Mediagazer: After months of keeping some distance, Fox News hosts back Donald Trump, denouncing his indictment as “politically motivated persecution” and a cause for unrest (New York Times)

5:30 PM ET, March 31, 2023

Top News:

Sara Fischer / Axios:

Email: The White House will not pay for Twitter Blue for its staff; the White House and top officials' accounts like POTUS will likely maintain gray checkmarks — The White House will not pay to have its staff's official Twitter profiles continue to be verified, according to guidance issued to staffers via an email obtained by Axios.

BuzzFeed News:

The NYT, LAT, and WaPo won't buy Twitter Blue; NYT, LAT, BuzzFeed, and Politico won't reimburse reporters for Blue, but Semafor and other small outlets plan to — BuzzFeed isn't ponying up, but for other outlets, paying might make sense. — Pranav Dixit

Discussion: @oliverdarcy, @sarafischer, Forbes, Techdirt, CNN, @maxwelltani, @oliverdarcy, @jessespector, @rmac18, @roslyntalusan, @bdherzinger, @thekidskoob, @ryangrim, @claire_goforth, @thomaschattwill, @timfullerton, @skooks, @paleofuture, @boydhilton, @davidclinchnews, @williamshatner, @stevelackmeyer, @ndrew_lawrence, @stevanzetti, @dancow, Vox, @moorehn, @andrewmarchand, The Comeback, @brooklynmarie, @jbenton, @mattnavarra, @roslyntalusan, @katebevan, @studentactivism, @bobmoorenews, @johniadarola, @mikeisaac, @spj_tweets, @tinu, @helenkennedy, The Information, @kt_so_it_goes, @cfidd, @pkafka, @charles_gaba, @dellcam, @alex_panetta, @scottnover, @benjysarlin, @hansmahncke, @wfkars, @chrismessina, @kimmasters, @bruce_arthur, @scottnover, @scalzi, @ewong, @jacobrubashkin, @oliverdarcy, @nicosgonzalez, @andybcampbell, @joshtpm, @themaxburns, @moorehn, @adrianweckler, @wtfis2bdone, @pkafka, @ryanhanrahan, @lxeagle17, Boing Boing, The Wrap, @hammancheez@c.im, Awful Announcing, Social Media Today and New York Times, more at Techmeme »

Alyssa Lukpat / Wall Street Journal:

Top editors of 38 news organizations around the world sign a letter condemning the detention of WSJ's Evan Gershkovich and calling for his immediate release — The editors condemned Mr. Gershkovich's detention in a letter to the Russian ambassador to the U.S.

Bloomberg:

Russia's Federal Security Service detains Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich on suspicion of “espionage in the interests of the American government” — Russia's Federal Security Service said it detained Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich in Yekaterinburg …

Discussion: CBS News, Wall Street Journal, Human Rights Watch, New York Times, New York Post, Wall Street Journal, The Desk, @polinaivanovva, Talking Biz News, Associated Press, @sulliview, @repmcgovern, @congressmanraja, @nytimes, @francescaebel, @dylanbyers, @govmurphy, @billbrowder, @pressfreedom, @dylanbyers, @presssec, @christopherjm, @dwnews, @pressfreedom, @maxseddon, @pressfreedom, @michaeldweiss, @sarahrainsford, @annanemtsova, @shustry, @asluhn, European Federation …, @maxseddon, @lindakinstler, @jazzedloon, @georebekah, @jimsciutto, @jfberke, @kevinrothrock, @r__politik, @neilphauer, @kevinrothrock, @neilphauer, @felix_light, @leonidragozin, @neilphauer, @lolgop, @brendancarrfcc, @freedomofpress, @timobrien, @tpcarney, @rohded, @newsguild, @mgongadze, @clancyreports, @natashabertrand, @jeffsonnenfeld, @followtheh, @billpascrell, @akurmanaev, @mattmcbradley, Axios, @oliverdarcy, @domenpresern, @kaitlancollins, @billbrowder, @domenpresern, @moorehn, The Daily Beast, SABEW, CNBC, MediaPost, The Guardian, Reuters, The Hill, New York Magazine, New York Daily News, Committee to Protect …, Vanity Fair, Financial Times, Washington Post, The Guardian and Reuters

Tom Hals / Reuters:

The judge in the $1.6B Fox-Dominion case denies Fox's summary judgment motions and partially grants Dominion's motions ahead of the trial scheduled for April 17 — A jury will decide whether Fox Corp (FOXA.O) defamed Dominion Voting Systems with false vote-rigging claims aired by Fox News …

Discussion: @goangelo, CNN, The Guardian, Media Matters for America, CNBC, Washington Post, The Hill, @themaxburns, @reuterslegal and @chancery_daily

Safi Bugel / The Guardian:

Gal-Dem, an outlet for women and non-binary POC, is closing after eight years, citing the difficulty of relying on partnerships and its membership model — After eight years of operation, staff statement blames financial challenge of running independent media outlet

New York Times:

After months of keeping some distance, Fox News hosts back Donald Trump, denouncing his indictment as “politically motivated persecution” and a cause for unrest — Despite recent criticism, the network's star personalities joined other leading conservatives in denouncing …

Perry Michael Simon / AllAccess.com:

Senators Klobuchar and Kennedy reintroduce the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act to let outlets jointly negotiate distribution terms with Big Tech — What do you think? Add your comment below. — Sens. AMY KLOBUCHAR (D-MN) and JOHN KENNEDY (R-LA) have reintroduced …

Discussion: Inside Radio, MediaPost, Public Knowledge and News/Media Alliance

Alyssa Boyle / AdExchanger:

A 2023 bipartisan Senate bill almost identical to a 2022 bill would force companies with $20B+ in annual digital ad revenue to sell part of their business — Say hello to the US government's latest attempt to force antitrust regulations on the digital advertising industry. — It might sound familiar.

Discussion: AdExchanger, @senmikelee, @swodinsky, Reuters, Marketing Brew, Mike Lee US Senator for Utah, @jason_kint, @digiphile, @berinszoka, @jason_kint, Digiday, @jason_kint, @dcnorg and NetChoice

Jeremy Fuster / The Wrap:

UCLA's Hollywood Diversity Report finds that among 2022's top 100 original streaming films, 64% had casts with at least 30% POC vs. 57% for theatrical films — The share of women and people of color in key positions on theatrical releases slide back to 2019 levels in latest annual report

Discussion: @jamesthetang, @indiewire, @dranachristina, @beingjanine, @thewrap, New York Daily News and Associated Press

Luke Winkie / Slate:

Interviews with writers who publish daily Wordle hints, published by Digital Trends, Mashable, NME, and others since they reliably generate substantial traffic — Sam Hill, an editor at the technology website Digital Trends, has penned 647 articles about Wordle.

Discussion: @jbenton, @luke_winkie, @iethics and Mashable

Twitter:

Twitter launches its Verified Organizations program, which lets companies get a verified checkmark for $1,000/month and their affiliate accounts for $50/month — Verified Organizations is a new way for organizations and their affiliates to distinguish themselves on Twitter.

Discussion: Variety, @elonmusk, @blackamazon, @ethicalsid, Mashable, Search Engine Land and Techdirt, more at Techmeme »

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