Denver is NewsBreak’s “test market” for original local news on a national app
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Tuesday, March 1, 2022
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Denver is NewsBreak’s “test market” for original local news on a national appFor the past few months, the Mountain View, Calif.–based NewsBreak has been paying full-time and part-time journalists in Denver, along with a dedicated editor, to publish local news on its platform. By Corey Hutchins. |
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Russia’s fighting a media war, too, with platforms, regulators, and business partnersFrom ad monetization to cable carriage, there’s a battle going on over the ways Russia gets its messaging out. By Joshua Benton. |
What We’re Reading
CNN / Oliver Darcy
DirecTV expels RT from its lineup, dealing a major blow to the Russia-backed outlet in the U.S. →
“DISH is the other major television company that carries RT in the US. A DISH spokesperson declined to say on Monday whether the carrier would take any action against the channel, but voiced support for the people of Ukraine and said DISH is ‘closely monitoring the situation.'”
Twitter / Ben Collins
“The most widely viewed page on Facebook last quarter was removed for violating the company’s Community Standards,” and Facebook won’t say what the page was… →
Read through this thread, though, and you’ll see that Twitter users figured out that it was likely a meme site called That Ain’t Right. It reached 121.8 million people.
Twitter / Sam Sanders
Sam Sanders, host of “It’s Been a Minute,” is leaving NPR →
The show will continue with a new host; NPR’s post is here.
CNN / Frank Pallotta
Netflix says it won’t air state TV channels in Russia, which it was required to do by law this week →
“The law, which would have applied to Netflix as of March 1, requires media platforms that reach more than 100,000 subscribers in Russia to distribute free-to-air Russian news and entertainment TV channels … The company did not say how it would avoid the regulation if it is enforced and said it is monitoring the situation closely.”
American Press Institute
API receives funding to help newspapers focus on digital and reduce reliance on print →
“API will select no more than six news enterprises for the inaugural cohort of this program. The organizations will focus on the most critical factors around reducing their reliance on shrinking print revenue and creating new products and workflows to put digital at the forefront.”
The Guardian / Mark Rice-Oxley
A GoFundMe to save Ukraine’s independent media has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars →
“Around 12 national titles, including the Kyiv Independent and in-depth reportage news website Zaborona, are part of the group that will benefit from funds raised. A first round of disbursals from the emergency fund is due to be made as early as next week,” said Jakub Parusinski, chief financial officer at the Kyiv Independent and the campaign's organizer. As of Tuesday morning, the GoFundMe had raised around $378,000.
Washington Post / Drew Harwell and Rachel Lerman
How Ukrainians have used social media to humiliate the Russians and rally the world →
“You can't disentangle the information side of the war from the physical battlefield side or from the geopolitical diplomacy side … They all matter."
Financial Times
Financial Times hits 1 million paid digital subscribers →
More than half the subscribers are outside the UK.
Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Eduardo Suárez
Tips from The Guardian on live-blogging and covering breaking news on Ukraine →
“A big part of it is making sensible and pragmatic calls about how much you really need and how much you can meaningfully show to people.”
GMG Union
The Gizmodo Media Group Union is on strike →
“We’re asking people not to click on — or contribute content to — @Gizmodo, @Jalopnik, @Jezebel, @Kotaku, @Lifehacker, and @TheRoot,” the GMG Union tweeted.
Axios / Sara Fischer
Justin Smith and Ben Smith are hunting for many millions of dollars for their new media venture →
They are reportedly trying to raise $30 million to launch by fall, “tell investors they’ll burn through $50 million in cash before breaking even,” and “contend they’ll need to raise $80-100 million in coming years to spread across different regions around the world.”
Nieman Reports / Issac J. Bailey
Call out bigotry in reporting on the Ukraine invasion →
“The racialization of this invasion — from Putin's lies about launching it in part to fight Nazis to straight-news journalists, government officials, and pundits showing more empathy on air because those suffering are European — is not a side issue to be dealt with later. It is an important factor that must be grappled with now, alongside other important factors.”
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