Top News:
Alicia Montgomery / Slate:
A former NPR editor says Uri Berliner's critique was inaccurate and ignored inconvenient facts, but the outlet has long been an overcautious, centrist mess — Yes, the broadcaster is a mess. But “wokeness” isn't the issue. — NPR, the great bastion of old-school audio journalism, is a mess.
Discussion:
Fox News, Beyond Search, @jessbravin, @tusk81@mastodon.social, @jayrosen_nyc@threads.net, Twila Dang on LinkedIn, @ashtonpittman.ms@threads.net, Neil Lewis, Jr on LinkedIn, @jackjenkins@threads.net, @stevemullis, @profstevensmith, Brendan Sweeney on LinkedIn, @merulloboaz, Doug McLennan on LinkedIn, @tylrfishr@social …, @glyph@mastodon.social, Jessica Hansen I Voice Work on LinkedIn, @digiphile@mastodon.social, @biblioracle, @JMarkOckerbloom …, @acdha@thepit.social, Elaine Heinzman on LinkedIn, @jamesfallows, Mark McDonald on LinkedIn, @dave@social.masto.land, MediaPost and New York Times
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David Folkenflik / NPR:
NPR suspended Uri Berliner for five days without pay, starting on April 12, after he wrote an essay accusing NPR of losing the public's trust — NPR has formally punished Uri Berliner, the senior editor who publicly argued a week ago that the network had “lost America's trust” …
Discussion:
Associated Press, Fox News, New York Times, @emptywheel, @aghamilton29, @justinbaragona, @elaheizadi, @ezraklein@threads.net, @bgrueskin, @shannonpareil@threads.net, @keithpille.bsky.social, The Desk, @fritschner, @karaswisher@threads.net, @elaheizadi, @brianstelter@threads.net, @lewispants, @fritschner, @nprinskeep, @jeffjarvis@threads.net, @jbouie@threads.net, @lewispants, @moorehn, @lewispants, @esthercindc, @esthercindc, Newser, @rubensteinadam, Los Angeles Times, Inside Radio, @jayrosen.bsky.social, @dankennedy_nu@threads.net, @katzish.bsky.social, Current, Houman Harouni on LinkedIn, @gretared@sfba.social, @jayrosen.bsky.social, The Guardian, Differ We Must, @ernie@writing.exchange, Deadline, Mediaite, New York Post, The Daily Beast, Tom Renk on LinkedIn, The Hill, CNN, The Wrap and Media Nation
Hadas Gold / CNN:
The News/Media Alliance asks the DOJ, the FTC, and California's AG for a probe into whether Google broke any laws when removing some links to CA news sites — An organization that represents more than 2,000 news publishers sent letters on Tuesday to federal agencies, urging them to launch …
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Sara Fischer / Axios:
Dozens of Alden-owned newspapers ran editorials over the weekend arguing that Google's threat to cut off news in California “is a bully tactic” — Meta has threatened the same. — The editorials ran in many of Alden's California-based outlets, including the San Jose Mercury News …
Discussion:
San Francisco Chronicle, @sarafischer and Media Nation
Megan Specia / New York Times:
The US assures the UK that Julian Assange could seek US First Amendment protections and wouldn't face the death penalty or be persecuted for his nationality — American officials sought to reassure the U.K. about Julian Assange's treatment should the former WikiLeaks founder, who has been indicted by the U.S., be sent there.
Discussion:
Mediaite, Fox News, The Independent, Bloomberg, Sky News, The Guardian and Reuters
Hana Yoo / AdExchanger:
IAB and PwC report on US digital ad sales in 2023: total revenue grew 7.3% YoY to $225B, digital video grew 10.6% to $52.1B, and digital audio grew 18.9% to $7B — Nothing lasts forever. Ad revenue growth decelerated for the second year in a row after heady post-COVID ad revenue gains.
Discussion:
IAB, Radio Ink, Inside Radio, RAIN News, Tv Technology, MarTech, Interactive Advertising Bureau, Adweek and MediaPost, more at Techmeme »
Sam Tobin / Reuters:
UK court documents: actor Hugh Grant settled a lawsuit against The Sun publisher News Group Newspapers over claims of using private investigators to phone tap — British actor Hugh Grant has settled a lawsuit against the publisher of The Sun tabloid newspaper over claims journalists used …
Bloomberg:
A profile of Uday Shankar, a former journalist who worked with the Murdoch family and is set to lead Viacom18, which is poised to dominate India's media market — - Uday Shankar will be vice chair of sports, entertainment giant — The $8.5 billion deal unites Disney's business with Reliance
Financial Times:
An interview with CNN CEO Mark Thompson on having “plenty of things” to fix, how shifting to digital is an “existential question”, subscriptions, and more — Veteran media executive wants 24-hour cable news network to embark on digital overhaul
Discussion:
@astronomer_mark, @ft and @danielthomasldn
Alexandra Alter / New York Times:
PEN America: 4,349 books were removed from US schools across 23 states from July 2023 to December 2023, up from 3,362 books in the entire previous academic year — More books were removed during the first half of this academic year than in the entire previous one.
Discussion:
The Hill, Publishers Weekly and PEN America
CNN:
Smartmatic and OANN say they have settled a defamation suit filed by the voting tech company, filed in 2021 — CNN — — Voting technology company Smartmatic and the far-right network One America News said Tuesday they have reached a confidential settlement over a defamation lawsuit stemming …
Matt Donnelly / Variety:
Internal email: Participant Media, which backed films like Green Book and Spotlight, is shutting down; sources: almost all of its 100 employees will be let go — Participant, the 20-year-old film and television production company whose mission was to inspire social justice and humanitarian action, is shutting down.