Mediagazer: Sources: Putin approved Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich's arrest; the Kremlin says the action was the “total prerogative of the special services” (Bloomberg)

6:50 PM ET, April 12, 2023

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Gabriel Sherman / Vanity Fair:

A look at Rupert Murdoch's mounting problems; sources blame the 92-year-old's erratic behavior for throwing his personal life and media empire into disarray — With the $1.6 billion Dominion lawsuit threatening to hobble Fox News, the ink on his divorce to Jerry Hall still wet …

New York Times:

NPR decides to “no longer be active on Twitter” after the platform took “actions that undermine our credibility” by implying NPR is not editorially independent — The broadcaster said that the label undermined its credibility “by falsely implying that we are not editorially independent.”

Discussion: @npr, @kevincollier, @gbrumfiel, The Guardian, @nprpolitics, @davidfolkenflik, Variety, The Hill, @oliverdarcy, @itswolfgangruth, @laist, @clarajeffery, @seth_hettena, @hayskali, @sbbaicker, @micsolana, @miafarrow, @timfullerton, @elonmusk, @justinbaragona, NPR, Fox News, @jennifernuzzo, The Verge, @ngrossman81, @georgetakei@universeodon.com, @helenkennedy, RAIN News, @rudygiuliani, @joshgerstein, @maxwelltani, @lawrencehurley, @adamweinstein, @keithboykin, @mimsical@mastodon.social, New York Post, @piersmorgan, @electproject, Gizmodo, @davidmackau, @nprinskeep, TechCrunch, @shoq@mastodon.social, @shoq@mastodon.social, @scottdetrow, Financial Times, @leilafadel, @timkmak@journa.host, @davidsirota, @bobbyallyn, @digiphile, Current, @_cingraham, @dada_drummer, @nc5philwilliams, Newser, @tweetsbyparker, @loracorkelley, CBS News, Ars Technica, @pitdesi, @w7voa, @sifill_, @edmundlee, @rvawonk, @drewharwell@mastodon.social, Mashable, @blackamazon, @phil_lewis_, @jbenton, CNN, @fpwellman, @chrisgorham, @thrasherxy, @digiphile, @campster, @clarajeffery, The Present Age, BBC, @asmamk, @deggans, @esqueer_, HuffPost, Rolling Stone, Associated Press, WEKU and Politico, more at Techmeme »

Paul Glynn / BBC:

Twitter changes its label on the main BBC account from “Government Funded Media” to “Publicly funded media”, after the broadcaster called the label inaccurate — Twitter has changed a label on the main BBC account, saying it is “publicly-funded” instead of …

Discussion: Axios, Voice of America, @axios, Insider, The Guardian, @nspector4, @b_hq, Broadband TV News, @kerrymflynn, @bruce_arthur, @tkatsumi06j, The Desk and Boing Boing, more at Techmeme »

Jody Serrano / Gizmodo:
Twitter considers outlets to be “Government-funded Media” when “the government provides some or all” of their funding and “may” be involved in editorial content

Marshall Cohen / CNN:

The Dominion lawsuit judge plans to appoint a special master to investigate whether Fox lied by saying Rupert Murdoch was a Fox Corp officer and not at Fox News — The judge overseeing Dominion Voting Systems' massive defamation case against Fox News said Wednesday that he plans to appoint …

Jon Allsop / Columbia Journalism Review:
A look back at the UK tabloid phone-hacking case, ahead of the Dominion-Fox case: Rupert Murdoch and Fox survived the scandal and UK press rules didn't change

Discussion: Washington Post, CNN, New York Times, @bgrueskin, @kyleclark, @davidlaz, @oliverdarcy, @svdate, Gizmodo, @erikwemple, @erikwemple and @jon_allsop

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Warner Bros. Discovery officially announces Max as the new name of its flagship streaming service, launching in the US on May 23 with HBO and Discovery+ content — It's not HBO Max — soon it's just going to be Max. … The company announced the name change at a press event Wednesday …

