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The Texas Tribune:
Texas Observer, founded in 1954, is shutting down and will lay off its 17-person staff including 13 journalists; employees' last day is scheduled for March 31 — The 68-year-old progressive publication, which published Ronnie Dugger, Molly Ivins and Kaye Northcott, hit financial troubles …
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Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
Demands from films' talent and marketing drive Apple and Amazon's embrace of theaters, where Apple plans to debut top movies at least a month ahead of Apple TV+ — Did you watch the World Baseball Classic? Did you know it happened? The event, billed as the World Cup of baseball, is a huge hit beyond US shores.
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@lucas_shaw, @lucas_shaw, @dcnorg, @davidpoland and Forbes
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Andrew Webster / The Verge:
Apple plans to release Martin Scorsese's next movie Killers of the Flower Moon in theaters in partnership with Paramount Pictures before it debuts on Apple TV+ — Apple is the latest streamer to discover that theaters are actually kind of useful. Following a Bloomberg report last week …
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Screen Rant, The Wrap, Variety, IndieWire, GoldDerby, Collider, BGR, 9to5Mac, Deadline, The Playlist, The Hollywood Reporter and AppleInsider
Sarah Fitzpatrick / NBC News:
Ex-Fox News producer Abby Grossberg files new claims about coercive coaching by Fox lawyers, bias and unprofessional behavior by staff, and retaliation by Fox — Abby Grossberg sued Fox last week, alleging she was coerced into giving misleading testimony about the network's election fraud coverage.
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Brian Steinberg / Variety:
Fox News fires Tucker Carlson producer Abby Grossberg after she alleged in court filings of being coerced into giving misleading testimony in the Dominion case
Fox News fires Tucker Carlson producer Abby Grossberg after she alleged in court filings of being coerced into giving misleading testimony in the Dominion case
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Columbia Journalism Review, New York Times, Bloomberg, Mediaite, @ericschultz, CNN, @jayrosen_nyu, @jon_allsop, @oliverdarcy, @ninaburleigh, @kiminsley, The Wrap, @adriennelaw, @bristei and Deadline
Alex Sherman / CNBC:
Memo: Disney will start layoffs this week, the first of three rounds of cuts that will amount to 7,000 lost jobs, as part of plans to cut $5.5B in costs — - Disney will begin informing employees this week that they're being laid off. — This will be the first of three rounds of cuts that will amount to 7,000 job losses.
Isabella Simonetti / Wall Street Journal:
Sources: CNN finalizes a deal for Gayle King to host a weekly prime-time show; in March, CNN will hit its lowest monthly rating in decades among adults 25 to 54 — Basketball commentator Charles Barkley also in mix as potential host — CNN is finalizing a deal for “CBS Mornings” …
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Mediaite, Variety, Deadline, @bristei, @andrewmarchand, @keitholbermann, @owillis, @dylanbyers, @jbflint and @asharma
Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
Time EIC Edward Felsenthal steps down, to be succeeded by Sam Jacobs as interim EIC; Felsenthal will become executive chairman and contributing editor on June 1 — Edward Felsenthal will become executive chairman and contributing editor at Time in June. — Time editor-in-chief Edward Felsenthal …
Discussion:
TIME, @jsibo and @sampjacobs
Taylor Lorenz / Washington Post:
Hollywood and music industry insiders, actors, and others say a TikTok ban could seriously hurt their businesses and are scrambling to create contingency plans — The entertainment industry has become so reliant on TikTok that banning the app could hurt business, industry insiders say
Discussion:
@adamfaze, @mattnavarra and @yoda
Garett Sloane / Ad Age:
Snap names longtime Microsoft ad leader Rob Wilk as its president of Americas, as Snap restructures its ad team and rebuilds its ad platform after Apple's ATT — Rob Wilk named president of Americas following high-profile departures last year — Snapchat named Microsoft's longtime ad leader Rob Wilk …
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Variety, MediaPost, The Hollywood Reporter, @garettsloane, The Information, @digitalshields and @sarafischer
Sara Fischer / Axios:
Sources: Grid News' website shuts down as owner The Messenger evaluates what to do with Grid's products and interviews Grid's staff for roles at The Messenger — The website for Grid News, the D.C.-based digital news startup that sold last week to Jimmy Finkelstein's new media startup The Messenger …
Discussion:
@sarafischer, @nickrmanes, @owillis, @paldhous and Talking Biz News
Fiona Sturges / Financial Times:
Audio content agency This Is Distorted launches Synthetic Stories, a podcast created in 24 hours using AI, including for the plot, music, artwork, and narration — Synthetic Stories is an intriguing new podcast series created entirely by AI — In the first instalment of Synthetic Stories …
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RAIN News
Alex Kingsbury / New York Times:
Q&A with Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg on the US' classified material system, why there are so few whistleblowers, and nuclear and climate fears — Daniel Ellsberg, famous for leaking the Pentagon Papers and his activism against nuclear weapons, announced recently that he has been diagnosed with terminal cancer.
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@peterbakernyt, @danielellsberg, @nytopinion, @melmitchell1, @elfjcgc, @rachelsklar, @lbassets, @froomkin and @froomkin