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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.
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New York Times, Washington Post, The Daily Caller, @markberman, Business Insider, www.wnyc.org, Fortune, The Wrap, International Business Times, CNET, WikiLeaks, NaturalNews.com, Light Reading, @kevinmitnick, The Guardian, The Wrap, The Guardian, East Bay Times, Hit & Run, Common Dreams, FOX News Radio, New York Magazine, Gizmodo, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, @snowden, RT, Mashable, Techdirt, AppAdvice.com Latest, SMBlog, @swiftonsecurity, Boing Boing, Forbes, Mother Jones, motherboard, The Verge, Fox17, MacRumors, BetaNews, Mediaite, GeekWire, Axios, AOL, Slate, emptywheel, BuzzFeed, TechCrunch, Wall Street Journal, @skinnerpm, @snowden, The Week, @zeynep, @ggreenwald, @zeynep, @jamesrbuk, The Hill, The Independent, BGR, Associated Press, RT, Politico, Mirror.co.uk, The Huffington Post and The Next Web


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.


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:
Observer, @joepompeo, @willsommer, @willsommer and PR Newswire


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.
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Adweek, Variety, @kbandersen, @amygallop66, The Week, @bfriedmandc, LAist, Fortune and The Wrap


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


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:
The Week, @nycjim, @yashar, @sopandeb, @jackshafer, @timobrien, @keitholbermann and @kattykaybbc


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:
Engadget, Techdirt, Multichannel News and Common Dreams
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Trump renominates FCC Chairman Pai to another term, which runs through 2021
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Broadcasting & Cable, Variety, Engadget, Radio & Television …, Variety and The Verge


Bellingcat, the open source investigations site, launches a Kickstarter campaign to fund expansion of training and archiving — When open source investigation network Bellingcat launched off the back of a Kickstarter campaign in 2014, founder Eliot Higgins probably never imagined his work …
Discussion:
Kickstarter, @joeyayoub and One Man & His Blog


Sources: Tronc nears deal to buy Us Weekly from Wenner Media, likely for $85M-$95M after American Media's attempt to buy the magazine fell through — Tronc (TRNC) , the third-largest U.S. newspaper company, is closing in on a deal to buy Us Weekly from Jann Wenner's Wenner Media.
Discussion:
New York Times, New York Post, The Wrap, @ndhapple and Adweek


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 …
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At a conference in Jerusalem, CNN Chief Exec Jeff Zucker criticized the political establishment for remaining silent on Trump's attacks on the press — The president of CNN has described the political establishment's silence — over President Donald Trump's attacks on the media as “shocking”,


Steven Spielberg's new movie about the Pentagon Papers should be about the New York Times, not the Washington Post — Journalist, novelist, and screenwriter John Gregory Dunne wrote an entertaining book, “Monster: Living Off the Big Screen,” about a movie project that rattled along for years.
Discussion:
@mrdanzak, @poynter, LAist, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Washingtonian


Spotify announces it has acquired audio detection and music discovery startup Sonalytic — Streaming music service Spotify announced this morning it has acquired a company called Sonalytic, makers of an audio detection technology that can identify songs, mixed content and audio clips …
Discussion:
Spotify News, Android Police, VatorNews, hypebot, Forbes and The Drum