Top News:
Zack Whittaker / ZDNet:
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, Washington Free Beacon, Recode, @zackwhittaker, BGR, @mmasnick, @digiphile, Mashable, Engadget, @dangillmor, Cyberscoop, The Hill, New York Magazine, Fortune, The Daily Caller, DSLreports, Consumerist, Axios, Fast Company, Techdirt, Business Insider, Multichannel News and Boing Boing, more at Techmeme »
Hadas Gold / Politico:
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 …
Discussion:
The Wrap, CBS News, @alexweprin, Mediaite, The Daily Caller, NPR, Washington Post, Washington Post, @colinkahl, BAGnewsNotes, @braddjaffy, @markberman, The Week, @paleofuture, Rare, USA Today, @passantino, CBS Philly, Vanity Fair, @senbobcasey, @w7voa, Mashable, HuffPost, New York Magazine, Fox News Insider, @mattyglesias, @markruffalo, @mviser, @kegill, Talking Points Memo, @rusembusa, @michlkosinski, The Hill, @shanegoldmacher, Axios, @jesselehrich, @hadas_gold, Fox News Insider, Washington Examiner and CBS News
Andrew Joseph / STAT:
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 …
Discussion:
The Hill, Los Angeles Times, @wpjenna, Techdirt, Reuters, Public News Service Newscasts, @wpjenna, USA Today, Committee to Protect …, Washington Post, Adweek, NBC News, @fridaghitis, @scottwongdc, @stevethomma, @nickriccardi, @aclu, @ktullymcmanus, @jimrutenberg, @mlcalderone, @sahilkapur, @rebeccadrobbins and @drewqjoseph
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WSAZ-TV:
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
Discussion:
Washington Post, Vox, Esquire, Refinery29, Newser, New York Times, TVWeek.com, The Wrap, @pns_news, New York Magazine, The Week, Rare and @davidfolkenflik
Adi Robertson / The Verge:
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, Engadget, Mashable, Android Police, SlashGear, VentureBeat, Google, TechCrunch, Polygon, Business Insider, 9to5Google, Seeking Alpha and ZDNet, more at Techmeme »
Elsa Keslassy / Variety:
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
Rishika Sadam / Reuters:
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 …
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, CNBC, The Verge, @felixsalmon, TechCrunch, Engadget, Investor's Business Daily and Seeking Alpha, more at Techmeme »
Bethany Biron / Glossy:
In its first sponsored partnership, Musical.ly teams with Hearst for a beauty and fashion original video series created by Seventeen Magazine, launching summer — When the popular app Musical.ly first hit the scene in 2014, it was mostly a tool for teenagers to share goofy lip-syncing videos with friends.
Brian Stelter / CNNMoney:
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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Jonathan Peters / Columbia Journalism Review:
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.
Discussion:
@nppalawyer and @petersterne
Pew Research Center:
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:
NBC News, Washington Post, Broadcasting & Cable, Fox News and New York Times
ABC:
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.
Discussion:
@jbenton, @leloveluck, @rossmonique, @mattliddy, @fletathetweeter and The Guardian
Rishi Iyengar / CNNMoney:
Indian newspaper circulation increased by more than 23M copies a day between 2006 and 2016, according to a new report from India's Audit Bureau of Circulation — India's newspapers are booming — Newspapers and magazines are selling fewer copies the world over. Not in India.
Sahil Patel / Digiday:
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.
J.K. Trotter / Jezebel:
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 …
Discussion:
Rare, HuffPost, AOL, @johnjcook, @johnjcook, @johnjcook, @tasneemn, @kmcdonovgh and @petersterne
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Edmund Lee / Recode:
After missing Q1 estimates, Time Inc. is now worth far less than the $18/share Meredith offered, with shares trading as low as $12.50 on Wednesday, down 16% — Time rebuffed an $18-a-share offer from Meredith. Now it's trading at about $13. — Time Inc. said last month it wasn't going to sell itself …
Discussion:
Reuters, Globe and Mail, Media Wire Daily and Adweek
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