7:30 PM ET, April 13, 2021
April 13, 2021
6:15 PM
Paul Resnikoff /
Digital Music News
:
Spotify has now removed 42 episodes of The Joe Rogan Experience podcast, offering no explanations for the removals
5:30 PM
Helen Davidson /
The Guardian
:
Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai writes to his Apple Daily staff ahead of his sentencing for participating in a protest: “Freedom of speech is a dangerous job”
5:10 PM
Sara Fischer /
Axios
:
Air Mail, former Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter's media venture, expects to employ 40 people by year's end, up from 30 now, and has added an e-commerce shop
4:05 PM
Arianne Cohen /
Fast Company
:
Live Nation is outfitting 60+ venues for livestreaming, using Veeps, a service launched by Good Charlotte's Benji and Joel Madden, bought by Live Nation in Jan.
3:40 PM
Tim Peterson /
Digiday
:
Ad agency Dentsu says it has developed a tool to consolidate audience-based buys across TV networks via a single source of viewership data provided by VideoAmp
1:55 PM
Rick Edmonds /
Poynter
:
A look at the damage already done to Tribune's nine metro papers: since Alden acquired a 32% share, NewsGuild says staff fell 30.4% in one year
12:55 PM
Katie Robertson /
New York Times
:
Unlike national and international outlets, some local Minnesota news outlets were not let in to a police press conference after the shooting of Daunte Wright
12:35 PM
Natasha Singer /
New York Times
:
Disney, Viacom, and 10 ad tech companies agree to remove or disable software from children's apps that could target children with ads, resolving three lawsuits
12:00 PM
Sahil Patel /
Wall Street Journal
:
Contextual adtech company GumGum raises $75M, sources say at a ~$700M valuation, almost tripling from last funding round, as Google and Apple limit targeted ads
11:45 AM
Hong Kong Free Press HKFP
:
Epoch Times says its printing presses in Hong Kong were attacked by men wielding sledgehammers, the second such attack since 2019
11:10 AM
Joe Flint /
Wall Street Journal
:
Sources: CBS News President Susan Zirinsky is nearing a deal to step down from the role and sign a wide-ranging production partnership with ViacomCBS
10:35 AM
Katie Robertson /
New York Times
:
Over 650 tech workers at the NYT announce they have formed a union to be represented by the NewsGuild of New York and are seeking union recognition from the NYT
10:05 AM
Ashley Carman /
The Verge
:
Spotify announces Car Thing, a Spotify-only, voice-controlled device for the car, launching today for free for select US users
9:45 AM
Jeff Dunn /
Ars Technica
:
Roku announces new devices Express 4K Plus streaming device, rechargeable Voice Remote Pro, and Streambar Pro, and an OS update that includes Instant Resume
9:15 AM
Sara Fischer /
Axios
:
DraftKings hires Brian Angiolet as its first chief media officer: sources: he'll lead a team that will evaluate potential media acquisitions and content efforts
8:45 AM
Oversight Board
:
Facebook Oversight Board will now accept appeals to remove content from Facebook and Instagram; previously, users were only able to appeal to restore content
7:55 AM
Alice Speri /
The Intercept
:
Campus Reform, a conservative news site for higher education that uses students as reporters, has targeted professors, leading to harassment, doxxing, and more
4:50 AM
Ben Thompson /
Stratechery
:
Through her version of Fearless, Taylor Swift is showing artists how to use the power of the internet to ascribe value to work they own and devalue the rest
1:45 AM
Ben Schoon /
9to5Google
:
Google to shut down Play Movies and TV app for Roku, Samsung, LG, and Vizio on June 15, will push users to use YouTube instead
April 12, 2021
10:40 PM
Casey Newton /
Platformer
:
Casey Newton, 7 other writers covering tech, media, and culture to launch Sidechannel, a “virtual newsroom” on Discord open to subscribers of their publications
8:10 PM
Reuters
:
Reuters News names Alessandra Galloni as its next EIC, starting April 19; she will be the first woman to lead the news agency
