Top News:
Benjamin Mullin / Wall Street Journal:
Axios raises $20M to fund newsroom expansion, plans to increase staffing to 150 by the end of 2018 — The 10-month-old media startup plans to increase staffing to 150 by the end of 2018, develop new coverage areas, and expand its data analysis and product offerings
Discussion:
The Wrap, Fast Company, @jimvandehei, Tubefilter, @maxslaterrobins, @mathewi, @jayrosen_nyu, Variety, @brianstelter and @jeffjarvis
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:
Axios, Folio, TheStreet, Mediawire, Fortune, Ad Age, Business Insider, @keachhagey, Wall Street Journal, Tubefilter, Fast Company, Bloomberg, TechCrunch, Adweek, @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.
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Financial Times, Business Insider, Reuters, FierceCable, The Week, The Wrap, USA Today, Recode, Axios, Ad Age, The Guardian, TVWeek.com, The Hill, @megjameslat, Los Angeles Times, The New York Observer, @jcmccracken, Hollywood Reporter, Financial Times, TVNewser, CNNMoney, @alexweprin and @cnbcnow
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, emptywheel, @bungdan, @emptywheel, @attackerman, @exiledsurfer, @jswatz, @jswatz and The Outline
Sean Illing / Vox:
New study finds China uses “cheerleading”, or flooding the internet with positive news in order to eclipse bad news, as a method to manipulate its population — Now Russia is following China's blueprint. — The art of suppressing dissent has been perfected over the years by authoritarian governments.
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 …
Josh Constine / TechCrunch:
Facebook rebrands Mentions, which was only available for verified accounts, as Creator app, opens it to all; app available on iOS now, and Android within months — Facebook wants to turn mindless, passive video consumption into “time well spent,” and now it's giving social media stars …
Discussion:
Facebook, Adweek, Ad Age, Pocket-lint, The Next Web, @baekdal, Refinery29, Forbes, Axios, VentureBeat, Deadline, ZDNet, Fortune, The Verge, MacRumors, Tubefilter and Variety, more at Techmeme »
Maxwell Tani / Business Insider:
Vox Media editorial and video staffers announce plans to join Writers Guild of America East — - Vox Media staffers are seeking to unionize their newsrooms. — Many digital media newsrooms have unionized in recent years, in hopes that a union can serve as a bulwark against industry turbulence.
Discussion:
@vox_union, @charlie_l_hall, @alexckaufman, @aemccarthy and @hamiltonnolan
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:
BloombergQuint, Recode, @mtfarnsworth, @gsarafan, @thedextriarchy, CNBC, Business Insider, Mashable, The Wrap, AOL, The A.V. Club and The Ringer, more at Techmeme »
The Guardian:
At News Corp AGM, Murdoch says “our hands are...full making our existing papers viable”, and that digital advertising has been “tremendously damaging to print” — Speaking at News Corp AGM, Murdoch hails Times, Australian and Wall Street Journal as successes …
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
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:
@emilybell, @repdavideprice, TVSpy, TheStreet, The A.V. Club, Broadcasting & Cable, Peter O'Kelly's Reality Check, Wired, Fortune, Radio & Television …, New York Times, @leojtravis10, Free Press, TechCrunch, Broadcasting & Cable, @moelleithee, Washington Post, @notaaroncraig, Axios, Reuters, Mother Jones, Broadcasting & Cable and Reuters
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