Mediagazer: Marketing tech company Zeta Global acquires commenting service Disqus, whose clients include TMZ and The Atlantic; deal was for ~$90M, says source (Frederic Lardinois/TechCrunch)

4:30 PM ET, December 5, 2017

Top News:

David Faber / CNBC:

Sources: 21st Century Fox is close to a deal with Walt Disney Co to sell its studio and TV production assets and it could come as early as next week — - Fox would sell movie and television production assets and keep its news, sports and broadcast network.

Financial Times:

Sources: James Murdoch has been suggested as a potential successor to Disney CEO Bob Iger, due to retire in 2019, if Disney acquires 21st Century Fox assets — Matthew Garrahan in London, Arash Massoudi in London and James Fontanella-Khan in New York — James Murdoch has been suggested …

Discussion: Business Insider, The Guardian and Financial Times

BuzzFeed:

YouTube says moderation team will have 10K+ people by end of 2018, up 25% according to sources, and pledges new ads approach to curb child exploitation problem — The company plans to have over 10,000 content moderators on staff by the end of 2018, YouTube CEO, Susan Wojcicki said.

Katie Notopoulos / BuzzFeed:
Trolls got a reporter's account locked over an old joke, revealing how Twitter's rules can be exploited and how high-profile users get better customer support

Discussion: @katienotopoulos, @davidklion, @feministajones, @eff and @jwherrman

Taylor Lorenz / The Daily Beast:
Facebook removes posts, suspends users for phrases like “men are scum”; ~500 female comedians staged Nov. protest using the terms, most were suspended

Discussion: @thedailybeast, @mathewi, Ad Age, The Guardian, @radfemfatale, @adamserwer, Hit & Run, The A.V. Club, @mattwalshblog, @rocza, @jilliancyork, The Daily Caller, @taylorlorenz, @matt_cagle, @oneunderscore__ and New York Magazine, more at Techmeme »

Peter Kafka / Recode:

Sources: Ziff Davis has bought Mashable for less than $50M; source: about 50 people will likely be laid off and founder Pete Cashmore will stay at the company — Founder Pete Cashmore is staying. — Mashable, once a fast-growing digital publisher with big ambitions, has been sold at a fire sale price.

Discussion: @maxwelltani, Fast Company, TechCrunch, @tvgrimreaper, @heysamantha, @maxwelltani, @karaswisher, @rlytle, @daviduberti, Nxtbook Media, @stevekovach, @pkafka and @sfiegerman

Jon Christian / The Outline:

Contributing writers to publications including Mashable, Inc, Business Insider, and Fast Co say they accepted payments in exchange for promoting companies — An Outline investigation found that contributors to prominent publications have taken payments in exchange for positive coverage.

Discussion: @joshuatopolsky, @kemc, @jank0, @fmanjoo, @benjihyam and Talking Biz News

Associated Press:

12 American Media ex-employees share details of complaints about Dylan Howard's behavior and an ensuing probe, after which he left before returning a year later — https://apnews.com/61ec808965414abb810a 6e2d84f06a79 — NEW YORK (AP) — The top editor for the National Enquirer …

Discussion: Mediawire, @hollykmichels, @drogon_dracarys and The Week

Rebecca Carroll / Esquire:

Former Charlie Rose producer Rebecca Carroll writes about her experience as the only black journalist working on the show in the late 1990s — As one powerful man after another faces allegations of sexual misconduct, we're still not talking about the ramifications for black women.

Discussion: The Wrap, @bencasselman, @deggans, @tylercoates, @monaeltahawy, @schemaly, @kmcdonovgh, @itsmeadria, @gbahadur and EW.com

Nicholas Quah / Nieman Lab:

Sources: Apple has acquired Oakland-based Pop Up Archive, an online platform that builds tools to transcribe, organize, and search audio files — Plus: Public radio deals with a new wave of harassment allegations, Reddit and WBUR team up, et l'industrie du podcast au Québec.

