Mediagazer: Torrent site RARBG, founded in 2008, shuts down and stops all its content releases, citing COVID-related health problems, Russia's war in Ukraine, and inflation (Ernesto Van der Sar/TorrentFreak)

4:10 PM ET, May 31, 2023

Top News:

Deepa Parent / The Guardian:

Ahead of a trial of two female journalists who covered Mahsa Amini's death, Iran's reporters describe beatings and threats for covering protests in the country — Ahead of a trial of journalists who covered the death of Mahsa Jina Amini, reporters describe beatings and threats as government agents try to wipe out independent media

Discussion: @nazaninnour, The Times of Israel, @chrisvanhollen, @richardbranson, Reuters and The Hill

Reuters:
The trial of Elaheh Mohammadi, who Iran accused of “colluding with hostile powers” for reporting on Mahsa Amini, whose death sparked unrest, began on May 29

Discussion: @luighseach, Voice of America and Al Jazeera

Jeff Sanders / San Diego Union-Tribune:

Sinclair's Diamond Sports, in Chapter 11 bankruptcy, lets its broadcast rights to the San Diego Padres expire; temporary free streams on the MLB app are likely — Temporary free streams on the MLB app are likely, while both direct-to-consumer and traditional cable options are pursued

Discussion: Sports Business Journal, Next TV, CNBC, MLB.com, Awful Announcing, Radio & Television …, The Streamable, The Athletic, Front Office Sports, @kerrymflynn, TVNewsCheck, @sdutsanders, @sdutsanders, @jayposnersd, Bloomberg, The Big Lead and The Desk

Andrew Marchand / New York Post:

Sources: ex-NFL punter Pat McAfee's ESPN contract is for five years and worth ~$85M; ESPN gets 230 shows per year that the network can sell advertising against — Pat McAfee's deal with ESPN is for five years and around $85 million, The Post has learned. — With the contract …

Discussion: @wadeplem, Awful Announcing, @nickthepicker, @el_budget, The Big Lead, @_willcompton, @garrettsprints and Fox News

Wall Street Journal:

Studios notified authors whose books are being turned into movies and TV shows that they are putting book adaptation deals on hold until the WGA strike ends — Studios from Netflix to Amazon put book-adaptation deals on hold amid writers' strike — Joshua Ferris thought two of the books …

Discussion: Deadline, @bysarahkrouse and The Ringer

Danny Funt / Columbia Journalism Review:

A look at Defector trying to create a journalists' utopia that isn't ethically compromised and the accompanying trade-offs, like less revenue and fewer sources — Defector in pursuit of a journalists' utopia — Deadspin, the influential sports and culture blog that all but imploded a few years ago …

Digiday:

Source: Twitter has been selling ad inventory through the mobile advertising marketplace InMobi in one test market since May 13, and plans to gradually expand — Twitter's beleaguered ads business is on a bit of a roll these days. — With the appointment of a top media executive …

Discussion: @larakiara, @jason_kint, @mayazi, @dmarti, @myles_younger and @uofdigital

Lillian Rizzo / CNBC:

Parrot: global demand for films and TV shows in Asian languages reached a 25% share in Q1 2023, up from ~15% in Q1 2020, driven by Chinese and Japanese content — WATCH NOW — Netflix is investing $2.5 billion to make Korean shows, says VP of Korean content

Discussion: NBC News and WORLD SCREEN

Mia Sato / The Verge:

After a fake image of an “explosion” near the Pentagon went viral, Twitter adds Community Notes to images, set to appear on “recent and future matching images” — Twitter is expanding its crowdsourced fact-checking program to include images, shortly …

Discussion: MediaPost, The Drum, Mashable, @communitynotes, Gizmodo, 9to5Mac, TechCrunch, MIT Technology Review, @communitynotes and Engadget, more at Techmeme »

BBC:

The UK jails five men who sold a £10 per month subscription to illegally stream English Premier League games, generating over £7M from 50K subscribers — Five men who illegally streamed Premier League football matches to tens of thousands of people have been jailed.

Discussion: The Guardian, Premier League, TorrentFreak, @nick___collins, The Desk, Sky Sports, @josephmdurso, @swilliamsjourno, @plcomms, @chyycarter, @bbcnews, @psburton, Advanced Television, Broadband TV News and Awful Announcing

Financial Times:

OPEC bars Reuters, Bloomberg, and The Wall Street Journal from its meeting this weekend; sources: the decision was instigated by Saudi Arabia's energy minister — Reuters, Bloomberg and Dow Jones denied invites in decision driven by Saudi Arabia's energy minister

Discussion: @carlquintanilla, @energzdeconomy, @zerohedge, @rory_johnston and @energypeddler

Mary Yang / NPR:

A look at Sino Monthly, a Chinese-language magazine that costs $1.25 per issue and has become a staple for New Jersey's Chinese community — EDISON, N.J. - Bundles of free newspapers are stacked by the doors of Chinese supermarkets in New Jersey. Plastered with brightly colored ads …

