Top News:
Jim Waterson / The Guardian:
The UK picks Michael Grade, a Conservative House of Lord member who had senior posts at the BBC, ITV, and Channel 4, as Ofcom chair; MPs will likely approve him — Choice of veteran broadcasting executive appears to bring chaotic recruitment saga to an end
Discussion:
Financial Times, @radioriley, @martinsfp, @briancathcart, @bbclaurak, @ruskin147, @webdevlaw, @jimwaterson, @arusbridger, @bbclaurak and @bbclaurak
The Guardian:
The UK's The Sun posted a £51M loss and £318.6M revenue in 2021; its publisher NGN spent £49M on legal fees tied to phone-hacking in the year to June 27, 2021 — Covid and advertising shifts hurt profits, as News Group Newspapers seeks to end ongoing managed hearings
Discussion:
@fbpe_h, @taintlessred, @jamesrbuk, @profdaveandress, @jimwaterson and @_embo
Simon Owens / Simon Owens's Media Newsletter:
A look at Complexly, an educational media company run by YouTube stars Hank and John Green that has 55.2M social media followers and 5B+ views on YouTube — Complexly has 55 million social media subscribers and over 5 billion views on YouTube alone. — Welcome! I'm Simon Owens and this is my media newsletter.
Discussion:
@janefriedman, @michellemanafy, @simonowens, @kendallbaker and @ashkan
Jeremy Barr / Washington Post:
BuzzFeed News offers voluntary buyouts to 36 of its ~100 journalists, and its interim EIC says the outlet won't be able to do as many long-term investigations — When BuzzFeed decided in 2012 to branch out from the cat videos, viral listicles and “OMG!” headlines that had put it on the map …
Discussion:
nyguild.org, @andrewbuncombe, @beebrookshire and Talking Biz News
Anton Troianovski / New York Times:
At least four Russian state TV employees have resigned over the invasion of Ukraine; 62% of Russians relied on state TV for news in 2021, down from 90% in 2014 — At least four state television employees have publicly resigned, citing regret for their roles in promoting false narratives about Ukraine.
Discussion:
The Conversation, @clarajeffery, @kenroth, @kenvogel and @cliffordlevy
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Google Play pilots a third-party billing option to select partners globally, starting with Spotify; Google says user choice billing still involves a service fee — Amid increasing global regulations over app stores and their commission structures, Google today announced the launch …
Discussion:
@eldsjal, Spotify, ScreenRant, The Verge, Newslit Daily, Protocol, MUSIC x, MediaNama, @itsdaveedwards, @jason_kint, @benedictevans, Billboard, @econ_marshall, @pkafka, @pkafka, @claireatki, @lucas_shaw, Transistori, @mgsiegler, @davidmarcus, @richlightshed, @caseynewton, @spotifynews, Daring Fireball, Android Police, Engadget and Variety, more at Techmeme »
Kellen Browning / New York Times:
Netflix says it is buying Boss Fight Entertainment, a mobile game developer with 130 employees; it is Netflix's third studio purchase since last summer — The acquisition is the company's third since it announced plans to move into video games last summer. — Give this article- - - Read in app
Discussion:
Variety, About Netflix, @aagave, @zenofdesign and @kellen_browning
Stuart Dredge / Music Ally:
Spotify reports 2021 royalty payments: $7B+ paid to music rightsholders, up from $5B in 2020, as 1,040 artists made $1M+/year and 16.5K artists made $50K+/year — Spotify launched its Loud & Clear website in March 2021, with the aim of “increasing transparency” around its payouts to the music industry.
Discussion:
Variety, @hellmania, The Verge, @eldsjal, @jherskowitz, Billboard, Music Business Worldwide, Forbes, RAIN News and @jherskowitz, more at Techmeme »
Brody Ford / Bloomberg:
After a glitch in TikTok's creator fund registration process prevented sign-ups for weeks, the company says a fix “should be available in the next few days” — Many rising TikTok stars who recently qualified to be paid for their popular videos have been shut out of the registration system …
Discussion:
@sarahfrier, @brodyford_ and @laurenstrapa
The Insider:
Oksana Baulina, a journalist for Latvia-based The Insider who once worked for Russia's Anti-Corruption Foundation, was killed after a rocket strike in Kyiv — 23 март а 2022 — Oksana Baulina, a journalist for The Insider, died under fire in Kyiv.
Discussion:
@alexey__kovalev, BBC, @zaborona_media, Washington Post, The Guardian, @isocockerell, Coda Story, CNN, @alexey__kovalev, @shaunwalker7, @emilybell, NPR, Insider, Fox News, Newser, International Press Institute, CBS News, @navalny, @mishimayoshino, The Hill, Al Jazeera, The Wrap, @leahmcelrath, @charlestannock, @juliaioffe, @baks_president, USA Today, @mbildziukiewicz, @nat_vasilyeva, @robyndixon__, @peterpomeranzev, @deborahamos, @gilliantett, @eliothiggins, @christogrozev, @ksergatskova, @christogrozev, @cliffordlevy, @insidereng, The Sun, Committee to Protect … and Інт …
Oliver Bullough / Coda Story:
How the risk of being sued by rich and litigious oligarchs muzzles the press in the UK and beyond, as politicians rethink the threat to free speech — To get Oliver Bullough's weekly Oligarchy delivered straight into your inbox sign up here — WHAT IS THE IMPACT OF SLAPPS?
Discussion:
@antelava, @antelava, @codastory and The Week
Tarpley Hitt / Gawker:
How unclear guidelines at The Cut for staffers who want to produce sponsored content for outside clients has led to tensions and one firing — A few weeks ago, a subset of journalists were duking it out over the word “brand,” and specifically whether writers should have one.
Discussion:
@chavielieber, @noahyoo, @flipping_pages, @blackamazon, @jamesrbuk, @tarpleyhitt and @karenkho
Paresh Dave / Reuters:
Google says it will bar ads from appearing next to websites, apps, and YouTube channels that exploit, dismiss, or condone Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine — Alphabet-owned (GOOGL.O) Google will not help websites, apps and YouTube channels sell ads alongside content that it deems exploits …
Discussion:
CNET and TechCrunch
RELATED: