difficult-to-cancel subscriptions via “click to cancel” rules requiring companies to make ending a subscription as simple as signing up — The US Federal Trade Commission is proposing a formal ban on subscriptions that are simple to start but difficult to stop.

Michael E. Kanell / Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

Atlanta Journal-Constitution EIC Kevin Riley announces his retirement, to be succeeded by Leroy Chapman, the first Black EIC in the newspaper's 155-year history — Managing Editor Leroy Chapman to succeed Kevin Riley as editor-in-chief. Riley announced retirement Thursday.

Katie Robertson / New York Times:

Fox lawyers argue the company shouldn't be found liable in the Dominion case as the Murdochs and other executives were not directly involved in Fox News content — Lawyers for the company, which faces a $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit, are pushing for a judge to rule in their favor before a trial.

Discussion: Media Matters for America, @jackshafer, Slate, @leetravis_, @oliver_drk, TVNewsCheck, @tonywalker1, @rolandsmartin, The Guardian, Reuters, The Wrap, Bloomberg, The Hill, CNBC, Vanity Fair, Washington Post and The Daily Beast

Cory Doctorow / Pluralistic:

Cory Doctorow plans to sell a third audiobook via Kickstarter after refusing to consent to Amazon's DRM for Audible, which gets 90%+ of genre audiobook sales — Red Team Blues is my next novel, a post-cyberpunk anti-finance finance thriller; it's a major title for my publishers Tor Books and Head of Zeus …

Mark Jacob / Nieman Lab:

Journalism schools aren't interested in banning Fox News, despite the Dominion case appearing to reveal that the network committed a breach of journalism ethics — Fox News appears to have committed a gross breach of journalism ethics: intentionally lying to its audience about the 2020 election.

Discussion: @markjacob16, @jayrosen_nyu, @froomkin, @markjacob16 and @niemanlab

Gretchen A. Peck / Editor and Publisher:

A look at local news publishers' views on grants and government funding: one skeptic views tech company grants as “business-building projects”, not philanthropy — Publishers report revenue diversification, philanthropy and public funding key to sustainability

Discussion: International Center …, @localnewsini, What's New in Publishing, Washington Post, @viacristiano, @robatkinsonitif and Local News Initiative

Laura Hazard Owen / Nieman Lab:

Q&A with Center for Cooperative Media Research Director Sarah Stonbely residents' top needs from local news outlets, especially calendars of municipal meetings — Blairstown, Paterson, and Trenton are three very different communities in New Jersey, but when Sarah Stonbely …

Discussion: @sarahstonbely, @rispolimike, @niemanlab, @spj_tweets and @aliciak2010

Ashley Belanger / Ars Technica:

A look at the Internet Archive's and the major publishers' arguments in a New York court as publishers struggle to prove IA's book lending hurt their revenues — A federal judge will soon decide if digital lending violates copyright laws. — Today, the Internet Archive (IA) …

Discussion: @mariabustillos, @clancynewyork, The Register, Techdirt and DigitalKoans

Brian Steinberg / Variety:

CNN plans to launch The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper, a 60 Minutes-style show, on April 16 at 8pm, as part of its plans for Sunday night premium programming — Anderson Cooper, a regular contributor to “60 Minutes,” will now lead CNN's attempt to put on something similar.

Discussion: New York Post, New York Daily News, CNN, The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline, @brianstelter and The Wrap

Nathan Grayson / Washington Post:

Current and former Twitch staff describe how the service lost its way: out-of-touch leaders, losing big creators, cost cutting, many irrelevant ads, and more — The platform's recent moves have confused and upset creators, fans and staff alike — For Twitch, the live-streaming platform watched …

Discussion: @adribbleofink, @vahn16, @vahn16, @vahn16, @vahn16, @vahn16, @vahn16 and Kotaku

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William Turvill / Press Gazette:
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Discussion: @fhamiltontimes, @pollyrippon, @pressgazette and HoldtheFrontPage

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Sarah Spicer / Committee to Protect Journalists:
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Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
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Chris Stokel-Walker / BuzzFeed News:
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From Techmeme:

George Steer / Financial Times:
Nvidia closed down 10% on Friday, falling the most since March 2020 and losing more than $200B of its market value, as investors pull back from AI bets

Foo Yun Chee / Reuters:
Sources: EU may accept Apple's proposal to open its NFC payments tech to rivals, and may close its antitrust probe in May, letting Apple avoid hefty fines

James Hunt / The Block:
Bitcoin's fourth halving is now complete, lowering miners' block subsidy rewards from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC; the third halving was on May 2020

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