Mediagazer: Online petition to fire BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg taken down after it draws abusive and misogynistic language (Jasper Jackson/Guardian)

2:20 PM ET, May 10, 2016

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

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 …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Politico, The Hill, @rafat, Marketing Land, @trevortimm, @mikeisaac, @superfabis, The Daily Caller, Mediaite and The Week

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: @fmanjoo, Pressthink, @king_kaufman, @wikigrimoire, @brianstelter, Vanity Fair, Talking Points Memo and Business Insider

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, The Hill, Business Insider, Guardian, Mashable and Mediaite

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, @o_ema, The Daily Caller, The Hill, Fortune, @mathewi, The Wrap, BGR, @holmesdm, @ellenhuet and @gaberivera

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

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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.

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, TechCrunch, VentureBeat, BetaNews, The Wrap, Gear Patrol, Wall Street Journal, AppleInsider, Gizmodo, @gwotaku, Polygon, Reuters, Recode, BGR, Engadget, The Next Web, GeekWire, The Verge and Fortune

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

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

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: @reformedbroker, @brianstelter, @shiraovide and The Awl

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: Guardian, C21Media, Politico, Guardian and The Drum

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

Hamza Hendawi / Associated Press:

Egypt arrests 4 members of a street satirical group — CAIRO (AP) — Police have arrested four members of a satirical street group that mocked Egypt's president and his supporters in video clips posted online, the latest in an escalating crackdown on dissent that lays bare the government's diminishing tolerance for criticism.

Discussion: BBC

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

Brian Stelter / CNNMoney:

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.