Top News:
Walt Mossberg / The Verge:
Walt Mossberg is retiring in June, shortly after the 2017 Code Conference, ending a 47-year career at publications including the WSJ, Recode, and The Verge — Thanks for reading, watching, listening — It was a June day when I began my career as a national journalist.
Discussion:
@waltmossberg, Fast Company, Talking New Media, @bankoff, @delrey, @jake_k, @voxmediainc, @loudmouthjulia, @reckless and CNET, more at Techmeme »
Mike Shields / Wall Street Journal:
Mic raises $21M in Series C funding led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, putting the company's valuation at “mid hundreds of millions,” a source says — Plan is to fund new channels, ramp up premium video output — The millennial-focused web publisher Mic announced last week that it was rolling out nine new channels.
Discussion:
Nieman Lab, TechCrunch, Variety, @torystarr3, @jarroddicker, @digitalshields and @jamesliamcook
Alexios Mantzarlis / Poynter:
Google is rolling out a “fact check” feature in its search results that will include who said each claim and its accuracy rating within a featured snippet — Google rolled out a new feature Friday morning that will help fact checks stand out in search results.
Discussion:
Google, Nieman Lab, Press Gazette, VentureBeat, MediaNama, CNBC, Engadget, The Week, MacRumors, @carlzimmer, CNET, Bloomberg, Axios, Business Insider, The Verge, Mashable, @glennkesslerwp, 9to5Google, @benmullin, BetaNews, Search Engine Land, Daily Mail, TechCrunch, Fortune and Peter O'Kelly's Reality Check, more at Techmeme »
John D. McKinnon / Wall Street Journal:
Sources: FCC Chairman tells trade groups of plans to update net neutrality rules created under Obama, wants to keep basic principles but move enforcement to FTC — Republican could make his plans public as soon as this month — Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai laid …
Discussion:
The Hill, The Verge, Common Dreams, Axios, Consumerist, Engadget, Motherboard, Business Insider and Media Law Prof Blog, more at Techmeme »
Ben Popper / The Verge:
YouTube says it will only allow channels with 10K lifetime views to monetize videos, to help make sure revenue flows only to those who play by the rules — The rule change is meant to weed out bad actors — Five years ago, YouTube opened their partner program to everyone.
BuzzFeed:
Trump's most diehard alt-right media defenders, including Mike Cernovich, Baked Alaska, and Paul Joseph Watson, have turned against him in wake of Syria strikes — “I'm officially OFF the Trump train,” tweeted Infowars' Paul Joseph Watson. — In the minutes after the Pentagon confirmed …
Discussion:
BuzzFeed, Politico, @borzou, @timobrien, @cwarzel, @miriamelder and @jasonleopold
Brian Raftery / Wired:
Oral history of Funny or Die as it turns ten, as told by its co-founders, CEO, writers, directors, producers, and celebrities — When Funny or Die launched on April 12, 2007, with “The Landlord”—a supercheap two-minute sketch pitting Will Ferrell against a swearing toddler …
Kerry Flynn / Mashable:
Twitter sues the Trump administration after Customs and Border Protection tries to compel the social network to reveal the identity behind @alt_USCIS account — So remember how President Donald Trump (a.k.a. @realDonaldTrump) loves Twitter and credits it with helping him win the election?
Discussion:
@alt_uscis, @aclu, The Intercept, Reuters, Washington Post, Common Dreams, FOX40, Telegraph, The Wrap, Forbes, New York Times, Recode, BuzzFeed, The Wrap, Snopes.com, Fortune, The Hill, Crikey, Refinery29, Los Angeles Times, Adweek, SFist, VentureBeat, NPR, Softpedia News, Fast Company, @rbreich, @tonyromm, East Bay Times, CNNMoney, Gizmodo, Techdirt, Talking New Media, @deepakguptalaw, The FADER, Variety, Axios, ZDNet, Vanity Fair, @lynndombek, Politico, @samfbiddle, TechCrunch, Fortune, Hollywood Reporter, @samfbiddle, @chrisgeidner, Axios, Business Insider, @kerrymflynn, @digiphile, @mattwaite and The Verge, more at Techmeme »
David Reid / CNBC:
European Union approves 21st Century Fox bid to buy Sky TV channel for $14.5B — EU regulators have approved 21st Century Fox's £11.7bn ($14.5bn) takeover of UK broadcaster Sky TV. — Rupert Murdoch's company has won unconditional EU antitrust approval to buy the pay-TV group.
Discussion:
@cnbc and @stevekopack
Pan Yue / China Money Network:
Sources: Chinese personalized news recommendation app Toutiao raises $1B Series D led by Sequoia and CCB International at over a $12B valuation — - 7 — Sequoia Capital and CCB International, an investment unit of China Construction Bank Co., have led a series D investment of around US$1 billion …
Discussion:
@dtunkelang, more at Techmeme »
Dave McNary / Variety:
The Intercept's 32-member staff has unionized with the Writers Guild of America East — The Intercept, the investigative journalism site founded by Glenn Greenwald and Jeremy Scahill, has voluntarily recognized the Writers Guild of America East as the collective bargaining representative of its 32-member staff.
Discussion:
@caseyriankelly, @poynter and @dantherriault
Craig Silverman / BuzzFeed:
Facebook will roll out a new guide tomorrow at the top of its News Feed to help users spot “false news” in 14 countries, including US, UK, and Germany — What the new educational tool will look like in News Feed. — In its latest move to help blunt the flow of misinformation on its platform …
Discussion:
Facebook, The Guardian, @sarahfrier, Press Association, Business Insider, BetaNews, @s_m_i, Bloomberg, Softpedia News, TechCrunch, Fortune, The Next Web, Adweek, Engadget, The Verge, The Drum, @craigsilverman, @lisatozzi, BBC, Mashable, @jayrosen_nyu, @benpopper, @popchassid, @brianstelter, CTVNews, ITV, Macleans.ca and Poynter