Mediagazer: Snap says it will begin testing six-second non-skippable ads in select Snapchat Shows beginning May 15 (Lucia Moses/Digiday)

Lucia Moses / Digiday:

Snap says it will begin testing six-second non-skippable ads in select Snapchat Shows beginning May 15 — Once reluctant to force ads on its users, still-unprofitable Snapchat is going to start testing nonskippable ads in its TV-like shows, according to three sources with direct knowledge …

Discussion: Fast Company, Engadget, Gizmodo, 9to5Mac, @cvas, @digiday, The Verge, Mashable and Recode, more at Techmeme »

Jason Rezaian / Washington Post:

Reporters without Borders has released its annual press freedom report-card and the US is ranked 45th in the world; Philippines slid to #133 and Turkey to #157 — Last weekend, as Nicaragua's police brutally cracked down on protesters demonstrating against President Daniel Ortega …

Discussion: Reporters Without Borders, The Daily Beast, @niemanfdn, @sulliview, Japan Times, Reporters Without Borders, @kathleencarrll, @vinodjose, @nilanjanaroy, Splinter, Al Jazeera English, @astroehlein, @birgitmschwarz, @jrezaian, @askakorean, @joshrogin, @jason_kint and @whca

Natalie Jarvey / Hollywood Reporter:

Netflix orders one of its first shortform series, Follow This, a weekly docuseries following BuzzFeed News journalists as they work, premiering July 9 — The shortform series will follow the journalists at BuzzFeed News as they report a variety of stories.

Cale Guthrie Weissman / Fast Company:

Digg, formerly owned by Betaworks, has been sold to Boston-based ad-tech company BuySellAds; new CEO Todd Garland plans to streamline Digg and build up ad stack — This story has been updated. — Last month, Digg, an old beloved content aggregation destination, made the sad announcement …

Discussion: @caleweissman, Business Insider, @inafried, TechCrunch, Gizmodo and @caleweissman, more at Techmeme »

Jem Aswad / Variety:

US House unanimously passes Music Modernization Act to streamline licensing and ensure royalty protection for pre-1972 performances; bill now goes to Senate — As expected, the Music Modernization Act unanimously passed the House of Representatives Wednesday afternoon.

Discussion: Broadcasting & Cable

Wall Street Journal:

Chris Hohn, a London-based activist investor, has built about a $3B stake in 21st Century Fox, say sources, may influence a sale amid Disney and Comcast offers — London-based firm holds roughly $3 billion in Fox shares, making TCI one of its top shareholders

Discussion: @shalini, @alexfrangos and New York Times

Allison Graves / Poynter:

Lee Williams, a columnist and editor at GateHouse's Sarasota Herald-Tribune, advocates for the NRA while editing breaking news, raising ethical questions — A little more than a month after the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., Lee Williams sat down with Marion Hammer …

Discussion: @indira_l, @davidmastio, @emily_lecoz and @indira_l

Peter Kafka / Recode:

Jonathan Carson, who joined Mic as president in April 2017, is transitioning out of the company over next few months; CEO says Mic isn't hiring a replacement — Jonathan Carson, who joined Mic as its president in April 2017, is headed out. The millennial-focused publisher hasn't named a replacement.

Jonathan Randles / Wall Street Journal:

Filing: Peter Thiel agrees to withdraw bid for Gawker website and archives, will give eventual buyer legal release for archived articles — Billionaire venture capitalist will sit out sale of dormant blog to avoid potential legal claims against him — Billionaire investor Peter Thiel …

Discussion: MediaPost, Fast Company, The Wrap, Mediaite, Variety, @theseantcollins, @edmurrieta, Editor & Publisher, @hamiltonnolan, @albertburneko, @smorgasboredom, @tomscocca and Hollywood Reporter, more at Techmeme »

Washington Post:

The Washington Post, The New York Times, Politico, Associated Press, and CNN ask court to unseal records from Mueller's Russia investigation — A coalition of news organizations, including The Washington Post, asked a federal court on Tuesday to unseal materials used by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III …

Discussion: CNN and Politico

Todd Spangler / Variety:

AT&T says it netted 312K new DirecTV Now customers in Q1 to reach 1.46M subscribers as it reports revenues of $38B, down 3.4% YoY, missing targets — AT&T added 312,000 DirecTV Now net new customers in the first three months of 2018 to reach 1.46 million subscribers — offsetting losses on the traditional pay-TV front.

Discussion: The Wrap, TechCrunch, AT&T, CNET and Hollywood Reporter, more at Techmeme »

Michael E. Kanell / Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

Pandora says it plans to add about 250 jobs in Atlanta over the next three years in engineering, sales, legal, and human resources — Pandora, the largest music streaming service in the U.S., has announced plans to add 250 jobs in Atlanta during the next three years.

Discussion: Atlanta Business Journal and Associated Press