Mediagazer: Banning Australian news makes sense for Facebook and may prompt people to visit news sites directly; Google's payoffs, though, will invite global shakedowns (Casey Newton/Platformer)

11:45 AM ET, February 18, 2021

Top News:

Campbell Brown / Facebook:

Facebook News Partnerships VP: Australia's planned law “fails to recognize ... the fundamental nature of the relationship between our platform and publishers” — Today we made an incredibly difficult decision to restrict the availability of news on Facebook in Australia.

William Easton / About Facebook:

Ahead of proposed media law, Facebook says it's banning Australians from sharing/viewing news and all users from sharing from and viewing Australian news Pages — In response to Australia's proposed new Media Bargaining law, Facebook will restrict publishers and people in Australia from sharing …

Discussion: Sydney Morning Herald, MediaPost, @dylanbyers, The Guardian, OneZero, Columbia Journalism Review, Insider, CNN, Media Nation, @joshfrydenberg, @matthewstoller, Journalism.co.uk, Platformer, @mikeisaac, Digiday, news.com.au, Vox, Reuters, National Review, @caseynewton, Fast Forward, ABC, Marketing Land, @mattburgess1, The Verge, Are You Engaged?, The Muffin por Mauricio …, CNBC, Ad Age, Foreign Policy, New York Times, Gizmodo, @jamesrbuk, Digital Marketing …, @davidleyonhjelm, Press Gazette, @daphnehk, @jayrosen_nyu, @mja_editor, @normative, @damiancollins, @profgalloway, @pt, @belindajones68, @_claireconnelly, @itsbouquet, MacRumors, @kashhill, @jeffjarvis, What's New in Publishing, @jonahstein, @mikarv, @jakefmooney, @timmarchman, @juhasaarinen, @katecrawford, @jeffreyatucker, @erratarob, Hollywood Reporter, @mikeisaac, @gaberivera, @deniseshrivell, @timmarchman, @caitoz, @caitoz, @jordanlperkins, @a_d_morgan, @mariabustillos, @amyremeikis, @shannonpareil, ZDNet, @emilybell, RNZ, Daily Truth Report, @bdsams, @walthickey, @profgalloway, @mathewi, @andrewlawton and @emilybell, more at Techmeme »

Casey Newton / Platformer:

Banning Australian news makes sense for Facebook and may prompt people to visit news sites directly; Google's payoffs, though, will invite global shakedowns — Yesterday, I wrote that Australia's News Media Bargaining Code threatened to splinter the internet.

Reuters and Associated Press:

Facebook says it generated ~5.1B free referrals to Australian publishers worth ~AU$407M last year, as Australia's Media Bargaining law passes the House — - Facebook will no longer allow people in Australia to read or share news — The move is a response to the country's proposed Media Bargaining law

Discussion: @andrewbrownau, Sydney Morning Herald, Insider, news.com.au, @joshgnosis, @carolecadwalla, @caseybriggs, @slpng_giants, @withmeaa, @joshgnosis, @mrkrudd, @caseybriggs, @acookiecrumbles, New York Post, The Indian Express and @emilybell

Nicholas McElroy / ABC:
Australian authorities in public health, weather, and other areas say Facebook has removed posts from their feeds following Facebook's news ban

Damien Cave / New York Times:

Australia's concentrated media industry, dominated by News Corp, is aligned with the prime minister and has sought compensation from tech companies for years — Pathbreaking legislation showed that even a small nation can get the tech giant to bend. But the United States seems unlikely to follow.

Discussion: American Press Institute, Wall Street Journal, Dana Blankenhorn, @davidglynnejon1, @dicktofel, @mlothianmclean, @dvanboom, @rasmus_kleis, @aaschapiro, @deccanherald and @jessedamiani

News Corp:
News Corp announces a multi-year, global partnership with Google to provide content from its news sites “in return for significant payments by Google”

Nicholas Quah / Vulture:

Reply All's P.J. Vogt is leaving the show and Sruthi Pinnamaneni is stepping back from its series on Bon Appétit after staffer said they created a toxic dynamic — Oh, you like podcasts? Sign up for Vulture's new recommendation newsletter 1.5x Speed here.

