Top News:
Colin Lecher / The Verge:
FCC closes the investigations into sponsored-data offerings by T-Mobile, AT&T, Verizon, and Comcast, new agency Chairman Ajit Pai confirms — Under recently departed chief Tom Wheeler, the FCC opened inquiries into how companies might be using free data programs, which allow customers …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Fast Company, Multichannel News, @dangillmor, @onejarednewman, @chillmage, @ajitpaifcc, Variety, Fast Company, The Wrap, Fortune and @tomgara
New York Times:
New Yorker and Vanity Fair pull out of WHCD parties on April 29, underscoring the awkward nature of throwing a splashy dinner for a media-hostile president — The White House Correspondents' Dinner has gone from a hoary ritual to the apex of Washington's social calendar, replete with Hollywood A-listers …
Discussion:
@resnikoff, Wall Street Journal, Hollywood Reporter, Washington Post, Fortune, @perezhilton, @dangillmor, @weinbergersa, Variety, @katherinemiller, The Daily Caller, AOL, Mediaite, @alexanderchee, @tarapalmeri, @mrdanzak, @delwilliams, @palafo, @jakebeckman, @silviakillings, @qhardy, @mlcalderone, @grynbaum, @daveweigel, Mother Jones, Axios, Mashable, @jeremyneely, @aaronzitner, @nycjim, @mekosoff, @hadas_gold, @jeffjarvis and The Wrap
Jose Pagliery / CNNMoney:
CEO of Russia's XBT, which owns Webzilla and invested in Prisma app, sues BuzzFeed and Ben Smith for posting Trump dossier; BuzzFeed has now redacted his name — A Russian technology executive has sued BuzzFeed and its editor Ben Smith for publishing the unverified Trump dossier, calling it …
Discussion:
McClatchy Washington Bureau, @raju, The Daily Caller, Recode, @liamstack, Politico, @pkafka, @pkafka and iMediaEthics
Rachael Revesz / The Independent:
After 818 advertisers pledge to pull ads from Breitbart, one consumer group says it will target ad agencies and Amazon and Google next — Hundreds of advertisers are pulling away from ultra-conservative news website Breitbart, and campaigners are confident the backlash is snowballing.
Discussion:
BuzzFeed, @rjonesx, CNET and Occupy Democrats
Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press:
Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press finds that Gorsuch's decisions in libel and invasion of privacy cases reflect solid First Amendment principles — On January 31, President Donald Trump nominated Neil Gorsuch of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit to fill …
Discussion:
The Daily Caller, @rcfp, @courtneyr, @wordsmithwyle, @lwalsh, @csmcdaniel, @carolrosenberg, @rcfp and @digiphile
James Rainey / Variety:
Steven Mnuchin, nominee for US treasury secretary, faces a fraud claim in lawsuit related to Relativity Media financing — Steve Mnuchin may be headed for U.S. Senate approval as America's next treasury secretary, but he's getting a big thumbs down from a film lending company that alleges …
Discussion:
@coco_wms, Los Angeles Times, The Wrap, Wall Street Journal, Hollywood Reporter and Deadline
Knight Foundation / Informed and Engaged:
Knight Foundation podcasting report: not a traditional public radio audience, diversity remains a challenge, more — INTRODUCTION — Podcasting and other forms of on-demand digital audio are growing. Edison Research reports that, based on a survey conducted in January and February 2016 …
Discussion:
RAIN News
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Amazon's IMDB announces it will close discussion boards on February 19 and turn off the ability for users to message each other privately — Good riddance to one of the worst places to socialize on the internet. Amazon-owned IMDb announced today it will be closing down its discussion board later …
Discussion:
@thefilmstage, @agentbigfoot, Variety, @aceuklondon and @kentarcher
Daniel Marans / The Huffington Post:
The majority of MTV News digital staffers have opted to unionize, selecting the Writers Guild of America, East, as their representative — Staffers opted to join the Writers Guild of America, East. — The majority of digital staff of MTV News has opted to unionize, leaders of the organizing drive …
Josh Constine / TechCrunch:
Ev Williams: our goal is to launch Medium consumer subscription product this quarter — Medium CEO Ev Williams announced today at Upfront Summit that his company will launch a consumer subscription product, with the first version coming this quarter. This could help develop an additional revenue stream apart from advertisements.
Discussion:
@ballmatthew, Mashable, Engadget, @techportalntw, @techcrunch and The Tech Portal
Jordan Cohen / The New York Times Company:
New York Times launches new program that will allow subscribers and others to sponsor Times subscriptions for students in public schools — The New York Times today announced the launch of a new program that will allow its subscribers and others who are interested to help support Times journalism …
Discussion:
New York Times and Cision
Lucia Moses / Digiday:
The Wall Street Journal is exploring an ad-free digital offering, charging on a per-article basis, and more, according to an online reader survey — The Wall Street Journal is exploring new ways to drum up revenue from readers, including an ad-free version of its digital platforms …