Top News:
Alyson Shontell / Business Insider:
Sources: Comcast is partnering with digital publishers like Vox, BuzzFeed, Mic, Vice, NBC Sports, and others to launch digital video platform called Watchable — Comcast is about to launch a major video platform called Watchable to rival Facebook and Google
RELATED:
Janko Roettgers / Variety:
Sources: Watchable to be available on the web for Comcast subscribers and and non-subscribers, in addition to set-top-boxes, Android and iOS — Comcast Gets Ready to Launch Online Video Service On Its Set-Tops And the Web — Comcast is inching closer towards the launch of its own online video service …
Cora Lewis / BuzzFeed:
BuzzFeed Founder Jonah Peretti: “I Don't Think A Union Is Right” For Staff — At a company meeting on Thursday, BuzzFeed's CEO told staff that unionization “isn't something I think would be great for the company.” — BuzzFeed's founder and CEO Jonah Peretti has told staff …
Discussion:
Politico, Gawker, Guardian, @perlberg, @mattbuchanan and Wall Street Journal
RELATED:
William Branigin / Washington Post:
U.N. human rights experts call for ‘immediate release’ of Post's Jason Rezaian — U.N. human rights experts expressed grave concern Friday about Iran's continued detention of Washington Post correspondent Jason Rezaian and called on authorities in Tehran to release him immediately.
Discussion:
@postbaron, @katz and Poynter
Miranda Ward / mUmBRELLA:
News Corp CEO lashes Google for piracy, zealotry and kleptocracy at Lowy Institute event — News Corp CEO Robert Thomson has accused Google of “piracy, zealotry and kleptocracy”, labelled LinkedIn a “pretender” and described the redistribution of content created by journalists as “unnatural”.
Jessamyn West / Medium:
A look at why comment sections fail as sites like The Verge and Daily Dot give up on them — Bad comments are a system failure — So why can't you fix them like any other bug? — Internet comments are awful. Recently sites [like Popular Science, Bloomberg Business, Reuters, Mic …
Discussion:
@coralproject and @jayrosen_nyu
Benjamin Mullin / Poynter:
Journalists covering Tianjin explosion meet with interference — Foreign journalists reporting on the aftermath of an enormous explosion in the Chinese city of Tianjin have been subjected to harassment at the hands of authorities and bystanders on multiple occasions, according to a recent bulletin from an overseas press association.
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal
James Bradshaw / Globe and Mail:
Woodbridge, private holding company of Thomson family, takes full ownership of Globe and Mail, buying BCE's remaining 15% stake — Woodbridge acquires full ownership of The Globe and Mail in deal with BCE — Woodbridge Co. Ltd. has taken full ownership of The Globe and Mail …
Discussion:
@craigsilverman and @curryb
Janko Roettgers / Variety:
Live Streaming Platform Firetalk Teams Up With The Young Turks — Firetalk, which aims to be a kind of Periscope for YouTubers and other creatives, has teamed up with the Young Turks to provide some interactivity for the live stream of the long-standing progressive political program.
Discussion:
Tubefilter and VideoInk
Mark Berman / Washington Post:
Justice Department releases report on its subpoenas, search warrants, and questioning of journalists in 2014 — The Justice Department says it approved subpoenas or search warrants for three journalists last year — The Justice Department said Friday that former Attorney General Eric H …
Discussion:
Guardian, Associated Press, The Hill and NBC News
Committee to Protect Journalists:
Saudi Arabia to require online media to have commercial registration and office space, while editors-in-chief need college degrees and Saudi citizenship — Saudi Arabia announces more restrictions on online media — The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns new restrictions …
Peter Kafka / Re/code:
Maker Studios' integration with Disney hits a few snags over missed performance targets; CEO Ynon Kreiz other other top execs may leave Disney at end of year — Disney and Maker Studios' Big Deal May Be Smaller Than They Thought — It looks like the honeymoon is over for Disney and Maker Studios.
Discussion:
@cityofthetown, @shaliniwsj, Tubefilter, @pkafka, @hunterwalk, @lucas_shaw and @pkafka