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While ad and event revenue declines due to COVID-19 may wound the news industry, choices by hedge funds and private equity in a recession could be catastrophic — Declines in ad revenue and all those canceled events might prove manageable. But the real risk would come with a virus-inspired recession …
Discussion:
Poynter, @ylichterman, CNN, @darrendcarroll, @rickedmonds, @netaustin, @jbenton and CBC News

Vox Media launches Concert Local, a local ad network pooling local news sites' ad inventories and funded, source says, by $1M+ from the Google News Initiative — Vox Media, the parent company to brands like The Verge, SB Nation, GrubStreet and more, is partnering with Google to create …
Discussion:
@clockwerks, @simonowens, @hilmonstah, @clockwerks and @bankoff
Savannah Jacobson / Columbia Journalism Review:
How the “crying reporter” became a new genre of clickbait for news outlets like CNN; YouTube videos of anchors showing tearful emotion generate increased views — The Trump presidency works in symbiosis with the media. Television journalists dramatize the news, then mine that emotion for clicks.

Memo: NBC News will shift some employees to work on exploring streaming options for Today as the show continues digital expansion with plans to hire 30 staff — NBC News is considering whether its venerable “Today” morning show might also serve as an all-day streaming-video outlet.
Discussion:
TVNewser, @bristei and The Streamable

Filing: Quibi asks CA court to end harassment from interactive media company Eko, which claims IP theft and says Quibi's “Turnstyle” feature infringes on its IP — Quibi says an interactive video sales company called Eko has “embarked on a campaign of threats and harassment.”
Discussion:
Variety, Deadline, Wall Street Journal, TechCrunch, Los Angeles Times, io9, Variety, Deadline, The Streamable, Multichannel News, @thr, @jbflint, @asharma, Engadget, Bloomberg and Los Angeles Times

Sources: Disney+ executives are still struggling to define its brand identity, as several original series in development have been dropped in the past year — In his new role “getting everything right creatively,” the former CEO is likely to tackle the streaming service, which …
Discussion:
Business Insider, io9, The A.V. Club, Engadget, The Playlist, Dark Horizons, @ashkan, @aaroncouch, Bleeding Cool and /Film
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Jon Allsop / Columbia Journalism Review:
As coronavirus affects how media tells and disseminates stories, its coverage decisions must avoid both scaremongering and complacency — On Friday, amid ever-rising fears about the spread of the coronavirus, President Trump traveled to Atlanta to visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Discussion:
@cjr

Coverage by pro-Sanders media, like Chapo Trap House, of Biden's fitness for office reveals both its reach and its limitations in shaping a broader media story — The Sanders camp is making a final swarming social media attack on Joe Biden, as Cenk, Taibbi, and Chapo guys and an army …
Discussion:
Vox, @tomkludt, New York Post, The Smoke Eater, @britnidlc, @mlcalderone, @gmbutts, @david_darmofal, @tomkludt and The Intercept

National Magazine Awards, which were scheduled for March 12, have been postponed due to coronavirus; a new date has yet to be decided — The National Magazine Awards scheduled for March 12 are being postponed due to the coronavirus. — For the first time in the 55-year history …
Discussion:
WWD

AT&T's ad-tech unit Xandr takes a minority stake in Infosum, a first-party data platform, as the industry shifts away from third-party cookies — Investment heats up competition in data onboarding sector — AT&T's ad-tech arm Xandr has taken a minority stake in InfoSum …
Discussion:
Video Ad News

Interview with Chris Wallace on cable news' contribution to a divided US, why he was horrified by Acosta's retort to Trump, lessons for 2020 election, more — The anchor doesn't want to talk about Ingraham, Hannity and Carlson - but he does think Jim Acosta of CNN should not be lecturing the president

Cleveland's The Plain Dealer says it is laying off another 22 newsroom employees, of which 18 are unionized, leaving 77 journalists covering Northeast Ohio — CLEVELAND, Ohio — For more than a decade, the newspaper industry has faced a grueling uphill climb to remain financially viable in a digital age.