Mediagazer: Sources: TikTok's US revenue hit a record $16B in 2023 while ByteDance saw revenue grow ~40% YoY to $120B in 2023 and recorded a $28B net profit (Financial Times)

5:20 PM ET, March 16, 2024

Top News:

Sources: TikTok's US revenue hit a record $16B in 2023 while ByteDance saw revenue grow ~40% YoY to $120B in 2023 and recorded a $28B net profit — Parent company ByteDance on track to become world's biggest social media group with $120bn in global sales — TikTok has hit $16bn in sales in the US …

Discussion: @timothy_hughes, Fortune, New York Post, CNBC and New York Times, more at Techmeme »

Amanda Silberling / TechCrunch:

Gumroad, an e-commerce company for creators, updates its rules to more strictly limit NSFW content, citing policies of payment processors like Stripe and PayPal — Gumroad, an e-commerce company for creators, updated its rules to more strictly limit NSFW content, citing restrictions from payment processors like Stripe and PayPal.

Discussion: @justforfanssite, Gumroad Help Center, @squeakdrakeart, @vividvivka, @daiz42, @raealtheproto, @chososlittlesis, @Mamalucy_vrc, @nsnowmew, @kenshirotism and @bitinn@mastodon.gamedev.place, more at Techmeme »

Houston Landing:

Houston Landing CEO Peter Bhatia names Austin-American Statesman Executive Editor Manny García as new editor in chief and Angel Rodríguez as managing editor — - Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) … Manny García is the new editor in chief of Houston Landing …

Discussion: @samuelgaytan, @ladyviii, @kherman, @cristymsilva, @fidmart85, @tplohetski, @sewellchan, @hou_landing and @ajrod

Lucas Manfredi / The Wrap:

Amid its proxy fight, Disney reveals the return on investment for its franchises: 9.9x for Frozen, 5.5x for Toy Story, 3.3x for Marvel, and 2.3x for Star Wars — The tentpoles have generated $11.6 billion and $13.2 billion in value, respectively, since their $4 billion acquisitions in 2009 and 2012

Discussion: @dwaynephillips, @johnspurlock, The Walt Disney Company, UPROXX and The Hollywood Reporter

Alexandra Topping / The Guardian:

Local news website The Guildford Dragon News has become the UK's first charitable public interest news provider and can now benefit from a range of tax breaks — Guildford Dragon will be able to benefit from tax breaks after becoming UK's first charitable public interest news provider

Discussion: Tom Murdoch on LinkedIn, @keithpp and Jonathan Heawood on LinkedIn

Washington Post:

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, educators, and activists who rely on TikTok say the US House measure forcing a sale or ban threatens their livelihoods and the economy

Discussion: @taylorlorenz, @taylorlorenz, @dlberes, @dlberes, @taylorlorenz, @attorneynora, Reuters, Essence, Daniel Smith, MBA on LinkedIn, Free Press, Adweek, NewsNation, @jeffjarvis@mastodon.social and MediaPost

David Folkenflik / NPR:

The family of slain Ukrainian journalist Oleksandra Kuvshynova files a wrongful death suit against Fox News, saying Fox didn't adequately protect the team — On the second anniversary of a young journalist's killing in Ukraine, her family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Fox News …

Discussion: Adweek, The Wrap, The Daily Beast, Deadline, Columbia Journalism Review, CNN and Fox News

Mariella Moon / Engadget:

Twitch plans to remove Prime Video Watch Party from April 2, 2024; Watch Party launched in 2020, allowing streamers to broadcast Prime Video content to viewers — Apparently people aren't too nostalgic for the days of hiding inside. — If you're one of the — apparently few …

Discussion: @mrjmetz, Twitch Support, PCMag, Dot Esports and Tubefilter, more at Techmeme »

Committee to Protect Journalists:

CPJ calls on Pakistan authorities to release journalist Asad Ali Toor, return his devices, and cease harassing him for his work; he was arrested February 26 — Pakistan authorities must immediately and unconditionally release independent journalist Asad Ali Toor, return his devices …

Discussion: @pressmediax, @iadnanaamir, @khushal_khattak, @iadnanaamir and Voice of America

Ernie Smith / Tedium:

Deadspin's new owner, Lineup Publishing, shares an IP address with a Finnish casino spam blog and is hosted in Malta, which is known as an online gambling haven — I am so obsessed with trying to figure out who Deadspin's new owners are that it led me to some late night spam-blog sleuthing.

Discussion: @danackerman, @shortformernie, @andyorin, @matttomic, @matttomic, Awful Announcing, @michaelgreshko.bsky.social, @ernie.tedium.co, @ernie.tedium.co and @ernie.tedium.co

Russell Contreras / Axios:

Latino leaders including former HUD Secretary Julián Castro write to LA Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong to object to recent layoffs that hit Latinos hard — - The paper's new Latino vertical, De Los, was significantly affected. … - “(We are) deeply troubled by the recent decision …

Discussion: @christianarana, Anthony Perez on LinkedIn, Valentina Pereda on LinkedIn and New York Times

Alexandra Alter / New York Times:

American Library Association report says book challenges reached a record high on 4,240 in 2023, up from 2,571 in 2022 — Book challenges around the country reached the highest levels ever recorded by a library organization. — After several years of rising book bans …

Discussion: Publishers Weekly, News and Press Center, The Hill, The Hollywood Reporter, News and Press Center, UPI and Axios

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