Discussion: Fast Company, Financial Times, TechCrunch, RAIN News, MacRumors, @roybahat, Business Insider, www.wnyc.org and New York Times, more at Techmeme »

Wall Street Journal:

Sources: daily email newsletter theSkimm is exploring a potential sale after being approached by an interested buyer — Daily email newsletter reaches more than 6 million subscribers, who are mostly women — TheSkimm, the daily news digest that has taken off with younger women …

Paul Farhi / Washington Post:

Brian Ross' Michael Flynn error is one among several high-profile blunders over his career — In 2006, ace ABC News investigative reporter Brian Ross went on the air with a big scoop: Pakistani officials, he reported, had arrested Matiur Rehman, an al-Qaeda explosives expert who kept an “official” list of terrorist recruits.

Discussion: Politico

CNNMoney:
ABC News president excoriates staff over Brian Ross' Michael Flynn error, announces that Ross will no longer cover stories related to Trump

Discussion: Poynter, The Daily Beast, RealClearPolitics, The Daily Caller, Washington Post, @ericboehlert and Mediaite

Ben Terris / Washington Post:

Profile: Armstrong Williams, who wants to buy the Washington City Paper, says he won't impose conservative views, but current and former staffers raise doubts — Armstrong Williams sat in his Capitol Hill office with a pistol on his hip and a plan for buying the Washington City Paper on his desk.

Discussion: @wplyndarobinson, @joshtpm and @mrtimregan

Selina Wang / Bloomberg:

Kremlin-backed Russian IRA operated dozens of Twitter accounts, part of the suspended 2,752 list, posing as local US news sources, amassing 500K+ followers — Twitter has suspended dozens of accounts masquerading as U.S. news sources that had more than 500,000 followers.

more at Techmeme »

Jethro Mullen / CNNMoney:

Russia has designated nine US government-backed news outlets, including Voice of America, as foreign agents, after US forced RT to register as a foreign agent — Russia is labeling nine U.S. government-backed news outlets — including Voice of America — as foreign agents.

The New York Times Company:

New York Times promotes Monica Drake to assistant managing editor, overseeing new digital features and projects — The New York Times announced today that Monica Drake will join the masthead as an assistant managing editor, overseeing new digital features and projects.

Discussion: @samdolnick

Archived Page Info:

This is a snapshot of Mediagazer at 4:30 PM ET, December 5, 2017.

View the current page or another snapshot:

Who's Hiring in Media?

Commissioning Editor - Practical Law — Reuters

Energy Markets Reporter, London — WSJ

Asia Credit Reporter, Seoul — Bloomberg

Senior Social Media Specialist, NC — espnW

Courthouse Researcher, CA — Courthouse News

Associate Editor - Aviation, TN — Firecrown

Newsperson - State Govt. & Politics, CA — AP

Video Producer - YouTube, NY — Morning Brew

Climate Crisis Columnist — Prospect UK

Multimedia Journalist, CA — Paramount

Community Engagement Mgr., DC — Freedom Forum

Editor, MA — Nieman Reports

Team Editor - Breaking News, ON — Toronto Star

Senior Reporter & Event Host, NY/CA — Newcomer

Climate & Weather Reporter, MN — Star Tribune

Managing Ed. - Berks County, PA — Spotlight PA

News Editor - UK, Remote — The Verge

News Reporter, MA — Berkshire Eagle

Multimedia Journalist, PA — Observer-Reporter

Private Credit Reporter, NY — Debtwire

Service Journalism Editor, CA — Sacramento Bee

Reporter, PA — Tribune-Review

Los Angeles Issues Reporter, CA — CalMatters

Reporter - Middle East — Rest of World

Executive Editor, OR — Lookout Local

California Playbook Writer, CA — Politico

Senior Media Editor — Digiday

National Investigative Reporter, NY — HuffPost

Coastal Climate Reporter, SC — Island Packet

General Assignment Reporter, FL — County Record

Staff Reporter, CA — Daily Kos

Data Editor, NY — ProPublica

Add your company here

See Also:

