Top News:

NYT's Choire Sicha is stepping down as Styles editor to become a senior editor working on expanding the paper's newsletter portfolio — After a great run leading the Styles section, Choire is taking on a new challenge to help expand our newsletter portfolio. Read more in this note from Dean Baquet, Joe Kahn and Sam Sifton.

An NFT combining Edward Snowden's image and pages of a court ruling on surveillance sold for $5.45M in Ethereum; proceeds go to Freedom of the Press Foundation — “Stay Free” is a piece of art that combines Snowden's image and a court ruling. — NFT RevolutionEthereum — In brief
Discussion:
Freedom of the Press …, @snowden, @snowden, @trevortimm and @freedomofpress
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In a letter to artists, Apple says it pays a penny per stream, roughly double Spotify, which pays an average of about one-third to half a penny per stream — Streaming services open up about artist payouts, seeking to win credibility and subscribers — Apple Music told artists it pays …
Discussion:
Variety, Variety, ScreenRant, @tedgioia, TechCrunch, Gizmodo, @joeyquits, Engadget, @ethanwsj, @riegerreport, Rolling Stone, MacRumors, Insider, 9to5Mac, The Verge, AppleInsider, @lanceulanoff and The Wrap, more at Techmeme »

Firefox and major Chromium browsers like Edge, Opera, Brave, and Vivaldi are not joining FLoC, Google's proposed ad technology to replace third-party cookies — Brave, Vivaldi, Edge, and Mozilla are all out — Google is going it alone with its proposed advertising technology to replace third-party cookies.
Discussion:
Digiday, @jason_kint, @backlon, @jason_kint, @backlon, @samhulick, @martinsfp, @katekayereports and @swodinsky, more at Techmeme »

Simon & Schuster says it won't distribute the book written by one of the police officers who shot Breonna Taylor; Post Hill Press says it will still publish it — Publishing giant Simon & Schuster has announced it will not distribute the book written by one of the police officers …

Reuters is introducing a paywall: after registration and a free preview period, subscriptions will cost $34.99/month; it also plans to launch newsletters — Reuters will begin charging for access to its website as it tries to capture a slice of the digital subscription business.
Discussion:
Nieman Lab, @nytimes, @josephfcox, Reuters, Reuters News Agency, @felixsalmon, @birdyword, Poynter, @joannachiu, @rasmus_kleis, @jackmurphyrgr, @mathewi, @gilmerhealthlaw, @esotericcd, @janecoaston, @dlind, @pwnallthethings, @esotericcd, @inteldoge, @justiceputnam, @fbihop, @gitagovinda, @vinncent, @_will_brown, @jessebenn, @cenkuygur, @wagatwe, @ryanatrbm, @film_girl, @dnvolz, @alex, @film_girl, @karlbode, @rafat, @kitoconnell, @doubleeph, @genepark, @jamesrbuk, @fawfulfan, @mmasnick, The Wrap, @samir_madani, @stephennellis, @ourobororoboruo, @selenalarson, @mradamtaylor, @owillis, @jenwunder, @jeffjarvis, @alexweprin, @realbengilbert, The Verge, New York Post, MediaPost, Mediaite, Variety and The Hill

Crypto-focused media startup The Block says it has bought out all non-employee shareholders as it wants “to be disentangled” from VCs to cover them without bias — The Block, a cryptocurrency-focused media startup, tells Axios that it has bought out its non-employee shareholders …
Discussion:
@danprimack, @dogetoshi, @alex, @mayazi, @bobbyong, @cmsholdings, @jameswester, @matt_odell, @tanayamac, @dj and @ryan_browne_

LA Times is launching a daily podcast, The Times, starting May 3, joining a slew of other outlets; it is also adding subscriber-only feeds to some podcasts — When the Los Angeles Times debuts “The Times: Daily News from the L.A. Times” next month, the newspaper publisher will be far …
Discussion:
@gustavoarellano, @steakscience, @niemanlab and Hot Pod News

As news outlets grapple with whether to show the video of Adam Toledo's shooting, Block Club Chicago chose to run one version of the story with and one without — Body camera footage showing a Chicago police officer fatally shooting 13-year-old Adam Toledo was released on Thursday.
Discussion:
Washington Post, @rhodes_dawn, Vanity Fair, @niemanlab, @awalkerinla, @eedugdale, @markberman and Block Club Chicago

White House is offering a weekly “virtual” slot in the briefing room to regional reporters and has begun monthly briefings for regional outlets — President Biden's White House is launching a new strategy of focusing more on local and specialty media, offering a weekly “virtual” …
Discussion:
The Hill, @jenmolina46 and @seanspicer

A look at the rise of independent media in Afghanistan, mostly owned and led by young people, under the threat of constant violence and a return to darker times — Under the threat of constant violence and a return to darker times, young editors and reporters refuse to give up, Raksha Kumar reports
Discussion:
@rasmus_kleis, @dangillmor and Poynter

Interview with journalism professor Nikki Usher on the return of partisan news outlets, how big news organizations are increasingly by and for elites, and more — In this episode of our podcast, we look at challenges around equity, diversity and sustainability with the help of Nikki Usher
Discussion:
reutersinstitute …, @sharmasupriya, @nikkiusher, @fedecherubini, @averyholton, @rasmus_kleis and American Press Institute