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, Forbes, IR.net, TrustedReviews, BidnessEtc, The Verge, The Next WebThe Next Web, MacRumors, TechCrunch and VentureBeat
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:
@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, Media Wire Daily, @tmcgev, @danielmarans, @antderosa, @tmcgev, @joepompeo, @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
Joe Pompeo / Politico:
Sources: more layoffs hit Daily News, concentrated among group of web writers in Jersey City — Sources: More cuts at the Daily News — After a painful fall in which the Daily News was recovering from a downsizing that claimed the jobs of numerous longtime newsroom employees, has the tabloid has been hit with cuts yet again?
Discussion:
@joepompeo
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