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Facebook updates policy to let publishers post and tag paid-for content on verified pages — Facebook drops branded content restrictions for publishers — Facebook is letting publishers and other verified pages distribute branded-content for free, but it's unclear whether its labeling system is...
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Syria releases American freelance photographer Kevin Patrick Dawes — The Syrian regime has freed an American freelance photographer who was abducted after traveling to the country in 2012, according to two U.S. officials. — Kevin Patrick Dawes, 33, from San Diego, was released following …
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How BuzzFeed got 800K concurrent Facebook Live viewers by exploding a watermelon using rubber bands — With 690 rubber bands and a watermelon, BuzzFeed creates Facebook Live's first driveway moment — It started innocuously enough. — Two BuzzFeed staffers sat around a small, circular table, wearing smocks and safety glasses.
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Arizona lawmakers impose last-minute background check rules for reporters on the House floor following media investigation into lawmakers' spending — Arizona rule restricts reporters who reject background check — PHOENIX (AP) — The Arizona House of Representatives has imposed …
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Adam Davidson:
On the future of serious audio news, and what NPR leadership must do to avoid diminishing — On News, Mission, and Digital transformation in public radio — One of the strongest critiques of digital audio is that it is not newsy. It's fun, it's sometimes deep, often silly …
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@jbenton, Editor & Publisher and @jbenton
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Q&A with CNN war correspondent Clarissa Ward on Syria, female war reporters, and freelancers — CNN War Correspondent Clarissa Ward Talks Reporting in the Middle East as a Woman — Clarissa Ward is in New York from her base in London to talk to her U.S. colleagues about her recent six …
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@jamiestelter, @saraewilliams and TVNewser

Vivendi acquires pay-TV business of Italy's Mediaset in bid to create European rival to Netflix — Vivendi Acquires Pay TV Business of Italy's Mediaset — Move is part of French media firm's bid to create a European rival to U.S. streaming-video giant Netflix
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Variety, Reuters, New York Times, Financial Times, NASDAQ.com, Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, Reuters, Reuters, Reuters and Bloomberg

WordPress.com enables HTTPS with Let's Encrypt for new hosted sites with custom domains, will soon expand support to 1M+ sites currently using custom domains — HTTPS Everywhere: Encryption for All WordPress.com Sites — Today we are excited to announce free HTTPS for all custom domains hosted on WordPress.com.
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@anncavoukian, @sethladd, @cra, Digital Trends, Softpedia News, @letsencrypt, @jasonlk, TechCrunch, The Next Web and The Next Web

How The Marshall Project built a searchable encyclopedia for criminal justice journalism — Since it launched, The Marshall Project has collected a record of curated and original work. Thanks in part to everyone on staff, none of that work is going to waste.
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Source, @ultracasual and @benmullin
Newspaper Association of America:
Publishers of 1,200+ newspapers send cease and desist letter to makers of Brave browser, claiming its plan to block and replace ads is illegal — Digital publishers put Brave software on notice that substituting publishers' ads is illegal — Arlington, Va. - Today, 17 member companies …
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RadarOnline and National Enquirer refuse to turn over material sought in search warrant in Charlie Sheen case — Publications refuse to hand over audio in Charlie Sheen case — Celebrity website RadarOnline.com and the National Enquirer on Thursday refused to hand over material sought …

Inside Disney's boardroom politics during the run-up to the abrupt departure of Thomas Staggs, CEO Robert Iger's presumed successor — Behind the Scenes at Disney as It Purged a Favorite Son — Thomas O. Staggs, then the chief financial officer of the Walt Disney Company …
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