Mediagazer: Spotify and Apple Music announce chat extensions for Facebook Messenger; Spotify's is available now, with Apple's coming “very soon” (Napier Lopez/The Next Web)

3:55 PM ET, April 18, 2017

Top News:

Bill O'Reilly's defenders are challenging Wendy Walsh's account, pointing to alleged inconsistencies and correspondence in which Walsh praises him — All at once, Bill O'Reilly is fighting for his TV life. The future of O'Reilly's long career at Fox News may hinge on a sexual-harassment accusation raised …

Discussion: TVNewser and Refinery29

The Huffington Post:

65% of Bill O'Reilly's viewers still approve of the Fox News host despite sexual harassment allegations, according to a HuffPost/YouGov survey — They also voted for Trump. So there you go. — An overwhelming majority of Bill O'Reilly's viewers still approve of the controversial Fox News pundit despite …

Discussion: Forbes, LawNewz, IndieWire, The Wrap and AOL

AP News:

O'Reilly Factor's viewing figures are down 26% so far without the host; O'Reilly is on two-week vacation while investigators probe sexual harassment allegations — NEW YORK (AP) — Through three days of Bill O'Reilly's vacation, his show's viewership declined by 26 percent in the hands …

Discussion: TVWeek.com

Matthew Balan / Mediaite:

Gabe Sherman: Rupert Murdoch wants to keep Bill O'Reilly, but his sons, especially James, want to fire the host and move on — New York magazine's Gabriel Sherman spotlighted a schism inside the Murdoch family over the future of embattled Fox News host Bill O'Reilly during a segment on Sunday's AM Joy on MSNBC.

Discussion: New York Magazine, TVWeek.com, The Week, Axios and Variety

Sydney Ember / New York Times:

New York Times names ex-Bloomberg Businessweek Editor-in-Chief Ellen Pollock editor of its business section — The New York Times continued to shake up its newsroom leadership on Tuesday by naming Ellen Pollock, formerly the editor in chief of Bloomberg Businessweek, the next top editor of its business section.

Discussion: @moorehn, @rblumenstein, @bgrueskin and Talking Biz News

Janko Roettgers / Variety:

At F8, Mark Zuckerberg discussed the Cleveland video controversy, acknowledging the company needs to do more to filter violent content — Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg acknowledged Tuesday that the company has to do more to not only filter out violent videos, but also do its part from preventing violence altogether.

Discussion: Forbes, VentureBeat and TechCrunch, more at Techmeme »

Justin Osofsky / Facebook:
Facebook releases timeline of murder suspect's activity: first video uploaded 11:09AM PDT, first report received around 11:27AM, account disabled at 1:22PM

Discussion: CNNMoney, New York Times, TechCrunch, The Wrap, Washington Post, RT, CNET, GeekWire, Gizmodo, Fox News Insider, The Verge, New York Magazine, NPR, MediaNama, Real Stories, Mashable, Mediaite, The Drum, The Hill, Adweek, Recode, Variety, Business Insider, USA Today, @raju, BetaNews, Engadget, Gothamist, Fortune, Axios and Techdirt, more at Techmeme »

Matthew Sheffield / Salon:

Under Ailes, Fox News paid a PR firm, New Media Strategies, to operate a series of sexist sites created to promote female Fox News personalities — Former Fox News CEO paid for many deceptive sites, including leering blogs promoting female Fox personalities

Discussion: @gabrielsherman and Inside Cable News

Napier Lopez / The Next Web:

Spotify and Apple Music announce chat extensions for Facebook Messenger; Spotify's is available now, with Apple's coming “very soon” — “Music on Messenger is going to be a good thing this year,” said Facebook's David Marcus today at the company's F8 conference.

Discussion: TechCrunch, VentureBeat, news.spotify.com, VentureBeat and Variety, more at Techmeme »

Adrianne Jeffries / The Outline:

How Celebrity Net Worth's traffic plunged after Google took its data for Featured Snippets, even when the site said it could not have access — Google's Featured Snippets are not only often wrong, they're also damaging to small businesses that depend on search traffic.

Discussion: Boing Boing, @jpstreich, @acookiecrumbles, @anildash, @outline, @dannysullivan and @dangillmor, more at Techmeme »

Gerry Smith / Bloomberg:

Financial news startup Cheddar is giving away free TV antennas in a bid to make young viewers watch its broadcasts on free over-the-air stations — Startup plans digital antenna giveaway with Dunkin' Donuts — Several online media companies are exploring TV programming

Max Willens / Digiday:

The Financial Times has increased its marketing spending by about 30% in an effort to capitalize on post-Trump subscriber surges — The Financial Times is spending money to make money. In the past month, the Nikkei-owned financial news publisher has launched two separate marketing campaigns …

Discussion: @sarahmarshall, @ftpressoffice and Talking Biz News

Katie Rogers / New York Times:

Profile of Shannon Donnelly, a Palm Beach Daily News society columnist who maintains an unusual degree of access to Donald Trump, having covered him since 1985 — PALM BEACH, Fla. — Minutes before the world found out that President Trump had ordered a missile strike against Syria in retaliation …

Discussion: @braddjaffy

Brian McGrory / BostonGlobe.com:

Memo from Boston Globe Editor-in-Chief Brian McGrory on how the publication plans to retool the newsroom to support both digital and print — A dedicated group of Boston Globe staff has spent much of the past year examining our digital and print report, talking with colleagues throughout the newsroom …

Discussion: Nieman Lab, Columbia Journalism Review, @nbj914, @jeffsonderman, @markberman, @billadairduke, @laura_nelson, Poynter, Media Nation, @inklesspw, @tamburintweets and @dankennedy_nu

Rachel Stockman / LawNewz:

Glenn Beck countersues Tomi Lahren, claiming she mistreated staff, offended the Blaze audience, and made public appearances without prior approval — Glenn Beck, and his conservative network, The Blaze, have filed a counter lawsuit against firebrand conservative news personality Tomi Lahren …