Top News:
Steven Monacelli / Nieman Lab:
Advantage Informatics, which has a contract with Gannett to provide “advertorial content”, has deep ties to “pink slime” sites from Brian Timpone's Metric Media — An executive from a company associated with Metric Media was hired to teach journalism, but the story doesn't end there.
Discussion:
@stevanzetti, @stevanzetti, @emilybell, @jmhaigh, @stevanzetti, @stevanzetti, Ashir Badami on LinkedIn, @stevanzetti, @stevanzetti and @stevanzetti
Nick Vivarelli / Variety:
An Iranian court clears Oscar-winning director Asghar Farhadi of accusations of plagiarism from a former student for his 2021 film A Hero — Two-time Oscar-winning director Asghar Farhadi has been fully cleared by an Iranian court of allegations of plagiarism pertaining to his film “A Hero” …
Discussion:
The Hollywood Reporter, Agence France-Presse, Radio Free Europe/Radio …, The Hindu, The Wrap and IndieWire
Steve Knopper / Billboard:
Universal Music changed Pandora royalty payments from a 50% split via SoundExchange to often-smaller splits paid directly by UMG, hurting newer artists' revenue — The company is the only major label so far to change accounting for Pandora royalties since it introduced on-demand streaming.
Jon Allsop / Columbia Journalism Review:
Q&A with Ukraine's Media Development Foundation executives on increased news desertification in wartime, trouble hiring personnel and diversifying revenue, more — Two years ago last month, Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The consequences for the latter country's press …
Discussion:
Andrey Boborykin on LinkedIn, @jon_allsop and @ifjglobal
Emma Roth / The Verge:
In an email to the European Commission, Spotify says Apple is holding up an iPhone app update that adds pricing information and links to subscriptions — In an email to the European Commission obtained by The Verge, Spotify writes that Apple has “neither acknowledged nor responded to Spotify's submission” …
Discussion:
AppleInsider and 9to5Mac, more at Techmeme »
Chris Roush / Talking Biz News:
Memo: The Wall Street Journal names Elena Cherney as senior editor, leading the Standards and Ethics team and championing press freedom and free speech — Wall Street Journal editor in chief Emma Tucker sent out the following on Thursday: — Dear all, — I am delighted to announce …
Discussion:
@katie_robertson
Financial Times:
How the UK Conservative party establishment fought to frustrate RedBird's UAE-backed Telegraph bid; sources say Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch had a key role — Rishi Sunak's ‘hand was forced’ as PM acts to change law to stop foreign states from buying media groups
Discussion:
The Wrap, @sarahleah1, New York Times, Reuters, Mediaite and The Guardian
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Pornhub blocks access to users in Texas, after a federal appeals court upheld a Texas law last week requiring porn sites to institute age-verification measures — Pornhub and other affiliated adult websites have blocked access to users in Texas, amid a legal battle with the Lone Star State's attorney general …
Discussion:
TechCrunch, Pornhub, TMZ.com, Gizmodo, The Hill, FOX 7 Austin, @lovelydedinside, Fox News and Reclaim The Net, more at Techmeme »
Jeff Horwitz / Wall Street Journal:
Meta plans to shut down CrowdTangle in August 2024, to be replaced by Meta Content Library for academic and nonprofit researchers, but not most news outlets — CrowdTangle, a source for embarrassing articles about Facebook and Instagram, has been used to track conspiracy theories, viral content
Discussion:
Nieman Lab, Ars Technica, CrowdTangle Help Center, @ulrikeklinger, @drewpusateri@threads.net, @lrossi@threads.net, @franzimarquart, @lorakolodny@threads.net, @stokel, @azipaybarah@threads.net, Engadget, @brchastain_@threads.net, @ebakerwhite, Quartz, @monakrewel, @justin_ct_ho, @johannesbgruber, @stevierea.bsky.social, @mattnavarra@threads.net, @dell.bsky.social, @colinjones@threads.net, @earleyedition, @luisassardo, @instashazbot@threads.net, @katieharbath@threads.net, @kevinroose@threads.net, @kylewilsontharp@threads.net, @akhmxt1, @j_h_ohner, @drewpusateri@threads.net, @owswills@threads.net and @drewpusateri@threads.net, more at Techmeme »
Hanaa' Tameez / Nieman Lab:
Ex-employees of Mexico's shuttered state news agency, Notimex, launch the Mexican Association of Information, which will operate as a worker cooperative — Mexico's president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, had said last year that there no need for a state news agency since he conducts daily press briefings.
