Mediagazer: Netflix restructures to make fewer but better movies and plans to combine its small and midsize film units; executives Lisa Nishimura and Ian Bricke are leaving (Lucas Shaw/Bloomberg)

4:35 PM ET, March 31, 2023

Top News:

Top editors of 38 news organizations around the world sign a letter condemning the detention of WSJ's Evan Gershkovich and calling for his immediate release — The editors condemned Mr. Gershkovich's detention in a letter to the Russian ambassador to the U.S.

Bloomberg:

Russia's Federal Security Service detains Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich on suspicion of “espionage in the interests of the American government” — Russia's Federal Security Service said it detained Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich in Yekaterinburg …

Discussion: New York Times, Wall Street Journal, New York Post, Human Rights Watch, Wall Street Journal, The Desk, @polinaivanovva, Associated Press, Talking Biz News, @sulliview, @repmcgovern, @congressmanraja, @nytimes, @francescaebel, @dylanbyers, @govmurphy, @billbrowder, @pressfreedom, @dylanbyers, @presssec, @christopherjm, @dwnews, @pressfreedom, @maxseddon, @pressfreedom, @michaeldweiss, @sarahrainsford, @annanemtsova, @shustry, @asluhn, @maxseddon, @lindakinstler, @jazzedloon, @georebekah, @jimsciutto, @jfberke, European Federation …, @kevinrothrock, @r__politik, @neilphauer, @kevinrothrock, @neilphauer, @felix_light, @leonidragozin, @neilphauer, @lolgop, @brendancarrfcc, @freedomofpress, @timobrien, @tpcarney, @rohded, Axios, @newsguild, @mgongadze, @clancyreports, @natashabertrand, @jeffsonnenfeld, @followtheh, @billpascrell, @akurmanaev, @mattmcbradley, @oliverdarcy, @domenpresern, @kaitlancollins, The Daily Beast, @billbrowder, @domenpresern, @moorehn, Financial Times, Washington Post, The Guardian and Reuters

BuzzFeed News:

The NYT, LAT, and WaPo won't buy Twitter Blue; NYT, LAT, BuzzFeed, and Politico won't reimburse reporters for Blue, but Semafor and other small outlets plan to — BuzzFeed isn't ponying up, but for other outlets, paying might make sense. — Pranav Dixit

Discussion: @oliverdarcy, @sarafischer, New York Post, Forbes, Techdirt, @brooklynmarie, @alex_panetta, The Comeback, @pkafka, CNN, @maxwelltani, @oliverdarcy, @jessespector, @rmac18, @roslyntalusan, @bdherzinger, @thekidskoob, @ryangrim, @claire_goforth, @thomaschattwill, @timfullerton, @skooks, @paleofuture, @boydhilton, @davidclinchnews, @williamshatner, @stevelackmeyer, @ndrew_lawrence, @stevanzetti, @dancow, Vox, @moorehn, @andrewmarchand, @jbenton, @mattnavarra, @roslyntalusan, @katebevan, @studentactivism, @bobmoorenews, @johniadarola, @mikeisaac, @spj_tweets, @tinu, @helenkennedy, The Information, @kt_so_it_goes, @cfidd, @pkafka, @charles_gaba, @dellcam, @scottnover, @benjysarlin, @hansmahncke, @wfkars, @chrismessina, @kimmasters, @bruce_arthur, @scottnover, @scalzi, @ewong, @jacobrubashkin, @oliverdarcy, @nicosgonzalez, @andybcampbell, @joshtpm, @themaxburns, @moorehn, @adrianweckler, @wtfis2bdone, @ryanhanrahan, @lxeagle17, Boing Boing, The Wrap, @hammancheez@c.im, Awful Announcing, Social Media Today and New York Times, more at Techmeme »

Sara Fischer / Axios:

Email: The White House will not pay for Twitter Blue for its staff; the White House and top officials' accounts like POTUS will likely maintain gray checkmarks — The White House will not pay to have its staff's official Twitter profiles continue to be verified, according to guidance issued to staffers via an email obtained by Axios.

