Mediagazer: 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 (Todd Spangler/Variety)

4:15 PM ET, May 10, 2016

Top News:

Michael Nunez / Gizmodo:

Republican Sen. John Thune sends letter to Mark Zuckerberg asking for more details about curation of Facebook's Trending Topics — The US Senate Commerce Committee—which has jurisdiction over media issues, consumer protection issues, and internet communication—has sent a letter …

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

Poynter:

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: @leahfinnegan, @fmanjoo, Pressthink, @king_kaufman, @wikigrimoire, @brianstelter, Vanity Fair, Talking Points Memo and Guardian

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

Discussion: The Verge, Stratechery, Washington Post, Mediaite, Nieman Lab, TechCrunch, www.wnyc.org, Broadcasting & Cable, Business Insider, CNNMoney, SocialTimes, Recode, The Verge, Quartz, Talking New Media, The Wrap, Wall Street Journal, The Drum, The Hill, Softpedia News, Mother Jones, Guardian, BetaNews, Vanity Fair, Talking Points Memo, New York Times, New York Times, BGR, @robinsloan, Associated Press, @mikeisaac, The Week, GOP.com, Fox News Insider, Forbes, Al Jazeera English, Marketing Land, Featured Articles, International Business Times, VentureBeat, CBS Boston, @joshgreenman, VatorNews, @chrismoranuk, bookforum.com, Fox News, Peter O'Kelly's Reality Check, @gabby_hoffman, Crikey, Social Media Collective, Engadget, The Huffington Post, TechCrunch, Daily Mail, @scottwalker, RedState, @zeynep, @americanmcgee, Fortune, @ggreenwald, The Daily Caller, Hit & Run, Re/code, @fmanjoo, @joshconstine, FishbowlNY, Nieman Lab, TIME, Variety, The Next Web, Boing Boing, The New York Observer, @buzzfeedben, @seanmdav, @_jordan, @kerpen, @cameronmillz, @niemanlab, @byronyork, @michaelbd, @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, @alecmacgillis and Newser

Nick Statt / The Verge:
Facebook says it has “rigorous guidelines” in place to protect neutrality and consistency of its Trending Topics section, in response to Gizmodo report

Discussion: @mikeisaac, Mediaite, The Daily Caller, Business Insider, The Hill, Fortune, @mathewi, The Wrap, @holmesdm, @ellenhuet and @gaberivera

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, Business Insider, Mashable and Mediaite

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

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 …

Discussion: Bloomberg, Deadline, Business Insider, Vanity Fair, Talking New Media, Fortune, AppAdvice.com Latest, TechCrunch, Wall Street Journal, BetaNews, Reuters, AppleInsider, BGR, Engadget, @gwotaku, The Next Web, Gear Patrol, The Wrap, VentureBeat, GeekWire, Polygon, Gizmodo, Recode and The Verge

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.

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

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, @donlday, Boing Boing, @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, Politico, Guardian and Guardian

Jasper Jackson / Guardian:

Online petition to fire BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg taken down after it draws abusive and misogynistic language — 38 Degrees director says campaign calling for BBC political editor to be sacked was hijacked by Twitter and Facebook users — Campaign group 38 degrees has taken …

Discussion: Guardian, Guardian, @ukpoliticslive, @claireot, @georgetrefgarne, @lkblumenthal, @lonwon and Telegraph

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: Hurriyet Daily News and Guardian