Top News:
Kenneth Li / Reuters:
Reuters has postponed the launch of its paywall after a dispute with data provider Refinitiv over whether the move would breach a deal between the companies — (Reuters) - Reuters News postponed the launch of its website paywall following a dispute with financial data provider Refinitiv …
Discussion:
MediaPost, @kenli729, Financial Times, @gaberivera, @ivanthek, @alex, @jackshafer, @felixsalmon and Talking Biz News
Ayushman Kaul / DFRLab:
A Toronto PR firm created news and fact-checking sites pretending to originate from India, which were amplified on social media by dozens of Indian embassies — Site published spurious fact-checks & other content that were amplified by over 50 Indian diplomatic accounts on Twitter & Facebook
Discussion:
Twelve Thirty Six, @churumuri, @joeycoleman, The India Cable, @dfrlab, @dfrlab, @architmeta, @dfrlab, @etbrooking, @bendobrown, @rezhasan, @kursed and @dfrlab
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Google is nearing a settlement of an antitrust case in France alleging it abused its power in online ads, and is likely pay a fine and make changes — French investigation alleged Google's ad server favored its own ad exchange — Alphabet Inc.'s Google is nearing a settlement …
Discussion:
New York Post, Light Reading, @martinapennisi, @geradinlaw, Ad Age and @jason_kint, more at Techmeme »
Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:
Liberal media's lab-leak hypothesis coverage, which treated it as a conspiracy theory and conflated it with Trump's claims, shows dangers of Twitter groupthink — Yesterday, the Biden administration promised to redouble its efforts to investigate the origin of COVID-19 …
Discussion:
Nieman Lab, New York Times, @allmattnyt, @mattyglesias, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Slow Build, @jessesingal, @tomscocca, The Media & Us, The Dispatch, @rextalionis, @dleonhardt, @axios, @yair_rosenberg, @yair_rosenberg, @heerjeet, Insight, @rottenindenmark, @hotlinejosh, @alicia_smith19, @douthatnyt, @joshtpm, @mattyglesias, @natesilver538, @amlivemon, @michaeljknowles, @maximebernier, @jbarro, @jonathanchait, @emilyrauhala, @rlheinrichs, @elilake, @jonathanchait, @jonathanchait, @ayjchan, @johnfpfaff, @binarybits, Engadget, New York Magazine, Vanity Fair, Tangle, The Wrap and Politico, more at Techmeme »
Paul Farhi / Washington Post:
VOA management took months to address the fact that an executive producer and a freelancer regularly plagiarized others' work, despite being alerted by staff — Last summer, a Voice of America staffer noticed something odd in the radio scripts that a Paris-based freelancer was submitting …
Discussion:
@blmohr
Kate Kaye / Digiday:
Google says it won't build itself Privacy Sandbox backdoors, but whether it will allow itself to use individual-level data from Chrome users remains unclear — Google promised on Thursday it won't carve out separate rules for itself as it forces data privacy restrictions on others navigating …
Discussion:
@robinberjon, @kyotonio and MediaPost
Joe Flint / Wall Street Journal:
Source: in companywide address, Jason Kilar said he had no plans to step down this year as head of WarnerMedia and that he will reassess his options next year — AT&T Inc. is spinning off WarnerMedia into a venture with Discovery Inc. — WarnerMedia Chief Executive Jason Kilar …
Discussion:
CNN, Variety, @kimmasters, @ashkan, @lucas_shaw, @mylesudland, @mattbelloni, @kantrowitz, New York Post, The Desk, Insider, The Wrap, The Hill and Hollywood Reporter
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Clubhouse has hired Kelly Stoetzel, head of conferences and speaker curation at TED, to lead efforts to attract “thoughtful people” like authors and scientists — Clubhouse has hired Kelly Stoetzel, a 17-year veteran of TED and the executive responsible for lining up the company's famous TED Talks.
Discussion:
The Verge, more at Techmeme »
Brent Lang / Variety:
Lionsgate beat estimates with Q4 revenue of $876.4M, down 7.2% YoY; Starz streaming subscribers grew 69% YoY to 16.7M globally; motion picture revenue fell 25%+ — The better-than-expected results come as Lionsgate is seen as a potential acquisition target for tech giants and media conglomerates looking to get bigger.
Discussion:
Marketing Science, MediaPost, @loudmouthjulia, Deadline, investors.lionsgate.com, Los Angeles Business Journal and The Wrap
Karan Deep Singh / New York Times:
Twitter criticizes the Indian government's “intimidation tactics” and says it will push for changes to regulations that give it more authority over online media — The social media platform criticized what it called “intimidation tactics,” saying it would push back on new rules …
Discussion:
FAIR, @dealbook, @karan_singhs, @cernovich, @jeffjarvis, Breitbart, Variety, BBC and Bloomberg, more at Techmeme »
Sara Guaglione / Digiday:
CNN says the 5 Things podcast accounts for 43% of its total podcast downloads, as it plans to expand the 5 Things newsletter and turn it into a franchise — CNN Digital is stretching its 5 Things email newsletter from a daily article roundup into its own franchise.
Chris Roush / Talking Biz News:
Fortune's editor-in-chief Clifton Leaf is leaving the publication; deputy editor Brian O'Keefe will be acting editor — Fortune editor in chief Clifton Leaf is leaving the publication, and Brian O'Keefe has been named acting editor. — “I have valued my partnership with Cliff enormously …
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