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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:
@trippenbach, @raju, Recode and Fast Company
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Poynter media ethicist Kelly McBride says Facebook has a responsibility to be more transparent about how it curates news — Gizmodo ignited a social media firestorm today when it reported that curators for Facebook's “trending” section regularly put the kibosh on right-leaning news stories.
Discussion:
Pressthink, @fmanjoo, @wikigrimoire, @brianstelter, Fortune, Business Insider and The Hill


Ex-Facebook news curators describe suppressing conservative news, being instructed to include non-trending stories, removing news about Facebook itself — Facebook workers routinely suppressed news stories of interest to conservative readers from the social network's influential “trending” …
Discussion:
Forbes, GOP.com, VentureBeat, Associated Press, New York Times, Re/code, Business Insider, Al Jazeera English, Social Media Collective, TechCrunch, BetaNews, Marketing Land, International Business Times, BuzzFeed, Fortune, CBS Boston, @ggreenwald, Guardian, @gabby_hoffman, bookforum.com, Crikey, @joshgreenman, Fox News, @chrismoranuk, VatorNews, @king_kaufman, Engadget, Mediaite, The Week, The Hill, Daily Mail, @zeynep, @scottwalker, Nieman Lab, Washington Post, @americanmcgee, RedState, @fmanjoo, @joshconstine, The Daily Caller, Peter O'Kelly's Reality Check, The Huffington Post, BGR, The New York Observer, Vanity Fair, TIME, Variety, @cameronmillz, @lpolgreen, Hit & Run, USA Today, @laurahazardowen, Boing Boing, @alecmacgillis, Talking Points Memo, The Next Web, @aurosan, @gizmodo, @sarahcuda, @troywolv, Newser, FishbowlNY, @buzzfeedben, @seanmdav, @_jordan, @kerpen, @niemanlab, @byronyork, @michaelbd, @juliacarriew, @maura, @felixsalmon, @cernovich, @mckaycoppins, @bubbaprog, @jasonabbruzzese, @dabearsk, @attackerman, @timkmak, @kevinmdraper, @adrianchen, @rasmus_kleis, @samsteinhp, @troywolv, @pkafka, @oliverdarcy, @brindelle, @agolis, @rudepundit, @sethamandel, @rubinreport, The Wrap, The Resurgent, Quartz, @hadas_gold, @tminsberg, Media Nation, @dkthomp, Re/code, @jason_pontin and @ryanchittum


Facebook says it has “rigorous guidelines” in place to protect neutrality and consistency of its Trending Topics section, in response to Gizmodo report — Facebook has responded to allegations in a Gizmodo report that its contract news curators actively censored stories …
Discussion:
@o_ema, @mikeisaac, Mediaite, @mathewi, @holmesdm, @ellenhuet, @gaberivera, The Daily Caller, The Week and Forbes


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.
Discussion:
Slate, Politico, @ericuman, The Atlantic, Ben Rhodes, @mlcalderone, @daveweigel, @lrozen, The Hill, @mepfuller, @danpfeiffer, @lrozen, @jamesfallows, @jeffreygoldberg, @carloslozadawp, Washington Post, @hadas_gold, The Resurgent, Fox News Insider, The Daily Caller, Why Evolution Is True, Mediaite, Vanity Fair and Talking Points Memo


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


Sources: Viacom board considers reducing Sumner Redstone's pay again, after cutting it from $13.2M in FY2014 to $2M in FY2015 — Dismissed lawsuit over media mogul's mental capacity highlighted his health problems — The board of Viacom Inc. is considering whether to cut the pay …
Discussion:
Variety, Wall Street Journal and @keachhagey
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Judge dismisses mental competency lawsuit brought against Viacom's controlling shareholder, Sumner Redstone, by ex-girlfriend
Discussion:
Forbes, Talking Biz News, The Wrap, New York Times, Variety, Broadcasting & Cable, The Wrap, Financial Times, Vanity Fair, CNBC and Reuters


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:
Indy Week, Computerworld, @donlday, @dcgov, @sharon000 and @jbphebus


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.


The BBC, with annual income of over $7B, faces intense budget pressure as UK government prepares plans for its new charter — LONDON — The British Broadcasting Corporation is variously seen as a crown jewel of British culture, a producer of refined entertainment and reliable news coverage …


Founders of Philadelphia's Billy Penn to launch a site in Pittsburgh by end of summer, using recent Gannett investment — The founders of Billy Penn, a local news startup in Philadelphia, are launching a second site in Pennsylvania's second biggest city, Pittsburgh.


China curbs Baidu healthcare ads business after student's death — Chinese regulators have imposed limits on the number of lucrative healthcare adverts carried by Baidu Inc (BIDU.O) following the death of a student who underwent an experimental cancer treatment which he found using China's biggest Internet search engine.
Discussion:
Forbes, Asia Stocks to Watch, Bloomberg, Business Insider and Beyond Search


Till Faida, CEO of Eyeo, maker of AdBlock Plus, says it's close to 1B downloads and is installed on over 100M active devices — Ad blocking software's usage on the web, and now mobile, has forced the media and publishing industry to look to new revenue models.
Discussion:
VentureBeat, Adblock Plus and …, ZDNet and Fast Company
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Sources: To combat ad-blockers, Google said to be exploring an ‘acceptable’ ads policy
Discussion:
Broadcasting & Cable, Techdirt, SEO Book, MinOnline and The Wrap