Top News:
Neil Genzlinger / New York Times:
Al Jaffee, who retired from Mad Magazine in 2020 and was the longest-working comic artist ever, dies at 102 — For 55 years he created the fold-in (as opposed to, say, Playboy's fold-out), giving readers a satirical double-take on whatever was going on in the news or elsewhere.
Discussion:
Washington Post, @nytimes, SlashFilm, Associated Press, New York Daily News, @johnhollinger, @joelpollak, Vulture, @mffisher, @iamjoelee, @donttrythis, @horrormoviebbq, @dverandy, @jessemckinley, @nbc6, @davidcorndc, @briangaar, @jj_mccullough, @realdumbrunner, @sluggodoug, The A.V. Club, @bradmeltzer, @nytimesarts, @roddreher, Variety, The Daily Beast, @mitdasein, @ivanthek, @regeneration75, @eboli_pedro, The Wrap, @whyangelinawhy, @asadabukhalil, @richeisen, Los Angeles Times, @jswatz, New York Post, @bowiesongs, Bleeding Cool, @paulfeig, @jpalmiotti, @imjasondiamond, @dsearls, @scalzi, @gregjaffe, @nchan, The Guardian, @originalpsp, @timothynoah1, @markpotash, @amandionair, Deadline, Rolling Stone, Boing Boing and The Hollywood Reporter
Vivian Salama / Wall Street Journal:
The US designates Evan Gershkovich as “wrongfully detained”, enabling the State Department to exert more pressure on Russia and unlocking other resources — Official designation enables U.S. to press a foreign government, unlocks other resources to free detainee
Discussion:
NBC News, Columbia Journalism Review, The Hill, Poynter, New York Post, @sarafischer, National Review, @asluhn, @joelsimonsays, @biannagolodryga, @laurnorman, @repbrendanboyle, @suneengel, @joe_palazzolo, @repcohen, @georgikantchev, @billbrowder, @eilishhart, @newley, The Guardian, Al Jazeera, New York Times, CNN, Associated Press, Fox News, Talking Biz News and Politico
Joshua Benton / Nieman Lab:
Nieman Lab shuts down Fuego, its project launched in 2011 to track the most popular links on Twitter, after Twitter started charging $42K/month for API access — Back in 2018, the far-right influencer Steve Bannon shared his theory of American politics. “The Democrats don't matter,” he told journalist Michael Lewis.
Discussion:
@jayrosen_nyu, @digiphile, @froomkin, @mattajord, The Desk, Twitter Help Center and Gizmodo
Jody Serrano / Gizmodo:
Twitter considers outlets to be “government funded media” when the “government provides some or all” of the funding and “may” be involved in editorial content — The Twitter CEO told an NPR reporter that he was using Wikipedia to determine which media outlets …
David Pierce / The Verge:
YouTube says NFL Sunday Ticket passes will cost between $249 to $489 depending on subscription and package; the company reportedly paid $2B for the NFL package — Football fans, start saving those pennies. YouTube just announced pricing for its new Sunday Ticket package …
David Folkenflik / NPR:
Sources: Bret Baier repeatedly proposed devoting an hour-long special to debunk US election fraud myths in November 2020, but never got an answer from Fox News — Fox News chief political anchor Bret Baier is perhaps the best personification of Fox Corp chief Lachlan Murdoch's description …
Discussion:
@davidfolkenflik, CBS News, CNN, @jackshafer, @hunterw, @hunterw, @badfoxgraphics, @aidnmclaughlin, @owillis, @froomkin, Mediaite and Newsweek
Mike Masnick / Techdirt:
Matt Taibbi's account, including the Twitter Files, was shadowbanned for a while after a spat with Elon Musk, preventing users from finding his tweets in search — The refrain to remember with Twitter under Elon Musk: it can always get dumber. — Quick(ish) recap:
Discussion:
Mediaite, Reason, @emmalbriant, 9to5Mac, @jonporty, @almodozo, Forbes and Telegraph, more at Techmeme »
Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
An interview with GQ Global Editorial Director Will Welch on the April 2023 issue, which marks the first time GQ has published the same magazine in 20 markets — GQ global editorial director Will Welch on the journey to the first GQ issue fully shared between 20 markets.
Discussion:
@brokenbottleboy, @pressgazette and @pressgazette
Sophia Cai / Axios:
Sources: The White House is weighing giving social media influencers a dedicated briefing space, an unprecedented move that would give them more access to Biden — - Biden's digital strategy team will connect with influencers across the nation to target those who may not follow the White House …
Discussion:
American Press Institute, Mediaite, The Drum, @wajahatali, @marcorubio, Gizmodo, Fox News, @levinejonathan, @clistonbrown, @racheljanfaza, @davidhogg111, @sophiacai99, Insider and New York Post
Angela Fu / Poynter:
A look at The Coronado News, a free weekly debuted in January 2023 by Salt Lake Tribune chair Paul Huntsman for the resort city's 9,500 residents and businesses — The Coronado News is a free weekly delivered to 9,500 of the resort city's residents and businesses.
Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
Fox Corp settles a defamation lawsuit by Venezuelan businessman Majed Khalil over false 2020 US election claims made by Sidney Powell in a Lou Dobbs interview — Majed Khalil had sued Fox and former host Lou Dobbs in 2021 over claims made about the 2020 presidential election.
Discussion:
@klasfeldreports, CNN, Reuters, @kencox, Law & Crime, Newser, New York Times, MediaPost, Insider, The Hill, Variety, Los Angeles Times, Deadline and Bloomberg
Thomas Germain / Gizmodo:
An interview with Victor Wong, Google's senior director of product management for Privacy Sandbox, about replacing third-party cookies, Apple's ATT, and more — To replace the cookie in Chrome and Android, Google has an offering for the world called “Privacy Sandbox.” Here's an exclusive peek into how it will work.
Discussion:
@puns_n_roses, @blakersdozen, @vkw, @spencertrask, @jonassickler, @vkw, @vkw and @thomasgermain