Top News:
David Bauder / Associated Press:
A federal judge orders Voice of America employees reinstated by March 23, putting hundreds of people who have been on administrative leave back to work — A federal judge on Tuesday ordered the Trump administration to restore the government-run Voice of America's operations after it had effectively …
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
At SXSW, Jonah Peretti introduces BuzzFeed spinoff Branch Office, dedicated to exploring AI in consumer-facing apps, and debuts two apps, BF Island and Conjure — BuzzFeed, the U.S.-based media company known best for its quizzes, listicles, and, for a time, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalism division …
Discussion:
MediaPost, @techcrunch.com, @joshsternberg.com, CNET and NewsMax.com
Financial Times:
Canadian billionaire Stephen Smith agrees to buy the entire 26.9% stake in The Economist Group held by Lynn Forester de Rothschild, sources say for ~£300M — Financial services entrepreneur acquires 27% stake in auction that drew interest from wealthy individuals and media groups
Discussion:
Axios, Bloomberg, The Times, @ivanlevingston, The Guardian, Wall Street Journal, Telegraph, Forbes, Globe and Mail and Talking Biz News
JD Knapp / The Wrap:
CBS News 24/7's 60-person unionized staff begins a 24-hour walkout with support from WGAE, a week after delivering a strike pledge to management — “We eagerly await an acceptable contract offer from Paramount — which just shelled out tens of billions of dollars to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery," the union bargaining committee says
Discussion:
The Wrap, The A.V. Club, TV Insider, Deadline, Truthout, The Guardian, Adweek, @corbinbolies, TheDesk.net, Daily Mail, 48 hills and The NewsGuild
Elizabeth Hewitt / Columbia Journalism Review:
A look at the meteorologists leaving broadcast news to become independent streamers; 19 meteorologists have joined the Digital Weather Network, founded in 2022 — In an era of extreme weather, indie weathermen are streaming coverage 24-7—and banding together.
Richard Sandomir / New York Times:
Richard Mauer, who covered suicide and alcoholism among rural Alaskans, the Exxon Valdez spill, political corruption in Alaska, and more, died on Feb. 23 at 76 — He routinely took on the powerful and was part of a Pulitzer-winning team at The Anchorage Daily News that investigated alcoholism and suicide among Native Alaskans.
Sara Fischer / Axios:
Chartbeat: over two years, search traffic fell by 60% for small publishers with 1K-10K daily page views, 47% for medium-sized publishers, and 22% for large ones — Smaller web publishers, with 1,000-10,000 daily page views, are experiencing the most precipitous traffic declines in the AI era …
Discussion:
The Rebooting
Sara Fischer / Axios:
NBC News partners with Joanna Stern to add tech coverage from her venture, New Things, across NBC platforms, and names her chief tech analyst — NBC News is teaming up with veteran tech journalist Joanna Stern to bring exclusive reporting and analysis from her new independent venture …
Discussion:
Talking Biz News, Variety, Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter, @sarafischer, @beehiiv, @joannastern, @denk_tweets, @joshconstine and Victor Wynne
The Independent:
Amid his lawsuit against the BBC, Trump accuses the broadcaster of using AI to tamper with his January 6 speech and criticizes its coverage of the war on Iran — Donald Trump also criticised the BBC's coverage of the US war on Iran as ‘so inaccurate’ and ‘unbelievable’ — Your support helps us to tell the story
Discussion:
GB News, Mediaite, Deadline, Townhall, GB News, @atrupar, The Guardian, The Independent, Al Jazeera, The National Pulse, Financial Times, Politico, The Wrap, Variety, Reuters, The A.V. Club and Bloomberg
Lauren Forristal / TechCrunch:
Vurt, a mobile-first vertical streaming platform designed for indie filmmakers to upload their micro series or feature films, launches with 100 episodes — Short video platforms like TikTok have changed the streaming landscape, prompting traditional streaming services like Disney+, Peacock …
Discussion:
@TechCrunch@mstdn.social
Katie Robertson / New York Times:
A profile of Wired's top editor, Katie Drummond, who created a politics team that landed major scoops and says Wired added 200K+ new paid subs in the past year — Katie Drummond is sick of being told what Wired magazine should not cover. — Ms. Drummond, Wired's top editor …
Discussion:
John Battelle on LinkedIn, Katharine Bailey on LinkedIn, @annmlipton.bsky.social, Jason Joyce on LinkedIn, @noahshachtman.bsky.social, @karrieurbanist.bsky.social, @pgeddington.com, @couts.bsky.social, @katie_robertson, @gabrielsnyder.com, @kwharrison13, @scobleizer, @shaunmmaguire, @garrytan, @alexrkonrad, @terronk, @jason, @traestephens, @mualphaxi, @glichfield, @palmerluckey, @neil_chilson, @stevenlevy, @emilydreyfuss, @gilduran76, @antoniogm, @chr1sa, @traestephens, @keithgrossman and @chr1sa
Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
The UK government unveils the Local News Fund, which will distribute up to £12M to local outlets over two years to support innovation and help fill news deserts — The UK Government will pay up to £12m to local media outlets over the next two years to support innovation and help fill “news deserts”.
Nicole Sperling / New York Times:
How A24, which racked up seven Oscars in 2022, fell flat with Marty Supreme, which had nine nominations but won none despite Timothée Chalamet's viral campaign — A few years ago, the indie studio A24 was luxuriating in Academy Awards. On Sunday it was shut out entirely.
Discussion:
@timothys, @dannygroner.bsky.social, World of Reel, The Wrap and Forbes
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