Top News:
Emil Protalinski / VentureBeat:
Google Chrome will start natively blocking ads that do not comply with Coalition for Better Ads guidelines on February 15 — In June, Google revealed that Chrome will stop showing all ads (including those owned or served by Google) on websites that display non-compliant ads “starting in early 2018.”
Filip Struhárik:
Facebook's Explore Feed test led to a 52% drop in interactions for Slovakian mainstream news sites, but only a 29% drop for disinformation sites — Five things we learned when Facebook's Explore Feed destroyed our organic reach. — Two months ago, Facebook launched major “reach-killing” …
Discussion:
Nieman Lab
Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
YouTube signs new long-term agreement with Universal Music Group over music rights, royalty rates; sources say Sony Music signed new agreement with YouTube, too — New Universal, Sony agreements allow video uploads to continue — Deals establish royalty rates between YouTube, rights holders
Discussion:
Business Insider, xda-developers, Variety, The Verge, 9to5Google and Axios, more at Techmeme »
Maxwell Tani / Business Insider:
Leaked documents: before sale Mashable lost $4.2M in three months through September, was set to miss revenue targets, and relied heavily on digital advertising — - Mashable was in deep trouble financially before it sold for far below its one-time valuation of $US250 million, according to documents reviewed by Business Insider.
Discussion:
Splinter, @mathewi, @thestalwart, @kmmokai, @jason_kint and Business Insider
Michelle Davis / Bloomberg:
Source: Carlos Slim plans to cut his stake in The New York Times from 17% to about 8%, selling securities in a private offering — Mexican billionaire's stake would be reduced to 8% from 17% — Structure of sale is said to create tax benefits for Slim — Billionaire Carlos Slim …
Discussion:
Financial Times, PR Newswire, @danprimack, @winnieokelley and @michellef_davis
Katherine Goldstein / Vox:
Sexual harassment and lack of institutional support has driven some female journalists out of the industry, like ex-Washington Post intern Kate Havard — “I was someone who could have gone somewhere.” — “Damn, you look hot today.” — It was 2013. Kate Havard was a reporting intern …
Discussion:
@mtdukes, @amritalamsal, @masumaahuja, @debpickett, @amlwhere, @saraashleyo, @esmcintyre, @terabithia4 and @kgeee
Associated Press:
Journalist Ta-Nehisi Coates deleted his Twitter account following a contentious exchange with Cornell West in which Richard Spencer became involved — NEW YORK (AP) — Ta-Nehisi Coates has had enough. The influential author and journalist has deleted his widely followed Twitter account, writing “peace, y'all.
Discussion:
Mediaite, The Hill, @adviserdavid, @waxelfoley, @dlind, @mightyocd, @asteadwesley, @jamilsmith, Hip-Hop Wired and @nhannahjones
Jessica Davies / Digiday:
The Telegraph to focus on gaining registered readers rather than mass-reach audience numbers and invest in editorial staff, newsletters, and events — The Telegraph wants to grow its registered readers to 10 million. The goal is to shift away from valuing mass-reach audience numbers …
Discussion:
@nickhugh75, @digiday, @cpokane and @digiday
Christopher Zara / Fast Company:
PwC: the number of Americans who subscribe to cable TV is now on par with the number who subscribe to Netflix — The balance of power in pay television is shifting. In one corner, we have Netflix. In the other corer, we have everyone else. — According to a new report from PricewaterhouseCoopers …
Discussion:
Adweek and Screen Rant
Christine Schmidt / Nieman Lab:
Q&A with David Axelrod about The Axe Files, his podcast for low-key conversational interviews; podcasts' popularity; and the challenges facing local newsrooms — “I'm not there to ask the top-ten kind of news questions of the day. I'm there to find out who people are and who motivates them …
Discussion:
@newsbyschmidt, @niemanlab and @niemanlab
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Musical.ly announces $50M Creator Fund to support users by financing college scholarships, co-development deals with individual video creators, more — Musical.ly, which makes a short-form video app popular among teens, announced that it is investing up to $50 million in a fund to support its users — or “Musers,” as it calls them.
Discussion:
Business Insider, more at Techmeme »
Erik Wemple / Washington Post:
Chartbeat: readers spent 57,949,110 minutes reading The Atlantic's feature story “My Family's Slave” by Alex Tizon, the equivalent of 110 years — Here's the media industry's reader-engagement statistic of the year: According to web-metric firm Chartbeat, readers spent 57,949,110 minutes …
Discussion:
@1bobcohn and @caitlinfrazier
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