Discussion:
@hanaatameez and @niemanlab
Reuters:
UN report: Israel violated international law by firing at a group of “clearly identifiable journalists” on October 13, killing Reuters reporter Issam Abdallah — An Israeli tank killed Reuters reporter Issam Abdallah in Lebanon last year by firing two 120 mm rounds at a group of …
Discussion:
Yasir Khan on LinkedIn and Talking Biz News
Todd Shields / Bloomberg:
The FCC adopts a rule requiring cable and satellite TV providers to show the total price in ads and bills, including fees for regional sports programming — - Consumer charges have been targeted under President Biden — Cable industry calls rule unneeded and costly to implement
The Information:
ByteDance investors, reassessing what the company's value would be without TikTok, estimate that TikTok lost several billion dollars in 2023 on revenue of ~$20B — TikTok, facing a growing threat of a U.S. ban, has been a global juggernaut over the past few years, drawing more than a billion monthly users …
Discussion:
Breitbart, Contxto, Los Angeles Times and @zitron.bsky.social, more at Techmeme »
RELATED:
Cristiano Lima-Strong / Washington Post:
The US House passes a bipartisan TikTok bill that forces a sale or ban of the app; the legislation faces an uncertain Senate path without a companion measure
The US House passes a bipartisan TikTok bill that forces a sale or ban of the app; the legislation faces an uncertain Senate path without a companion measure
Discussion:
Fast Company, Billboard, Engadget, @tiktokpolicy, Associated Press, Digital Journal, @tiktokpolicy, The Verge, The Hill, @business, @reuters, Adam Goldberg on LinkedIn, 9to5Google, The Daily Dot, Music Ally, @kateclarktweets, New York Post, The Information, Digital Music News, Rolling Stone, @emilybell, @axiospro, @bostonjoan, CBS News, @howardmortman, @sachalouise, @mattdizwhitlock, @jacobhelberg, @jingjing_li, @boblatta, @conorsen, @ally_sammarco, @mtracey, @reppfluger, @adamkovac, @govgianforte, @jonhaidt, @cspan, @jwherrman, @jakesherman, @tomselliott, @repthomasmassie, @atrupar, @committeeonccp, @davetroy, @jakesherman, @matthewstoller, @jakesherman, @alexbarinka, @jason_kint, @matthewstoller, @mikeisaac, @senmarkey, @carnage4life, @senmarcorubio, @repspanberger, @igorbobic, @sahilkapur, @repmtg, New York Times, Semafor, @willoremus, @sahilkapur, @mkraju, @carnage4life, @mikeisaac, @repjeffduncan, @repmcgovern, @randpaul, @stephenkentx, @repjames, @aoc, @repdanbishop, NBC News, Mediaite, @parismarx@mastodon.online, The Drum, Business Insider, WSPA-TV, Cherie Thacker on LinkedIn, Fox News, Forbes, W Media Research, MediaPost, NPR, The Hill, TMZ.com, GSMArena.com, CNN, Across Illinois, IL Patch, NBC News, Yahoo News, The Independent, The Information, USA Today, PCMag, Music Business Worldwide, Digiday, Ars Technica, 9to5Mac, Washington Post, Rolling Stone, The Verge, The Wrap, Engadget, Polygon, @darnell@one.darnell.one, @willoremus@mastodon.social, Axios, Financial Times, TechCrunch, Variety, UPI, iMore, The Daily Beast, Reuters and Ars OpenForum, more at Techmeme »