Top News:
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: federal probe of Fox News includes questions about alleged intimidation; private investigator said he was hired to discredit two women who sued — Federal authorities have interviewed current and former Fox News employees and on-air talent in a widening inquiry into the nature …
Discussion:
Variety, @jnthnwwlsn and @gabrielsherman
Ken Schwencke / ProPublica:
Cloudflare shares personal information of those who complain about hosted sites like Daily Stormer; Cloudflare GC says policy lets users “face their accusers” — Since its launch in 2013, the neo-Nazi website The Daily Stormer has quickly become the go-to spot for racists on the internet.
Discussion:
@schwanksta, @flexlibris, @jessicahuseman, @joegermuska, @a_l, @mhbergen, @cpiller, @mattdrange, @colinlecher, @cezary, @ryansholin and CNET, more at Techmeme »
Janko Roettgers / Variety:
Facebook says it is closing Oculus VR film studio, canceling all on-going projects, will invest in VR content produced by outside partners — Oculus Story Studio, the award-winning studio behind virtual reality (VR) short films like “Dear Angelica” and “Henry,” is being shut down, Facebook announced Thursday afternoon.
Discussion:
Oculus, VentureBeat, TechCrunch, Mashable, Polygon, Fortune, BuzzFeed, Axios and Variety, more at Techmeme »
Mark Scott / New York Times:
Analysis shows that US election-style misinformation and alt-right-inspired memes, many backing Le Pen, aren't being shared widely during the French election — The digital call to arms came shortly after the first round of the French presidential election.
Discussion:
@nytmedia, @malachybrowne, New York Magazine, @bafeldman and @davblayn, more at Techmeme »
RELATED:
Matt Pressberg / The Wrap:
CBS beats targets with Q1 revenue of $3.34B, down from $3.59B in Q1 2016, as it aired Super Bowl and playoff game; affiliate and subscription fee revenue up 17% — CBS began 2017 on the right note, as strong ratings for its TV hits and growth in its streaming services helped propel the network to a strong first quarter.
Discussion:
Deadline, Radio & Television …, Variety, Broadcasting & Cable, Home Media Magazine, CBS Corporation and @tsoh_investing
Shalini Ramachandran / Wall Street Journal:
In its effort to create TV-like content, Snap has signed original show deals with NBCUniversal, Turner, others, and is in talks with CBS and Fox, sources say — Snap Inc.'s ambitious effort to create television-like content has old and new media companies alike clamoring to learn …
Discussion:
Fortune, AppAdvice.com, Business Insider, TechCrunch, MacRumors, @shalini, @shalini, @shalini, @asharma, @shalini and @shalini, more at Techmeme »
RELATED:
Laura Hazard Owen / Nieman Lab:
Interview with Jimmy Wales on the progress of Wikitribune, its business model and budget, and topics: politics to start, then bitcoin and maybe dog breeding — “Political news, I think, is of the most interest right now, and so I think that that's where we'll focus at first."
Discussion:
reddit, The Resurgent, @craignewmark, @thayer, @quorasessions and @mathewi
Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg / Wall Street Journal:
Airbnbmag, a new print publication from Airbnb and Hearst, will launch May 23 with a circulation of 350K and stories sourced from Airbnb's anonymous data points — New print publication will roll out May 23 with a $3.99 cover price — When the new travel publication Airbnbmag hits select newsstands …
Discussion:
Adweek, @petershankman, @deannating, @shalini, @joannacoles, @andrewgiambrone, @sapna and @alexjamesfitz
Mark Glover / Sacramento Bee:
McClatchy reports Q1 adjusted net loss of $14.5M, compared to loss of $7.9M for Q1 2016, on revenue of $221.2M, down 7% YoY; total ad revenue down 12% YoY — Despite double-digit growth in digital-only advertising revenue, McClatchy today reported a net loss of $95.6 million, or $12.60 a share, in this year's first quarter.
Discussion:
McClatchy
Lukas I. Alpert / Wall Street Journal:
Tronc posts a $3M net loss on a private share buyback as total revenue falls 8.1% to $366M and ad revenue falls 13.1% across its 11 papers in Q1 — Newspaper company Tronc Inc. said a private share buyback from an outside investor in March resulted in a $3 million net loss for the firm in the first quarter.
Discussion:
@lalpert1 and @craignewman
Mat Smith / Engadget:
EU accepts Amazon's offer to withdraw strong-arm clauses in e-book contracts to settle antitrust case — The European Commission has accepted Amazon's changes to how it sells its e-books. Following a 2015 investigation over the retailer's anti-competitive behaviour, Amazon said back in January …
Discussion:
TechCrunch, @vestager, EU Press Room, GeekWire, NPR, @moedas, @pressfuturist, Reuters, The Register and The Verge, more at Techmeme »
DSLreports:
Analyst Craig Moffett estimates pay TV sector lost a record 762K subscribers in Q1, about five times more than Q1 2016 — Analysts estimate that the pay TV sector lost a record 762,000 pay-TV subscribers last quarter — roughly five times more than the total number of lost subscribers during the same quarter last year.
Discussion:
MediaPost, TechCrunch, CNBC, @shalini and Multichannel News
Elaine Low / Investor's Business Daily:
Viacom beats estimates with Q2 adjusted earnings of $317M on revenue of $3.26B, up 8.5% YoY; stock down 7%+ on fears of losing ground on distribution — Despite a major earnings topper, Viacom (VIAB) stock fell as much as 11% Thursday amid concerns that its flagship channels are losing ground in distribution.
Discussion:
Reuters, Hollywood Reporter, Wall Street Journal and Viacom