Journalism

Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg and Facebook confirmed that they have agreed on amendments to proposed legislation to require the social network and Google to pay for Australian news that they feature. Facebook’s cooperation is a major victory in Australian efforts to make the two gateways to the Internet pay for the journalism that they use.

Brad Ramsey, president and general manager of Dallas ABC affiliate WFAA and SVP of Tegna, talks about what happened and when the news cycle switched from “what happened” to “why did this happen?”

“Our country’s public discourse is plagued by misinformation, disinformation, conspiracy theories, and lies” says a letter from Democrats on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which was sent to Comcast, AT&T, Amazon, Apple, Verizon, Charter, Hulu and Roku.

Microsoft is joining forces with two lobbying groups, the European Publishers Council and News Media Europe, along with two groups representing European newspaper and magazine publishers, which account for thousands of titles.

Joe Ferullo: “Donald Trump is gone, but the damage done to news media lingers on. Thanks to the former president, journalism has been “Jerry Springerized” — addicted to conflict and madness in the search for audience.”

New jobs posted to TVNewsCheck’s Media Job Center include openings for a digital sales manager and a chief meteorologist at Nexstar and Hearst stations.

When a deadly tornado touched down in Birmingham, Ala., during the late news, WBRC’s coverage led the market in household viewers. Station management says strong First Alert branding and an all-hands approach made the difference.

Patrick Soon-Shiong, the owner of The Los Angeles Times, is denying reports that said he was exploring selling the company. The denial on Friday came after The Wall Street Journal reported that the billionaire investor was exploring selling the company just three years after he bought the Times along with the San Diego Union- Tribune and other weeklies from Tribune Publishing in 2018 for $500 million. 

Last week’s winter storms were a reminder that audiences, enamored of streaming though they might be, still tune in to live TV coverage as essential viewing. Networks would do well to take that into account and move forward with integrated distribution strategies that include their legacy station partners.

When news director Matt Kummer got word that the Gray-owned ABC affiliate would need to add a half-hour newscast to replace Family Feud at 4:30, his first reaction was to round up the usual suspects, including sports director Chris Roth. Kummer says Roth “pitched me on an idea that would essentially use the knowledge of our people — our solid journalists, anchors, reporters — to take a more in-depth look at the day’s news.” Above, Roth with reporter Brittany Schmidt.

This Saturday-morning news show is supposed to look like the ones that precede it Monday through Friday. It doesn’t. “What I really want to do is continue down the path of identifying this show as a unique broadcast that is unlike anything else at CBS News,’ says Executive Producer Brian Applegate.

CNN is covering the story of York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s role in failing to disclose the true number of COVID-19 nursing home deaths , but not on Chris Cuomo’s show. The network said it had reinstated a prohibition on Cuomo interviewing or doing stories about his brother that it had temporarily lifted last spring.