Mediagazer: Facebook VP of search Tom Stocky: we found no evidence contractors manipulated Trending Topics to suppress stories of interest to conservatives (Tom Stocky/Facebook)

5:35 PM ET, May 10, 2016

Top News:

Tom Stocky / Facebook:

Facebook VP of search Tom Stocky: we found no evidence contractors manipulated Trending Topics to suppress stories of interest to conservatives — My team is responsible for Trending Topics, and I want to address today's reports alleging that Facebook contractors manipulated Trending Topics …

Discussion: CNNMoney, Broadcasting & Cable, @trippenbach, Business Insider, @learmonth, Hit & Run, Vanity Fair, The Verge, Mashable, TIME, BBC, The Week, FishbowlNY, Recode, @raju, BetaNews, Guardian, The Hill, Fast Company, The Huffington Post, Mediaite and The Daily Caller

Michael Nunez / Gizmodo:

GOP Sen. Thune sends letter to Zuckerberg asking for more details about curation of Facebook's Trending Topics; Facebook says it looks forward to cooperating — The US Senate Commerce Committee—which has jurisdiction over media issues, consumer protection issues, and internet communication …

Ben Thompson / Stratechery:

Facebook's News Feed reflects what we already like, with far more influence than curators of Trending Topics — I got my start writing for the student newspaper at the University of Wisconsin.1 — What is interesting about that statement is that the appropriate follow-up question is “Which student newspaper?”

Discussion: The Verge, The Daily Caller, The Hill and Mediaite

Poynter:
Poynter media ethicist Kelly McBride says Facebook has a responsibility to be more transparent about how it curates news

Discussion: @leahfinnegan, @fmanjoo, @wikigrimoire, Pressthink, @brianstelter, Vanity Fair, Talking Points Memo, The Daily Caller, Business Insider and Variety

Leon H. Wolf / RedState:
Right-leaning advocacy site RedState, named as a site avoided by Facebook's human curators, says it has not seen instances of its content being suppressed

Discussion: The Week, Re/code, The Hill and Business Insider

Michael Nunez / Gizmodo:
Ex-Facebook news curators describe suppressing conservative news, being instructed to include non-trending stories, removing news about Facebook itself

Discussion: CNNMoney, Digiday, The Huffington Post, Washington Post, Mediaite, Nieman Lab, www.wnyc.org, TechCrunch, Broadcasting & Cable, Computerworld, Business Insider, Variety, The Daily Caller, Recode, Vanity Fair, Talking New Media, The Verge, Quartz, The Wrap, Wall Street Journal, SocialTimes, TIME, The Drum, The Hill, Softpedia News, Guardian, Mother Jones, BetaNews, BGR, @robinsloan, Associated Press, @mikeisaac, Talking Points Memo, New York Times, Fox News Insider, The Week, Forbes, Al Jazeera English, Marketing Land, New York Times, Featured Articles, GOP.com, International Business Times, VentureBeat, CBS Boston, @joshgreenman, VatorNews, @chrismoranuk, Peter O'Kelly's Reality Check, bookforum.com, Fox News, @gabby_hoffman, Crikey, Social Media Collective, @king_kaufman, Engadget, Daily Mail, RedState, @scottwalker, TechCrunch, @zeynep, The Verge, @americanmcgee, Hit & Run, The Next Web, FishbowlNY, Fortune, Boing Boing, @buzzfeedben, @seanmdav, @fmanjoo, @_jordan, @kerpen, @cameronmillz, @niemanlab, @byronyork, @michaelbd, @joshconstine, @juliacarriew, @maura, @felixsalmon, @cernovich, @mckaycoppins, @bubbaprog, @jasonabbruzzese, @dabearsk, @lpolgreen, @attackerman, @timkmak, @kevinmdraper, @adrianchen, @rasmus_kleis, @samsteinhp, @troywolv, @pkafka, @oliverdarcy, @brindelle, @agolis, @rudepundit, @sethamandel, @rubinreport, The Resurgent, The New York Observer, Re/code and @alecmacgillis

Kevin Draper / Gawker:

As digital sites woo advertisers, they conflate metrics for digital video viewership and traditional TV — We are, right now, in the midst of a digital media upheaval. What was previously conventional wisdom—that a media company with hopes of turning a profit needs, above all, to achieve scale—is being proven false.

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, @reformedbroker, @shiraovide, @brianstelter and The Awl

Jacob Pramuk / CNBC:

Disney reports Q2 earnings of $1.36 a share, below estimates, and $13B in revenue; stock down over 5% — Media giant Walt Disney posted quarterly earnings Tuesday that fell short of Wall Street's expectations. — The company reported adjusted earnings of $1.36 per share on $12.97 billion …

Discussion: The Wrap, Broadcasting & Cable, Forbes, Business Insider, Wall Street Journal, Hollywood Reporter, @mattpeckham, @derekburgan, @cnbc and Fortune

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Amazon unveils Amazon Video Direct, open to any video creator, with four ways to earn money: per-hour royalty, add-on subs, digital rent/sale, or ad-supported — Initial partners include Conde Nast, Samuel Goldwyn Films, Machinima, StyleHaul — Amazon, which touts itself as Earth's biggest store …

Casey Newton / The Verge:

Periscope makes broadcasts permanent by default and introduces search — It's been a month now since Facebook rolled-out a dramatically improved design for live video — a design that borrowed liberally from Twitter-owned Periscope. Facebook's enormous audience, combined with its willingness …

Discussion: Periscope, VentureBeat, TechCrunch, Marketing Land, CNET, Mashable, Broadcasting & Cable, The Drum, BetaNews, Wall Street Journal, Re/code, Pocket-lint, Fortune, Variety, iMore and Business Insider

Michael Calderone / The Huffington Post:

The Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg and AI Monitor's Laura Rozen dispute article in The New York Times Magazine claiming they helped “retail” US-Iran nuclear deal — The New York Times Magazine editor defended the description, though he acknowledged the journalists should have been contacted for comment.

Patrick Thibodeau / Computerworld:

McClatchy moving IT work to India's Wipro; sources say the move affects 120-150 jobs — The McClatchy Company, which operates a major chain of newspapers in the U.S., is moving IT work overseas. — The number of affected jobs, based on employee estimates, range from 120 to 150.

Discussion: MediaPost, Sacramento Business Journal, Talking New Media, Computerworld, Indy Week, Boing Boing, @donlday, @dcgov, @jbphebus and @sharon000

Chris Welch / The Verge:

ESPN settles lawsuit with Verizon over ‘skinny’ FiOS cable bundle — ESPN and Verizon have resolved a legal battle that began when the popular sports network sued the FiOS provider over its unconventional “Custom TV” channel packages last year. Verizon announced more flexible (and slimmer) …

Discussion: Broadcasting & Cable, The Wrap, The Wrap, ESPN MediaZone and Variety

Christopher Williams / Telegraph:

Channel 4 escapes privatisation after Downing Street intervention — Channel 4 will escape full privatisation following an intervention from Downing Street, The Daily Telegraph understands. — A series of other major reforms of the state-owned broadcaster remain under consideration, however, senior Government sources revealed.

Discussion: C21Media, Guardian, Politico and Guardian

Reuters:

German court rejects Turkish president Erdogan's request to ban Axel Springer CEO Mathias Doepfner from repeating derogatory term; appeal possible — BERLIN (Reuters) - A German court on Tuesday rejected a request by Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan for a preliminary injunction preventing …

Discussion: Guardian and Hurriyet Daily News

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