Mediagazer: Apple announces Apple TV 4K, with 4K HDR video and Dolby Vision, powered by A10X Fusion chip, and introduces 4K iTunes content (Chris Welch/The Verge)

2:45 PM ET, September 12, 2017

Top News:

Graham Ruddick / The Guardian:

Murdoch's Sky takeover bid faces six-month investigation after the UK's Culture Secretary Karen Bradley announced she's referring it to the competition watchdog — Culture secretary says she is minded to refer £11.7bn deal to regulator over media plurality and broadcasting standards

Stewart Clarke / Variety: 21st Century Fox backs legal challenge to CBS' bid for Australia's Ten Network; opponents say alternative bid from Murdoch, and another company not considered

Chris Welch / The Verge:

Apple announces Apple TV 4K, with 4K HDR video and Dolby Vision, powered by A10X Fusion chip, and introduces 4K iTunes content — Apple's streaming box is now a better match for the latest and greatest TVs — Apple has just unveiled a long anticipated upgrade to its Apple TV set-top box …

Discussion: Fast Company, TechCrunch, VentureBeat and Recode, more at Techmeme »

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Eddy Cue says Apple TV app adding Sports tab, will expand to Canada and Australia this month, and to France, Germany, Norway, Sweden, and UK by year's end — Alongside the introduction of the new 4K and HDR ready Apple TV, the company today also announced that it's bringing its “TV” …

Discussion: The Verge, more at Techmeme »

Jason Schwartz / Politico:

Yale study: a “disputed” tag has only a tiny impact on perception of headlines on Facebook as being true or false; Facebook questions methodology — A Yale survey of 7,500 people shows little benefit, and possible detriments, to fact-check programs.

Discussion: Nieman Lab, SSRN, Fast Company, Vanity Fair, ThinkProgress, @mantzarlis, @mantzarlis, @_joshberman, @sub8u and @jason_kint

Sam Biddle / The Intercept:

Amid unanswered questions on reach, content of Russian ads, Zuckerberg should testify before Congress on how Facebook can be used to influence political process — Last week, after what must have been a series of extremely grim meetings in Menlo Park, Facebook admitted publicly that part …

Discussion: Axios, Recode, Sunlight Foundation, The Daily Beast, Philly.com, The Daily Caller, Fortune, Mashable, @jimvandehei, @pierre, @ronfein, @kerrymflynn and @profcarroll, more at Techmeme »

Amol Sharma / Wall Street Journal:

Sources: Discovery, Viacom, A+E Networks, AMC Networks, Scripps to launch streaming service without sports called Philo at $20/month in coming weeks — Discovery, Viacom, A+E Networks, AMC Networks, Scripps band together for new service — People who are tired of paying for TV sports channels …

Discussion: Variety, Fast Company, FierceCable, Awful Announcing, Engadget and Mashable

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:

Facebook has pulled Instant Articles off Messenger, says it's now focusing its resources on Instant Articles on its core app — While Facebook prepares to offer readers a way to subscribe and pay for news directly from inside its app, the social network continues to tinker with how it presents publishers' content elsewhere.

Discussion: Adweek, Tubefilter, BetaNews, Engadget, MacRumors, The Verge and ZDNet, more at Techmeme »

Jessica Toonkel / Reuters:

Time Warner Inc's Bleacher Report says Facebook is paying it millions of dollars for a reality show on NFL player Marshawn Lynch, called “No Script” — (Reuters) - Facebook Inc FB.N is paying Time Warner Inc's (TWX.N) Bleacher Report millions of dollars for a reality show …

Discussion: The Daily Caller

Dan Merica / CNN:

Hope Hicks named permanent White House communications director — Washington (CNN)Hope Hicks, who was named interim White House communications director in August, will now hold the job on a permanent basis, a White House spokesperson told CNN Tuesday. — Hicks, a longtime aide …

Discussion: Variety, The Wrap, @abc7, @wsj, Refinery29, AOL, Politico and The Week

Jeremy Barr / Hollywood Reporter:

Hulk Hogan will discuss the Gawker case and its impact on his life for the first time in an interview with TMZ's Harvey Levin on Levin's Fox News show — The show, ‘OBJECTified,’ premieres Sept. 17. — The first episode of Harvey Levin's new show on Fox News, OBJECTified, actually aired last year …

Ricardo Bilton / Nieman Lab:

Pew survey: nearly half of US adults have high distrust of information sources, especially news organizations, and low interest in improving digital literacy — News organizations often tend to see their “readers” as one monolithic group whose members have similar needs and respond to the same kinds of stories.

Discussion: Pew Research Center

John Williams / New York Times:

Interview with Ian Buruma, new editor of The New York Review of Books, on maintaining quality, adding fresh eyes about ideology, and finding younger writers — Some shoes are harder to fill than others. Robert Silvers, the editor synonymous with The New York Review of Books …

Max Kutner / Newsweek:

RT says people associated with the US arm of its media network were asked to register as foreign agents by US Department of Justice — The United States Department of Justice has apparently asked people associated with the American arm of RT, formerly Russia Today, to register as foreign agents, the media outlet said on Monday.

Discussion: Yahoo, RT and Washington Examiner

Yahoo:
The FBI is investigating Sputnik News Agency for violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act; agency questioned site's former White House correspondent

Discussion: Columbia Journalism Review, Business Insider, Vanity Fair, Meduza, Newser, @michaeldweiss and VICE News