Safi Bugel / The Guardian:

Gal-Dem, an outlet for women and non-binary POC, is closing after eight years, citing the difficulty of relying on partnerships and its membership model — After eight years of operation, staff statement blames financial challenge of running independent media outlet

New York Times:

Fox News hosts rally around Trump following his indictment, denouncing it as politically motivated and as a cause for potential unrest — Despite recent criticism, the network's star personalities joined other leading conservatives in denouncing the indictment as politically motivated and a possible cause for unrest.

Alyssa Boyle / AdExchanger:

A new bipartisan Senate bill, almost identical to a 2022 bill, would force companies with $20B+ in annual digital ad revenue to sell part of their business — Say hello to the US government's latest attempt to force antitrust regulations on the digital advertising industry. — It might sound familiar.

Discussion: AdExchanger, @senmikelee, @swodinsky, Reuters, Marketing Brew, Mike Lee US Senator for Utah, @jason_kint, @digiphile, @berinszoka, @jason_kint, Digiday, @jason_kint, @dcnorg and NetChoice

Perry Michael Simon / AllAccess.com:

Senators Klobuchar and Kennedy reintroduce the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act to let news outlets jointly negotiate with Big Tech companies — What do you think? Add your comment below. — Sens. AMY KLOBUCHAR (D-MN) and JOHN KENNEDY (R-LA) have reintroduced …

Discussion: MediaPost, Public Knowledge and News/Media Alliance

Jeremy Fuster / The Wrap:

UCLA's Hollywood Diversity Report finds that among 2022's top 100 original streaming films, 64% had casts with at least 30% POC vs. 57% for theatrical films — The share of women and people of color in key positions on theatrical releases slide back to 2019 levels in latest annual report

Discussion: @jamesthetang, @indiewire, @dranachristina, @beingjanine, @thewrap and New York Daily News

Tom Hals / Reuters:

The judge in the Fox-Dominion case denies Fox's summary judgment motions and partially grants Dominion's summary judgment motions; the trial is set for April 17 — A jury will decide whether Fox Corp (FOXA.O) defamed Dominion Voting Systems with false vote-rigging claims aired by Fox News …

Discussion: CNN, @goangelo, Washington Post, The Hill and @chancery_daily

Luke Winkie / Slate:

Interviews with writers who publish daily Wordle clue guides, published by a slew of outlets since they reliably generate substantial traffic — Sam Hill, an editor at the technology website Digital Trends, has penned 647 articles about Wordle. Each of them follows the same basic format …

Discussion: @jbenton, @luke_winkie, @iethics and Mashable

Twitter:

Twitter launches its Verified Organizations program, which lets companies get a verified checkmark for $1,000/month and their affiliate accounts for $50/month — Verified Organizations is a new way for organizations and their affiliates to distinguish themselves on Twitter.

Discussion: Variety, @elonmusk, Mashable, @ethicalsid, Search Engine Land and Techdirt, more at Techmeme »

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This is a snapshot of Mediagazer at 4:35 PM ET, March 31, 2023.

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Deputy Ed. - Gen. Assignment Desk, DC — WaPo

EU Technology Reporter, Brussels — Bloomberg

Breaking News Reporter, NY — Guardian US

Harrisburg Reporter, PA — PCBC

Senior Editor - Styles, NY — NYT

Part-time Editor, Remote — Techmeme

Home & Travel Reporter, Ireland — Newsweek

Assistant Digital Editor, MA — Boston Globe

Senior Editor - Visuals (Temporary), DC — NPR

Copy Editor, Remote US — ProPublica

Markets Reporter, NY/CA — Sherwood Media

Staff Writer, MI — Watershed Voice

Food Reporter, CA — SF Standard

Staff Writer, NV — Las Vegas Weekly

Pharma Editor, Remote — Endpoints

Higher Ed. Reporter, Remote CA — EdSource

Politics Reporter, Brussels — Politico

Investigations & Enterprise Ed., WI — Cap Times

Social Strategy Editor, NY — WSJ

Senior Narrative Editor, CA — Cloud Chamber

Editor-in-Chief, NY (flexible) — The 74

Housing Reporter, OK — The Frontier

Writer/AI Content Reviewer, CA — Outlier

Writer/Editor, Remote — Mediaite

Multi Media Reporter, NC — Cardinal & Pine

Afternoon/Night Editor, NH — Keene Sentinel

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Senior Editor, Remote US — PCWorld