Mediagazer: site main

Mediagazer River: reverse chronological Mediagazer

Mediagazer Mobile: for phones

Mediagazer Leaderboard: Mediagazer's top sources

Subscribe:

Mediagazer RSS feed

Mediagazer on X

Mediagazer on Mastodon

More News:

The Daily Beast:
During an interview, Roy Moore's spokesperson, Janet Porter, told CNN host Poppy Harlow that Moore's political opponent “supports killing” her unborn child

Discussion: The Wrap, TVNewser, The Week and Mediaite

Maggie Haberman / New York Times:
Steve Bannon has returned to the Sirius XM radio program he hosted before joining Trump's election campaign

Discussion: The Week

Mitchel Broussard / MacRumors:
AT&T says its OTT streaming service DirecTV Now has surpassed 1M subscribers, just over a year after its launch

Discussion: Variety, more at Techmeme »

Max Willens / Digiday:
TheStreet is pivoting to consumer revenue in 2018, after failed forays into video and branded content; the site laid off 10 editorial staffers last Thursday

Discussion: @allisonprang

Frederic Lardinois / TechCrunch:
Marketing tech company Zeta Global acquires commenting service Disqus, whose clients include TMZ and The Atlantic; deal was for ~$90M, says source

Discussion: @ow, more at Techmeme »

Sara Fischer / Axios:
News Corp has launched a data-driven online advertising network, News IQ, to help buyers place ads directly on properties like The Wall Street Journal

Discussion: @sarafischer and @jarroddicker

Vidhi Choudhary / Livemint:
Q&A: HuffPost editor in chief Lydia Polgreen on the company's India strategy, split with Times Group, the deterioration of trust in media, and focus on mobile

Discussion: Nieman Lab

Earlier Picks:

Erin Carson / CNET:
A look at how hate groups have built their own financing platforms, after being largely pushed off mainstream crowdfunding sites

Discussion: The Guardian

Christine Schmidt / Nieman Lab:
Alabama Media Group, publisher of AL.com and the state's three largest papers, creates Reckon, which is focused on local news and made for a social audience

Discussion: Washington Post, The Daily Caller, Vanity Fair, @petersterne, AOL, The Week, VICE, Business Insider, New York Times, UPROXX, The Guardian, Splinter, New York Magazine, Refinery29, Boing Boing, CNN, Axios, Mediaite, Mother Jones, NPR and @johnarchibald

Brian Stelter / CNNMoney:
PBS to air CNN International's Amanpour on an interim basis to replace Charlie Rose, is finalizing plans for a public affairs program to follow Amanpour's slot

Discussion: TVNewser, Newser, The Week, Mediaite, Los Angeles Times, Politico, @ali_gharib, Variety, UPROXX, HuffPost, Newsday, TVLine and Deadline

Jon Levine / The Wrap:
MSNBC won't renew contributor Sam Seder's contract over 2009 rape joke tweet; on his podcast Seder claimed tweet was satire, accused Cernovich of smear campaign

Todd Spangler / Variety:
‘House of Cards’ Sixth and Final Season Shooting to Resume in Early 2018, Without Kevin Spacey

Yashar Ali / HuffPost:
Netflix's Dir. of Global Kids Content Andy Yeatman told an alleged victim of actor Danny Masterson that senior execs don't believe the claims against the actor

From Techmeme:

Forbes:
AI startup founders and VCs hope that a Trump administration will lead to lighter regulations and the return of real acquisitions, not “contorted” ones

Igor Bonifacic / Engadget:
Pocketpair says Nintendo and Pokémon Company are seeking ~$65K in damages in their lawsuit and lists the three patents the studio is accused of infringing

Financial Times:
Sources: TSMC told Chinese customers it would no longer manufacture AI chips at advanced process nodes of 7nm or smaller as of this coming Monday

Sister Sites:

Techmeme
Top news and commentary for technology's leaders, from all around the web

memeorandum
What US political commentators are discussing online right now

WeSmirch
The top celebrity news from all around the web on a single page