Mediagazer: Amazon says its ad-supported streaming video content now reaches more than 120M users every month, up from 20M in January 2020, driven by Twitch (Megan Graham/CNBC)

5:30 PM ET, May 3, 2021

Top News:

Steve Kovach / CNBC:

Verizon says it will sell Yahoo and AOL to PE firm Apollo Global Management for $5B, keeping a 10% stake in the company, which will be rebranded as just “Yahoo” — - Verizon will sell its media group, which includes brands from AOL and Yahoo, to private equity firm Apollo Global Management.

Discussion: CNBC, Verizon, New York Times, Nieman Lab, Hollywood Reporter, Awful Announcing, Wall Street Journal, TechCrunch, CNN, Axios, CNBC, Variety, TechCrunch, Bloomberg, @sherman4949, Financial Times, Ad Age, Financial Times, @sarafischer, Scrawler, @karaswisher, @lebassett, @davidgura, Today in Tabs, Protocol, New York Post, The Verge, @joshsteimle, @matthewkeyslive, @noisyhuevos, @m4tt, @jonrussell, @stevekovach, The Desk, @carlquintanilla, @evleaks, Gizmodo, @pkafka, @alex, @sherman4949, The Wrap, AdExchanger, @milwaukeebonds, The Under60 Daily, @craigcalcaterra, @taralach, @lanceulanoff, @martinsfp, @jshieber, @ronandunnevz, Insider, Ad Age, @tomwarren, @megreenwald, @alex, @ashkan, @paulandstorm, @yaserbi, @hamburger, @ceciliakang, @briangaar, @annaforflorida, @zjemptv, @dailydirtnap, WWD, @dannycrichton, @sarafischer, @davidclinchnews, @harrymccracken, @devindra, Protocol, @evleaks, Associated Press, @digitalshields, FierceVideo, @smashdawg, Tubefilter, @joshsternberg, @mattsmithkiro7, Adweek, @profcarroll, @amykremer, TV Technology, The Hill, Fast Company and AllAccess.com, more at Techmeme »

Meg James / Los Angeles Times:

The Los Angeles Times names Kevin Merida as its executive editor; Merida has previously been the EIC of ESPN's Undefeated — The Los Angeles Times has named veteran journalist Kevin Merida as its top editor and tasked him with transforming the storied 139-year-old newspaper into a digital powerhouse that thrives for decades to come.

David Folkenflik / NPR:

Upstart digital news site The Colorado Sun says it acquired 24 suburban newspapers around Denver, with the backing of the National Trust for Local News — group of disheartened former Denver Post editors and reporters launched an upstart news site two-and-a-half years ago, called it The Colorado Sun …

Max Tani / @maxwelltani:

Internal WaPo memo outlines the “festivals and parades” that staff are permitted to participate in, but prohibits displaying support for DC statehood — Memo from Washington Post managing editors to employees today outlining the “festivals and parades” staff are permitted to participate in, as well as the events they are prohibited from participating in. https://twitter.com/...

Discussion: @gilmored85, @meredithshiner, @dispositive, @reedfrich, @russbengtson, @timothypmurphy, @maryemilyohara, @wesleylowery, @chick_in_kiev, @jbillinson, @thrasherxy, @juddlegum and @dellcam

Sara Fischer / Axios:

Twitter to launch ad campaign to promote local journalism, starting with 28 full-page ads in local papers across the Gannett/USA Today and McClatchy networks — Twitter on Monday will launch a major advertising and social media campaign urging people to follow local journalists and support their work.

Discussion: Columbia Journalism Review, @sarafischer, @vermontgmg, @wolfejosh, @ericzuck, @parkermolloy, @scottnover, @thischrishorne, @raju, @evelyndouek, @kerrymflynn, @mollybeck, @ofirahy, @niketa, @stphnfwlr, @larakate, @donlday, @kerryleary and Insider

Cynthia Littleton / Variety:

Gray Television says it will acquire Meredith's local media group for $2.7B in cash; Meredith's National Media Group will be spun out as a standalone company — Atlanta-based Gray Television has reached a deal with Meredith Corp. to acquire 17 TV stations for $2.7 billion.

Discussion: GlobeNewswire News Room, Bloomberg, Radio & Television …, MediaPost, TVSpy, @sarafischer, Bloomberg, @dangriffinwlwt, @greta, @variety_cynthia, TV Technology, The Streamable, TheStreet, The Wrap and The Hill

Alex Weprin / Hollywood Reporter:

Amazon strikes deal for exclusive rights to Thursday Night Football starting in 2022, one year earlier than first planned, buying out games set to air on Fox — Fox will drop ‘Thursday Night Football’ starting in 2022, with the tech giant set to take over exclusive video rights.

Megan Graham / CNBC:

Roku's ad sales boss Alison Levin on how the company steered through the pandemic, seeing mass cancellations at first but then rebounding with a record quarter — - Roku saw a massive hit with cancellations in March at the beginning of the pandemic, letting businesses out of deals as they saw fit.

Discussion: @megancgraham, @chalozin, @digitalshields, The PARQOR Substack, Protocol, AdExchanger and @megancgraham

Dade Hayes / Deadline:

Fox's free streaming service Tubi says it will launch 140 hours of original programming in the fall, and its total view time in Q1 grew by 54% YoY — Tubi, Fox Corp.'s free, ad-supported streaming service, will enter the original programming arena this fall.