Discussion: @niemanlab

Katie Paul / Reuters:

Meta says it would remove news content in California from its platforms if the state government passes a proposed law forcing tech companies to pay publishers — Facebook parent Meta Platforms (META.O) said on Wednesday it would remove news content in its home state of California …

Discussion: Nieman Lab, @andymstone, @emzanotti, @_greatdelusion, @gretchenapeck, @pdavis_llc, @gaufre, @mattdpearce, @humanstein, @athertonkd and @progresschamber

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More News:

Ernesto Van der Sar / TorrentFreak:
Torrent site RARBG, founded in 2008, shuts down and stops all its content releases, citing COVID-related health problems, Russia's war in Ukraine, and inflation

Discussion: @paleofuture, more at Techmeme »

Lucy Skoulding / The Independent:
In a letter to UK culture secretary, ITV CEO says she has ordered an external review into Phillip Schofield's statement and departure from This Morning

Discussion: The Guardian and Deadline

Ben Smith / @semaforben:
In an internal note, Wired EIC Gideon Lichfield says he will leave the magazine in mid-September, unless a new editor is ready to start sooner

Discussion: Talking Biz News

Matthew Keys / The Desk:
Google TV adds the Live tab to some devices in Germany, with streaming channels from Joyn and Zattoo, first time the feature has been offered outside the US

Discussion: Broadband TV News, Thanks:@matthewkeyslive

Mike Scarcella / Reuters:
Cox Media, Fox Corp, and CBS agree to pay a combined $48M to settle antitrust claims of price fixing for spot advertising on broadcast TV; Cox will pay $37M

Discussion: The Desk, The Hollywood Reporter and Radio & Television …

Earlier Picks:

For America / Report for America:
Report for America partners with Investigative Editing Corps to oversee up to 10 projects, each taking three to six months, over two years in its host newsrooms

Discussion: @report4america

Keith Zhai / Wall Street Journal:
Sources: India denied visa renewals to the last two Chinese journalists in the country; of 2022's four Indian journalists in China, at least two can't return

Discussion: Voice of America, @keithzhai, @akshayalladi, @rzhongnotes, @rnaudbertrand, @niubi, @huxijin_gt, @vikrantkumar, @imac_too, @zichenwanghere and @sreemoytalukdar

Emily Bell / @emilybell:
[Thread] An AI-generated ad from a blue-check Twitter user linking to The Guardian and falsely saying TV presenter Ian Wright died highlights Twitter's issues

Discussion: @babyboymonaghan, @justicar, @jbenton and @asifintoronto

Duvar English:
Turkey's Radio and Television Supreme Council launches investigations against seven opposition TV channels for their allegedly derogatory election coverage

Discussion: Committee to Protect … and Voice of America

Jane Bradley / New York Times:
Sources: Financial Times editor Roula Khalaf killed a story on allegations of ex-Guardian columnist Nick Cohen's unwanted advances, over not being an “FT story”

Discussion: Journalism.co.uk, Telegraph, @jane__bradley, American Press Institute, Poynter, @robertskvarla, @neilclark66, Media Voices, @ggreenwald, @jillgeisler, @benphillips76, @whstancil, @jane__bradley, @drproudman, @cgreensit, @kshaughnessy2, @heawood, @nickkristof, @tariqali_news, @martina, @rwpusa, @benwritesthings, @benwritesthings, @feliciasonmez, @feliciasonmez, @marklandler, @rachelconnoll14, @newsbrooke, @themendozawoman, @leloveluck, @cindygallop, @kitklarenberg, @feliciasonmez, @stokel, @steamedhamms, @tarajaneoreilly, @euanyours, @dismalchips, @thesinankose, @estwebber, @feliciasonmez, @tabitasurge, @benwritesthings, @mrpostsgood, @tabitasurge, @tabitasurge, @judeinlondon, @inthesedeserts, @allyfogg, @piercepenniless, @tubbsoreally, @lottelydia, @wariotifo, @rasmus_kleis, @scobie, @youngvulgarian, @shonaghosh, @jane__bradley, @jane__bradley, @jane__bradley, @jane__bradley, @mr_considerate, @profdaveandress, @flying_rodent, @tom_gann, @_kayayem, @bdsixsmith, @toryfibs, @benobesejecty, The Wrap and The Daily Beast

From Techmeme:

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple has renewed discussions with OpenAI about using its technology to power some features in iOS 18; talks with Google on using Gemini remain ongoing

Ryan Vlastelica / Bloomberg:
Alphabet closes above a $2T market cap for the first time, reaching a valuation of $2.15T after rising 10% on April 26, its biggest one-day jump since July 2015

Chance Miller / 9to5Mac:
A number of Apple users say they were logged out of their Apple ID across multiple devices on April 26 and forced to reset their password before logging back in

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