Mediagazer: Twitter has aggressively defended users' privacy and free speech rights, pushing back on unmasking subpoenas; it's unclear if this will continue under Musk (Mike Masnick/Techdirt)

8:25 PM ET, April 26, 2022

Top News:

Mike Masnick / Techdirt:

Twitter has aggressively defended users' privacy and free speech rights, pushing back on unmasking subpoenas; it's unclear if this will continue under Musk — For all the talk of how Elon Musk wanted to buy Twitter to make it more supportive of free speech, there remain a ton of questions about what it will actually mean in practice.

Javier Espinoza / Financial Times:
EU internal market commissioner Thierry Breton warns Elon Musk that Twitter must follow the new Digital Services Act rules or face fines or even a ban in Europe

Discussion: TechCrunch, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, The Guardian, CNET, @biannagolodryga, Common Dreams, Bloomberg, Engadget, Breitbart, @marietjeschaake, AppleInsider and Tech Policy Press, more at Techmeme »

Lauren Feiner / CNBC:
Twitter agrees to be acquired “by an entity wholly owned by Elon Musk” for $54.20 per share in cash; the ~$44B deal requires shareholder and regulatory approval

Discussion: @jeffbezos, @pekingmike, @elonmusk, @waltmossberg, @elonmusk, Fast Company, PR Newswire, TechCrunch, Billboard, ScreenRant, @dwuff, Bloomberg, Freddie deBoer, @btaylor, Wall Street Journal, @oneunderscore__, @brookesingman, @gabehudson, @tedcruz, @davidsacks, Reuters, @sarahfrier, Axios, @becketadams, @kantrowitz, Outside the Beltway, The FinanceTLDR Newsletter, The Atlantic, The Wayward Rabbler, @paraga, @rmac18, @jim_jordan, @ggreenwald, @sarahcpr, @tressiemcphd, @repbonnie, @michaelsteele, Memex 1.1, CNN, @joe_hill, @obrien, @zubymusic, @ggreenwald, @sarahjeong, @justinhendrix, @benmekler, @chrislhayes, @evelyndouek, @mattrosoff, @reuters, @danprimack, @taylorlorenz, @djrothkopf, @ericjackson, @tomgara, @benfenton, @anthony, @alexkoppelman, @emanuelmaiberg, @aprilaser, @jamesrbuk, @ayocaesar, @atrupar, @alkapdc, @wajahatali, @mims, @ericjackson, @mgsiegler, @davidafrench, @alexhanna, @mathewi, @dcurtis, @alexhern, @emilydreyfuss, @tcarmody, @danprimack, @sriramk, @sarahfrier, @joannastern, @jarak, @kantrowitz, @buzz, @mikedrucker, @tomgara, @loganbartlett, @dylanreeve, @repjayapal, @hblodget, @thekenyeung, @manan, @lizweil, @mat, @mathewi, @espiers, @kurtwagner8, @davewiner, @kfury, @daveleeft, @mikeisaac, @artemr, @caseynewton, @mgsiegler, @film_girl, @bplewis, @tomcoates, @russellholly, @byjacobward, @leratomannya, @rmac18, @robaeprice, @sarafischer, @davidaxelrod, @repjimbanks, Breitbart, Making It All Click, Los Angeles Times, @mollyjongfast, @taylorlorenz, Media Play News, Adweek, WWD, One Man & His Blog, CowboyRadio Feed, PlausibleFoolishness's …, MediaPost, BetaNews, The Hollywood Reporter, CoinDesk, AppleInsider, Financial Times, NBC10 Philadelphia, TechCrunch, The Nibble Gang Newsletter, Observer, The PhilaVerse, TMZ.com, The Verge and Fox News, more at Techmeme »

Harriet Ryan / Los Angeles Times:

The Los Angeles County sheriff announces a criminal leak probe targeting a Los Angeles Times journalist for her reporting on a cover-up of an inmate's treatment — Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva announced Tuesday his department is targeting a Times journalist in a criminal leak investigation …

Variety:

Sources: Warner Bros. Discovery cuts development of new scripted shows at TBS and TNT; it's unclear what will happen to existing scripted programming — TNT and TBS are moving out of the scripted game under new parent company Warner Bros. Discovery, which CEO David Zaslav has promised …

