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, The Wrap, @natashabertrand, Mediaite, TVNewser, Variety, Breitbart, Law & Crime, The Independent, @stengel, @sharonlnyt, @proflupton, @dougfisher, @jackischechner, @domeniconpr, @lfung, @ianbassin, Talking Points Memo, @jbf1755, @ericcolumbus, @goldietaylor, @oliverdarcy and Raw Story
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
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, TVNewser, MediaPost, 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:
@emilybell and @peteschroeder
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, TechCrunch and Hollywood Reporter, more at Techmeme »
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:
Press Gazette, BBC, Metro.co.uk, BBC, ITV, @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
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 Fox News
Jason Gurwin / The Streamable:
Disney says Disney+ has 50M+ paid subscribers globally, and that its April 3 launch in India accounts for 8M Disney+ subscribers — Disney announced that the company has surpassed 50 million paid subscribers, following their launch in India and eight Western European countries (UK, Ireland …
Rick Edmonds / Poynter:
Sources: Hearst CEO Steven Swartz told publishers and editors that Hearst is giving a 1% bonus to employees and plans no furloughs or pay cuts amid the pandemic — The company's CEO instead announced raises and a bonus merit pool and eliminated budget targets for executive bonuses
Discussion:
Talking Biz News, @noelle_phillips, @audreycoopersf, @mkenewsguild, @byjasonfoster, @andrewbeatty, @dankennedy_nu, @tmorris504, @craftypanda, @hollyzachariah, @wpjenna, @leigh_phillips, @kristenhare, @wturvill, @taykuy, @va4journalists, @damianradcliffe, @mmcphate, @christinajedra, @jilnotjill, @heersinkolivia, @dataeditor and @lalanewsman
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
RELATED:
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
Discussion:
Columbia Journalism Review, @emmersbrown, @kimmasters, @nycjim, Vanity Fair, @oliverdarcy, The Daily Beast, @justinbaragona and @yamiche
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