Top News:
Colin Stretch / Facebook Newsroom:
Facebook responds to GOP Sen. Thune on Trending Topics, says investigation found no systematic bias, cannot rule out unintentional bias, plans improvements — Last week we met with Chairman of the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee John Thune to describe our investigation in response …
Discussion:
Committee on Commerce …, Washington Post, U.S. Senate Committee …, @s_m_i, @zeynep, Computerworld, Guardian, BetaNews, World News Publishing Focus …, MediaNama, Wall Street Journal, BuzzFeed, @digiphile, Engadget, Los Angeles Times, CNNMoney, SiliconANGLE, @zeynep, New York Times, Marketing Land, Variety, @brianstelter, @oliverdarcy, @katiedrumm, Quartz, Politico, Bloomberg, CNET, Recode, Gizmodo, The Hill, Mediaite, The Verge, VentureBeat, Business Insider, USA Today, Multichannel News, Fast Company, Fortune, The Wrap, TechCrunch, Mashable, The Week, Peter O'Kelly's Reality Check and Mother Jones
RELATED:
Thomas C. Rubin / Slate:
Facebook's Trending Topics Are None of the Senate's Business — What is Sen. John Thune doing trying to conduct oversight over the First Amendment? — When the story broke earlier this month that Facebook might be manipulating its “trending” news section to suppress conservative news, the reaction was quick and predictable.
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Starting in September, Netflix will be exclusive US pay TV home for new releases from Disney, Marvel, Lucasfilm, and Pixar — Netflix's exclusive deal with Disney for pay-TV window rights to the Mouse House's movie titles in the U.S. will commence in September.
Discussion:
Netflix Media Center, Engadget, The Verge, TIME, The Mary Sue, CNET, E! Online, Boing Boing, The Huffington Post and VentureBeat
Erik Wemple / Washington Post:
Washington Post management disputes methodology of NewsGuild study of the Post that found white male reporters out-earn others by average of 20% — One of the findings in a just-released salary analysis by the Washington-Baltimore NewsGuild could lift an eyebrow or two in journalistic circles …
Antoine Gara / Forbes:
New investor and biotech billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong licenses 100+ “machine vision” and AI patents to Tribune Publishing and gives access to studio space — Tribune Publishing, owner of the Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune, does not want to merge with Gannett, publisher of USA Today.
RELATED:
Josh Constine / TechCrunch:
Facebook's Continuous Live Video removes 90 min. limit on streams, but does not allow for replay or rewind, lets broadcasters target viewers by location and age — Live mobile video is evolving beyond selfie-stream rants and citizen journalism. Facebook will now allow non-stop …
Discussion:
TechCrunch, TVSpy, The Verge, SiliconANGLE, Engadget, Business Insider, Mashable, The Next Web, AppleInsider and Fast Company
Andrew Ross Sorkin / New York Times:
Nick Denton speculates that Silicon Valley funding is behind Hulk Hogan lawsuit and two new cases against Gawker — At first, Nick Denton, the founder of Gawker Media, thought it an unlikely conspiracy theory. — Now, he's starting to believe it himself.
Discussion:
@gaberivera, @pmarca, @blogdiva, @tolles, @petersterne and @jmcduling
Joseph Lichterman / Nieman Lab:
BuzzFeed is building a New York-based team to experiment with news video — When you think of BuzzFeed video, you probably think of “27 Weird Things Guys Lie To Each Other About” or the Tasty recipe videos that have taken over your Facebook feed. — BuzzFeed has made a huge commitment …
Discussion:
@niemanlab and @buzzfeedben
Paul Bond / Hollywood Reporter:
Sumner Redstone Asks Court to Approve His Removal of Philippe Dauman From Trust — On Friday, Redstone removed the the Abrams and Viacom CEO Dauman, but the same day Dauman claimed that the 92-year-old billionaire “lacks the capacity to have taken these steps.”
Discussion:
Deadline, Recode, Broadcasting & Cable, @edmundlee, Radio & Television …, Fortune, CNNMoney and Deadline
RELATED:
Tim Ingham / Music Business Worldwide:
Filing shows in 2015 Spotify had $2.18B in revenue, losses of $194M, and 98% year-over-year ad revenue increase to $219M — Spotify brought in a whopping $2.18bn (€1.95bn) in revenues in 2015, growing its income by 80% in the year. — Net losses stood at a painful $194m (€173.1m) …
Discussion:
@trengriffin, SiliconANGLE, Mashable, hypebot and @danprimack
Steven Perlberg / Wall Street Journal:
Swedish podcast app and ad network Acast launches paid subscription service, splitting revenue with creators — Swedish company Acast launches paid subscription option — Podcast listeners have become accustomed to the advertising that many of their favorite shows depend on …
Discussion:
Nieman Lab and Fortune
Jason Abbruzzese / Mashable:
NBC Sports announces a video livestreaming service, Playmaker Media, to compete with companies like MLB Advanced Media, with Olympic Committee as first client — NBC Sports has announced a new video livestreaming service called Playmaker Media, which will look to compete with companies …
Discussion:
NBC Sports Pressbox, GeekWire, Awful Announcing and SportsBusiness Daily
Catalina Albeanu / Journalism.co.uk:
How the BBC used Yik Yak to get young people to talk politics and mental health — 'Don't underestimate millennials. Just because humour and gossip pervade on chat apps doesn't mean that's the only thing young people want to engage on' — The BBC has been experimenting with chat apps …