Top News:
David Satin / The Streamable:
Report: MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred wants a single streaming service for in-market games, but faces hurdles like getting all 30 team owners to approve — Anyone who has been watching MLB's relationship with Diamond Sports Group (DSG) deteriorate over the past few months knows that the sport's future …
Washington Post:
Rural Llano County officials in Texas backed away from library closures and book bans, after feeling pressure from national media exposing censorship efforts — It isn't every day that the ruminations of local bureaucrats in a small rural Texas county become national news.
Discussion:
NBC News, The Texas Tribune, @katrinanation, @dashkaslater, @alexanderrusso, World Socialist Web Site, @ejdionne, @colleengleason, @virginiascharff, @petedominick, The Daily Beast, @joycewhitevance, @davidpepper, @jjabbott, @theplumlinegs, @staceynycdc, @penamerica, @theplumlinegs, @penamerica, @theplumlinegs, @theplumlinegs, CNN, Publishers Weekly, Publishers Weekly, Axios, The Hill, Unite Against Book Bans and New York Times
Publishers Weekly:
Scholastic apologizes for asking a children's book author to cut language in an author's note about ongoing racism after saying the note might lessen readership — Concerns about censorship at Scholastic's Rising Voices Library, a diversity-focused provider of educational materials …
Sarah E. Needleman / Wall Street Journal:
Parlement Technologies sells Parler to digital media company Starboard, which plans to temporarily shut down the right-wing social network ahead of a relaunch — Social network popular with conservatives will be sold for an undisclosed amount and overhauled for a relaunch
Discussion:
Reuters, Deadline, Variety, Engadget, @film_girl, CBS News, @starboardllc, @digiphile, The Hill, The Wrap, The Desk, Forbes, TheBlaze, Ars Technica, Rolling Stone, Mediaite, Fortune, Recurrent, The Verge, Gizmodo, TechCrunch and Boing Boing
Wall Street Journal:
Montana lawmakers approve a first-of-its-kind bill that bans TikTok and bars app stores from offering the app within the state, starting on January 1, 2024 — Supporters of the first-of-its-kind-bill expect legal challenges if the governor signs the legislation
Discussion:
CNN, CBS News, New York Times, NBC News, Engadget, NPR, @mtagknudsen, @aclu, @senrickscott, Associated Press, @themckenziest, @oablanchard, @statelinx, @hahnscratch, @mattlanza, @anthonymkreis, Vanity Fair, @mrdevinhunter, @stuwoo, @kprc2justin, New York Daily News, @tcrawford, Reclaim The Net, @chrismessina, @drewharwell, @film_girl, The Hill, The A.V. Club, The Wrap, Deadline, Boing Boing, Wired, National Review, South China Morning Post, Variety, Rolling Stone, The Verge, Al Jazeera, Associated Press, Insider, The Hollywood Reporter, 9to5Mac, Gizmodo, Associated Press, TheBlaze, Digital Music News, NetChoice and MediaPost, more at Techmeme »
New York Times:
In Africa, pro-Russian content has increasingly been surfacing on news outlets and social media platforms, presenting a distorted version of the war in Ukraine — Pro-Russian content presenting a distorted version of the war in Ukraine and promoting Russia's interests in Africa is gaining an audience on the continent.
Discussion:
@elianpeltier, @lattif and Andrew Korybko's Newsletter
Pete Pachal / CoinDesk:
CoinDesk plans to stop using generative AI images and spells out its rules for AI use in different contexts, requiring disclosure for articles but not headlines — Artificial intelligence (AI) tools are changing the way we work - especially the media. Here are the rules of the road for CoinDesk.
Discussion:
LatAm Journalism Review, @bmorrissey, @petepachal, @coindesk and Talking Biz News
Al Jazeera:
El Salvador's El Faro moves most operations, except its newsroom, to Costa Rica and registers as a non-profit, saying it faced Bukele government attacks — The Salvadoran news outlet El Faro says the Bukele government has attacked the country's press and eroded rule of law.
Discussion:
elfaro.net, @duncantucker, @elfaroenglish, @_elfaro_, @_elfaro_, @_elfaro_, Democracy Now and Q COSTA RICA
Aisha Malik / TechCrunch:
Instagram updates Reels with a section for trending audio and hashtags, expands gifts to more countries, enhances its editing tools, adds new metrics, and more — As governments around the world express growing concerns about TikTok, its rival Instagram Reels is getting a series of new updates aimed at creators.
Discussion:
Instagram for Creators, @mosseri, @nickcicero, @mattnavarra, @lovebunnycos, @jeffveillette, Meta, 9to5Mac, BGR, Tubefilter, Social Media Today, MediaPost, The Verge and Engadget, more at Techmeme »
P R Sanjai / Bloomberg:
Indian streaming service JioCinema plans to add 100+ films and TV shows and charge for content; an IPL cricket match on April 12 drew 22M viewers on JioCinema — Billionaire Mukesh Ambani's streaming service will add more than 100 films and TV series to its platform, building on the popularity …
Andy Maxwell / TorrentFreak:
Noonoo TV, a South Korean movie and TV show piracy platform, shuts down, blaming high bandwidth charges and “pressure”, likely from a new anti-piracy coalition — Smash hit movies and TV shows such as Parasite and Squid Game, coupled with the unprecedented success of boy band BTS …
Ryan Barwick / Marketing Brew:
Since cutting Taboola and open-market programmatic ads, Bloomberg has replaced those advertisers with in-house promos worth ~$7.4M over the past few months — Spring cleaning came early for Bloomberg Media. Last fall, the publisher said it would cut ties with the programmatic open marketplace …
Discussion:
Neil Patel, @ckrewson, @outlandishjosh, @marketingbrew and Media Voices