Top News:
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 …
Discussion:
Washington Post, New York Times, /Film, Telegraph, The Wrap, Hollywood Reporter, CNN, Highsnobiety, The Guardian, LA Observed, WGN-TV, Variety, Axios, New York Times, Hollywood Reporter and New York Times
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:
Mediaite, @braddjaffy, RT, Washington Post, Washington Monthly, Washington Examiner, @maggienyt, @annericeauthor, @kfile, The Slot, The Hill, Politicus USA, @pwnallthethings, New York Magazine, Mashable, @maggienyt, @arimelber, @danpfeiffer, CNN, @sheeraf, Newser, @tripgabriel, @erinscafe, @erinscafe, @realdanlyons, @katieglueck, @lrozen, @lpdonovan, @jeffbercovici, @davidenrich, @wakeup2politics, @mikiebarb and Axios
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, @pierre, @arron_banks, @edfrenkel, @astroehlein, @markruffalo, @ndrewhung, @christopherzara, @kreissdaniel, @_felixsimon_, @origiful, @chanders, @carolecadwalla, @zeynep, @_felixsimon_, @emilybell, @chanders, @chanders, @emilybell, @bryanrieger, @_felixsimon_, @jayrosen_nyu, @chanders and @jayrosen_nyu
New York Times:
A frustrated Trump, used to controlling media with strategic tabloid leaks, ramps up attacks on an entrenched White House press corps and broader media — WASHINGTON — The White House press secretary, Sean Spicer, has taken to slapping journalists who write unflattering stories with an epithet …
Pete Brown / Columbia Journalism Review:
Study explores how 14 publishers are experimenting to reach audiences across 16 different social platforms — Despite publishers' disillusionment with low financial returns, there is no sign of them retreating from publishing material directly onto Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram and other distribution platforms.
McKay Coppins / The Atlantic:
Profile of Tucker Carlson, who as a newly minted primetime Fox News anchor has emerged as one of the most powerful people in media — Tucker Carlson is selling me hard on the swamp. It is an unseasonably warm afternoon in late January, and we are seated at a corner table in Monocle …
Matt Pressberg / The Wrap:
How anime-focused Crunchyroll turned a streaming service for a niche audience into a global powerhouse with 1M paid subscribers — Anime, has long had a devoted — if niche — fan base in the U.S. But with anime-focused streaming service Crunchyroll hitting 1 million paid subscribers this month …
Joseph Bernstein / BuzzFeed:
YouTube has attracted little scrutiny for hosting and rewarding creators of fake news, conspiracy theories, and hate speech — David Seaman is the Pizzagate King of the Internet. — On Twitter, Seaman posts dozens of messages a day to his 66,000 followers, often about the secret cabal …
Discussion:
@bernstein and @bernstein
Boris Kachka / Vulture:
Exploring why New York Times theater critic Charles Isherwood was fired after a management search of his work email — Charles Isherwood woke up on the morning of February 3 with one of the best jobs in the country: second-string theater critic for the New York Times.
Discussion:
@vulture, @maxfalkowitz, @stacylemelle, @tedgioia, @bringsjohn, @kevinpokeeffe and @felixsalmon
Benjamin Mullin / Poynter:
Interview with Mashable CCO on how beats, quality over quantity, and focus have increased unique views by 78% YoY and video views by 452% YoY to 320M/month — Last year, Mashable laid off about two-dozen employees, cutting its politics and international reporters in a push for more video.