Top News:
Washington Post:
Facebook says it sold ~$100K of ads on politically divisive topics to Russia-linked accounts from 6/15-5/17; sources say FB told Congress ads targeted voters — Representatives of Facebook told congressional investigators Wednesday that it has discovered it sold ads during the U.S. presidential election …
Discussion:
Forbes, Fast Company, @asharangappa_, @davelevinthal, Axios, @zeynep, @evan_mcmullin, New York Magazine, Politicus USA, Variety, CNBC, @talkingnewmedia, @mattbors, @ericgeller, @averycockburn, Mashable, @juliaangwin, @mateagold, Fortune, @andrewcouts, The Daily Caller, KTLA, @craigsilverman, @shanegoldmacher, @samanthajpower, Boing Boing, @markfollman, @susan_hennessey, @markscott82, @dylanbyers, @jwherrman, @jwherrman, @kylegriffin1, @aa_reporter, @altcybercommand and The Week, more at Techmeme »
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Alex Stamos / Facebook:
Facebook shares details on Russia-linked ads: most did not specifically reference the election but divisive social issues; ~25% were geo targeted — There have been a lot of questions since the 2016 US election about Russian interference in the electoral process.
Discussion:
New York Times, VentureBeat, Adweek, The Wrap, CNNMoney, CNBC, ABC News, Recode, Washington Post, The Drum, Wall Street Journal, Mediaite, Engadget, Business Insider, GeekWire, VICE News, Axios, Gizmodo, The Next Web and The Verge, more at Techmeme »
Hollywood Reporter:
Sources: Amazon and Apple are competing with Warner Bros. and others for rights to the James Bond franchise and are willing to pay as much as the studio — The franchise, and its future, are up for grabs as Agent 007 is being viewed as one of the last untapped brands that could be a game changer.
Discussion:
9to5Mac, The Drum, Gizmodo, Engadget, FierceCable, The Verge, The Playlist, Fortune, Consequence of Sound, The Next Web, GeekWire, Forbes, /Film, The A.V. Club, The New York Observer, MacRumors, Collider, VideoInk, Business Insider, Birth.Movies.Death, @tatianasiegel27, @shiraovide and AppAdvice.com, more at Techmeme »
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Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple secures deal for songs from Warner Music Group, plans to pay labels smaller percentage than it did under first streaming deal — IPhone maker plans to pay record labels smaller percentage — Paid streaming service has revived music industry; sales up
Discussion:
9to5Mac and MacRumors, more at Techmeme »
Cyrus Farivar / Ars Technica:
Federal judge dismisses libel suit against Techdirt from Shiva Ayyadurai, who claims he invented email, due to difficulty in defining email — Judge: Techdirt articles were opinionated and hyperbolic, but not libel. — A federal judge in Massachusetts has dismissed a libel lawsuit filed earlier …
Discussion:
Fast Company, Techdirt, @bamaral44, @eff, Fortune, @bobmcgovernjr, @danielnazer, @marciahofmann, @leighbeadon, @adamsteinbaugh, Gizmodo, @schestowitz, @trevortimm, @adamsinger, @joshuamking, @sayreevan, @popehat, @msbrumfield, @kevincollier, @rmac18, @eriqgardner and @cghosebiz1st, more at Techmeme »
Donie O'Sullivan / CNN:
Facebook videos and “live” streams described as showing Hurricane Irma's effects gain millions of views despite showing storms from 2016 — A page purports to show “live” footage of the effects of Irma — New York (CNN)Videos and live streams described as showing the effects …
Discussion:
@craigsilverman, BuzzFeed, Media Matters for America, @craigsilverman, @wxbrad and BuzzFeed
David Meyer / Fortune:
Facebook says ad reach estimates from Adverts Manager are based on how many could see the ad, not an area's population, explaining discrepancy with census data — Facebook's advertising metrics have again been called into question, after Pivotal Research Group senior analyst Brian Wieser pointed …
Tara Palmeri / Politico:
Sources: conservative pundit Mercedes Schlapp, who served in the Bush administration, is expected to join the White House in a communications role — Conservative pundit Mercedes Schlapp, wife of American Conservative Union chairman Matthew Schlapp, is expected to join the White House …
Discussion:
CNN, Washington Post, @cbudoffbrown and Mediaite
Erik Wemple / Washington Post:
Charges dropped against West Virginia reporter Dan Heyman, arrested while trying to ask questions of HHS Secretary Tom Price and Kellyanne Conway — No, Public News Service reporter Dan Heyman was not engaging in “willful disruption of governmental processes.”
Discussion:
New York Times, @erikwemple, @navybook, The New York Observer and NPR
Tony Maglio / The Wrap:
Peter Rice has been promoted to president of 21st Century Fox, will retain his roles as chairman and CEO of Fox Networks Group — Peter Rice has been promoted to president of 21st Century Fox. He'll keep his chairman and CEO titles for Fox Networks Group as well. — Here's the full media release, more to come:
Discussion:
Radio & Television …, Variety, The Wrap and @awallenstein
Chris Welch / The Verge:
T-Mobile's unlimited data family plans with two or more lines now include free Netflix, following AT&T bundling free HBO with its Unlimited Plus plan — If you've got an unlimited data family plan at T-Mobile, you'll soon be getting free Netflix to go along with it.
Discussion:
Bloomberg, Business Wire, CNET, @chriswelch, @dangillmor, Engadget, AppAdvice.com, 9to5Google, ZDNet, @srabil, Quartz, Business Insider, FierceWireless, GeekWire, Android Police, MacRumors, BGR, Mashable and Home Media Magazine, more at Techmeme »
Andrew Wallenstein / Variety:
Spotify hires Disney executive Courtney Holt to lead its efforts in original video and podcast programming — Spotify has lured digital-media veteran Courtney Holt over from Disney to lead its efforts around original video and podcast programming, Variety has learned exclusively.
Discussion:
Tubefilter, The Wrap, Engadget and Hollywood Reporter, more at Techmeme »
Benjamin Mullin / Poynter:
Gannett says it's cutting less than 1% of its 20,000+ workforce in a company reorganization — Gannett is cutting less than 1 percent of its total workforce in a company-wide reorganization, a Gannett spokesperson told Poynter Wednesday. — The cuts were announced to employees by CEO Bob Dickey in a video to employees Wednesday.
Discussion:
@jillcallison and @toddbigphoto