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More News:

Mike Hume / Washington Post:
The Washington Post vows to continue covering gaming even as its gaming news hub Launcher, which began in 2019, officially closes on March 31

Discussion: @mikehumepost, @mikehumepost, @mikehumepost, @walldo, @rcmacleod, @rcmacleod, @rcmacleod, @genepark, @teddyamen and @launcherwp

Jeffrey Rousseau / GamesIndustry.biz:
Roblox plans to hide advertisements from users 13 and younger, after nonprofit Truth in Advertising filed an FTC complaint in April 2022 against the company

more at Techmeme »

Alan Jones / AOL:
BBC journalists are set to stage a 24-hour strike on May 5 to coincide with the reporting of local election results, after a first walkout on March 15

Discussion: The Guardian, HoldtheFrontPage and RadioToday

Sara Fischer / Axios:
Sources: crypto outlet The Block has laid off roughly one-third of staff, including interim CEO Bobby Moran, and promoted head of research Larry Cermak to CEO

Discussion: @raph_bloch, @timccopeland, @kylesgibson and @pressgazette

BBC:
The BBC asks ex-ITN CEO John Hardie to lead an independent review of its social media guidelines for freelance, non-news presenters after the Gary Lineker furor

Discussion: Deadline, Sky News, Variety, Reuters, Yahoo News, The Irish News and @lucympowell

Earlier Picks:

Ben Cohen / Wall Street Journal:
Apple's classical music app fixes the genre's main problem of search and discovery using metadata from Amsterdam-based Primephonic, which Apple acquired in 2021

Discussion: Billboard, GQ, @omnirarab, @textfiles, Numlock News, @donnelly_b, @textfiles and @whet, more at Techmeme »

Jeremy Fuster / The Wrap:
Hollywood producers and unions say COVID-19 safety protocols end on May 12, after the Biden administration is set to lift national pandemic emergency measures

Discussion: @lidsville, Variety, Deadline and Los Angeles Times

Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
Netflix restructures to make fewer but better movies and plans to combine its small and midsize film units; executives Lisa Nishimura and Ian Bricke are leaving

Discussion: TechCrunch, Engadget, Variety, @lucas_shaw, The Hollywood Reporter, @bqprime, @masasoncap, @stanphylcap, @lucas_shaw, @lucas_shaw, @variety_pats, @jenny8lee, @susanlitv, Fox Business, The Wrap, The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline and Media Play News

Aisha Malik / TechCrunch:
YouTube adds Shorts data to its Total Reach metric for artists and says fan-created Shorts increased the average artist's unique viewers by 80%+ in January 2023

Discussion: YouTube Official Blog, Complete Music Update, @nealmohan, Communicate Online, @mattnavarra, Tubefilter, Billboard and Forbes

Rebekah Valentine / IGN:
ESA cancels E3 2023, after Microsoft, Nintendo, Sony, and Ubisoft announced they would not attend the event originally scheduled for June 13 to June 16

From Techmeme:

Andy Greenberg / Wired:
Cisco details a hacking campaign that penetrated multiple governments' networks using two zero-day flaws in its VPN and firewall Adaptive Security Appliances

Ben Glickman / Wall Street Journal:
IBM agrees to buy HashiCorp, which helps companies manage cloud infrastructure, in a deal valuing HashiCorp at $6.4B and expected to close by the end of 2024

Bob Van Voris / Bloomberg:
US prosecutors charge two founders of the Samourai Wallet crypto mixing service, saying it facilitated more than $100M in money laundering transactions

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