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IJR retracts story that implied a link between Obama's Hawaii trip and judge's immigration order, saying it “does not meet our editorial standards” — Independent Journal Review on Thursday took down a story that implied Barack Obama's recent trip to Hawaii had something …
Discussion:
IJR, @woodruffbets, Washington Post, @oliverdarcy, @jeneps, @oliverdarcy, @ijrviraleditor, @oliverdarcy, @bencjacobs, @sdkstl, @hadas_gold, @chrisgeidner and @oliverdarcy
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Documents show RT paid $45K for Michael Flynn to fly to Moscow to speak at its 10th anniversary celebration in December 2015; trip included Flynn Jr. — RT, the Russian state-owned television network described by U.S. intelligence officials as “the Kremlin's principal international propaganda outlet …
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Business Insider, Committee on Oversight …, TechCrunch, RT, Fast Company, Mediaite, The Daily Caller and The Week


Trump proposes eliminating national endowments for the arts and humanities and scrapping the Corporation for Public Broadcasting — President Trump is proposing the elimination of the National Endowments for the Arts and Humanities in his federal budget plan to be released early Thursday …
Discussion:
CNN, Washington Post, The Wrap, Consequence of Sound, Mashable, Mediaite, Talking New Media, Hit & Run, Rolling Stone, Variety, New York Magazine, The Guardian, Forbes, Vanity Fair, The Daily Caller, @brianstelter, @vivian, Poynter, Bryan Alexander, The Week, PEN America, Bookseller News, Washington Post, Washington Post, @hirokotabuchi, @penamerican, @monicaraymund, @patrickhealynyt, The Hill, @sopandeb, @sopandeb, @sopandeb and The A.V. Club
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Trump's budget cuts would cause “the collapse of the public media system itself” and the end of an “essential national service”, says CPB CEO Patricia Harrison — Funding for PBS, NPR in the crosshairs — President Trump is proposing to end all federal funding for public broadcasting.
Discussion:
Media Matters for America, The Wrap, CPB, @sesameworkshop, Deadline, The Daily Beast, Variety, The Verge, NPR, Consequence of Sound, Mashable, New York Times, The Huffington Post, Current, Common Cause, @mlcalderone, @nycjim, Fortune, @mlcalderone, @mlcalderone, @brianstelter and @brianstelter


Some users report Google Home playing a promo for “Beauty and the Beast”; Google says it “wasn't intended” to be an ad, will keep experimenting — Google Assistant now does advertising — Today some Google Home owners are hearing something extra when they ask …


The Guardian pulls all ads from Google and YouTube after ads were placed next to extremist content; news site urges other brands to do the same — Ads for membership scheme were inadvertently placed by Google next to extremist material — The Guardian has withdrawn all its online advertising …
Discussion:
Talking New Media, @slpng_giants, Business Insider and BetaNews


The majority of editorial staff at Slate have voted to unionize with the Writers Guild of America, East — The majority of editorial staff at Slate have voted to unionize with the Writers Guild of America, East. More than 90 percent of Slate's editorial staff have signed cards …
Discussion:
Variety, @hamiltonnolan, @mccanner, @alexckaufman, The Wrap, @bypetevernon, @daviduberti, @shelleymiranda and @paulblu


Netflix to replace star ratings with thumbs up and thumbs down in coming weeks after A/B testing showed thumbs got 200% more ratings — Get ready to say goodbye to star ratings on Netflix: The company is getting ready to replace stars with Pandora-like thumbs ups and thumbs downs in the coming weeks.
Discussion:
The Verge, Business Insider, Softpedia News, Gizmodo, FOX6Now.com, The A.V. Club and The Next Web, more at Techmeme »


NYT expands its investigative unit with Michael LaForgia of Tampa Bay Times, Ellen Gabler of Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Brian Rosenthal of Houston Chronicle — In the months since the election, America's major newsrooms have been recruiting investigative journalists with the knowledge …
Discussion:
@evanasmith, @wesleylowery, @johnlpitts, @mlcalderone, @patricksvitek, @poynter, @votreami, @danielleiat, @benmullin and @mccanner


YouTube signs a multi-year deal with esports platform FACEIT to stream its competitive gaming league, the Esports Championship Series — Alphabet Inc's YouTube is doubling down on the lucrative business of competitive gaming, where players square off on virtual games for big prize money in tournaments.
Discussion:
9to5Google, more at Techmeme »


Filing: Charter CEO Rutledge received $78M in stock options, $2M in salary, $10.1M in awards and $7.54M bonus in 2016 after signing to stay with firm until 2021 — Most of his pay comes from stock options tied to share price — Follows aquisitions of Time Warner Cable and Bright House
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal and Broadcasting & Cable


The Financial Times finds that readers who actively comment are seven times more engaged than those who don't — Commenters get a bad rap. At best, they're trolls. At worst, they hide behind their anonymity to toss stinkbombs of hate speech at well-meaning writers.
Discussion:
@mathewi, @deniselaw_ and @lilahrap