Top News:
Los Angeles Times:
After criticism, Los Angeles County's sheriff says his department is not pursuing a criminal leak probe into LA Times journalist Alene Tchekmedyian — Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said Tuesday that his department was targeting a Times journalist in a criminal leak investigation …
Discussion:
@stoltzefrankly, Los Angeles Times, American Press Institute, Mediaite, @rcfp, New York Times, CNN, Media Guild of the West, @latimes, @shelbygrad, @chiweethegod, @latimes, @josie_huang, @maggienyt, @joelrubin, @jassyspeaks1st, @kathleencarrll, The Wrap, @lacosheriff, @fpwellman, @reckless, @politicussarah, @marshallproj, @digiphile, @theserfstv, @mgerrydoyle, @reckless, @popehat, @amyfiscus, @steveschmidtses, @kimmasters, @janecoaston, @josephpatrice, @maggienyt, @ggreeneva, @jortsthecat, @jiejennyzou, @salhernandez, @acbowen, @steffdaz, @elaheizadi, @kevrector, Poynter, @steveschmidtses, @jonmurray, NPR, @oliverdarcy, Deadline, @rickhasen and @brooklynmarie
Dell Cameron / Gizmodo:
Twitter confirms it quietly “limit[ed] the visibility” of promotional tweets via its ad platform about HBO documentary Q: Into the Storm in 2021 — Twitter told the director of “Q: Into the Storm” it had “made the decision not to allow promotion of this documentary” when he tried to advertise the film.
Discussion:
@dellcam, @rothschildmd, @anthony, Newslit Daily, @blakersdozen, @justinhendrix and @jeremymbarr, more at Techmeme »
Mark Bergen / Bloomberg:
YouTube starts testing ads on Shorts, including app-install ads and other promotions; Google says that Shorts now has 30B daily views — YouTube is testing advertisements on Shorts, its short-form video feature that competes with TikTok and Instagram, Google's chief business officer told investors on Tuesday.
Discussion:
MediaPost and Engadget, more at Techmeme »
RELATED:
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
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
Discussion:
MediaPost, CNBC, @stevekovach, Digiday, Music Ally, TechCrunch, PhoneArena, Hollywood Reporter and Deadline
Marie Woolf / Canadian Press:
Rachel Curran, a Meta Canada policy manager, tells a parliamentary panel the company has “serious concerns” about an online news bill modeled on Australia's law — OTTAWA - Digital giant Meta says it has “serious concerns” about the federal government's online news bill …
Discussion:
National Post, @bgrueskin, @halsinger, @edmontonjournal, @dangillmor and @karaswisher
Ashley Carman / Bloomberg:
Spotify reports Q1 revenue rose 24% YoY to €2.66B, including €282M from ads, up 31% YoY; paid subscribers rose 15% YoY to 182M, despite losing 1.5M in Russia — Spotify Technology SA sank as a flat margin outlook failed to energize investors who have stuck with the stock through …
Discussion:
TechCrunch, Music Business Worldwide, Axios, @eldsjal, Reuters, Business Wire, Billboard, Variety, Fast Company, Gizmodo, @pkafka, @sarahintampa, @lucas_shaw, Engadget, @kerrymflynn, The Verge, @spotifynews, @jonporty, The Hollywood Reporter, @anthonyc3004, @ashleyrcarman and @anthonyc3004, more at Techmeme »
Megan Graham / Wall Street Journal:
Real-time TV ad measurement service iSpot.tv raises $325M from Goldman Sachs and says it had $75M in revenue in 2021, up from $51M in 2020 — The firm helps marketers track whether their ads spurred a visit to their website or a purchase. The new funding is the latest in a flurry of deals around TV ad metrics
Discussion:
Insider, iSpot.tv, MediaPost, Beet.TV, Bloomberg, @zachservideo, @nickcicero, Ad Age, Next TV, Deadline, GeekWire, @megancgraham, @loupas, @ispottv and The Hollywood Reporter, more at Techmeme »
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.
