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Sony Pictures Entertainment names Tony Vinciquerra, formerly of Fox Networks Group, its CEO, as the company shifts toward TV — LOS ANGELES — Hollywood has a new mogul. — Sony Pictures Entertainment, bedeviled in recent years by movie misfires, a devastating cyberattack and executive ejections …
Discussion:
Variety, Deadline, The Wrap, Vanity Fair, Variety and Los Angeles Times


The NYT will publish a print-only, stand-alone kids' section aimed at nine to 12-year-olds this Sunday, the latest installment in a new print initiative — Sunday's New York Times will include a special print section for kids. — The New York Times for Kids
Discussion:
Nieman Lab, The New York Times Company, Adweek, Quartz, @mathewi, @kbsmoke, @willystaley, @jackmarshall, @loganhill33, @benharnett and @billwasik


Sources: Apple to debut Amazon Prime Video app on Apple TV at WWDC; one source says the app may launch this summer — And Apple TV — which has been banned from Amazon since late 2015 — is returning to the retailer's virtual shelves. — Managing Editor, BuzzFeed San Francisco
Discussion:
Business Insider and @johnpaczkowski, more at Techmeme »


BuzzFeed Motion Pictures' Jessica Chambers docuseries, based on a BuzzFeed investigation, will air on the Oxygen channel, the studio's first TV show pickup — ‘What Happened to...Jessica Chambers’ will examine the death of a Mississippi teen, whose story was first told in an investigative piece …
Discussion:
@maxstrasser, @katiejmbaker, @natjarv and @gerryfsmith


Twitter announces a new deal for year-round NFL content that includes a 30-minute live digital show that will air five nights per week — Twitter lost the deal to stream the NFL's Thursday Night Football games this year to Amazon, but today the company is announcing a new multi-year agreement …
Discussion:
PR Newswire, Adweek, SlashGear, The Verge, Variety, iLounge and GeekWire, more at Techmeme »


A 2015 Gawker post based on Michael Lynton's emails from Sony Pictures hack is deleted from Gawker archive; Denton says takedown was confidential by court order — The deleted article on Gawker, which is no longer in operation, published leaked emails from Sony Pictures CEO Michael Lynton.
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@johnjcook, @arthomason, @nkulw, @esouthard, Gawker, @noahmccormack, @barry, @jcfrancisco, @mattzeitlin, @athertonkd and @tomscocca


Verizon to buy 5G spectrum holder Straight Path Communications for $3.1B — Verizon Communications Inc (VZ.N), the No.1 U.S. wireless carrier, is buying wireless spectrum holder Straight Path Communications Inc (STRP.A) for an enterprise value of about $3.1 billion, ending a bidding war with rival AT&T (T.N).
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, TechCrunch, The Verge, @felixsalmon, CNBC, ZDNet, Engadget, Investor's Business Daily and Seeking Alpha, more at Techmeme »


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.
Discussion:
Owlchemy Labs, Forbes, ValueWalk, The Next Web, Mashable, Engadget, Android Police, TechCrunch, SlashGear, VentureBeat, Google, Polygon, Business Insider, 9to5Google, Seeking Alpha and ZDNet, more at Techmeme »


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” …
Discussion:
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


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 …
Discussion:
The Verge, The Verge, BGR, Washington Free Beacon, Recode, Naked Security, @mmasnick, @zackwhittaker, @digiphile, @dangillmor, Mashable, Cyberscoop, The Hill, New York Magazine, Engadget, Fortune, The Daily Caller, DSLreports, Axios, Consumerist, Fast Company, Techdirt, Business Insider, Multichannel News and Boing Boing

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 …
Discussion:
Washington Post, The Rural Blog, Media Law Prof Blog, NBC News, Washington Post, Broadcasting & Cable, Fox News and New York Times

IJR hires Shareblue's Tommy Christopher to diversify its political coverage; he starts in a a few weeks and will launch a new vertical called The Response — Independent Journal Review is often described as a conservative viral news upstart. While it grew an audience of nearly 28 million uniques …
Discussion:
The Daily Caller, @hadas_gold, @jason_kint, @moelleithee, @lmoses, @newsceo, @brucebartlett, @digiday and @jason_howerton