Marc Tracy / New York Times:

Profile of Stewart Bainum, who set up a nonprofit to buy The Baltimore Sun; filing shows price of $65M for The Sun and other papers under nonbinding term sheet — Stewart Bainum, a hotel magnate and former politician, has swooped in with a plan to run it and other papers in Maryland as part of a nonprofit.

Discussion: @peterfranchot, @jayrosen_nyu, @ckrewson, @davidmwessel, @marcatracy, @pwoodreporter and @luciana_f_lopez

Margaret Sullivan / Washington Post:
Alden's audacious lie that it ensures “sustainability of robust local journalism” is evidence of its unsuitability as a newspaper owner

Discussion: Columbia Journalism Review, @larryryckman, @celesteheadlee, @sulliview, @davidaxelrod, @dangillmor, @maghielse, Cup of Coffee, @clearing_fog, @amlwhere, @nicdawes, @briokc, @melissajpeltier, @meredithshiner, @marlengarcia777 and @toddlighty

Brian Flood / Fox News:

Rush Limbaugh has died at the age of 70 after a battle with lung cancer — Limbaugh's death, following Stage IV lung cancer diagnosis, announced by family — Fox News Flash top headlines for February 17 — Rush Limbaugh, the monumentally influential media icon who transformed talk radio …

Discussion: @richlowry, New York Times, @pastpunditry, HEATED, New York Times, @jessbravin, Mediaite, Media Nation, @ichotiner, @drjeffreypjones, NPR, Vox, Slate, HuffPost, The Nation, Mother Jones, National Review, @brianros1, UPROXX, Newser, Sean Hannity, Salon, @johnjcook, @kevinmkruse, @maxwelltani, Axios, @jessicavalenti, @tressiemcphd, @karaswisher, @capeannsky, @richlowry, @sarahljaffe, @juliaioffe, Daimnation! Direct, @karaswisher, @froomkin, @ichotiner, @jbouie, @davidcayj, @kevinmkruse, @watchdogdiva, @jayrosen_nyu, @tpm, @adamgoldmannyt, @bosnerdley, @kayleighmcenany, @jbouie, @glennbeck, @froomkin, @titonka, @mattoswaltva, @melaniatrump, @christnnitemare, @bessbell, @ichotiner, @austin_walker, @sentomcotton, @maragay, @joelpollak, @davidklion, @froomkin, @atrupar, @govkristinoem, @greenfield64, @franklin_graham, @johnastoehr, @janicedean, @senrickscott and @60minutes

Ashley Carman / The Verge:

Recent deals like the iHeart Media's purchase of Triton Digital suggest that ad tech, not exclusive content, will be the key to long-term success in podcasting — iHeart Media acquires Triton Digital for $230 million — iHeartMedia, the company behind podcasts like Stuff You Should Know and hundreds …

Discussion: Valdosta Daily Times, @cedfunches, @scottmonty, @ashleyrcarman, @mattnavarra and @reckless, more at Techmeme »

Hannah Murphy / Financial Times:

Court filing says a Facebook manager warned that the company reported revenues it “should have never made” by overstating how many users advertisers could reach — Lawsuit cites product executive's qualms over figures provided to advertisers — A Facebook employee warned …

Discussion: CNBC, TechCrunch, @future_of_music, @doctorow, The Verge, @epsilontheory, Engadget and @northmantrader, more at Techmeme »

Sean Burch / The Wrap:

Triller CEO says the company never inflated user numbers after a report said the app had half the 50M users it claimed — Triller on Wednesday denied it had severely inflated its monthly active user count in press releases, one day after Billboard reported the short-form video app …

Hanaa' Tameez / Nieman Lab:

NYT debuts a Slack app that provides a daily recommended read, a “save for later” button, and alerts users if a link they shared was discussed in other channels — On Thursday, The New York Times launched a Slack app that's designed to help foster conversations about Times stories …

Discussion: NYT Open and @annadubenko

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