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Gothamist deleted critical stories about its new owner, Joe Ricketts, from its sites; co-founder Jake Dobkin says the decision did not come from Ricketts — DNAinfo, the local-news organization owned by right-wing billionaire Joe Ricketts, announced today that it has purchased Gothamist LLC …
Discussion:
@anthony and @dangillmor
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DNAinfo, owned by Republican mega-donor and Trump backer Joe Ricketts, has acquired the Gothamist network of sites; deal believed to be in low seven figures — DNAinfo, a local news company owned by the Republican mega-donor and Trump backer Joe Ricketts, will announce Wednesday morning …
Discussion:
Gothamist, Adweek, Observer, @bportseasoning, @thecitywanderer, @joepompeo, @anthony, @djacobs, @willsommer, @willsommer and PR Newswire


WH official Boris Epshteyn upset staff and pundits at TV networks by making racially insensitive and borderline homophobic comments before appearances — Boris Epshteyn, who pushes Trump's message out on the airwaves, has offended network bookers and contributors across Washington.
Discussion:
Washington Post, @nicktimiraos, @bennyjohnson, @politico, @pattymo, @grynbaum, @nycjim, @yashar, @sopandeb, @jackshafer, @timobrien, @keitholbermann, @kattykaybbc and The Week


The company behind Jim Brady's Billy Penn, Spirited Media, is merging with news startup Denverite; Brady will lead the new company, also called Spirited Media — After combining with Denverite, the company behind Billy Penn and The Incline hopes to prove its events-heavy model can work in a dozen or more cities.
Discussion:
Denverite, @jcstearns, @shansquared, @slynnsnyder, @andyknny, @ckrewson, @dnvrite, @jbenton, @sarahanne_news and @jimbrady


Sources: TMZ founder Harvey Levin met with Trump last Wednesday at the White House and asked about the possibility of another interview for his new show on Fox — Since Inauguration Day, President Trump has spent his time meeting with heads of state, titans of industry, economic advisers and public health specialists.
Discussion:
Mediaite, Variety, @kbandersen, @amygallop66, Adweek, @joemande, @keithboykin, @theferocity, @bfriedmandc, The Week, LAist, Fortune and The Wrap


CNN hires ex-White House Communications Director Jason Miller as a contributor — Jason Miller, a former top aide to Donald Trump's presidential campaign and his transition team, is joining CNN as a paid contributor, effective today, POLITICO confirmed. — Business Insider's Oliver Darcy …
Discussion:
The Wrap, Mediaite, Business Insider, TVNewser, Hollywood Reporter, @kt_so_it_goes and @submarine_guy
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Vimeo adds support for 360-degree videos, which are seen as a precursor to VR, allowing creators to sell videos in the format directly to consumers — Vimeo creators will now be able to sell the immsersive videos directly to consumers. — Vimeo is adding support for 360-degree videos …
Discussion:
Vimeo, Engadget, TechCrunch, International Business Times, CNET, MacRumors, Mashable, The Verge and VentureBeat


CBC announces structural changes, will divide news into three areas, Daily News, Depth and Context, and Investigative, hints at new plans for The National — Steve Ladurantaye named managing editor of flagship TV news program The National — The news division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation …
Discussion:
j-source.ca, @mathewi, @davidakin and @brodiefenlon


In a talk at Columbia J-School, The New Yorker's chief fact-checker, Peter Canby, discussed how the magazine's processes have changed in the ‘post-truth’ era — This past year, the Oxford Dictionaries chose “post-truth” as its word of the year in a nod to the idea that objective facts …
Discussion:
@rachaelbrown, @cjr, @shelleymiranda and @jamcnn


Morning Consult/Politico poll: 50% of Americans think it's inappropriate for reporters to cite anonymous sources, yet 41% of government employees disagree — Half of Americans think it is inappropriate for journalists to cite anonymous sources in their reporting, and many think reporters are simply making up those sources.
Discussion:
TheBlaze, @davisusan, @mlcalderone, @jesselagreca, @ajchavar, @jerweber, @jmart181, @hadas_gold and @jillgeisler


UK govt's fake news inquiry considering legislation forcing social networks to improve complaints procedures, following BBC report on images found on Facebook — MPs will examine whether new offences should be created after Facebook's failure to remove sexualised images of children
Discussion:
Mediaite, @hashtaggriswold, The Guardian and BBC


WikiLeaks press release hints at “impactful stories” in its document cache as reporters wrestle with how to approach the information — Since around the time of the presidential election in November, the U.S. media has taken a hard look at its tumultuous love affair with WikiLeaks.
Discussion:
Washington Post, Paste, Krebs on Security, The Daily Caller, NaturalNews.com, ALTERNATIVE MEDIA SYNDICATE, Business Insider, @markberman, Light Reading, www.wnyc.org, International Business Times, CNET, @kevinmitnick, The Wrap, Fortune, New York Magazine, Hit & Run, East Bay Times, New York Times, Gizmodo, The Wrap, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, RT, The Guardian, AppAdvice.com Latest, The Guardian, Mother Jones, FOX News Radio, Common Dreams, SMBlog, Mashable, Techdirt, Slate, @swiftonsecurity, Boing Boing, Forbes, motherboard, The Verge, Fox17, MacRumors, BetaNews, Mediaite, GeekWire, Axios, The Hill, TechCrunch, The Week and @skinnerpm


Facebook launches Facebook 360, a hub for 360-degree photos and videos available only on Samsung Gear VR — Facebook has devoted major resources and billions of dollars to virtual reality, but there has been a pretty clear line between what happens in the main Facebook app and what happens on the Oculus Rift and Gear VR.
Discussion:
Facebook and VentureBeat


In open letter, ACLU, EFF, Writers Guild of America, West, and over 160 other organizations urge FCC and Congress to preserve net neutrality — The future of net neutrality is in jeopardy again, so advocates are getting back to the fight. In a letter sent today to FCC chairman Ajit Pai …
Discussion:
Techdirt, Multichannel News, Engadget and Common Dreams
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