Top News:
Mike Allen / Axios:
Sources: Sean Spicer had the CIA's director and a GOP official call reporters to discredit an NYT story on links between Trump's campaign aides and Russia — Exclusive: Spicer arranged CIA, GOP intelligence push-back — White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer personally picked up the phone …
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Erik Wemple / Washington Post:
The White House appears to have leaked a story about a Politico reporter to the Washington Examiner, in retaliation for a story by the same reporter on WH leaks — Never let it be said that President Trump and his underlings don't work hard, especially when it comes to initiatives aimed …
Discussion:
New York Times, @stevenjay, @mlcalderone, @yashar, @elistokols, @maggienyt, @cbudoffbrown, @brucebartlett, TVLine, The Slot and Axios
Annie Karni / Politico:
Sources: Sean Spicer warns staff against leaking to media in a meeting that included a check of phones, saying apps like Confide and Signal violate Records Act — The push includes random phone checks overseen by White House lawyers. — Press Secretary Sean Spicer is cracking …
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, The Slot, Fortune, Mediaite, @chadlivengood, @anniekarni, @ashleyrparker, @susanpage, The Week, RT, Axios, @jayrosen_nyu, Washington Monthly, @braddjaffy, The Hill, @maggienyt, Newser, Politicus USA, @arimelber, @annericeauthor, @kfile, @danpfeiffer, New York Magazine, @pwnallthethings, @maggienyt, CNN, @katieglueck, @erinscafe, @lrozen, @mikiebarb, @sheeraf, @realdanlyons, @erinscafe, @tripgabriel, Mashable, @lpdonovan, @jeffbercovici, @davidenrich and @wakeup2politics
Kurt Schlosser / GeekWire:
Amazon Studios wins its first-ever Oscars with best foreign language film for “The Salesman” and best original screenplay for “Manchester by the Sea” — Amazon Studios won its first-ever Academy Awards on Sunday night, taking home three Oscar statues …
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David Lieberman / Deadline:
Time Warner shares rise to 52-week high as FCC Chairman Pai says he probably won't review AT&T deal, meaning it would only require approval of Justice Dept. — Time Warner shares jumped late this morning after FCC chairman Ajit Pai said that his agency probably won't review its $85 billion deal to sell itself to AT&T.
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, Business Insider, @srabil, The Verge and Axios
Benjamin Mullin / Poynter:
International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, which broke Panama Papers story, splits off from Center for Public Integrity, citing financial reasons — Shortly after breaking the Panama Papers, an international exclusive that shed light on illegal offshore banking around the globe …
Discussion:
@journalism, @bgpublic and @benmullin
New York Times:
Swedish officials say they've never heard of a man who appeared on Fox News, identified as a Swedish national security adviser — A man described as a Swedish defense and national security adviser appeared on Fox News last week to defend President Trump's claim that criminal immigrants are wreaking havoc in Sweden.
Discussion:
@kfile, Washington Post, @rudnit, @tinadupuy, @ssilvius, @albertocairo, @chunklet, @melissagrelo, @jamie_weinstein, @exlarson, The Huffington Post and The Week
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Comcast to launch YouTube app on its Xfinity X1 set-top platform later this year; terms of the deal with Google are not being released — Cable operator inks distribution deal with Google-owned video platform — Comcast plans to launch a YouTube video app on the Xfinity X1 set-top platform …
Discussion:
Home Media Magazine, Business Wire, Softpedia News and Recode
Louis Nelson / Politico:
Former President George W. Bush says media is indispensable to democracy, in what is seen as a direct rebuttal of Trump's war on the press — Former President George W. Bush said Monday that the media is “indispensable to democracy,” a break from the position of his fellow Republican …
Discussion:
TVNewser, Mediaite, @saletan, @daveweigel, @katieglueck, @rourkel, @nishachittal, @blakehounshell, @lauraolin and @kallisti
Carole Cadwalladr / The Guardian:
How Robert Mercer steers politics through Facebook data and media, using Cambridge Analytica, Breitbart, the Media Research Center, aid to Leave.EU, and more — With links to Donald Trump, Steve Bannon and Nigel Farage, the rightwing US computer scientist is at the heart of a multimillion-dollar propaganda network
Discussion:
@brucebartlett, The Guardian, @biancajagger, @arron_banks, @anneapplebaum, @edfrenkel, @astroehlein, @nycjim, @markruffalo, @charlottechurch, @ndrewhung, @pierre, @christopherzara, @chanders, @carolecadwalla, @_felixsimon_, @chanders, @jayrosen_nyu, @_felixsimon_, @origiful, @zeynep, @emilybell, @chanders, @chanders, @emilybell, @bryanrieger, @_felixsimon_, @jayrosen_nyu and @kreissdaniel
James Vincent / The Verge:
Fox launches month-long pilot with Telstra and Ericsson preloading films onto phones, then asking customers to rent or pay for them — The pilot program is organized by Fox, Telstra, and Ericsson — Movie studios and telecoms companies are always looking for new ways to control how audiences …
Discussion:
@verge
Erich Schwartzel / Wall Street Journal:
Sources: China's recent capital-control policy has stalled Chinese investments in Hollywood, including one deal that would have put MGM under Chinese control — Deals stall amid capital curbs, including one that would have put MGM under Chinese control — China's crackdown on overseas investment …
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