Top News:
Shan Wang / Nieman Lab:
Limited resources and paywalls limit some publishers experiments with AMP while others go all in — Diving all in or dipping a toe? How publishers are approaching Google's Accelerated Mobile Pages initiative — “Mobile web performance is bad — I challenge you find someone who disagrees with that …
RELATED:
Dan Gillmor / Backchannel:
AMP is necessary because the news industry filled its sites with garbage code from ad companies, slowing load time — Google Is Going to Speed Up the Web. Is This Good? — To improve reading the news on mobile—and better compete with Facebook Instant Articles—Google today is launching AMP
Discussion:
Bloomberg Business, MediaShift, VentureBeat, Accelerated Mobile … and New York Times
Mark Bergen / Re/code:
Google AMP Is Less About Beating Facebook at News, More About Gobbling Up the Mobile Web
Google AMP Is Less About Beating Facebook at News, More About Gobbling Up the Mobile Web
Discussion:
Adweek, SiliconBeat, @edmundlee, @jbenton, Silicon Valley Business …, Digital Journal, Guardian and CNET
Sophie Jamieson / Telegraph:
Radio DJ Tony Blackburn fired shortly before new sex abuse report is released on Savile era, vows legal action against BBC — Tony Blackburn sacked by BBC ahead of sex abuse report — DJ Tony Blackburn says he plans to take legal action against the BBC for ‘destroying my career and reputation’
Discussion:
@tonyblackburn, Guardian, The Drum, @dailymirror, Independent.ie and mirror
RELATED:
BBC:
Savile sex abuse report released, criticizes macho culture, atmosphere of fear, and accuses BBC of serious failings, but absolves senior management — Jimmy Savile report: BBC staff ‘knew of complaints’ — BBC staff knew of complaints against DJ Jimmy Savile, but senior management …
Discussion:
Guardian, Sky News, @julian5news, @exaronews, @mediaguardian, @skynewsbreak, @sallyhayd and Featured Articles
Janko Roettgers / Variety:
Sources: Google to add Chromecast-like features to TV sets, starting with Vizio, could become available as early as spring — Google to Add Casting to TV Sets, Starting With Vizio (Exclusive) — Move could signal shift in company's living-room strategy — Google is getting ready …
Discussion:
Android Authority, The Next Web, Pocket-lint, The Verge, Business Insider, 9to5Google, Gizmodo and TIME
Peter Sterne / Politico:
Genius hires former Gawker features editor Leah Finnegan to head News Genius in renewed push into general news — Genius hires former Gawker editor to spearhead news division — Genius has hired former Gawker editor Leah Finnegan as managing news editor, the annotation start-up announced today.
Discussion:
@leahfinnegan, @mlcalderone, @max_read and @mathewi
Lukas I. Alpert / Wall Street Journal:
Inside New Media Investment Group, the private equity-run chain driving consolidation with its purchases of small newspapers — New Media Emerges as Big Player for Small Newspapers — Private equity-run chain snaps up assets as a sharp drop in prices drives wave of consolidation
Discussion:
AdExchanger
Seth Weintraub / 9to5Google:
Google blocks 9to5Google from using its ad network, which publisher says brought in six figures/month, claiming trademark violation, wants site name changed — Google wants us to change our name from 9to5Google — Some big site news everyone! At around noon today, our ads stopped working.
Discussion:
@dannysullivan, @tomaxwell, @zackwhittaker, @jaspar and The Verge
Joe Pompeo / Politico:
New entrants like Fusion, Vox, and Gawker join the crowd of sites covering 2016 national elections — New media players seek to make their mark on the 2016 campaign — Sam Biddle wants to catch Ted Cruz with his pants down. — “My dream story would be me next to Ted Cruz at a urinal …
Discussion:
@morninggloria, @freddiedeboer, @joepompeo and @jayrosen_nyu
Lucia Moses / Digiday:
Yahoo stops signing up new publishers to its ad network Yahoo Recommends as company faces uncertain future — Yahoo is pulling back on its Outbrain/Taboola competitor — The content recommendation wars have claimed another casualty: Yahoo Recommends, Yahoo's two-year-old widget …
Discussion:
WebProNews, dmwmedia.com, AdNews and @lmoses
New York Times:
Administration officials met Wednesday at Justice Department with marketing, tech, and entertainment executives, seeking help in fight with extremists online — Tech and Media Firms Called to Terrorism Meeting by White House — Obama administration officials will meet with executives …
Discussion:
The Wrap, Variety, The Wrap, @awallenstein and The Hill
R.L. Bynum / Raleigh & Company:
New NC statewide newspaper, North State Journal, launching with 22 full-time staffers on February 28 as a Sunday-only publication, increasing frequency in May — North State Journal launches as Sunday-only publication for first two months — The North State Journal, the new statewide print newspaper …
Discussion:
@joeovies, @rl_bynum, @brackendavid and @joshpberg