Mediagazer: Disney discloses a $353M writedown on its ownership stake in Vice Media, following its $157M writedown in November (Natalie Jarvey/Hollywood Reporter)

11:25 AM ET, May 9, 2019

Top News:

Disney discloses a $353M writedown on its ownership stake in Vice Media, following its $157M writedown in November — The entertainment giant previously recorded a $157 million impairment charge on its Vice stake. — Disney has taken another write-down on its investment in Vice Media.

Discussion: Vox, Bloomberg, Variety, @cramersshirt, @jasonabbruzzese, @pkafka, @lgbtqfc, @natjarv, @thrmattbelloni, @felixsalmon, Yahoo and Business Insider

Natalie Jarvey / Hollywood Reporter:

In earnings call, Bob Iger confirms that Disney has had talks with Comcast about buying the latter's 30% stake in Hulu — The executive says that Comcast-owned NBCUniversal would likely still continue to license programming to Hulu. — Disney has held talks with Comcast about buying …

Lauren Feiner / CNBC:

Disney beats Q2 estimates with $14.92B revenue, up 3% YoY, vs. $14.36B est.; revenue from media networks was $5.53B, down from $5.92B the previous quarter — - Disney has made strides in its direct-to-consumer business through its unveiling of Disney+ and a 60% stake in Hulu.

Discussion: The Walt Disney Company, Variety, BGR, @eriqgardner, TechCrunch, Fast Company, Broadcasting & Cable, FierceVideo and The Verge

Anousha Sakoui / Bloomberg:

Apps backed by old-guard financial firms help consumers trim rising recurring payments for media subscriptions — - Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo among the players using new twist — Applications target forgotten monthly bills' recurring costs — Old-guard financial firms …

Discussion: @richbtig

Dana Milbank / Washington Post:

The White House has set a difficult-to-meet standard for media “hard pass” credentials but granted exceptions; it refused an exception for WaPo's Dana Milbank — For the past 21 years, I have had the high privilege of holding a White House press pass, a magical ticket that gives the bearer a front-row seat to history.

Alex Sherman / CNBC:

Fox to invest $236M in Canadian gambling company The Stars Group for ~5% equity, marking the first time a big media company puts its name behind sports betting — - Fox is investing $236 million in The Stars Group, part of a partnership to launch Fox Bet, a new online sports betting service.

Discussion: The Drum, The Big Lead and Engadget

Rani Molla / Vox:

Experts say apps like Nextdoor and Ring's Neighbors give people a false sense that the US crime rate is worsening even as violent crime reaches record lows — Why people are socializing more about crime even as it becomes rarer. — Violent crime in the US is at its lowest rate in decades.

Discussion: @ranimolla, @tvcolincampbell, @mattzollerseitz, @melissakxly4, @jayohday, @edasante77, New York Post and @dangillmor

Rachel Weiner / Washington Post:

Former government intelligence analyst Daniel Hale is charged with five crimes for leaking information on drone warfare to an Intercept reporter — A former government intelligence analyst has been charged in Alexandria federal court with leaking classified information on drone warfare to a reporter.

Discussion: @trevortimm

Tessa Wong / BBC:

Singapore passes a controversial anti-fake news law that gives the government sweeping powers to fine and police online platforms including private chat groups — Singapore has passed a controversial anti-fake news law that gives authorities sweeping powers to police online platforms and even private chat groups.

Discussion: TechCrunch, Reuters, Fox News, Committee to Protect … and Al Jazeera, more at Techmeme »

Media Matters for America:

Media Matters study: only three of 26 prime-time news shows aired on NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN, MSNBC, and Fox on May 6 covered the UN's biodiversity assessment — Only three of 26 prime-time news programs on major networks covered the report … Major U.N. report warns of extinction crisis that will have major impacts on humanity

Discussion: @rgatess, @markhertsgaard and @bernstein

Justin Ray / Columbia Journalism Review:

Almost two years ago, an Austin TV reporter obtained Sandra Bland's video of a police traffic stop via an open records request; his station didn't publish it — In June 2017, Brian Collister was a lead investigative reporter for KXAN, a Nexstar-owned NBC affiliate in Austin, Texas.

Discussion: @daviduberti, News One, @pamelacolloff, @brooklynmarie, @chrisgeidner, @goldietaylor, @jray05, @rolandsmartin, @bilbocroft and Columbia Journalism Review

Business Wire:

NYT Q1: net income up 37.6% YoY to $30.1M on revenue of $439M with 223K new digital-only subscriptions, for a total of 4.5M subscribers — NEW YORK—(BUSINESS WIRE)— The New York Times Company (NYSE: NYT) announced today first-quarter 2019 diluted earnings per share from continuing operations …

Discussion: Associated Press, Reuters, CNN and Wall Street Journal

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