Top News:
Taylor Lorenz / Washington Post:
Biden administration is working with Gen Z For Change, a nonprofit advocacy group, to brief top TikTok stars about the war in Ukraine — On Thursday afternoon, 30 top TikTok stars gathered on a Zoom call to receive key information about the war unfolding in Ukraine.
Discussion:
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David Gilbert / VICE:
Investigation finds a campaign coordinated in a secret Telegram channel to pay Russian TikTok influencers to post videos pushing pro-Kremlin narratives — An investigation by VICE News uncovered a coordinated campaign to pay Russian TikTok influencers to post videos pushing pro-Kremlin narratives.
Tatiana Siegel / Rolling Stone:
Texts, emails, and interviews document the deep ties among Jeff Zucker, Allison Gollust, and Andrew Cuomo, and Zucker and Trump's earlier relationship — Texts, email exchanges, and 36 sources tell the true story behind the downfall of TV's ultimate operator
Discussion:
@khushbuoshea, @davidsirota, @mattgertz, @soledadobrien, @nicolefcarr, @wilkowmajority, @jbflint, @noahshachtman, A Stack of Information, @joeconchatv, @mattgertz, @joncampbellny, @shanegoldmacher, @sorayamcdonald, @rollingstone, @californiapanda, @dangillmor, @cherijacobus, @lesliemac, @noahshachtman, @rollingstone, Fox News, FTVLive and New York Post
Richard Lawler / The Verge:
Roskomnadzor says it is banning Instagram in Russia from March 14 because Meta now allows posts “calling for violence against Russian citizens” — First Facebook, now Instagram — One week after placing a ban on Facebook in Russia, the country's communications agency Roskomnadzor announced it will ban Instagram, too.
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Jillian Deutsch / Bloomberg:
Russia moves to designate Meta as an “extremist organization”; source says WhatsApp won't be affected as it is a means of communication
Russia moves to designate Meta as an “extremist organization”; source says WhatsApp won't be affected as it is a means of communication
Discussion:
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Brian Steinberg / Variety:
CNN+ is launching March 29 — People who are interested in CNN Plus finally have a date when they can add it to their streaming repertoire. The WarnerMedia-owned cable-news outlet intends to launch the subscription broadband service on March 29. — The detail — perhaps the last piece …
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Adam B. Vary / Variety:
CEO Bob Chapek says Disney will pause Florida political donations and apologizes to LGBTQ staff for not being a stronger ally in debate on “Don't Say Gay” bill — After weeks of internal strife and external controversy surrounding the Walt Disney Company's lack of public response to the …
Discussion:
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Josef Adalian / Vulture:
Netflix CFO says “never say never” to ads as HBO Max and Disney+ start experimenting with them: the model of low-cost, ad-free streaming was never going to last — Lots of factors played a role in Netflix becoming the world's biggest TV platform within the space of a decade …
Discussion:
@soniasaraiya, @jonrog1, @tvmojoe, @r0bwatson, Deadline and Hollywood Reporter
Rick Edmonds / Poynter:
Bloomberg Media had 370K digital subscribers at the end of 2021, up from 250K the year before, and 316K print subscribers; total revenue rose 48% YoY — Attribute its success to fighting the digital wars on many fronts at once and building a sound guiding strategy and patiently sticking to it.
Victoria Song / The Verge:
Mark Bernstein, a prominent Russian Wikipedia editor, is detained in Belarus for “distributing fake anti-Russian information” after being doxxed on Telegram — The editor was doxxed on Telegram prior to the arrest — The Main Directorate for Combating Organized Crime and Corruption of Belarus …
Discussion:
@david_hewson, @russellbrandom, @audioblahblah, @vicmsong and Engadget, more at Techmeme »
Wall Street Journal:
In yet more fragmentation of sports broadcasting rights, NBCUniversal's Peacock is finalizing a MLB deal for exclusive streaming rights to 18 early Sunday games — Exclusive arrangement would involve package of 18 games, some starting as early as 11:30 a.m. ET
Financial Times:
EU and the UK open an antitrust probe into Google and Meta's Jedi Blue deal on online ads; EU is also probing whether Google acted without Meta's knowledge — Europe's competition chief Margrethe Vestager tells FT that ‘Jedi Blue’ deal represents ‘giant problem’ in industry
Kipp Jones / Mediaite:
OANN owner Herring Networks sues DirecTV and its parent AT&T for breach of contract, alleging “liberal organizations” pressured AT&T to drop OANN from lineup — Far-right One America News is suing DirecTV and its parent company AT&T for breach of contract …
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