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An audio recording of Ziff Davis executives' first meeting with Mashable staff sheds light on how the site is to be folded into existing e-commerce business — The recent trajectory of tech site Mashable has put it at the forefront of some of the worst trends reshaping digital media.
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@mlcalderone, @mathewi, @jmrivera02, @tim_bays, @saba_h, @mattrosoff, @bmorrissey, @petersterne, @moorehn and @moorehn
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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
Discussion:
@mcwm, @rafat, @daviduberti, @meena_thiru, @shortformernie, @thestalwart, @kmmokai, @mathewi and @jason_kint


Reporters Without Borders: 65 journalists were killed in 2017, the least deadly year for professionals in 14 years; Syria and Mexico are deadliest countries — Overview: figures at a glance How we calculate these figures — The 2017 round-up figures compiled by Reporters Without Borders …
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Reuters, Forbes, @adriennemahsa, DW.COM, Broadcasting & Cable, CBS News and Al Jazeera English
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Mexican reporter Gumaro Pérez was shot and killed in Veracruz on Tuesday by attackers while he was attending Christmas party at his son's school — XALAPA, Mexico (AP) — Attackers burst into an elementary school where a Christmas party was taking place and shot reporter Gumaro Perez …


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.”


Prompted by the “de-badging” of Milo Yiannopoulos, internal emails show confusion among Twitter execs over user verification policies and meaning of the badge — Emails suggest that verification was never quite what Twitter said it was and that the company was aware it served …
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Business Insider, @cennydd, Gizmodo, @kurtwagner8, @44, @cwarzel, @cwarzel, @katienotopoulos, @kantrowitz, @heatheremerrick and @lainnafader, more at Techmeme »


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, The Daily Caller, PR Newswire, @danprimack, @winnieokelley and @michellef_davis


Sources: potential Rolling Stone buyers include Penske Media plus owners of Playboy and The Hollywood Reporter and Kuok Meng Ru, founder of investor BandLab — After 50 years at his iconic magazine, Jann Wenner will soon be leaving the building, a hard act to follow. Will Jay Penske take his place?


Despite talent departures and schedule changes, Fox News still leads MSNBC and CNN in Nielsen ratings, both in overall viewers and in 25-54 age group — The cable network's ratings seem immune to turmoil. — Fox News has faced a year of upheaval. Its talent departures and schedule changes …
Discussion:
@yashar and @brendannyhan


BBC to increase religious coverage to better represent all faiths — Review reportedly finds religious people ‘poorly presented or satirised’, and suggests programming that ‘better reflects the UK’ — The BBC is set to increase its coverage of religions after a year-long review found …
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@kevin_maguire and @kevin_maguire

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:
New York Times, @grantwahl, @jamilsmith, Sifiso Mkhize, @adviserdavid, @waxelfoley, The Hill, @dlind, @mightyocd, Mediaite, @jamilsmith, @asteadwesley, Hip-Hop Wired and @nhannahjones


Rep. Marsha Blackburn proposes bill to ban site blocking and throttling but allow fast lanes and bar FCC from regulating ISPs as common carriers under Title II — FCC would be permanently barred from using Title II authority over broadband. — A Republican lawmaker is proposing …
Discussion:
@publicknowledge, Gizmodo, The Verge, The Hill, Free Press, Washington Post, Breitbart, @ceciliakang, Mashable, Multichannel News and The Next Web, more at Techmeme »


Firm pulls out of $120K contract to provide media monitoring to EPA after report that top executive was investigating EPA staff critical of Trump administration — WASHINGTON — A consulting firm has pulled out of a federal contract to provide media monitoring services to the Environmental Protection Agency …