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Sources: Verizon Communications is exploring a sale of its media assets, including Yahoo and AOL, which could yield a price of $4B-$5B — Private-equity firms including Apollo are among possible bidders for Verizon media assets, sources say — Verizon Communications Inc. is exploring …
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The Desk, AppleInsider, @raju, @sarahintampa, @harrymccracken, @samthielman, @nichcarlson, @timkarr, @mims, @gorditamedia, @reckless, @karlbode, @aripap, @kerrymflynn, @readdanwrite, @alex, Awful Announcing, Bloomberg, The Hill, The Wrap, Talking Biz News and Insider, Thanks:@thekenyeung

Facebook says it is giving $5M to support local journalists using its new newsletter service; candidates covering communities of color will be given priority — Facebook Inc said Thursday it will give $5 million to pay local journalists in multi-year deals as part of its new publishing platform …
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Facebook Journalism Project, @emilybell, Talking Biz News and @craigsilverman, more at Techmeme »


Apple says it has 660M subscriptions for music, TV, and other services on its platform; Apple Q2 Services revenue hit a record $16.9B, up from $13.3B a year ago — The tech giant's overall revenue hit $89.6 billion, up 54 percent from a year prior. — Apple's services business is off to a hot start in 2021.
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Apple, Variety, @xpangler, John @Furrier Newsletter, AppleInsider, iMore and CNBC, more at Techmeme »


WarnerMedia will charge $9.99/month for its ad-supported tier of HBO Max debuting in June; it now charges $14.99 for the ad-free tier, same as its pay-TV add-on — - HBO Max will charge $9.99 per month for its advertising-supported streaming service, which will launch in June, sources say.
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The Desk, MediaPost, 9to5Google, @stevekovach, Digital TV Europe, Media Play News, Gizmodo, The Streamable, The Wrap, Insider, The Verge, Engadget and Cord Cutters News


A look at the implosion of NewsNation, as Nielsen data shows it averaged 27,000 viewers in prime time during April, compared to 2.2M for Fox News and 1M for CNN — In 2020, there was nothing hotter on TV than cable news. — A bruising presidential campaign and a historic pandemic brought …
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@rachelbitecofer, @rpetty, @latimes, @joanespositochi, @jbenton and @rriproarin


Comcast Q1: Peacock has 42M signups, up from 33M in Q4 2020 with addition of The Office and WWE; NBCU income fell ~12% YoY to $1.5B, revenue down 9% YoY to $7B — NBCUniversal's streaming service Peacock had 42 million signups in the first quarter — up from the 33 million it reported three months ago …
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The Wrap, New York Times, The Desk, The Streamable, The Wrap, CNBC, The Verge, Hollywood Reporter, @aagave, @edmundlee and Comcast Corporation


Some publications are increasingly passing the legal risk of investigative work to freelancers with contracts requiring them to cover potential court costs — Two years before reporting on Harvey Weinstein's serial abuse spawned the global #MeToo movement, Michael Balter, a science journalist …
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@wudanyan, @revkin, @liorphillips, @cgseife, @lfspinney, @gwill29, @thekimkavin, @lfspinney and @lfspinney


The Association of National Advertisers begins search for consultants to help it better understand the flow of marketers' money in automated digital ad buying — The study will focus on billions of dollars that marketers say are unaccounted for in the automated ad-buying process, as well as other transparency concerns
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MediaPost, @anamarketers, @profcarroll and @jason_kint


Spotify says podcast listening hit an all-time high in Q1, crediting The Joe Rogan Experience; Spotify had 2.6M podcasts at end of Q1, up from 2.2M in Q4 2020 — Spotify reported results for the first quarter of 2021 in line with expectations, with total revenue up 16% — helped by 46% uptick in ad sales.
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[Thread] NY Post reporter resigns, saying she was ordered to write an incorrect story that claimed a book by Kamala Harris was included in migrant welcome kits — An announcement: Today I handed in my resignation to my editors at the New York Post.
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@italiano_laura, @zeynep, New York Times, @ddale8, @ddale8, @wolfe321, @benyt, @mollyjongfast, @sahilkapur, CNN, Washington Post, @ilvestoomas, @tomwatson, Forbes, MSNBC, @joncoopertweets, Media Matters for America, @amy_siskind, @goangelo, The Daily Beast, @italiano_laura, @karaswisher, @daveweigel, @isaacdovere, Boing Boing, @michaelharriot, @lynnv378, @glennkesslerwp, @juliancastro, @steveschale, @ktumulty, theslot.jezebel.com, @transscribe, @edlavacnn, @sarah_boxer, @peterjukes, @dangillmor, @jayrosen_nyu, @keitholbermann, @j0ncampbell, @bradmossesq, @markjacob16, @rizzotk, @keitholbermann, @richazzopardi, Poynter, NewsOne, The Full Belmonte, @scarylawyerguy, @alkapdc, Newser, @jaredlholt, @daveweigel, @fpwellman, The Guardian, Insider and The Wrap


An Oracle EVP, Ken Glueck, was suspended by Twitter for 12 hours after tweeting contact information for an Intercept reporter covering Oracle's ties to China — A tweet from Oracle Executive VP Ken Glueck goading his followers into harassing a female reporter was found to violate Twitter's policies …
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USA Today has quietly started putting some of its stories behind a paywall with a $4.99/month digital-only subscription — Gannett's flagship national paper quietly started to put some of its premium stories behind a paywall. A subscription costs $4.99 a month.
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American Press Institute, Columbia Journalism Review, Digiday, @jbenton, @bradydale, @rickedmonds, @raju and @poynter