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Jeff Bezos says the WaPo's opinion pages going forward will largely focus on personal liberties and free markets, and opinion editor David Shipley is leaving — I shared this note with the Washington Post team this morning: I'm writing to let you know about a change coming to our opinion pages. We are going to be writing every day in support and defense of two pillars: personal liberties and free markets. We'll cover other topics too
Discussion:
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Sources: WaPo publisher Will Lewis told Jeff Bezos that changes to the Opinion section would have consequences for the health of the paper — When Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos stunned the newsroom on Wednesday by announcing that he was remaking the ideology of the “Opinions” …
Discussion:
Sydney Morning Herald, @charlottetklein, The Daily Beast and Axios

Memo: WaPo CEO Will Lewis says opinion section changes are “not about siding with any political party” but about “being crystal clear about what we stand for”
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The White House kicked out Reuters and a HuffPost reporter from Trump's Wednesday press pool; with AP still blocked, just one wire service remained in the pool — Breaking with decades of precedent, the Trump White House is insisting on the ability to choose which reporters cover the president.
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Editors of Reuters, AP, and Bloomberg News, all permanent members of the White House pool, say limiting wire access to the president harms people and markets — By: Reuters News Agency — Reuters, The Associated Press and Bloomberg News today issued the following statement:
Discussion:
Mediaite, Washington Examiner, WTTG-TV and @reuterspr


WHCA President Eugene Daniels said the White House move to take over the press pool “tears at the independence of a free press”; longtime reporters share alarm
Discussion:
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White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt says the White House, not the WHCA, will now decide which outlets will be in the pool covering presidential events
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YouTube's VP for News Partnerships Tim Katz says the platform has continued to boom as a news platform, particularly for news commentators like MeidasTouch — The News — YouTube is touting a mind-boggling statistic to demonstrate its increasing dominance in podcasting.
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YouTube says it now has 1B+ monthly viewers for podcast content worldwide; users watched 400M+ hours of podcasts monthly on living room devices in 2024 — Podcasts started as an audio-only phenomenon. … According to the Google-owned video giant, YouTube now has more than 1 billion monthly viewers for podcast content worldwide.


Sources: UK lawmakers plan key concessions for artists about plans to make it easier for AI companies to use copyrighted work, after lobbying by top artists — Exclusive: partial climbdown over use of work protected by copyright considered after intense lobbying by top artists


Gary Lineker joins 500 media professionals in signing a letter telling the BBC to “stop censorship on Palestine”, after iPlayer pulled a Gaza documentary — Exclusive: Film and TV stars among those writing to corporation after it pulled Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone
Discussion:
Artists for Palestine UK, @Justice30@universeodon.com, Variety, Deadline and The New European


WBD says Max will offer sports for free to US standard and premium subscribers; B/R Sports and CNN Max will no longer be available on Max's basic with ads tier — Warner Bros. Discovery has halted plans to launch a $10 paywall for its B/R Sports tier, while also pulling sports and news content from the Max ad tier from March 30.
Discussion:
TV Tech, MediaPost, Variety, The Desk, Awful Announcing, Adweek, Engadget, The Wrap, The Streamable, The Verge, C21Media, Cord Cutters News, Media Play News, Streaming Better and Deadline


DoubleVerify acquires media measurement startup Rockerbox in an all-cash deal valued at $85M; LUMA says deal volume in ad tech grew 73% in 2024 — - The startup was “relatively bootstrapped,” Rockerbox CEO Ron Jacobson says. … - Rockerbox has about 50 employees who will join DoubleVerify's 1,000-person team.
Discussion:
Chris H. on LinkedIn and @kerrymflynn


ITV Studios signs a deal with Vice Studios to become its exclusive global distribution partner, adding ~2,000 hours of Vice content to its 90,000-hour catalogue — ITV Studios has signed a deal with Vice Studios to become its exclusive global distribution partner.
Discussion:
TVNewsCheck, The Hollywood Reporter, C21Media, WORLD SCREEN and Deadline


Meta's Oversight Board says it will weigh in on Meta's hate speech policies, changed before Trump's inauguration, in a test of the enforceability of its powers — It's unclear how much the group will be able to influence the rules. — Less than two weeks before Donald Trump's inauguration …


WBD says its Max streaming service will launch in Australia on March 31; subscribers to Foxtel will get access to the Basic with Ads tier at no extra cost — Max is coming to Australia next month. … As part of a new partnership, Foxtel Group will be a key launch partner …
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WBD closes three game studios and cancels a highly anticipated Wonder Woman title in a bid to boost the profitability of its interactive entertainment business
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