Top News:
Benjamin Mullin / Poynter:
Andy Lack named chairman of NBC News and MSNBC — Andy Lack, the former NBC executive who was rumored to be considering a return to the network, has been named chairman of NBC News and MSNBC, NBCUniversal CEO Steve Burke announced in a memo to staff Friday.
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Nicholas Carlson / Business Insider:
NBC insiders expect others to lose their jobs in the fallout after Brian Williams incident — INSIDE THE NBC DEBACLE: There's a much bigger story here than the Brian Williams scandal — In the end, it took only about a month for the old-timers at NBC News to get what they wanted: heads on a platter.
Discussion:
@moorehn, @moorehn, @jayrosen_nyu, @cssrmolly, @jaysylva, @lucas_shaw and @asheschow
New York Times:
Study finds at least 46K Twitter accounts linked to ISIS; from September to December Twitter suspended 1K accounts — ISIS Is Adept on Twitter, Study Finds — The Islamic State, the violent extremist group that espouses a return to a seventh-century caliphate, has been astonishingly successful …
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Hiba Zayadin / Mediashift:
Fighting Words: Inside the Social Media War Against ISIS — It has been four months since the formation of a U.S.-led global coalition to fight ISIS in Iraq and Syria. Hundreds of airstrikes purporting to hit ISIS targets have been carried out since then.
Keith J. Kelly / New York Post:
New editor Impoco has Newsweek back in the black — Newsweek hopes to expand editorial staff to 100 by next year. — One year after the embattled Newsweek returned to print as a small run weekly, Editor-in-Chief Jim Impoco has apparently done something that eluded previous high-flying editors Tina Brown …
Discussion:
@jimpoco, @learmonth and @jackshafer
Brian Steinberg / Variety:
CNN Tests New Ways To Mix Ads With News — Do ads belong in the ubiquitous news ticker that scrolls along during so many TV-news broadcasts? CNN is willing to find out. — The Time Warner-owned cable-news outlet is open to the idea of running an advertiser's logo in its bottom-of-the-screen zipper …
Discussion:
NewscastStudio, @bristei and FTVLive
Peter Kafka / Re/code:
Apple negotiates with music labels for streaming licenses that would forego free tier, allow high-profile artists to distribute with Apple first — Apple, Music Labels Push Against Free Music on Spotify, YouTube — Right now it's easy to stream any song you want, whenever you want, legally, without paying a penny.
Discussion:
@pkafka
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Robert Channick / Chicago Tribune:
Tribune Media Q4: revenue up 85% to $553M on increased TV advertising and retransmission fees — Tribune Media sees strong growth in fourth quarter — Tribune Media saw net income grow to $315 million in the fourth quarter, or $3.14 per share, according to financial statements released Friday.
Discussion:
The Wrap, Hollywood Reporter, Wall Street Journal and Variety
Brian Stelter / CNNMoney:
Former CEO and COO of Glenn Beck's TheBlaze are working on their own digital media startup — Glenn Beck's top execs quit to form digital media startup — Glenn Beck's top two lieutenants have left Beck's Internet and television channel, TheBlaze, and are starting a new venture together.
Discussion:
The Daily Caller, FTVLive, @brianstelter, TheBlaze.com and Business Insider
Roy Greenslade / Guardian:
Daily Mail in New York disputes journalist's ripping-off-the-web claims — Publisher ‘utterly refutes’ allegations by writer about his work requirements — The Daily Mail's New York digital operation has hit back at the journalist who wrote about spending a year ripping off the web with the Daily Mail online.
Discussion:
Online Journalism Blog, Poynter and @tomcheshiresky
C. Custer / Tech in Asia:
China orders WeChat, Weibo, and news sites to crack down on coverage of pollution documentary “Under the Dome”, but some discussion continues — WeChat, Weibo ordered to crack down on viral pollution film ‘Under the Dome,’ but discussion continues — Over the past week, China has been going gaga over pollution.
Discussion:
Guardian, Guardian, Tech in Asia, NPR, @tomphillipsin, Tech in Asia, Foreign Policy, China Digital Times, Guardian, China Digital Times and Quartz
Lockhart Steele / Lucky Peach:
How Eater drew in an audience through obsessive reporting and experimentation — Flooding the Zone — Lockhart Steele is the founder of Eater.com (with Ben Leventhal), Curbed.com, and Racked.com—and, after selling the group of sites to Vox Media in 2013, is now Vox's editorial director.
Discussion:
@mattbuchanan and @angelapham