Top News:
Tom Kludt / CNNMoney:
Trump congratulated Rupert Murdoch on Disney deal; there's no admission or denial he spoke with Murdoch ahead of the deal to confirm Murdoch would keep Fox News — Disney-Fox deal gets White House praise — Disney's $52.4 billion deal to acquire a significant portion of 21st Century Fox …
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Michael Wolff / Hollywood Reporter:
A look at the dynamics among Rupert Murdoch and his children, and how their business interests may have influenced the Disney deal — When the media titan unloads the bulk of Fox to Disney rather than letting it pass to his heirs, it proves he has always has had a favorite Murdoch — himself.
Discussion:
Bloomberg
David Folkenflik / NPR:
Disney-Fox deal gives Disney controlling Hulu stake, a Sky stake, a network of local sports cable channels; Fox gets to cash out and resolve succession plans
The Walt Disney Company:
Disney to acquire 21st Century Fox, including stakes in Sky and Hulu, after spinoff of certain businesses like Fox News, for $52.4B in stock
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Mark Sweney / The Guardian:
Post-merger, “New Fox” to include live news, sports, and the Fox brand, as a return to “our roots as a lean, aggressive, challenger brand”, per Lachlan Murdoch
Discussion:
Adweek, Deadline, Hollywood Reporter, Variety, The New York Observer, Boing Boing, The Wrap, TVNewser, /Film and TVSpy
Tony Romm / Recode:
A coalition of state attorneys general, led by the New York AG, pledge to sue the FCC for repealing net neutrality rules — States like Washington and New York are gearing up to fight the FCC's recent repeal — The United States is about to go to war with itself over net neutrality.
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Nilay Patel / The Verge:
The inability of Ajit Pai and Republican FCC commissioners to make a fact-based case for repeal of popular net neutrality rules will be a problem for GOP
Discussion:
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Isaac Stone Fish / Washington Post:
After China's Integrated Whale Media bought a majority stake in Forbes in 2014, several cases of editorial meddling have raised questions about independence — When a Chinese company buys a major American magazine, does the publication censor its coverage of China?
Discussion:
@mathewi, @stinson, @gwbstr, @raykwong, @raju, @bethanyallenebr, @anderscorr, @john_hudson, @melissakchan, @whitebison66 and Talking Biz News
Casey Newton / The Verge:
Snap launches Lens Studio, a Mac and Windows app that lets users build their own AR lenses — Let a thousand hot dogs bloom — Snap's second official app is a tool that lets you design and build augmented reality lenses for Snapchat. The company today announced Lens Studio, a design app for Mac and Windows desktop computers.
Discussion:
Digiday, Snap Inc., Forbes, TechCrunch, HYPEBEAST, Business Insider, xda-developers, The Next Web, Adweek, MacRumors, Ad Age, 9to5Mac and VentureBeat
Shruthi Muraleedharan / Facebook:
Facebook debuts Snooze, a News Feed feature to temporarily unfollow a person, Page, or group for 30 days — One of our core News Feed values is giving people more control. Over the next week, we're launching Snooze, which will give you the option to temporarily unfollow a person, Page or group for 30 days.
Discussion:
Nieman Lab, Forbes, TechCrunch, VentureBeat, CNET, Daily Mail, TIME, The Verge, iDownloadBlog.com, Variety, Business Insider, Axios, Engadget and Mashable, more at Techmeme »
Dave McNary / Variety:
Star Wars: The Last Jedi opened with a box-office gross of $45M, the second-largest Thursday preview in North America, behind The Force Awakens — The Force remains unstoppable as Disney-Lucasfilm's “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” opened with $45 million on Thursday night.
Discussion:
Box Office Mojo, Deadline, Forbes, IndieWire, The A.V. Club, Fortune and UPROXX
Janko Roettgers / Variety:
Vevo CEO Erik Huggers Is Stepping Down — Erik Huggers is stepping down as the president and CEO of the major-label-owned music video platform Vevo, the company announced Friday. CFO Alan Price will be stepping in as interim CEO while the company is looking for new leadership.
Discussion:
TechCrunch, Music Week and Axios
Steve Dent / Engadget:
YouTube debuts 360-degree YouTube VR app on Steam in early access for HTC Vive, but users of the beta are reporting several problems from bugs to crashes — There's a lot of VR content out there, but much of it is for one platform or another — what works on Gear VR may not on Daydream, the HTC Vive or the Oculus Rift.
David Shepardson / Reuters:
Sources: FCC to fine Sinclair Broadcasting $13.3M after it failed to disclose programming that aired on local TV stations was sponsored by a cancer institute — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Federal Communications Commission plans to fine Sinclair Broadcasting Corp $13.3 million after it failed …
Discussion:
@hshaban
Jamie Grierson / The Guardian:
BBC appoints Fran Unsworth, currently director of BBC World Service Group, as director of news and current affairs, replacing James Harding — Head of World Service Group to take up role as director of news and current affairs after departure of James Harding
Discussion:
Press Gazette
Sid Bedingfield / Washington Post:
How John G. Briggs Jr., a reporter for The New York Times in the 1950s, secretly held a side gig attacking perceived liberal bias including that of his employer — The untold story of the double agent who attacked the paper from within — The Washington Post reporters who turned the tables …
Discussion:
@notjessewalker, @sopandeb, @madebyhistory and @zwoolfe
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