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:
Media Nation, Wall Street Journal, Fox News, @lewispants, @jessbravin, Beyond Search, Neil Lewis, Jr on LinkedIn, @jackjenkins@threads.net, @stevemullis, @profstevensmith, Brendan Sweeney on LinkedIn, @merulloboaz, Doug McLennan on LinkedIn, @glyph@mastodon.social, Jessica Hansen I Voice Work on LinkedIn, @biblioracle, Elaine Heinzman on LinkedIn, @jamesfallows, Mark McDonald on LinkedIn, @digiphile@mastodon.social, Twila Dang on LinkedIn, @ashtonpittman.ms@threads.net, @tylrfishr@social …, @jayrosen_nyc@threads.net, @acdha@thepit.social, @JMarkOckerbloom …, @tusk81@mastodon.social, MediaPost and @dave@social.masto.land
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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 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
Discussion:
Differ We Must, CBS News, Poynter, Columbia Journalism Review, Associated Press, Fox News, @elaheizadi, @ezraklein@threads.net, @shannonpareil@threads.net, @karaswisher@threads.net, @elaheizadi, @lewispants, @nprinskeep, @jeffjarvis@threads.net, @jbouie@threads.net, @lewispants, @lewispants, Newser, @fritschner, The Desk, @esthercindc, @esthercindc, @brianstelter@threads.net, @bgrueskin, @emptywheel, @justinbaragona, @fritschner, @moorehn, @rubensteinadam, @aghamilton29, Inside Radio, Los Angeles Times, @keithpille.bsky.social, @jayrosen.bsky.social, New York Times, @dankennedy_nu@threads.net, @katzish.bsky.social, Current, Houman Harouni on LinkedIn, @gretared@sfba.social, @jayrosen.bsky.social, The Guardian, @ernie@writing.exchange, Deadline, New York Times, The Daily Beast, Mediaite, New York Post, Tom Renk on LinkedIn, The Hill, CNN, The Wrap and Media Nation
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 …
Discussion:
@hackedoffhugh, Press Gazette, Mediaite, The Guardian, Associated Press, @hackedoffhugh, @hackedoffhugh, @hackedoffhugh and @hackedoffhugh
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Ellise Shafer / Variety:
Hugh Grants says he settled with News Group to avoid up to £10M in costs and “Murdoch's settlement money has a stink and I refuse to let this be hush money” — As reported by the BBC, Grant reached a settlement on Wednesday regarding allegations of unlawful information gathering against NGN.
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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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, Gizmodo, Fox News, The Guardian, The Independent, Sky News, Reuters and Bloomberg
Jesse Whittock / Deadline:
Swedish streaming service Viaplay, which shut down its US app in February, launches a $5.99 per month subscription channel on Prime Video Channels — Viaplay shut its direct-to-consumer service in February, but the Scandi streamer is still active in the U.S.
Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch:
Snap plans to add watermarks to AI-generated images on Snapchat; watermarks appear as a translucent version of the Snap logo with a sparkle emoji — Social media company Snap said Tuesday that it plans to add watermarks to AI-generated images on its platform.
Discussion:
Snapchat, more at Techmeme »
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
Discussion:
Sohee Kim on LinkedIn
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, Tv Technology, RAIN News, MarTech, Interactive Advertising Bureau, Adweek, Inside Radio and MediaPost, more at Techmeme »
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:
@danielthomasldn, @danielthomasldn, @astronomer_mark and @ft
Mike Allen / Axios:
The Daily Beast seeks a reporter to cover Jeff Bezos' fiancée Lauren Sánchez, part of plans to become a “smart tabloid” and cover tech execs and their ecosystem — - The website also plans aggressive coverage of the royals, in an effort to show up ink-stained Brits.
Discussion:
New York Post and Page Six
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:
CNN, PEN America, The Hill and Publishers Weekly