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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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, Media Matters for America, Mediaite, Fortune, Hit & Run, @braddjaffy, Axios, The Slot, @chadlivengood, @anniekarni, @ashleyrparker, @susanpage, The Week, @maggienyt, @jayrosen_nyu, RT, Washington Monthly, The Hill, Politicus USA, @arimelber, @annericeauthor, @kfile, @danpfeiffer, Newser, CNN, New York Magazine, @katieglueck, @erinscafe, @lrozen, @mikiebarb, @sheeraf, @realdanlyons, @erinscafe, @tripgabriel, @pwnallthethings, @davidenrich, @lpdonovan, @jeffbercovici, @maggienyt, @wakeup2politics and Mashable
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, @yashar, @elistokols, @mlcalderone, @maggienyt, @cbudoffbrown, @brucebartlett and TVLine
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, Variety, Fast Company and @srabil
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:
The Guardian, @anneapplebaum, @brucebartlett, @biancajagger, @arron_banks, @edfrenkel, @markruffalo, @astroehlein, @charlottechurch, @nycjim, @ndrewhung, @pierre, @christopherzara, @chanders, @carolecadwalla, @_felixsimon_, @chanders, @jayrosen_nyu, @_felixsimon_, @origiful, @zeynep, @emilybell, @chanders, @chanders, @emilybell, @bryanrieger, @_felixsimon_, @jayrosen_nyu and @kreissdaniel
Casey Newton / The Verge:
Mozilla buys Pocket, its first acquisition, and says the read-it-later service will continue operating as an independent subsidiary — From browser extension to acquisition — Mozilla has acquired Pocket, a kind of DVR for the internet, for an undisclosed sum.
Discussion:
Fast Company, MacRumors, @caseynewton, @kunalcagarwal, @joshconstine, @caseynewton, @jamieartkin, @benpopper, Recode and Android Police
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:
Washington Post, @rudnit, @tinadupuy, @ssilvius, @albertocairo, @kfile, @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:
Business Wire, Home Media Magazine, 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, @rourkel, @katieglueck, @daveweigel, @nishachittal, @saletan, @blakehounshell, @lauraolin and @kallisti
WRTV-TV:
Donald Trump will meet with regional press affiliates, including reporters from E.W. Scripps Company, in an off-the-record dinner on Monday night — CNN , Scripps National Desk — President Donald Trump is holding court with “regional press affiliates” in a private dinner on Monday, the White House said.
Discussion:
@brianstelter and @cnnmoney