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.

ViacomCBS combines CBS News and local stations in a single unit to be led by former ABC stations chief Wendy McMahon and former Hearst exec Neeraj Khemlani — Neeraj Khemlani and Wendy McMahon have been named to lead a new unit that combines CBS News and CBS local stations …

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:
@nytimes, Nieman Lab, American Press Institute, Reuters, Talking Biz News, @josephfcox, @felixsalmon, @mathewi, @gilmerhealthlaw, @janecoaston, @birdyword, @dlind, @pwnallthethings, @joannachiu, @rasmus_kleis, @jackmurphyrgr, @esotericcd, @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, @samir_madani, @stephennellis, @ourobororoboruo, @selenalarson, @mradamtaylor, @owillis, @jenwunder, @jeffjarvis, @alexweprin, @realbengilbert, The Verge, New York Post, MediaPost, Mediaite, Variety and The Hill

Simon & Schuster says it won't distribute the book written by one of the police officers who shot Breonna Taylor last year, to be published by Post Hill Press — Publishing giant Simon & Schuster has announced it will not distribute the book written by one of the police officers …

Firefox and major Chromium browsers, including Edge, Brave, and Vivaldi, decline to join 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, @jason_kint, @samhulick and @katekayereports, more at Techmeme »

Substack announces Substack Local, a $1M initiative to help up to 30 independent writers build local subscription news outlets via a cash advance, advice, more — A panel of independent judges will work with Substack to select up to 30 local news writers to participate in the program.
Discussion:
Nieman Lab, @wongmjane, Vox, @azirulnick, @graphicmatt, Columbia Journalism Review, @film_girl, @sineadboucher, SWAN of the Week, Transistori, @tessaduvall, @ericaperel, @sarahscire, @ruthservensmith, @voxdotcom, @klcpegher, @mkramer, @mattdpearce, @amywestervelt, @nick_garber, @mayakauf, @mediaevan, @mathewi, @niemanlab, @kateyrich, @annehelen, @gordonrussell1, @brianmrosenthal, @joshi, @sethabramson, @pkafka, One Man & His Blog, @markstenberg3, @aaronhuertas, @travelinganna, @bmorrissey, @dicktofel, @ubiquity75, @craigsilverman, @craigsilverman, @mattyglesias, Media Nation, The Hill and TechCrunch

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 — Music-streaming services, seeking to win credibility and subscribers, open up about artist payouts
Discussion:
Variety, The Wrap, Insider, Engadget, @lanceulanoff, The Verge, AppleInsider, @riegerreport, @ethanwsj, MacRumors and 9to5Mac, more at Techmeme »

Study: of the five values espoused by journalists, including oversight, transparency, and factuality, only factuality has the support of a majority of Americans — Ask almost any group of journalists to name the core values of their profession, and they'll probably deliver a list like this:
Discussion:
American Press Institute, @jayrosen_nyu, @tedcruz, The Rural Blog, @mollyjongfast, @craignewmark, @ampress, @markamesexiled, @eddiepereztx, @gpaddymanning, @ampress, @eileen_mcclory, @mzhemingway, @soljourno, @jonathanstray, @tednesi, @jayrosen_nyu, @jayrosen_nyu, @janebsinger, @spj_tweets, @mkramer, @sulliview, @sulliview, @sulliview, @kevinloker, @tomrosenstiel, @rohanv, @jenmercieca, @jayrosen_nyu, @sulliview, @mehdirhasan, The Daily Caller, @deneenlbrown, News Media Alliance, Columbia Journalism Review and PRIMER

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

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

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

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:
@rhodes_dawn, Vanity Fair, @markberman, Block Club Chicago, @niemanlab, @awalkerinla, @eedugdale and Chicago Tribune