Discussion:
@elonmusk, The Guardian, CBS News, New Republic, @elonmusk, Jon Rappoport, @carterforva, Forbes, @noahpinion, @shaunking, @svdate, Bloomberg, Poynter, @reckless, @reckless, @tomangell, @mmasnick, @thedextriarchy, @aaschapiro, @jayblackisfunny, @juddlegum, @reckless, @parkermolloy, @johnknefel, @dylanljmartin, @mmasnick, Media Matters for America and @lldiedrich, more at Techmeme »
RELATED:
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
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, @elonmusk, @pekingmike, @waltmossberg, Fox News, TechCrunch, Media Matters for America, @elonmusk, PBS NewsHour, The Guardian, Counting Atoms, @dwuff, @becketadams, @btaylor, @oneunderscore__, @brookesingman, @gabehudson, @tedcruz, @davidsacks, @sarahfrier, @kantrowitz, The FinanceTLDR Newsletter, The Wayward Rabbler, @jim_jordan, The Atlantic, @paraga, @ggreenwald, @sarahcpr, @tressiemcphd, @rmac18, Outside the Beltway, @repbonnie, @michaelsteele, @joe_hill, @obrien, @zubymusic, @ggreenwald, @justinhendrix, @benmekler, @sarahjeong, @evelyndouek, @chrislhayes, @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, Memex 1.1, @mollyjongfast, @taylorlorenz and Making It All Click, more at Techmeme »
Jennifer Rankin / The Guardian:
The European Commission proposes measures to protect journalists and campaigners working to expose corruption and wrongdoing from “manifestly unfounded” SLAPPs — Anti-Slapp directive would also enable EU states to refuse to recognise judgments passed in UK
Discussion:
Reporters Without Borders
RELATED:
Amanda Darrach / Columbia Journalism Review:
Q&A with Dean Baquet and Joe Kahn as Kahn succeeds Baquet as The New York Times' executive editor, on growing subscriptions, objectivity and democracy, and more — · Dean Baquet & Joe Kahn: What's next for the New York Times? — Last week, after years of public speculation on the matter …
Sara Fischer / Axios:
The New York Times has doubled its Opinion staff to over 150 people since 2017, adding audio and graphics staff and beefing up copy-editing and fact-checking — The New York Times has doubled its Opinion staff to over 150 people since 2017, adding new departments for audio and graphics …
Discussion:
Simon Owens's Media Newsletter, @seyitaylor, @baekdal, @mathewi, @rubinafillion, @simonowens, @dmitryshishkin and @debrajsaunders
Cecilia D'Anastasio / Bloomberg:
Sources: Twitch is considering cutting the revenue share for top creators in its partner program to 50%, from 70%, among other changes to boost its revenue — Twitch, the Amazon.com Inc.-owned live-streaming website, is weighing potential changes to how it pays top talent …
Discussion:
PC Gamer, @nottheclick, Engadget, @zachbussey, @cecianasta and @somospostpc, more at Techmeme »
Georg Szalai / The Hollywood Reporter:
Comcast and Charter launch a joint venture to develop a nationwide streaming platform that will use Comcast's Flex streaming tech and feature Xumo content — Comcast will license Flex, its aggregated streaming platform and hardware, and contribute streamer Xumo to the joint venture …
Discussion:
Variety, TechCrunch, CNET, Deadline, Next TV, Engadget, Light Reading, Cord Cutters News, The Verge, @alexweprin and Media Play News
Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
Google Cloud launches Media CDN, which lets media customers deliver content using the same infrastructure that powers YouTube, including tools for ad insertion — This week at the 2022 NAB Show Streaming Summit, Google launched in general availability Media CDN, a platform for delivering content using …
Discussion:
@quinnypig and Yahoo Finance, more at Techmeme »
Manish Singh / TechCrunch:
Viacom 18, which runs several TV channels and streaming services in India, raises $1.78B led by Bodhi Tree, a partnership between James Murdoch and Uday Shankar — The Indian conglomerate Reliance and Viacom18 have formed a strategic partnership with Bodhi Tree Systems …
Discussion:
Business Today