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US media outlets were shut out of Trump meeting with Russia's Sergey Lavrov and Sergey Kislyak, while Russian state news agency TASS was allowed in — On Wednesday morning as controversy swirled over the president abruptly firing his FBI chief amid an investigation of possible ties between …
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CBS News, Mediaite, @alexweprin, @colinkahl, Washington Post, NPR, @paleofuture, Washington Post, BAGnewsNotes, @braddjaffy, @markberman, The Week, USA Today, Washington Post, @passantino, Rare, The Wrap, HuffPost, CBS Philly, @senbobcasey, Vanity Fair, @w7voa, @kegill, The Daily Caller, Mashable, @mattyglesias, @markruffalo, @mviser, New York Magazine, Fox News Insider, Talking Points Memo, @rusembusa, The Hill, @michlkosinski, @shanegoldmacher, Axios, @jesselehrich, @hadas_gold, Fox News Insider, Washington Examiner and CBS News


FCC's website has been flooded with 128K+ identical fake anti-net neutrality comments via its public comment system API — Several people we spoke to denied they had posted comments to the Federal Communication Commission's (FCC) feedback pages. — A bot is thought to be behind the posting …
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The Verge, Washington Free Beacon, Recode, BGR, @zackwhittaker, @mmasnick, @digiphile, Mashable, Engadget, Cyberscoop, @dangillmor, The Hill, New York Magazine, Fortune, The Daily Caller, DSLreports, Consumerist, Axios, Techdirt, Fast Company, Business Insider, Multichannel News and Boing Boing, more at Techmeme »


HHS Secretary Tom Price praises WV police for “doing what they thought was appropriate” in arresting journalist, says “gentleman was not in a press conference” — CONCORD, N.H. — Secretary of Health and Human Services Tom Price on Wednesday commended police in West Virginia for …
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The Hill, Los Angeles Times, @wpjenna, Techdirt, Public News Service Newscasts, Reuters, Committee to Protect …, USA Today, @wpjenna, Washington Post, Adweek, NBC News, @fridaghitis, @scottwongdc, @stevethomma, @nickriccardi, @aclu, @ktullymcmanus, @jimrutenberg, @mlcalderone, @sahilkapur, @rebeccadrobbins, @drewqjoseph and HuffPost
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Reporter released after being arrested in WV while he tried to ask questions of HHS Secretary Tom Price and Kellyanne Conway; police said he caused disturbance
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Esquire, New York Times, Refinery29, Newser, TVWeek.com, The Wrap, @pns_news, New York Magazine, The Week, Rare and @davidfolkenflik


Google acquires Owlchemy Labs, the VR-focused game studio behind Job Simulator and Rick and Morty: Virtual Rick-ality, for an undisclosed sum — Google announced today that it's acquiring Owlchemy Labs, the VR-focused studio that created Job Simulator and Rick and Morty: Virtual Rick-ality.
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Owlchemy Labs, Forbes, Engadget, The Next Web, Android Police, Mashable, SlashGear, VentureBeat, Google, TechCrunch, Polygon, Business Insider, 9to5Google, Seeking Alpha and ZDNet, more at Techmeme »


Verizon to buy Straight Path Communications for $184 per share, at an enterprise value of about $3.1B, which is a 17.8% discount on its Wednesday closing price — Verizon Communications Inc (VZ.N), the No.1 U.S. wireless carrier, is buying wireless spectrum holder Straight Path Communications Inc …
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Wall Street Journal, CNBC, TechCrunch, @felixsalmon, Engadget, Investor's Business Daily and Axios


Cannes Film Festival allows two Netflix movies into competition this year but will require future films to screen in French theaters — PARIS - A week before its opening ceremony, the Cannes Film Festival said Wednesday that the Netflix movies “Okja” and “The Meyerowitz Stories” …
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Deadline, IndieWire, Vanity Fair, Hollywood Reporter, Reed Hastings, Los Angeles Times, TechCrunch, The Verge, New York Times, Reuters, Engadget, Bleeding Cool Comic Book …, Forbes and The Wrap


SEC filing: settlements related to Ailes at 21st Century Fox cost $10M in first 3 months of 2017, $45M for 9 months ending March 31, not including Ailes payout — O'Reilly accuser: It's about women's rights, not revenge — The costs of the Roger Ailes era at Fox News keep rising.
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Pew: 89% of Democrats say media criticism keeps leaders in line, while 42% of Republicans say the same, the largest gap since Pew began asking question in 1985 — Democrats are 47 points more likely than Republicans to support news media's watchdog role — Democrats and Republicans …
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NBC News, Washington Post, Broadcasting & Cable, Fox News, New York Times and Nieman Lab


Trump's anti-press approach could erode legal and cultural safeguards for state and local journalists, who already face harsh economic pressures — It's become clear in recent months that Donald Trump's growling at the national press has, in many ways, backfired.
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@nppalawyer and @petersterne


Mark Colvin, a longtime broadcaster for ABC Radio in Australia, has died at 65 after a long illness — He was the familiar voice and fierce intellect behind the radio microphone who explained the world to Australians every day. But Mark Colvin never dreamt of being a journalist.
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@jbenton, @leloveluck, @rossmonique, @mattliddy, @fletathetweeter and The Guardian


Sources: divorce affidavit of Bill O'Reilly's ex-wife details abuse incident after she caught him engaging in phone sex, a practice mentioned in Fox News cases — Bill O'Reilly's ex-wife swore in an affidavit that the disgraced Fox News host brutally assaulted her in their Long Island home …
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Rare, HuffPost, AOL, @johnjcook, @johnjcook, @johnjcook, @tasneemn, @kmcdonovgh, @petersterne and New York Magazine
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Bloomberg redesigns Apple TV app to offer additional contextual data to video feed — Bloomberg Media doesn't want users to look away from the TV screen when streaming video through its TV app. — The publisher has redesigned its Apple TV app with a focus on bringing relevant data to the video feed.


Vice launches digital magazine, Vice News Issues, with long form articles and videos on its homepage, will integrate them with its HBO series — “We wanted to try to bring a little more energy back to our homepage and really act like a main magazine for a day."
Discussion:
@niemanlab


Time Inc.'s Q1: total revenue dips nearly 8% to $636M, net loss increases by $18M YoY to $28M; in earnings call, CEO blames media speculation around sale — Time Inc. on Wednesday slashed its dividend as the magazine publisher pushed ahead with a cost-cutting plan following its decision to not sell itself …
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Peter O'Kelly's Reality Check, Time Inc. and Axios
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