Mediagazer: Q&A with Rest of World Senior Reporter Viola Zhou on covering China's tech industry and Chinese entrepreneurs' reluctance to talk with international media (Camille Bromley/Columbia Journalism Review)

Oliver Darcy / Status:

Sources: Axel Springer board member Martin Varsavsky criticizing Politico's Gaza coverage did not sit well with many of its journalists, who he called “woke” — An Axel Springer board member attacked POLITICO and its “woke” reporters, igniting internal backlash and spotlighting …

Discussion: @ryangrim, @karaswisher.bsky.social, @ciarannugent, @oliverdarcy.bsky.social, @heerjeet, @hasanthehun, @martinvars, @seamus_malek, @mattlech, The Independent and Jewish Insider

Wayne Ma / The Information:

Sources: Apple TV+ is losing $1B+ annually even as its subscriptions grew to ~45M in 2024; one source says Apple has spent $5B+ on content since its 2019 launch — Last year, Apple CEO Tim Cook had questions about several pricey movie deals executives of Apple TV+, the company's video-streaming service …

Discussion: Cele|bitchy, InStyle, HELLO!, @tvgrimreaper, @loudmouthjulia, @variety, @discussingfilm, Blogcritics, Screen Rant, People, The Wrap, Variety, 9to5Mac, TVNewsCheck, Observer and Just Jared

Kylie Robison / The Verge:

Andor showrunner Tony Gilroy says the Disney+ show's scripts will not be released as planned, due to fears that they could be used as AI training data — Tony Gilroy doesn't want his work to become training data. … Andor showrunner Tony Gilroy told Collider he has killed plans to publish …

Discussion: Collider, @ednewtonrex, @sarahsyd8, @camandfilm, @ben_eales and Variety, more at Techmeme »

Steven J. Horowitz / Variety:

US prosecutors charge former Eminem employee Joseph Strange with allegedly stealing and selling unreleased Eminem music that leaked online in January 2025 — A man has been charged with stealing and selling unreleased Eminem music that leaked to the web earlier this year.

Discussion: US Department of Justice, NME, Detroit Free Press, @shadyfenty_, @marshydafox, AM 800 CKLW, The Indian Express, Digital Music News, Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter, Rolling Stone, KDFX-TV and Associated Press

Matthew Keys / The Desk:

Source: The Washington Post shut down its FAST channel earlier in March, after originally launching it on Amazon's free streaming platform Freevee in May 2023 — The Washington Post has thrown in the towel on its streaming television aspirations. — The newspaper shut down its free …

Discussion: TVNewsCheck

Laura Hazard Owen / Nieman Lab:

The NYT says it will start tracking public opinion surveys to build “on the work of the politics website 538”, providing the data in the same format as 538 — When ABC shut down FiveThirtyEight early this month, the site's publicly available polling databases …

Discussion: New York Times, @mediaevan.bsky.social, @vollcornhirsch.online, @drjennings.bsky.social, @upshot.nytimes.com, @mactan.bsky.social and @ericmbudd.com

Camille Bromley / Columbia Journalism Review:

Q&A with Rest of World Senior Reporter Viola Zhou on covering China's tech industry and Chinese entrepreneurs' reluctance to talk with international media — The Trump administration thinks of Chinese tech as a dangerous rival to Silicon Valley. How do Chinese companies see it?

Discussion: Bloomberg and @chameauleon.bsky.social

Financial Times:

Sources detail how Jeff Bezos making peace with Trump has stunned WaPo's newsroom, which has seen at least a dozen seasoned journalists leave for competitors — In the past year, the Amazon founder has executed a sharp public reversal in his relationship with the president that has surprised even longtime associates

more at Techmeme »

Sara Fischer / Axios:

Ziff Davis' Everyday Health acquires women-focused newsletter company theSkimm, whose co-CEOs will stay on with no plans to lay off any of its 75 staffers — Ziff Davis, one of the largest publicly-traded digital media companies, has acquired TheSkimm, executives told Axios.

Discussion: Adweek, New York Times, Business Wire, @sarafischer, The Wrap, @mediaevan, @ziffdavis, Jennifer Meyer on LinkedIn, Amy Sterner Nelson on LinkedIn, Danielle Weisberg on LinkedIn and Variety, more at Techmeme »

Reuters:

Sources: Axel Springer is considering a sale of its affiliate marketing unit Awin, which could be worth ~$436M — German media group Axel Springer is considering a sale of its affiliate marketing unit Awin, according to three people familiar with the matter, following the planned break-up its owners agreed last year.

Discussion: MediaPost

Trip Gabriel / New York Times:

K.W. Lee, a pioneering Asian American journalist whose reporting led to the release of a Korean immigrant on death row in California, died on March 8 at age 96 — His reporting sought to humanize and unite Asian Americans. It also led to the release of a Korean immigrant on death row.

Scott Roxborough / The Hollywood Reporter:

RTL Group reports FY 2024 streaming revenue up 42% YoY to €403M, subscribers in Germany, Hungary, and France up 21% to 6.8M, and expects profitability by 2026 — RTL's streaming subscribers in Germany, Hungary and France jumped 21 percent to 6.8 million last year, the company announced …

Discussion: Variety, Luxembourg Times, C21Media, RTL Group and Reuters