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The Republican National Committee says it will require candidates to pledge to not participate in debates run by the Commission on Presidential Debates — The Republican National Committee says it will require candidates to pledge to not participate in debates run by the Commission on Presidential Debates.
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NBCUniversal plans to use audience data from iSpot.tv to track the Olympics and the Super Bowl next month, in addition to Nielsen, in a new multiyear agreement — NBCUniversal, the media company most critical of the audience measurement data it receives from Nielsen, is testing …
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Variety, Wall Street Journal, Adweek, Ad Age, Radio & Television …, Awful Announcing, Marketing Dive, Media Play News, @ourand_sbj, Deadline, Beet.TV and @bristei

New York Magazine's Olivia Nuzzi is writing and producing a satirical drama for AMC set in Washington, DC, teaming up with executive producer Gina Mingacci — EXCLUSIVE: Olivia Nuzzi, the Washington correspondent for New York magazine who wrote some of the wildest stories …
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@oliverdarcy, bookforum.com, @raesanni, @bartleby_kamoi, @eoinhiggins_, @kantrowitz, @karaswisher and @olivianuzzi

NSO Group spyware was found on devices owned by 35 journalists and activists in El Salvador; 23 devices belong to journalists linked to the El Faro news site — The newly disclosed campaign shows how little the company has done to curb abuses of its powerful surveillance tools.
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In a first, BET+ will be included on Xfinity TV in a deal between ViacomCBS and Comcast, which also extends carriage of Paramount+, Pluto TV, and Showtime OTT — ViacomCBS and Comcast have reached a distribution renewal that continues carriage of CBS and a roster of cable networks …
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Variety, @fidmart85, The Wrap, Light Reading and Hollywood Reporter

Sinclair renews its digital rights NBA deal, after signing a similar deal with the NHL in December, as it secures $600M in debt to develop its streaming service — Diamond Sports, the largest owner of regional sports networks, also renewed its digital-rights agreement with NBA, securing ability to stream games
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Sportico, Sports Business Journal, Sinclair Broadcast Group, nexttv.com, @lilliannnn and Sinclair Broadcast Group
Laura Hazard Owen / Nieman Lab:
Researchers use simulations to show that focusing on increasing trust in reliable information and news works better than focusing on debunking misinformation — Misinformation makes up a teeny-tiny share of what most people read, and we might want to worry a little less about debunking …
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@sacha_altay, HKS Misinformation Review, @rasmus_kleis, @michellemanafy and @journoresource

260+ health professionals ask Spotify to create a misinformation policy, after a discredited scientist spread COVID-19 misinformation on Joe Rogan's podcast — More than 260 doctors, nurses, scientists, health professionals and others have signed an open letter calling on the streaming media platform Spotify …
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136 of 253 Gannett newspapers will cease home delivery of Saturday print editions in the coming months, offering expanded access to its online edition instead — The nation's largest newspaper chain is discontinuing Saturday print editions starting March 5 at more than half of its newspapers nationwide …

Telemundo is launching content brand Tplus on Peacock's premium tier in the fall, with scripted, unscripted, and documentary content in English and Spanish — NBCUniversal's Telemundo Enterprises is launching content brand Tplus on Peacock this fall in sync with the company's exclusive …
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Axios, The Streamable, Forbes and Hollywood Reporter

Interview with Check My Ads Institute's Nandini Jammi and Claire Atkin on how the watchdog got started and why it targets ad exchanges to defund extremist sites — Lately, Nandini Jammi has been forwarding all of the hate mail she receives to an executive at a company most people have never heard of: Magnite.
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Columbia Journalism Review

Paul Tash, Tampa Bay Times' longest-serving CEO and chairman, is retiring and will be succeeded by company president Conan Gallaty — Conan Gallaty takes over as chief executive officer and will be the fourth chairman since Nelson Poynter when Tash departs this summer. — Published Just now
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@markpuente, @jaycridlin, @bobbuckhorn, @matt_cohen_, @amy_hollyfield, @carolynpfox and @billadairduke