Top News:
Wall Street Journal:
U.K.'s Daily Mail Explores Bid for Yahoo Backed by Private Equity — Potential bid could take one of two forms, sources say — The parent company of the Daily Mail, the British newspaper and global tabloid website, is in talks with several private-equity firms about a possible bid for Yahoo Inc. …
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, Deadline, Boing Boing, France 24, VentureBeat, Business Insider, @davidclinchnews, @rafat, @cnbcnow and The Drum
Tim Peterson / Marketing Land:
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...
Discussion:
Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal, Tech Times, Digiday, Nieman Lab, @amir, Facebook Media, TechCrunch, The Wrap, Fortune, Inc.com, Business Insider, Facebook, The New York Observer, The Verge, MinOnline, Ad Age, Editor & Publisher, Digiday, InqPOP!^, internetretailer.com, Yahoo! Finance, SocialTimes, FishbowlNY, @hugeinc, Fortune, VentureBeat, Re/code, Variety and TechCrunch
Elizabeth Dwoskin / Washington Post:
How tech companies are using poets, novelists, playwrights, and TV writers to engineer the personalities of AI virtual assistants — SAN FRANCISCO — Until recently, Robyn Ewing was a writer in Hollywood, developing TV scripts and pitching pilots to film studios.
Discussion:
@swiftonsecurity, @peterwsinger, @anjalimullany and The Billfold
Benjamin Mullin / Poynter:
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.
Discussion:
@stevesi, Business Insider, CNBC, BuzzFeed, @charlesforelle, @cnbc, @_cooper, @samarthbhaskar, @fox40_ian, @jbenton, @edmundlee, @zpower, @cathyyoung63, @heerjeet, @ditzkoff, @trengriffin, Tech Insider, Mic, CNN, Adweek, The Verge, SFGate Blog, The Daily Dot, Los Angeles Times, @emersongreg, @markgongloff and @editorialiste
Nieman Lab:
Reuters Institute report: TV news must experiment and innovate to confront challenges of digital disruption — Digital disruption is coming quickly to TV news; how can broadcasters adapt and respond? — Television was supposed to be different, more resilient to digital disruption than print.
Jeff Amy / Associated Press:
Appeals court overturns injunction against MPAA-backed Mississippi AG's Google investigation as premature, says Google can fight AG's actions in state court — Appeals court rules Mississippi can resume Google inquiry — JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi's attorney general can resume …
Discussion:
Variety, Bloomberg and Hollywood Reporter
Associated Press:
Syrian journalist Muhammed Zahir al Serkat shot and wounded by masked attacker in Turkey — Syrian journalist wounded in attack in Turkey — ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey's state-run news agency says a Syrian journalist has been seriously wounded in an attack in Turkey …
Discussion:
@dailysabah
Sheila S. Coronel / Columbia Journalism Review:
Against the odds, investigative journalism persists in the Middle East — In the past year, a group of Arab journalists has been working secretly in Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Algeria, and Yemen as part of a global network of investigative reporters mining the so called “Panama Papers.”
Peter Sterne / Politico:
Publishing startup Slant News, which paid writers 70% of ad revenue generated by their posts, is shutting down; funder Mobli pulled out — Publishing start-up Slant News shuts down — Online publishing start-up Slant News is shutting down, sources confirm to POLITICO Media.
Discussion:
@petersterne, Business Insider and USA Today
Susannah Nesmith / Columbia Journalism Review:
How the Miami Herald's Steve Rothaus became an LGBT pioneer in mainstream journalism — Steve Rothaus, center, with colleagues Noel Gonzalez and Pierre Taylor in the Miami Herald offices in 2013. Photo by Carl Juste, used with permission. — When Steve Rothaus began covering the gay community …
Discussion:
@cjr
Nick Kostov / Wall Street Journal:
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
Discussion:
Variety, Reuters, NASDAQ.com, New York Times, Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, Reuters, Reuters, Reuters and Bloomberg
Adam Goldman / Washington Post:
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 …
Discussion:
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