Discussion: The Streamable, Deadline, The Streamable, @film_girl, @blumenfeld, Too Much TV Newsletter, @automaticzen, TVLine, @loudmouthjulia, @ebischoff, @jonrog1, @murderxbryan, @kerrymflynn and @richlightshed

Alex Sherman / CNBC:
Discovery reports Q1 revenue rose 13% YoY to $3.16B, net income available to Warner Bros. Discovery hit $456M, and Discovery+ gained 2M subscribers to reach 24M

Discussion: The Wrap, The Streamable, @sarafischer, @sherman4949, The Wrap, @loudmouthjulia and Variety

The New York Times Company:

Dean Baquet will lead a new one-year local investigative journalism fellowship at the NYT, which will offer free co-publication to local news outlets — The New York Times announces a new fellowship for investigative journalism focused on the state and local level.

Discussion: @nytimespr, WWD, @pressgazette, @fenitn, @brianstelter, @cliffordlevy, @maggienyt, @cliffordlevy, @itsmelissabrown, @maghielse, @ceciliakang, @talmonsmith, @ericalg, @jodikantor, @froomkin and @christophclarey

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Alphabet reports YouTube Q1 ad revenue of $6.87B, up 14% YoY but below estimates of $7.48B, and blames Q1 2021's “exceptional” direct response ad performance — YouTube advertising sales for the first three months of 2022 grew 14%, to reach $6.87 billion …

Discussion: CNBC, MediaPost, PhoneArena, Deadline and Hollywood Reporter, more at Techmeme »

Robert Channick / Chicago Tribune:

Chicago Reader co-owner Len Goodman and three board members step down amid protests from employees, allowing the alt-weekly to transition to a nonprofit — ExpandAutoplay — 1 of 7 — Staff and supporters of the Chicago Reader rally April 21, 2022, outside the Lakeview home of Reader investor Leonard Goodman.

Discussion: Chicago Sun Times, @newsguild, @pmontoro, @greenfieldjohn, @schilukuri1, @jonessoruthless and @inthefade

Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:

UK culture secretary expresses concern over regional publisher Newsquest's takeover of Archant, asks for CMA and Ofcom reports to see if a full probe is needed — The Culture Secretary has said she may intervene over Newsquest's takeover of rival Archant. — Newsquest, which publishes …

Discussion: GOV.UK, @pressgazette and HoldtheFrontPage

Dade Hayes / Deadline:

Lionsgate and Roku strike a deal under which the studio's films will have exclusive runs on the free, ad-supported Roku Channel after they play on Starz — Lionsgate and Roku have struck a deal giving the studio's feature films an exclusive streaming run on the free, ad-supported Roku Channel after they play on Starz.

Discussion: Variety, Axios, The Streamable, Hollywood Reporter, Gizmodo, The Verge, Media Play News, Next TV and WORLD SCREEN

Peter White / Deadline:

Warner Music Group launches podcast network Interval Presents, which will produce talk shows and narrative-driven episodic shows — Warner Music Group is launching a podcast network and has set shows from stars including Lupita Nyong'o and Jason Derulo. — The record label …

Discussion: Music Business Worldwide and Hollywood Reporter

Michael Schneider / Variety:

IFC Films, which has held distribution pacts with Showtime and Hulu, and AMC Networks announce a deal in which IFC movies will stream exclusively on AMC+ — IFC Films is moving its first pay television window to AMC+, in a bid by AMC Networks to carve out a weekly exclusive movie premiere every week …

Discussion: The Wrap, The Streamable, Deadline and Hollywood Reporter

Robert Tait / The Guardian:

Survey of 4K respondents in eastern EU countries: 52% are concerned about media freedom and 59% support granting EU more powers to protect media liberties — Respondents in Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic and Slovakia want measures to protect press freedom

Aisha Malik / TechCrunch:

YouTube expands Super Thanks, the feature that lets viewers tip creators for individual videos, to eligible creators in 68 countries — YouTube is expanding its Super Thanks feature to all eligible creators in the YouTube Partner Program, the company announced on Tuesday.