Top News:
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Report: Mashable has agreed to sell itself to Ziff Davis for around $50M, a fraction of the site's $250M valuation less than two years ago — Digital-media firm Mashable has clinched a sale for the company — and it's not for a price that founder Pete Cashmore or investors including Turner were looking for.
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, @keachhagey, Bloomberg, Tubefilter, TechCrunch, Adweek, Fast Company, Business Insider, @pkafka and Adweek, more at Techmeme »
CNBC:
Sources: Comcast has approached 21st Century Fox to express interest in buying some major assets — Comcast has approached 21st Century Fox and expressed interest in an acquisition of some of Fox's assets, sources say. — Comcast is interested in the same set of assets that Disney approached Fox about.
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: BuzzFeed to miss 2017 revenue target by 15%-20%, and 2018 IPO looks unlikely; Vice Media is also expected to miss its revenue target — Prospects for a 2018 initial public offering by the high-profile publisher now appear remote — Digital publisher BuzzFeed is on track to miss …
Discussion:
@mikeisaac, @pkafka, @jbenton, Variety, @keachhagey, @jason_kint, @hamiltonnolan, Axios, @ryanchittum and @benmullin
Ted Johnson / Variety:
In a 3-2 vote, FCC rolls back longstanding media ownership rules, including regulation blocking broadcasters from owning a newspaper in the same market — WASHINGTON — Broadcasters will be allowed to combine with a newspaper in the same market, and could be allowed to own two of the top four stations …
Discussion:
Wired, Free Press, Broadcasting & Cable, New York Times, Nieman Lab, Washington Post, TheStreet, TechCrunch, Broadcasting & Cable, Radio & Television …, The A.V. Club, @leojtravis10, Fortune, @moelleithee, Mother Jones, @notaaroncraig, Axios, Broadcasting & Cable, Washington Post, Deadline, Poynter, Reuters and Variety
The Daily Beast:
Freedom of the Press Foundation plans to stop routing funds to WikiLeaks after funneling $500K in donations over 5 years; Xeni Jardin left group in December — In the heat of the presidential election campaign last year, Xeni Jardin, a journalist and free speech advocate, developed a sickening feeling about WikiLeaks.
Discussion:
The Intercept, @exiledsurfer, @bungdan, @attackerman, @jswatz, @jswatz, @emptywheel, emptywheel and The Outline
David Folkenflik / NPR:
As NPR reviews sexual harassment allegations, Roger LaMay announces he's stepping down as board chair, chief news editor David Sweeney is placed on paid leave — As NPR's Board of Directors meet in Washington, D.C., this week, the network finds itself confronted by a series of dispiriting developments …
Discussion:
@paigepfleger, @jeffsonderman, @billy_penn, @nprkelly and @sdkstl
Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg / Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Meredith has submitted a bid for Time Inc. in the $17-$20/share range, valuing Time at almost $2B; stock rose 28% on Thursday — Price would value Time Inc.'s equity at almost $2 billion — Meredith Corp. MDP 10.51% has made a takeover bid for storied magazine publisher Time Inc …
Discussion:
Los Angeles Times
Laura Hazard Owen / Nieman Lab:
Knight releases a report on its decade of funding the Knight News Challenge and announces $4.5M in new funding for eight previous winners — Ten years, 190 projects, and $49 million later, the Knight Foundation has released a report about what it's learned over a decade of funding the Knight News Challenge.
Discussion:
Data & Society
Laura Hazard Owen / Nieman Lab:
The Trust Project says some news outlets have begun displaying tags so readers can identify trustworthy news; tech giants will use tags to fight fake news — “The hope is that, if news organizations are more clear and transparent about what they're doing, then users can make their own decisions."
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: a Barnes & Noble activist investor is proposing taking the bookseller private, with help of shareholders and debt financing — A proposal by Sandell Asset Management would value the bookseller at more than $650 million — An activist investor in Barnes & Noble Inc. BKS 10.98% …
Discussion:
BloombergQuint, USA Today, CNBC, CNNMoney and Business Insider
Casey Newton / The Verge:
Twitter says it will monitor verified users' offline behavior and remove verification badges if behavior is inconsistent with its rules — What losing a badge really means — Twitter's announcement yesterday that it would begin removing verification badges from some accounts had an immediate impact …
Discussion:
Recode, @gsarafan, @mtfarnsworth, @thedextriarchy and The Guardian, more at Techmeme »
RELATED:
Casey Newton / The Verge:
Twitter says users can now have verified status revoked, unveils new guidelines for verified accounts as it works on authentication and verification program
Twitter says users can now have verified status revoked, unveils new guidelines for verified accounts as it works on authentication and verification program
Discussion:
Forbes, CNBC, Washington Post, The Guardian, Mashable, The Wrap, @newsmary, The New York Observer, The Daily Caller, AOL, Vanity Fair, Bustle, The A.V. Club, Business Insider, The Ringer, TechCrunch, BetaNews, BloombergQuint, WQAD-TV, 9to5Mac, MediaNama, Slate, The Next Web, New York Magazine, @backlon, @spacekatgal, The Hill, Axios and VentureBeat
Marc Fisher / Washington Post:
Executive editor Martin Baron says the response to Washington Post's Roy Moore story has reached a “stunning level of deceit, deception and dirty tricks” — A minister in south Alabama gets a phone call from a man who says he is a Washington Post reporter offering cash for dirt about Senate candidate Roy Moore.
Discussion:
Washington Post, New York Magazine, Business Insider, Rolling Stone, thecut, The Daily Caller, @spj_tweets, Mashable, Mediaite, The Guardian, The Week, Mother Jones, Fox News Insider, @costareports, @ddale8, Columbia Journalism Review, Media Matters for America, NPR, Vanity Fair, HuffPost, The A.V. Club, Poynter, Dallas Morning News, New York Times and Newser
Lucas Matney / TechCrunch:
Google says it will require AMP pages to have the same content as stories on publishers' sites, starting February 2018, to hinder use of AMP pages as teasers — Publishers have a lot of mixed feeling about AMP (accelerated mobile pages), but it's pretty safe to say that consumers enjoy web pages …
Discussion:
Google Webmaster Central Blog, The Verge, SEO Book, 9to5Google and Search Engine Land, more at Techmeme »
Washpostpr / Washington Post:
Sarah Ellison to join the Washington Post as a staff writer in January, covering media and its intersection with politics, culture, and technology — From Features Editor Liz Seymour, Deputy Features Editor David Malitz and Deputy Features Editor Mitch Rubin:
Discussion:
@sarahlellison, @brianstelter, @niemanlab, @juliaangwin and @philiprucker