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:
The Wrap, Mediaite, Financial Times, TVWeek.com, New York Times, Deadline, The Week, Fortune, Media Matters for America, Variety, @eorden, Axios, @gabrielsherman and @jnthnwwlsn, more at Techmeme »
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Mark Sweney / The Guardian:
Bill O'Reilly accuser Wendy Walsh will meet with Ofcom on Monday as the regulator investigates Rupert Murdoch's proposed Sky takeover — Sexual harassment allegations at US TV network cast doubt on Rupert Murdoch's proposed £11.7bn takeover of Sky in Europe
Discussion:
New York Times, @amolrajanbbc, @dylanbyers, @amietsang and @djbond6873
Ashley Cullins / Hollywood Reporter:
Fox News Radio staffer Jessica Golloher sues Fox News, 21st Century Fox, and two executives, claiming discrimination and retaliation after contract not renewed — Fox says her claims are “without merit.” — A Jerusalem-based Fox News employee is suing the network for discrimination and retaliation …
Discussion:
New York Magazine, Reuters, Business Insider, New York Daily News, The Daily Beast, Bloomberg, BuzzFeed, Los Angeles Times, LawNewz, The Wrap, Deadline, Variety and Deadline
Bloomberg:
YouTube producing a half-dozen original series this year; source says it will spend $100M+ for 40+ ad-supported original shows and movies next year — Online service sees opportunity to lure big national sponsors — Paid Red service gets budgets matching HBO, Showtime programs
Discussion:
YouTube Blog, Cord Cutters News, Hollywood Reporter, Variety, Refinery29, CNBC, Engadget, @mhbergen, MacRumors, CNET, Seeking Alpha, @vijayshekhar, The Verge, 9to5Google, @lucas_shaw, TechCrunch and Deadline, 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, BuzzFeed, Inside the Magic, Engadget, @pogue, Axios, Mashable, Polygon, Fortune, VentureBeat, TechCrunch and Ars Technica UK, more at Techmeme »
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:
Talking New Media, @schwanksta, CNET, @flexlibris, @jessicahuseman, @joegermuska, @a_l, @mhbergen, @cpiller, @mattdrange, @colinlecher, @cezary and @ryansholin, more at Techmeme »
Peter Kafka / Recode:
The NYT's recent subscription bump is in large part a product of Trump but also the result of a years-long effort to get its readers to pay for its product — Subscriptions, not ads. — The New York Times saw its stock shoot up this week after it announced strong Q1 results …
Discussion:
@urvaksh, @jayrosen_nyu and @ranimolla
Matt DeRienzo / Medium:
Layoffs at Gannett, Gatehouse, and Digital First Media show the need to support local journalists, not simply local newspapers with corporate owners — Gannett's year-round layoffs hit small-town journalism hardest — As long as there have been big corporate newspaper chains answering …
Discussion:
@katieperalta, @nathanielcary, @laurenvillagran, @qhardy, @heycori, @jmjohnson109, @daviduberti, @nberke, @coryschouten, Talking New Media, @mattderienzo and NMPolitics.net
John Shinal / CNBC:
Facebook is looking for a film producer to create “motion picture content,” along with a software engineer for film and a production lead for media partnerships — Add Facebook to the list of tech giants going Hollywood. — Looking to make good on a pledge by CEO Mark Zuckerberg earlier …
Discussion:
@jyarow, Seeking Alpha and Dealbreaker
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:
Nieman Lab, New York Magazine, @nytmedia, @malachybrowne, @bafeldman and @davblayn, more at Techmeme »
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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
Kari Howard / Storyboard Posts:
Q&A with Gene Roberts, the former editor of The Philadelphia Inquirer and the subject of a forthcoming documentary, called “The Newspaperman” — Filmmaker David Layton isn't a stranger to the newsroom. Before he produced and directed documentaries, he was a newspaper reporter …
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:
CNET, The Next Web, Fortune, AppAdvice.com, Business Insider, TechCrunch, MacRumors and @shalini
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