Mediagazer: A look at the decline of Gannett's The Salinas Californian, whose only original content comes from paid obituaries after its last reporter quit in December 2022 (James Rainey/Los Angeles Times)

5:40 PM ET, March 28, 2023

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Aamna Mohdin / The Guardian:

The Guardian owner Scott Trust apologizes for the role the newspaper's founders played in the slave trade and announces expanded reporting on Black communities — Scott Trust to invest in decade-long programme of restorative justice after academic research into newspaper's origins

Discussion: The Guardian, The Guardian, Eventbrite, @rwilliams1947, @peterwalker99, @jeffjarvis, @aamnamohdin, @brianstelter, @lanre_bakare, @bonn1egreer, @jamesrbuk, @pippacrerar, @slaverymuseum, @jayrosen_nyu, @juliacarriew, @kathviner and @loisbeckett

James Rainey / Los Angeles Times:

A look at the decline of Gannett's The Salinas Californian, whose only original content comes from paid obituaries after its last reporter quit in December 2022 — When brown water overflowed the banks of the Salinas River in January, flooding thousands of acres and throwing an untold number …

Sara Fischer / Axios:

Gannett CEO Mike Reed says the company's top ~100 dailies bring in ~90% of its newspaper business revenue so they are “probably where most of our focus will be” — - CEO Mike Reed said on last month's earnings call that the company “would entertain bids on any of our markets.”

Discussion: @terrencemcd, @jbenton, @sarafischer, @russbengtson, @appodlachia and @dicktofel

Wall Street Journal:

Sources: Disney closes its metaverse unit, cutting ~50 jobs, and cancels an Amazon Prime-like program integrating Disney+, online retail, and theme park apps — The unit, once seen as developing a new form of storytelling, had about 50 employees — Mickey Mouse has left the metaverse.

Alex Sherman / CNBC:
Memo: Disney plans to start layoffs this week, the first of three rounds before the summer that will amount to 7,000 roles, as part of $5.5B in cost cutting

Aisha Malik / TechCrunch:

Google plans to add a “Perspectives” carousel, showcasing journalists and others under Top Stories, and an “About this author” feature for US English searches — Google is introducing new ways for users to verify information on Search, the company announced on Tuesday.

Discussion: The Keyword and The Verge, more at Techmeme »

Sara Fischer / Axios:

Substack invites its newsletter writers and others to invest, aiming to raise $2M; source: the raise is an extension of Substack's $65M Series B in March 2021 — Substack, the newsletter platform, will open up a community fundraising round on Tuesday, allowing writers on the platform to invest in the company.

Zoë Schiffer / Platformer:

Documents: Twitter closely monitors and boosts ~35 accounts including Matt Yglesias, Glenn Greenwald, Noah Smith, Adrian Wojnarowski, Ben Shapiro, and @catturd2 — Congratulations to Ben Shapiro, AOC, and ... LeBron? — Last week, Twitter began notifying users who were verified under …

Sewell Chan / The Texas Tribune:

The Texas Observer editors raise $200K+ in emergency funding through a GoFundMe drive and urge its board to reconsider its decision to shut down the magazine — Journalists at the progressive publication expect to be laid off this week. Relations between the board and senior staff have severely eroded.

Discussion: @stevanzetti, @sewellchan, @alterrox, @jackshafer, @sewellchan, @kleekamp, @slulay2, @gusbova, @lomikriel, @stevanzetti, @sewellchan, @mlnow, @stevanzetti, @stevanzetti, @sewellchan, @LyleDAL@universeodon.com, @TexasObserver … and Mediaite

Reuters:

A report claims Amazon is considering acquiring theater chain AMC Entertainment Holdings, whose stock initially jumped 18% and closed up 13.19% on March 28 — Shares of AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc (AMC.N) jumped more than 18% on Tuesday, set for their biggest gain in a month …

Discussion: Forbes, Insider, The Intersect, Forbes and Bloomberg

Lynette Rice / Deadline:

Paramount+ Chief Programming Officer Tanya Giles is leaving after 28 years at Paramount Global and its iterations; sources say there is no immediate replacement — EXCLUSIVE: More changes at Paramount+: Tanya Giles, the streaming platform's chief programming officer, is leaving …

Discussion: The Wrap, @bergopolis and Variety

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

OverDrive, which lets libraries and other institutions lend their digital catalogs, plans to shut down its app on May 1, 2023 and redirect its readers to Libby — For over a decade, the OverDrive app has offered a service that allows institutions, including public libraries and schools …

Discussion: The Bookseller

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