Discussion: @andylevy, New York Times, Insider, CNBC, The Wrap, Reuters, MediaPost, The Verge, The Verge, The Verge, The Desk, Next TV, The Streamable, Los Angeles Times, Light Reading, Mashable, Quartz, Ars Technica, IndieWire, @wario64, @jonrosenberg, @zoescaman, SlashFilm, Engadget, The Wrap, @mikeisaac, Gizmodo, Forbes, AppleInsider, Deadline, CNBC, Vulture, @itsdansheehan, @bilgeebiri, @deggans, @film_girl, @mattdpearce, @film_girl, @modeledbehavior, @golikehellmachi, @variety, 9to5Mac, @marklewismd, @drewmcweeny, GameSpot, @xpangler, @sherman4949, @davewiner, @capybaroness, @majorphilebrity, @karlbode, @travon, @k_trendacosta, @kateaurthur, @paulswhtn, Nerds and Beyond, The A.V. Club, @sonnybunch, @variety, Media Play News, @lucas_shaw, TVLine, @tvscarlkinsella, @chrisvannini, @helenkennedy, The Hollywood Reporter, @corbinbolies, @nothnghppens, @oliverdarcy, @nina_metz, Bleeding Cool, @film_girl, Comic Book and Collider, more at Techmeme »

Cynthia Littleton / Variety:

Warner Bros. Discovery's stock fell 5.83% on April 12 after announcing HBO Max would become Max; Disney fell 2.47%, Paramount fell 3.28%, and Netflix fell 2.12% — WB Discovery shares have been battered over the past year as the company dealt with post-merger cost-cutting and management realignment.

Discussion: @juwanthewriter

Bloomberg:

Sources: Putin approved Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich's arrest; the Kremlin says the action was the “total prerogative of the special services” — Russian President Vladimir Putin personally approved the arrest of a US reporter on espionage charges for the first time since …

Discussion: @mtthwrose, Columbia Journalism Review, The Hill, @scribblercat, @albertomiguelf5, @jason_kint, New York Daily News, @pressfreedom, @waltmossberg, @paulwsj, @polinaivanovva, Slate, The Daily Beast and New York Post

Benjamin Mullin / New York Times:

Vox Media spins off NowThis as an independent company, over a year after acquiring the outlet, takes a minority stake, and plans to keep selling ads for NowThis — Known for its viral videos of politicians and other newsmakers, NowThis is preparing to cover the 2024 election as an independent company.

Discussion: @benmullin, Variety, The Information, @teddyschleifer, @benwessel, @mattzeitlin, The Wrap, @voxmedia, @snmrrw and @voxmedia

Anna Nicolaou / Financial Times:

Emails: UMG asked Spotify, Apple Music, and other services to block developers training AI bots from scraping melodies and lyrics from their copyrighted songs — Universal Music Group says new technology relies on unauthorised use of copyrighted material — Universal Music Group …

Discussion: Billboard, Gizmodo, Fortune, Music Business Worldwide, @rasmus_kleis, @gavinsblog, @annaknicolaou, The Guardian, @pgeuder, 9to5Mac, AppleInsider and Music Ally, more at Techmeme »

Max Greenwood / The Hill:

Fox News plans to host the first 2024 Republican presidential primary, set to be held in Milwaukee in August 2023; the RNC will live stream the debate on Rumble — Fox News will host the first Republican presidential primary debate in Milwaukee later this year, Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel announced on Wednesday.

Discussion: Fox News, Adweek, Media Matters for America, Politico, New York Post, @gop, @thecjpearson, @cortessteve, @jackposobiec, @froomkin, New York Times, @jayrosen_nyu, @rubinreport, Reclaim The Net, @daveweigel and Deadline

Erin Ailworth / Wall Street Journal:

Russian reporters, scholars, programmers, and database specialists launch the Russian Independent Media Archive, which features 13 outlets and is aiming for 70+ — Partnership between PEN America, Bard College comes as WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich remains imprisoned in Russia

Discussion: Library Journal infoDOCKET, @penamerica and Talking Biz News

Megan Graham / Wall Street Journal:

IAC and PwC: US digital ad revenue rose 10.8% YoY to $209.7B in 2022, down from 35% YoY in 2021; social media ad revenue rose 3.6% YoY in 2022, down from 39.3% — Headwinds from the economy and privacy protections were offset by growth in areas such as retail ad networks and streaming TV, executives and analysts say

Discussion: Radio & Television …, Inside Radio and MediaPost, more at Techmeme »