Discussion: Variety, Hollywood Reporter, @loudmouthjulia, @animatedplus, @richlightshed, @xpangler and @thecartooncrave

Margaret Sullivan / Washington Post:

As big Sunday news shows continue to invite Republicans who tried to overturn the election, some local outlets regularly remind their audience during news items — The journalists at WITF, an all-news public radio station in Harrisburg, Pa., made a perfectly reasonable decision a few months ago.

Discussion: @sulliview, @pamelabrowncnn, @tvietor08, @timelywriter, @scottdetrow, @jayrosen_nyu, @jaketapper, @jayrosen_nyu, @blackamazon, @oliverdarcy, @kristoncapps, @soledadobrien, @jonfavs, @dangillmor, @soledadobrien, @pamelabrowncnn and @brfreed

Oliver Darcy / CNN:

WaPo, NYT, and NBC News issue significant corrections, retracting earlier reporting that said Giuliani and OAN had been warned by the FBI about Russian disinfo — New York (CNN Business)The Washington Post, The New York Times, and NBC News on Saturday issued significant corrections …

Chris Young / The Reporters Committee …:

RCFP's 2020 US Press Freedom report: police were responsible for 80% of assaults at protests, affecting 324 reporters, with 195+ seemingly deliberately targeted — The fourth annual report reveals the startling extent of police violence against journalists during a year of protest.

Discussion: Twitter, @rcfp, @joshuahol, @uspresstracker, @pressfreedom, euronews, @freedomofpress, @uspresstracker, GOV.UK, @rcfp, @digiphile, @froomkin, @elizlanders, @digiphile and South China Morning Post

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More News:

Megan Graham / CNBC:
Amazon says its ad-supported streaming video content now reaches more than 120M users every month, up from 20M in January 2020, driven by Twitch

Discussion: Radio & Television … and Variety

Leyland Cecco / The Guardian:
Overstory Media, which operates newsletter-based journalism outlets in Canada, announces plans to hire 250 journalists and launch 50 local news outlets by 2023

Discussion: @hermida, @b_clugston, @dustinrgodfrey, @awilkinson, @alexem, @srushtigangdev and @gregobr

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
PortalOne raises $15M seed from Atari, Founders Fund, Twitch co-founder Kevin Lin, and others for its hybrid gaming/TV show app, coming out of closed beta soon

Discussion: @sundhillon and @chrjantzen

Ben Sisario / New York Times:
Grammys governing body voted on Friday to drop anonymous nominating committees, after backlash; The Weeknd applauds the change but will not lift his boycott

Discussion: Variety, Los Angeles Times, The Supercreator, New York Post, The Wrap, Hollywood Reporter, @nytimesmusic, @mehpatrol, @nytimesmusic, @coopnytimes, @tedgioia, @nytimesmusic, Rolling Stone and Just Jared

James Hale / Tubefilter:
YouTube says it will begin withholding US federal income tax from all creator revenue generated by US-based viewers, due to changes to US Internal Revenue Code

Danielle Kilgo / Columbia Journalism Review:
Analysis of BLM news coverage demonstrates the “protest paradigm”, where protesters' grievances are delegitimized by a press that favors spectacle and conflict

Discussion: @froomkin, @danikathleen, @sjjphd and @bloosemore

Earlier Picks:

Variety:
A look at compensation for CEOs and key decision-makers at Comcast, Disney, Netflix, Fox, and AT&T in 2020, after splashy announcements of pandemic pay cuts

Discussion: @variety, @variety, @variety and Digiday

Joel Simon / Columbia Journalism Review:
Of the 60+ journalists CPJ and RSF helped evacuate from Daraa, Syria, only ~6 remain in journalism, including 4 who started Spain's first refugee-run news site

Discussion: @raju, @pressfreedom, Committee to Protect …, @joelcpj, @pressfreedom and @cpjmena

Rachel Del Valle / Nieman Lab:
A look at the Mountain West News Bureau, a consortium of NPR stations in seven states, whose six embedded reporters collaborate with local stations and papers

Discussion: @lukerunyon and @niemanfdn

Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
UK publishers and broadcasters, including Sun, Guardian, and Sky Sports, join four-day social media boycott led by English football to protest online racism

Discussion: @domponsford and @pressgazette

Cathy Burke / New York Daily News:
Workers at the New York Daily News voted on Friday to join The NewsGuild of New York in an election verified by the NLRB with a vote of 55-3

Discussion: @benjamindictor, @c_sommerfeldt, @johnannese and @bill_goldschlag

Bente Birkeland / Colorado Public Radio:
Newsmax settles with a Dominion Voting Systems staffer after airing false claims of voting machine manipulation, issuing an apology; the staffer dropped suit

From Techmeme:

Wall Street Journal:
Sources: T-Mobile's network was among the systems hacked by the China-linked Salt Typhoon group, and some foreign telecommunications firms were also compromised

Wall Street Journal:
Sources: ByteDance is valuing itself at about $300B as part of a recent buyback offer, one of its highest valuations ever

Gavin Anderegg / anderegg.ca:
Bluesky is working to become fully decentralized but it could take years amid financial concerns as it makes money only by selling domains for usernames

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