Top News:
Ev Williams / Medium:
Medium says it's laying off 50 employees, about a third of its staff, and closing its NY and DC offices, as it refocuses on a “less proven” means to pay writers — We've decided to make some major changes at Medium. — I'll start with the hard part: As of today …
Discussion:
Nieman Lab, Digiday, Reynolds Center, Elizabeth Spiers, New York Times, CNNMoney, Recode, @sdkstl, @seanblanda, @seanblanda, The Tech Portal, @jbenton, Business Insider, @mikeisaac, The Verge, @seanblanda, @derektmead, New York Magazine, Engadget, Adweek, Daring Fireball, Forbes, Ad Age, Recode, TechCrunch, The Digital Reader, Media Wire Daily, The Wrap, @bluechoochoo, @janefriedman, @sarahjeong, @jessicalessin, @viss, @laurahazardowen, @micahgodbolt, @neilcharles_uk, @alicusofficial, @max_read, FishbowlNY, @jbenton, Reuters, @nikkiusher, @songadaymann, Mashable, @timjhanrahan, @janessalantz, @b_fung, @readdanwrite, @eringriffith, @erikwemple, @ilparone, @katienotopoulos, @sdkstl, @mathewi, @kevinmarks, @lizweil and Fortune
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Politico:
At least five publishing partners say they had no advance notice Medium would stop selling its native ad unit “Promoted Stories” — On Wednesday, Medium co-founder Evan Williams announced in a blog post that the publishing platform would abandon its strategy to sell native advertising …
Discussion:
kottke.org, Fortune, VentureBeat, @craigsilverman, @harrysiegel, @asanwal, @tayhatmaker, @petersterne and @petersterne

Medium strayed toward the easy but broken legacy publishing model, and is now refocusing on exploring the correct model for the future — As is often the case, there's quite a bit of nuance... Publishing, as we know it, is broken. More specifically, publishing on the internet is broken.
Discussion:
AVC, @zeynep, @shaunnalmurphy, @sarahwarn, @davezatz, @gadyepstein, @rossgrady and Peter O'Kelly's Reality Check
Alex Weprin / Politico:
Tucker Carlson will succeed Megyn Kelly in 9PM slot on Fox, with Martha MacCallum, co-anchor of America's Newsroom, succeeding Carlson at 7PM — Fox News has named Tucker Carlson the new host of its 9 p.m. program, succeeding Megyn Kelly, who is departing the cable news channel for NBC.

Apple removed news apps made by The New York Times from its App Store in China, complying with what it vaguely described as a request from Chinese authorities — Apple, complying with what it said was a request from Chinese authorities, removed news apps created by The New York Times from its app store in China late last month.
Discussion:
Nieman Lab, FishbowlNY, Techdirt, Recode, Washington Post, Engadget, Mashable, The Verge, Reuters, Quartz, @yahoofinance, The Guardian, ZDNet, VentureBeat, AppleInsider, The Hill, @ktbenner, TechCrunch, @lpolgreen, 9to5Mac, MacRumors, Mediaite, @scottthurm, @arstechnica, Business Insider, @edewittks, @ronlieber, @alexburnsnyt, @bhaggs, @mattyglesias, Fortune, @dangillmor, @amyfiscus, @ktbenner and @kavehwaddell

Sean Spicer says Trump's tweets are the first thing he checks every morning because they drive the news cycle — Sign-Up for our News & Politics Newsletter — Sean Spicer, a Republican strategist tapped to be President-elect Donald Trump's press secretary, confirmed a widely held notion …
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, The Daily Caller, Chicago Tribune, @jesselehrich, @nataliewsj, @samjcharles, @timjhanrahan, @seungminkim, Mashable and The Week
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Twitter begins showing blue checks for verified users on main timeline as well as on individual profiles — Twitter just made it a little easier to determine which users have that little blue tick. — Beginning today, the social network is identifying verified users in additional places across its platform.
Discussion:
@twitterfornews

BuzzFeed's customizable Tasty recipe book, printed on demand, sells more than 100K copies in less than two months, with sales ranging between $2.4M and $3.9M — ‘Tasty’ recipe book sells more than 100,000 copies in 2 months — 170 million online views for video on how to make sliders
Discussion:
Nieman Lab, @heldermarinho, @johngapper, @ranimolla, @publisherslunch, @margarita, @georgebowden, @jasonbretwells, @myurow, @abeaujon and @akinoyedele

Comcast Buys Video-Metadata Startup Watchwith — Comcast has acquired Watchwith, a startup that has built a “deep metadata” video platform that tracks info down to the scene level. — Terms of the deal, which closed last month, were not disclosed. San Francisco-based Watchwith had raised …
Discussion:
Multichannel News, Light Reading and Press Association

Q&A with nine graduates on why they chose journalism, what they read, and why they're optimistic — Since today's college journalism students have been in school, the forecasts for their futures has been filled with words like “layoffs,” “cutbacks,” “buyouts” and “freelance.”
Discussion:
@no1jenn, @prowag, @sagespeaks1, @journaloga and @msucomartsci

Represented by Charles Harder, Shiva Ayyadurai files $15M libel suit against Techdirt founder Mike Masnick over articles doubting claim to have invented e-mail — This is the latest case from attorney Charles Harder, who previously represented Hulk Hogan against Gawker.
Discussion:
New York Magazine, @robaeprice, @tomgara, @rmac18, @ashleyfeinberg, @billmcgev, @bafeldman, @max_read and @eriqgardner
Jenni Sargent / First Draft News:
First Draft adds 40 partners to its international news verification network, including AP, ABC News, BBC, Bloomberg, Dataminr, and The Guardian — In September, First Draft launched a global Partner Network of newsrooms, fact-checkers, human rights organizations and technology platforms. The goal?
Discussion:
newsrewired