Top News:
NFL Communications:
NFL confirms streaming deal with Twitter for Thursday night games, allowing users to watch for free across mobile, tablet, web and connected TVs — National Football League and Twitter Announce Streaming Partnership for Thursday Night Football — Twitter to stream 10 Thursday Night Football games globally
Discussion:
TechCrunch, @jack, VentureBeat, TIME, Motherboard, The Verge, Consumerist, USA Today, The Week and The Next Web
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Bloomberg:
Twitter acquires rights to stream NFL's Thursday night games, part of an overall push into online programming and effort to attract mainstream users — Twitter Wins NFL Deal to Stream Thursday Night Games — Twitter Inc., making a strategic push into online programming …
Discussion:
The Wrap, Washington Post, FishbowlNY, Broadcasting & Cable, The Hill, TechHive, Multichannel News, Tubefilter, 9to5Mac, Digital Trends, @stevestgermain, Variety, ProFootballTalk, @albertbreer, @lorcanrk, @adamschefter, Engadget, @slmandel, @stevekovach, Tech Trader Daily, CBS Philly, DSLreports and The Big Lead
Peter Kafka / Re/code:
Sources: Twitter paid less than $10M for 10 NFL games, while rival bids were higher than $15M — Twitter Beats Amazon, Verizon for Global NFL Streaming Deal — Surprise finish to the fight for NFL streaming rights: They're going to Twitter. — The social media company beat …
Discussion:
New York Times, ESPN, Mashable, Adweek, FishbowlNY, SocialTimes, Business Insider, New York Magazine, Vanity Fair, @tristanwalker, @asaied, @acoyne, @caitlin__kelly, ProFootballTalk, Wall Street Journal, NESN.com, BGR, Fortune, @fivefifths, @pkafka, @mikewattsonair, @pkafka, The Verge, @pkafka, @jyarow and The Week
Medium:
Medium launches Medium for Publishers, a suite of branding and customization tools, aiming to entice publishers away from their CMS — Making Medium More Powerful for Publishers — At Medium, we're building out a new corner of the Internet specifically designed for people and publishers …
Discussion:
@jayrosen_nyu, The Wrap, FishbowlNY, Nieman Lab, @codybrown, The Next Web, @caramev, @jeffjarvis, @mathewi, @mathewi and The Story
RELATED:
Lucia Moses / Digiday:
Eight independent sites fully migrate to Medium, including Pacific Standard; four others in pipeline, including Monday Note — Medium lures The Awl and other publishers to go all-in on its platform — Medium is convincing a batch of small publishers to abandon their standalone sites …
Margaret Sullivan / New York Times:
NYT's deputy executive editor Matt Purdy says paper had no access to Panama Papers, hopes that will change, will cover the leak more soon — Perfectly Reasonable Question: Why No Big Splash for ‘Panama Papers’? — Updated, 4:05 p.m. to note a new Times story about calls for Iceland's prime minister to resign.
Discussion:
globaltimes.cn, Columbia Journalism Review, Forbes, Washington Post, VentureBeat, BuzzFeed, Fusion, Mashable, Talking New Media, Globe and Mail, Fortune, TorrentFreak, Press Gazette, @benazir_shah, New York Magazine, @robertnpalmer, @hugorifkind, Associated Press, @mercenaryjack, bookforum.com, Fortune, @chrissyfarr, NPR, USA Today, @jknipebrown, @7im, @joepompeo, Memex 1.1, The Daily Caller, @mathewi, @felixsalmon, PRI, World News Publishing Focus …, emptywheel and YourStory.com
RELATED:
Casey Newton / The Verge:
Facebook announces Automatic Alternative Text on iOS, that uses AI to automatically describe images to blind users — Facebook begins using artificial intelligence to describe photos to blind users — Ask a member of Facebook's growth team what feature played the biggest role in getting …
Discussion:
Facebook, Wired, Engadget, TIME, Research at Facebook, Business Insider, CNET, Silicon Republic, San Francisco Chronicle, @caseynewton, @manmetbril, 9to5Mac, VentureBeat, The Next Web, Motherboard, VatorNews and SlashGear
Emily Steel / New York Times:
Starz to introduce standalone streaming app on Tuesday for iOS and Android devices; service priced at $9/month — With a Stand-Alone App, Starz Looks Beyond the Cable Bundle — The hot and crowded market of subscription streaming services will get yet another entrant on Tuesday when Starz …
Discussion:
Variety, Multichannel News and @emilysteel
Yonden Lhatoo / South China Morning Post:
Following acquisition by Alibaba, South China Morning Post drops its paywall, says its subscription service had 2.5M users a month — Paywall down as Alibaba takes ownership of SCMP — Starting from this evening, SCMP.com is free to read. Download the brand new app for iPhone …
Discussion:
Tech in Asia and The Stack
Sarah Ellison / Vanity Fair:
Yahoo scales back its media focus as cutbacks follow tensions between media stars seeking home-page space and engineers who swear by algorithms — Marissa Mayer vs. “Kim Kardashian's Ass”: What Sunk Yahoo's Media Ambitions? — After a pricey talent spree, Yahoo News is reversing course—again.
Discussion:
@waxpancake, @jayrosen_nyu, @tomcoates, @jason_kint, @joepompeo, @abeaujon, @mattzeitlin, @sophiekleeman, @blakehounshell, @bellwak, @kevinmdraper and Business Insider
Michael Calderone / The Huffington Post:
Politico's president, co-founder Jim VandeHei likely to leave site in spring, months earlier than planned — Politico Speeds Up Management Transition As Co-Founder Jim VandeHei Nears Exit — NEW YORK — Politico president and co-founder Jim VandeHei is likely to soon leave the company he co-founded …
Discussion:
FishbowlNY
Cynthia Littleton / Variety:
Disney announces Thomas Staggs will step down as COO in May and leave the company at end of September, after spending a little more than a year in the post — Thomas Staggs Out at Disney — Thomas Staggs is out as Disney's chief operating officer after a little more than one year in the post.
Michael Calderone / The Huffington Post:
New York Observer Editor Ken Kurson read, gave input on speech by Donald Trump; NYO owned by Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner — New York Observer Editor Doesn't Regret Involvement With Donald Trump's AIPAC Speech — NEW YORK — New York Observer Editor Ken Kurson read and provided input …
Discussion:
The Daily Caller, @awzurcher, @kevinchen, FishbowlDC, The Week, Mediaite, @hadas_gold, @mlcalderone, @petersterne and @jackshafer
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Peter Sterne / Politico:
The New York Observer, owned by Trump's son-in-law, will now cover Trump like other candidates after avoiding coverage earlier, bans staff from campaign input
The New York Observer, owned by Trump's son-in-law, will now cover Trump like other candidates after avoiding coverage earlier, bans staff from campaign input
Discussion:
Vanity Fair, The Week, @sopandeb, Jezebel, New York Times, Guardian, @hadas_gold, Business Insider and Mother Jones