Top News:
Oliver Darcy / CNN:
Pence's office says it won't let public health officials appear on CNN unless the outlet airs the part of the briefing with the VP and other task force members — New York (CNN Business)Vice President Mike Pence's office has declined to allow the nation's top health officials to appear …
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, Vanity Fair, @natashabertrand, The Wrap, TVNewser, Variety, Mediaite, Law & Crime, Breitbart, The Independent, Talking Points Memo, @sharonlnyt, @jbf1755, @ericcolumbus, @dougfisher, @goldietaylor, @domeniconpr, @stengel, @proflupton, @oliverdarcy, @jackischechner, Raw Story, @ianbassin and @lfung
Justin Wise / The Hill:
18 US senators ask leadership to include aid in any future COVID-19 stimulus plan for recipients “who make a long-term commitment to high quality local news” — More than a dozen senators are calling for any future stimulus package addressing the economic fallout from the novel coronavirus …
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Clara Hendrickson / Brookings:
Half of the US counties that have reported COVID-19 cases are news deserts and 57% lack a daily paper — While the coronavirus may be a global pandemic, the public health crisis has revealed the critical role of local news outlets currently working tirelessly to cover the impact of the coronavirus on their communities.
Discussion:
The Guardian and @clarajanehen
Kathryn Hopkins / WWD:
Vox Media asks for donations for Vox and Recode; CEO Jim Bankoff has told staff that Vox is gauging the pandemic's impact and he'll update staff in a week or so — The money is for Vox and Recode, which don't have paywalls unlike New York Magazine and The Cut. — Vox Media wants your money.
Gaspard Sebag / Bloomberg:
France orders Google to pay publishers to display article snippets, starting from October of 2019, and gives three months to come to terms with publishers — - Watchdog says Google may have caused ‘serious’ harm to press — Antitrust agency issues interim measures after press complaint
Discussion:
Nieman Lab, TechCrunch, Engadget and Reuters, more at Techmeme »
Zacc Ritter / Gallup:
Gallup: general US attitudes toward media are unchanged since 2018 with 34% having a favorable or somewhat favorable view thereof, largely correlated with party — As news about the novel coronavirus has gripped the country in recent weeks, a series of Knight Foundation/Gallup surveys finds …
Discussion:
The Hill, MediaPost, TVNewser, Mediaite, @nickpwing, @brianstelter and @timkmak
Paul Tassi / Forbes:
Quibi's Punk'd will air in parts of Fortnite, potentially setting the stage for other content deals, as Fortnite shifts to becoming a virtual meeting space — In yet another step forward to becoming the Metaverse, dataminers have pulled out information about a new playlist coming to Fortnite which will …
Discussion:
@peteschroeder and @emilybell
Leo Kelion / BBC:
YouTube bans all conspiracy theory videos falsely linking coronavirus symptoms to 5G networks after initially just reducing the frequency it recommended them — YouTube has banned all conspiracy theory videos falsely linking coronavirus symptoms to 5G networks.
Discussion:
Press Gazette, BBC and ITV
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Jim Waterson / The Guardian:
Ofcom launches a probe into local TV station London Live after it broadcast an interview with David Icke, who claims the pandemic is a government plot — Local TV station showed clips of David Icke claiming coronavirus was part of plot by governments — Local television station London Live …
Discussion:
Metro.co.uk, @jimwaterson, Deadline, @bbcworld and @marccieslak
Jim Waterson / The Guardian:
Leaked letter: UK culture secretary wrote ad industry leaders to urge them to stop blocking ads from running next to online trusted news stories about COVID-19 — Firms urged to abandon blocklisting as online stories generate record traffic but little revenue
Patrick Frater / Variety:
Sony acquires a $400M, or 5%, stake in Bilibili, a Chinese online entertainment platform that spans video to mobile games and says it has 116M DAUs — Sony is to pay $400 million for a minority stake in Chinese online entertainment platform Bilibili. The deal values Bilibili at $8 billion.
Discussion:
The Wrap, Hollywood Reporter and TechCrunch, more at Techmeme »
Brent Lang / Variety:
ViacomCBS launches a $100M fund to provide support to crew members, actors, and filmmakers affected by the production shutdown caused by the pandemic — ViacomCBS has launched a $100 million fund to provide support to the crew members, actors, and filmmakers whose livelihoods have been impacted …
Discussion:
Broadcasting & Cable and The Wrap
Jesper Doub / Facebook Journalism Project …:
Facebook provides $3M in funding to the European Journalism COVID-19 Support Fund in partnership with the European Journalism Centre, which will disburse funds — Facebook invests $3 million in new European Journalism COVID-19 Support Fund — The news industry is working under extraordinary conditions …
Discussion:
HoldtheFrontPage and New York Post
Tristan Greene / The Next Web:
A look at the racist, right-wing conspiracy blog that Kayleigh McEnany, the new White House press secretary, ran until 2016 — I'm about three hours into a deep wallow in new US Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany's blog and - spoiler alert - it's a hot mess full of racism, Islamophobia, and right-wing conspiracy theories.
Discussion:
Washington Post, @waybackmachine, @jamesgleick, @sulliview and Washington Post
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Oliver Darcy / CNN:
Some of the biggest names in right-wing media are questioning the official COVID-19 death toll, suggesting the numbers are inflated to make Trump look bad
Some of the biggest names in right-wing media are questioning the official COVID-19 death toll, suggesting the numbers are inflated to make Trump look bad
Discussion:
Columbia Journalism Review, @emmersbrown, @kimmasters, @nycjim, Vanity Fair, @oliverdarcy, The Daily Beast, @justinbaragona and @maddow