Top News:
Adrienne LaFrance / The Atlantic:
Study of 15K scholars and tech experts shows 81% expect online incivility and trolling to stay the same or get worse, with “Potemkin internet” hiding incivility — I'm going to confess an occasional habit of mine, which is petty, and which I would still enthusiastically recommend …
Discussion:
Pew Research Center, Nieman Lab, @devjpow and The Awl - Medium, more at Techmeme »
Craig Silverman / BuzzFeed:
The second largest fake news network on record is a group of at least 33 websites, including ViralMugShot.com, that largely eschew political coverage — Some of the sites' hits include “Father of 23 Kids Only Had Sex at Night, Because He Thought Sperm Was Sleep” and “60 KKK Members Commit Suicide …
Discussion:
@buzzfeedben, @craigsilverman, @craigsilverman, @craigsilverman and @buzzfeednews
Todd Spangler / Variety:
NBC, BuzzFeed, and Snap team up for 2018 winter Olympic coverage; NBC and Buzzfeed to produce content for Snapchat Discover, Snap to provide ad-sales packages — NBC, Snap Inc. and BuzzFeed will be jumping back into the Olympics rings next year. — The broadcaster will work with BuzzFeed …
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, Broadcasting & Cable, Ad Age, Adweek and CNBC
Joe Pompeo / Politico:
Alex Pareene is leaving Gizmodo Media Group to lead a new politics team at Fusion, which will also include Hamilton Nolan and Ashley Feinberg — JAMES COMEY WANTED TO PUBLISH A NYT OP-ED ON RUSSIAN ELECTION MEDDLING - And he wanted to do so last summer, according to Newsweek's scoop last night …
Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
Pandora, facing continued pressure by investor Corvex to sell, has to convert some of its 81M users from free radio to its Premium $9.99/month service — Music streaming app is best shot to spur growth, cut losses — Activist Corvex with 8.8% stake urges company to weigh options
Discussion:
Recode and TechCrunch
Ricardo Bilton / Nieman Lab:
How 100 Days in Appalachia builds a national audience by involving West Virginia students, pro advisers, and contributors for nuanced stories beyond coal miners — “Everyone's talking to coal miners; we want to introduce you to somebody else that you're not expecting to see."
Discussion:
@mlcalderone and @sdkstl
Suzanne Vranica / Wall Street Journal:
Google ad fiasco gives TV networks ammunition ahead of upfront negotiations as analysts estimate a loss of about $750M in revenue for Google — Channels pitch advertisers amid uproar over Google's placement of ads on objectionable content — When Hallmark Channel makes its annual pitch …
Jim Coudal / The Deck:
Ad network The Deck, used by blogs including Daring Fireball and Kottke, to shut down after 11 years — We started The Deck in 2006 and for the first couple years it struggled. By 2008, it was an OK business and by 2009, it was a pretty good business. From then through 2013, The Deck was going along just fine.
Discussion:
TechCrunch, Daring Fireball, @noahchestnut, @bleedsixcolors, @pieratt, @gruber, @jeffweisbein, @waxpancake, @coudal, @alxmgl, @gte, @ironicsans, @simplebits and Daring Fireball, more at Techmeme »
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: FCC expected to reverse UHF rule that hindered TV station owners from buying more stations, easing a potential Sinclair-Tribune Media deal and more — Proposal would restore ‘UHF discount’ in calculating audience share — WASHINGTON—Federal regulators plan to reverse an Obama-era rule …
Discussion:
Law360 and Fierce Cable
Darrell Etherington / TechCrunch:
Facebook opens 360-degree streaming to all users with compatible devices — Facebook just made live streaming 360-degree video relatively easy, provided you have the equipment to capture the content. Users of devices like the new 2017 model Gear 360 just announced at the S8 smartphone launch …
Discussion:
VentureBeat, Facebook Media, Adweek and Engadget, more at Techmeme »
Samantha Schmidt / Washington Post:
Hillary Clinton criticizes Press Sec Spicer for cutting reporter April Ryan off during press conference, Bill O'Reilly for comment about politician's hair — Only a few hours apart on Tuesday, two black women were confronted by white, male public figures in exchanges that many viewed as demeaning and disparaging.
Lucia Moses / Digiday:
VC-backed, ad-dependent publishers struggle to reach a goal of $100M in revenue per year, with few reaching that mark of scaled success — Earlier this month, Genius, which started as a rap annotation platform, decided that now it would become a video-focused company.
Discussion:
@mattervc