Top News:
Committee to Protect Journalists:
Committee to Protect Journalists expresses relief Arkady Babchenko is alive, calls on Ukrainian officials to say why they used extreme tactic of staging murder — Russian journalist Arkady Babchenko, who had been reported shot and killed in the Ukrainian capital yesterday, has appeared alive at a televised news conference in Kiev.
Discussion:
Associated Press, The Guardian, The Seattle Times, VICE News and Boing Boing
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BBC:
Russian journalist Arkady Babchenko, widely reported to have been assassinated in Kiev on Tuesday, appeared at a Ukrainian press conference on Wednesday — Russian journalist Arkady Babchenko, widely reported to have been assassinated in Kiev on Tuesday, is alive and well.
Discussion:
Poynter, @afp, BuzzFeed, CNN, @skynewsbreak, @ap, Reuters, Metro.co.uk, The Wrap, Voice of America, Al Jazeera English, @pressfreedom, @juliaioffe, @miriamelder, @juliaioffe, @christogrozev, @christogrozev, @maxseddon, @maxboot, @christogrozev, @buzzfeednews, @olivianuzzi, @liamstack, @asluhn, @paleofuture, @polina__ivanova, @maxseddon, @pptsapper, @perlberg, @joelmgunter and @maxseddon
Reporters Without Borders:
Reporters Without Borders condemns faking of Babchenko's murder: “It was distressing and regrettable that the Security Service of Ukraine played with the truth” — Organisation — RSF_en — Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns the distressing simulation …
Discussion:
Mediaite, @christopherjm, @jcstearns, Bustle, The Daily Beast, Slate and The Guardian
Edmund Lee / Recode:
James Murdoch says ~50% of Hulu's 20M subscribers opt for the $11.99/month ad-free plan, instead of the $7.99/month plan with commercials — But does he think Facebook could one day offer an ads-free version? Maybe not. — Hulu has three principal owners at the moment, including 21st Century Fox …
Discussion:
Multichannel News, Variety, MediaPost, Ad Age, Fortune, FierceCable and Decider, more at Techmeme »
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Mark Sweney / The Guardian:
Martin Sorrell has purchased a 75% stake in Derriston Capital, to be renamed S4 Capital, with the aim of building a next-generation WPP — Former boss of world's biggest advertising group reveals he is already in takeover talks — Sir Martin Sorrell has revealed he is in takeover talks …
Discussion:
Sky News, Wall Street Journal, Fortune and Ad Age
Joshua Benton / Nieman Lab:
Meeker's annual chart comparing time spent and ad spending shows rapid drop in print ads and continued mobile growth, nearing the time and money spent on TV — Since 2011, the share of Americans' media consumption that happens in print has dropped about 40 percent.
Discussion:
Recode, Recode, VentureBeat, @recode, Fast Company and @jbenton, more at Techmeme »
Lucas Matney / TechCrunch:
Oculus rolls out Oculus Venues, its platform for watching live sporting events, concerts, and other media in VR, with partners including Lionsgate and MLB — Oculus wants VR to bring its users into magical worlds dreamed up by game developers, but the company also needs people to see the headset …
Discussion:
Variety, VentureBeat and Fortune, more at Techmeme »
Brent Lang / Variety:
MoviePass parent company CEO says it has acquired the exclusive option to purchase production company Emmett Furla Oasis Films — Helios and Matheson Analytics, the parent company of MoviePass, has acquired the exclusive option to buy Emmett Furla Oasis Films, the producers of “Lone Survivor” and “End of Watch,” Variety has learned.
Discussion:
The Playlist, TechCrunch and /Film
James Cusick / openDemocracy:
Sources: London Evening Standard strikes a £3M deal with six companies including Uber and Google that erases divide between news and advertising — London's Evening Standard newspaper, edited by the former chancellor George Osborne, has agreed a £3 million deal …
Discussion:
@maryftz, The Drum, @adambienkov, @amandakhurley, @glennmoore7, @jamesrbuk, @donie, @dtraynier, @raju, @markpaultimes, @benjaminramm, @g_n_ramsay, @ryanvailbrown, @feargusosull, @morganhphillips and @etansmallman
Terri Walter / Chartbeat Blog:
Direct mobile traffic to publisher sites surpasses referral traffic from Facebook, including desktop and mobile, for the first time — New data shows that for the first time, mobile direct-to-site traffic has surpassed Facebook. Could this mean that mobile does not equal social after all?
Discussion:
@vivian, Digiday, @lpolgreen, @agolis, Beyond Search, @charliebeckett and Nieman Lab, more at Techmeme », Thanks:@steverubel
Hadas Gold / CNNMoney:
Univision formally names Vincent Sadusky to succeed Randy Falco as chief executive officer; Sadusky starts on Friday — Univision Communications Inc. announced on Wednesday that Vincent Sadusky will be its next chief executive officer, taking over the Spanish-language media giant as it grapples with difficult times.
Discussion:
Variety, Financial Times and Broadcasting & Cable
Doreen St. Félix / New Yorker:
Artist and journalist Alexandra Bell critiques racism in journalism by editing NYT stories and posting enlarged copies of the articles around New York City — The artist and journalist Alexandra Bell has long been a scrutinizing reader of news media. As a young child in Chicago …
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