Top News:
Alex Kantrowitz / BuzzFeed:
Twitter removes conservative writer Milo Yiannopoulos's verification badge without stating a reason, inflaming politicized battle over online speech — Twitter Unverifies Writer Amid Speech Wars — Twitter's removal of journalist and provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos's verification badge …
Discussion:
@nero, @galenward, @christinetatum, @raju, Mediaite, @nero, Twitchy, TheBlaze, @kantrowitz, UK Blog on The Huffington Post and @nero
Joseph Lichterman / Nieman Lab:
Interview with Vox Media co-founder Tyler Bleszinski on watching the company grow, how the internet has changed, and stepping away from day-to-day role — Built on passion: How Vox Media grew from its roots as an Oakland A's blog into one of the Internet's biggest publishers
Discussion:
Vox Media Marketing
Jessica Toonkel / Reuters:
Exclusive: NFL to live-stream all London games, in talks with Apple, Google - sources — The National Football League is planning to live-stream all three games scheduled to be played in London next season, and Apple Inc and Alphabet Inc subsidiary Google are among the technology companies …
Discussion:
Digital Trends, GeekWire, Awful Announcing, USA Today, TrustedReviews, BidnessEtc, IR.net, Forbes, The Verge, The Next WebThe Next Web, MacRumors, VentureBeat and TechCrunch
Kelsey Sutton / Politico:
Upworthy lays off 14 of its 97 employees as it focuses on growing original video content — Upworthy changes course; lays off 14 to focus resources on video — Viral news site Upworthy laid off 14 of its 97 employees today with the intention of reallocating resources toward …
Discussion:
Politico, @profjeffjarvis, Adweek, @zzzzaaaacccchhh, @moorehn, @alexhern, @abeaujon, @abeaujon, @bydanielvictor, @chickfactorzine, @caseynewton and @gabestein
Politico:
Sources: layoffs at HuffPost Live amid pivot to refocus on shareable video and long-form documentaries — A big pivot for HuffPost Video — The Huffington Post is consolidating its video operations across the site in a strategic pivot that will effectively see the end of HuffPost Live …
Discussion:
TVNewser, Fortune, @joepompeo, @daveweigel, Ad Age, @danielmarans, Media Wire Daily, @antderosa, @tmcgev, @joepompeo, @tmcgev, @jeremymbarr, Wall Street Journal and The Wrap
Mike Shields / Wall Street Journal:
Marketers offer incentives for watching ads to help combat ad fraud and viewability challenges — More Marketers Offer Incentives for Watching Ads — Delivering ads to people seeking rewards may help combat ad fraud and viewability challenges — Marketers are increasingly employing …
Discussion:
Marketing Dive
Mark Sweney / Guardian:
BBC launches review of news arm, saying it can't ‘afford to do everything’ — James Harding tells staff they face a ‘defining’ year in deciding how news should be delivered over next decade — The head of BBC News has launched a review to reshape the operation for the next decade …
Discussion:
BBC Blogs, TVNewser and @aboutthebbc
Jack Marshall / Wall Street Journal:
Bank analysts: digital media mergers and acquisitions continued to grow in 2015 in marketing and content sectors — Digital Media M&A Growth Continued in 2015 — Growth was driven by the agency and marketing and digital content sectors — Mergers and acquisitions in the digital media industry continued …
Peter Sterne / Politico:
Why Maxim is suing two former employees for defamation and breach of contract following a photo shoot at owner Sardar Biglari's Monte Carlo suite — The Monte Carlo Story: Maxim sues former employees for defamation — Earlier this week, Maxim filed a lawsuit against former employees Jason Feifer …
Bloomberg Business:
Sources: Yahoo reassesses whether to spinoff its main Internet business, considers outright sale — Yahoo to Reconsider Sale of Web Business Instead of Spinoff — A decision to sell would contradict Yahoo's intent to spin — Verizon has publicly stated interest in acquiring Yahoo
Discussion:
@ericjackson, Business Insider, Fortune, Seeking Alpha, @sherman4949 and Silicon Valley Business …
Peter Kafka / Re/code:
Time Warner shouldn't spin off HBO because it lacks Netflix's growth and almost all of its business is tied to traditional pay TV providers — HBO Isn't Netflix. Which Is Why It Should Stay With Time Warner. — Three years ago, Netflix said it wanted to become HBO.
Discussion:
Digital Trends, @mathewi, @b_fung, @pkafka, Investor's Business Daily, Financial Review and StreetInsider.com
Lucia Moses / Digiday:
Time Inc.'s video hub The Daily Cut slow to take off — Time Inc. took an unorthodox stance a year ago when it launched The Daily Cut, a hub to house all the video it produces across its many magazine titles. “We want to build our own brand equity,” svp of video J.R. McCabe said in announcing the planned hub.
Discussion:
Media Wire Daily