Mediagazer: Interviews with 60+ people, including current and ex-Reddit employees and moderators, document Reddit's history, attempts to imitate Clubhouse and Twitch, more (Wired)

Top News:

The TikTok bill likely will spur a battle over the First Amendment and national security if it becomes law; TikTok's CEO vows to use the company's legal rights — The forced-sale measure has reinvigorated a debate over speech, national security and government power.

Taylor Lorenz / Washington Post:

Small-business owners and activists who rely on TikTok say the US House measure forcing a sale or ban would damage their livelihoods and harm their communities — Small-business owners, community advocates and educators spoke out Wednesday after the House overwhelmingly approved a measure to ban the popular app

Discussion: Essence, Daniel Smith, MBA on LinkedIn, NewsNation, @taylorlorenz, @taylorlorenz, @dlberes, @taylorlorenz, Free Press, @attorneynora, @dlberes, @jeffjarvis@mastodon.social, MediaPost, The Atlantic, CNN and Axios, more at Techmeme »

The Information:
ByteDance investors, reassessing what the company's value would be without TikTok, estimate that TikTok lost several billion dollars in 2023 on revenue of ~$20B

Discussion: Breitbart, @kateclarktweets, Los Angeles Times, Mediaite, Contxto, @zitron.bsky.social and Washington Post, more at Techmeme »

Steven Monacelli / Nieman Lab:

Advantage Informatics, which has a contract with Gannett to provide “advertorial content”, has deep ties to “pink slime” sites from Brian Timpone's Metric Media — An executive from a company associated with Metric Media was hired to teach journalism, but the story doesn't end there.

Discussion: @stevanzetti, @stevanzetti, @emilybell, @stevanzetti, @stevanzetti, @jmhaigh, @stevanzetti, @stevanzetti, Ashir Badami on LinkedIn and @stevanzetti

Benjamin Mullin / New York Times:

Sports Illustrated's operators told staff the magazine would end its print edition after May; the message runs counter to owner Authentic Brands' earlier stance — Its operators made a newsroom announcement, but the outcome is uncertain since the owner has signaled it wants the magazine to endure.

Discussion: Awful Announcing, New York Post, Front Office Sports, Barrett Media and Awful Announcing

Chris Roush / Talking Biz News:

Memo: The Wall Street Journal names Elena Cherney as senior editor, leading the Standards and Ethics team and championing press freedom and free speech — Wall Street Journal editor in chief Emma Tucker sent out the following on Thursday: — Dear all, — I am delighted to announce …

Discussion: @katie_robertson

Nick Vivarelli / Variety:

An Iranian court clears Oscar-winning director Asghar Farhadi of accusations of plagiarism from a former student for his 2021 film A Hero — Two-time Oscar-winning director Asghar Farhadi has been fully cleared by an Iranian court of allegations of plagiarism pertaining to his film “A Hero” …

Discussion: The Hollywood Reporter, Agence France-Presse, Radio Free Europe/Radio …, The Hindu, The Wrap and IndieWire

Steve Knopper / Billboard:

Universal Music changed Pandora royalty payments from a 50% split via SoundExchange to often-smaller splits paid directly by UMG, hurting newer artists' revenue — The company is the only major label so far to change accounting for Pandora royalties since it introduced on-demand streaming.

Wired:

Interviews with 60+ people, including current and ex-Reddit employees and moderators, document Reddit's history, attempts to imitate Clubhouse and Twitch, more — An army of more than 60,000 unpaid moderators has unprecedented power over Reddit. The company's future hinges on whether they can coexist with Wall Street's expectations.

Discussion: @peard33, @katiedrumm and Columbia Journalism Review

Jon Allsop / Columbia Journalism Review:

Q&A with Ukraine's Media Development Foundation executives on increased news desertification in wartime, trouble hiring personnel and diversifying revenue, more — Two years ago last month, Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The consequences for the latter country's press …

Discussion: Andrey Boborykin on LinkedIn, @jon_allsop and @ifjglobal

Emma Roth / The Verge:

In an email to the European Commission, Spotify says Apple is holding up an iPhone app update that adds pricing information and links to subscriptions — In an email to the European Commission obtained by The Verge, Spotify writes that Apple has “neither acknowledged nor responded to Spotify's submission” …

Discussion: AppleInsider, @carnage4life@mas.to and 9to5Mac, more at Techmeme »

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Pornhub blocks access to users in Texas, after a federal appeals court upheld a Texas law last week requiring porn sites to institute age-verification measures — Pornhub and other affiliated adult websites have blocked access to users in Texas, amid a legal battle with the Lone Star State's attorney general …

Discussion: TechCrunch, New York Daily News, Pornhub, UPI, The Verge, TMZ.com, Gizmodo, Reclaim The Net, Los Angeles Blade, @lovelydedinside, The Hill, FOX 7 Austin and Fox News, more at Techmeme »

Hanaa' Tameez / Nieman Lab:

Ex-employees of Mexico's shuttered state news agency, Notimex, launch the Mexican Association of Information, which will operate as a worker cooperative — Mexico's president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, had said last year that there no need for a state news agency since he conducts daily press briefings.

Discussion: @hanaatameez and @niemanlab