Top News:


Vice Media signs expanded deal with Snap, under which it will produce shows exclusively for Snapchat, including an eight-episode dating series — Snapchat continues to beef up its lineup of premium short-form shows: Snap Inc. and Vice Media have struck an expanded deal under which Vice will produce shows exclusively for Snapchat.
Discussion:
eMarketer and Newsroom Posts, TechCrunch, Adweek, Mediaite and Fortune


Axios plans to hire about a dozen more before end of 2017 and is now expanding now into science coverage — Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen's new media venture is already expanding beyond its core sweet spots. — Around the time that Donald Trump packed up his things and headed south to run the country …
Discussion:
@danprimack, @libbycwatson, @sarafischer and @mlcalderone


Fox Business Network sees ratings surge after abandoning straight business news for politics with a right-wing voice and becoming a Trump defender — It turns out Donald Trump never would have needed to launch his own cable-news outlet if he'd lost the election. He already has one: It's called the Fox Business Network.
Discussion:
BuzzFeed, NPR, @andrewkirell, @andrewkirell, @henryjgomez, @perlberg, TVNewser, Talking Biz News and @andrewkirell


Interview with Sam Parr, founder and CEO of The Hustle, a newsletter that covers tech/business, has 300K subs and raised $300K from readers by offering stock — “One guy put in a hundred grand.” — Launching a general-interest tech and business news site these days seems like kind of a dumb idea — there's way too much competition.
Discussion:
Talking Biz News


Germany's justice minister introduces draft law proposing fines of up to $53M on social media companies that fail to remove hate speech — Justice ministry says Facebook and Twitter are still failing to quickly remove illegal content reported by users — The German Justice Ministry …
Discussion:
New York Times, TechCrunch, TheBlaze, Forbes, Vocativ, CNET, Fortune and Financial Times, more at Techmeme »


Report: questioned about his rumoured 2020 bid for the White House, Disney CEO Bob Iger neither confirmed nor denied the story — Walt Disney CEO Bob Iger won't consider running for President of the United States at the moment, but he didn't rule out a White House bid once his schedule clears up, according to CNN's Chloe Melas.

Senator Jeanne Shaheen introduces bill to give DoJ additional authority to investigate RT America for possible violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act — New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen is introducing a bill that would give the Justice Department additional authority …


AP analysis: Obama administration spent $36.2M on legal costs incurred by fighting FOIA requests, setting a record for outright denial of access to files — WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration in its final year in office spent a record $36.2 million on legal costs defending its refusal …
Discussion:
@heidiprzybyla, @johnfund and The Daily Caller


A profile of Lawfare, a national security blog read widely by the intel community which has gained a broader following in the Trump era — A little over a year ago, Benjamin Wittes, the editor in chief of the blog Lawfare, made the case that Donald Trump, as a Republican presidential candidate …
Discussion:
@k8brannen, @susan_hennessey and @lawfareblog


Google adds “Upsetting-Offensive” tag for its quality raters to use in flagging search results; Google engineer says “demonstrably inaccurate” info is a target — Google is undertaking a new effort to better identify content that is potentially upsetting or offensive to searchers.
Discussion:
@katecrawford, more at Techmeme »


Facebook says moderation “was not working” in response to BBC probe of sexualized photos of children on FB, where 82 of 100 reported posts were not removed — A Facebook executive has admitted to MPs its moderating process “was not working” following a BBC investigation.


An iTunes chart-topping podcast, Missing Richard Simmons, crosses ethical and moral lines, invading the privacy of a reclusive celebrity — For decades, the fitness guru Richard Simmons was Hollywood's most accessible celebrity. He was a talk show fixture, a leader of weight loss cruises …
Discussion:
The Awl - Medium, Death and Taxes and @amandahess