5:30 PM
Daniel Tilles /
Notes From Poland
:
Polish court suspends state oil giant Orlen's purchase of hundreds of local media outlets, as it considers competition watchdog's authorization of the takeover
4:40 PM
Oliver Darcy /
CNN
:
In a letter, Lachlan Murdoch dismisses ADL complaint and claims a review of Tucker Carlson's comments found Carlson “decried and rejected replacement theory”
3:10 PM
Freddy Mayhew /
Press Gazette
:
BuzzFeed UK had revenues of £18.9M in 2020, down from £22.4M YoY, with operating losses down 60% to £2.9M, driven by the sale of Germany and Brazil units
2:10 PM
Jim Waterson /
The Guardian
:
Sources: a record ~110K viewers complained about BBC coverage of Prince Philip's death; 116 complained that BBC is making it too easy to complain about coverage
12:15 PM
Mike Fleming Jr /
Deadline
:
Will Smith says his film Emancipation will not shoot in Georgia due to the state's new voting law; Apple bought the film last June for a reported $130M
11:30 AM
Kayleigh Barber /
Digiday
:
Vice launches an affiliate vertical called Rec Room, after a post during its six month trial led to more than 600 sales with a conversion rate of 9%
10:05 AM
Youkyung Lee /
Bloomberg
:
Kakao Entertainment, the digital comic and movie unit of South Korean mobile giant Kakao, says it is considering a US IPO, seeking a valuation of $17.8B+
9:10 AM
Michael Grothaus /
Fast Company
:
Bustle Digital Group confirms it is reviving Gawker under former Gawker writer Leah Finnegan
8:55 AM
Bloomberg
:
Sources: Ofcom chair shortlist includes former UK culture secretary Ed Vaizey, former Daily Mail editor Paul Dacre, and others
8:00 AM
Mark Gurman /
Bloomberg
:
Sources: Apple is in early stages of developing a product that combines an Apple TV with a HomePod speaker and has a FaceTime camera and smart home functions
7:50 AM
Rebecca Ratcliffe /
The Guardian
:
Cambodia condemns Vice for publishing colorized victims of the Khmer Rouge genocide, with some apparently edited to add smiles to the victims' faces
7:05 AM
Yuan Yang /
Financial Times
:
Sources: Tencent Music, a joint venture with Spotify, gave up some licensing deals in recent months as it prepares for a Chinese antitrust investigation
4:05 AM
Pranav Dixit /
BuzzFeed News
:
Reporting on tech from India “feels like having a front-row seat to the country's rapid slide into authoritarianism”, as Big Tech companies remain silent
April 11, 2021
11:05 PM
Charlie Warzel /
Galaxy Brain
:
Charlie Warzel announces he is leaving NYT Opinion to launch a new Substack called Galaxy Brain, aiming to forge a deeper relationship with readers
7:30 PM
Ben Smith /
New York Times
:
Substack strikes deals with trans writers, amid claims it supports allegedly anti-trans writers and is a kind of lucrative off ramp for “cancel culture” victims
6:45 PM
Benjamin Mullin /
Wall Street Journal
:
Vox Media says it's buying Cafe Studios Inc., which publishes podcasts including one hosted by ex-US attorney Preet Bharara; Café Studios will remain as a brand
1:55 PM
Clayton Davis /
Variety
:
In 2020 Oscar nominations, only 4 of the 23 categories had any form of Latino representation; 2021 is likely to have more Latino nominations
7:50 AM
Priya Sippy /
Rest of World
:
Tanzania's late president limited broadcasters' political coverage and revoked newspapers' licenses; activists hope his successor restores their digital rights
1:45 AM
The Guardian
:
TV ratings plummeted in UK on Friday and BBC was flooded with complaints after broadcasters cleared schedules to air blanket coverage of Prince Philip's death
April 10, 2021
9:35 PM
Wall Street Journal
:
Erroneously unredacted court docs reveal Google ran a secret program called “Project Bernanke” that used past bid data to boost its win rate in ad auctions
2:10 PM
Edmund Lee /
New York Times
:
A look at WSJ's internal study, The Content Review, which recommended ways for WSJ to attract new readers, specifically, women, POC, and younger professionals
1:05 PM
Nicholas Kulish /
New York Times
:
Across the US, billionaires have decided that a newspaper is an essential part of the civic fabric and are buying local papers, often with mixed results
10:50 AM
Lukas I. Alpert /
Wall Street Journal
:
Sources: Bainum had a side arrangement with Alden CEO Heath Freeman to buy Baltimore Sun, but made his own Tribune bid after suspecting Alden changed terms
10:45 AM
Christopher Cadelago /
Politico
:
How a gamer calling themselves Kacey Montagu posed as a reporter for fictitious White House News and managed to fool journalists and the Biden administration
9:53 AM
Alan C. Miller /
Poynter
:
An interview with Emily Ramshaw, co-founder and CEO of The 19th, after the outlet's first year: it has ~10K subscribers and a 2021 budget 50% higher than 2020's
9:53 AM
Edmund Lee /
New York Times
:
Inside a power struggle at WSJ between editor Matt Murray and publisher Almar Latour over how the paper should remake itself to attract new digital readers
April 9, 2021
5:15 PM
Richard J. Tofel /
Second Rough Draft
:
The potential rescuers of individual Tribune newspapers should stop printing the papers and go all digital, right away, to cut major costs of standalone outlets
4:55 PM
Brian Stelter /
CNN
:
In a letter to Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott, the head of the Anti-Defamation League called on her to fire Tucker Carlson for invoking “white replacement theory”
4:35 PM
William Turvill /
Press Gazette
:
Print circulations of WSJ and USA Today fell 19% and 60% respectively from Q1 2020 to Q2/Q3 as hotels closed, accounting for the majority of the decline
4:00 PM
Brian Steinberg /
Variety
:
Nielsen says the pandemic shrunk the size of its TV consumer panel, but it defends its viewership data and says streaming's rise doesn't offset linear TV's fall
3:20 PM
Thomas Wilde /
GeekWire
:
Report: March was Twitch's biggest month to date, with 2B+ hours watched, helped by “sleep streaming,” where popular streamers film themselves while sleeping
2:35 PM
Timothy Garton Ash /
The Guardian
:
A look at anti-press policies in Poland, including a proposal targeting foreign media owners, ending public sector advertising in independent media, and more
12:40 PM
The Markup
:
YouTube blocks advertisers from using terms like “Black Lives Matter” to find videos to advertise against but was letting them use phrases like “White power”
10:50 AM
Kathimerini
:
Greek veteran crime reporter Giorgos Karaivaz was shot and killed near Athens in what appears to have been a planned ambush
10:30 AM
Peter White /
Deadline
:
A feature documentary about examining the evolution of American journalism from Dan Rather's perspective is in the works
10:00 AM
Sahil Patel /
Wall Street Journal
:
Community, which lets public figures, media outlets, and brands text with fans, raises $40M from Salesforce Ventures, bringing its total raised to $90M
9:10 AM
Jeff Horwitz /
Wall Street Journal
:
Study: Facebook algorithms disproportionately show certain types of job ads to men and women, reflecting the concentration of that gender in a position or field
8:40 AM
Reuters
:
Press freedom at English- and Portuguese-language outlets is being curtailed in Macau as its public broadcaster bars staff from sharing opinions contrary to CCP
8:10 AM
Dylan Byers /
NBC News
:
Sources: Kimberly Godwin, executive vice president of CBS News, is in final negotiations with Disney to become head of ABC News
7:05 AM
Johnny Diaz /
New York Times
:
A look at Telemundo's Club Mundo Kids, a new Spanish-language show for kids that comes amid a wider push to reach Latino audiences
April 8, 2021
10:15 PM
Variety
:
The CEO of Reliance Entertainment, owned by Reliance - Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, is launching a SPAC focused on the Indian media industry
7:45 PM
Jack Crosbie /
Discourse Blog
:
Insider may be a pandemic success story, but a transcript from an all-hands meeting and recent tweets show tone-deaf leadership by global EIC Nicholas Carlson
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