Mediagazer: Sources: Viacom and CBS vice-chairwoman Shari Redstone to consider a merger of the two media companies; Redstone's National Amusements controls both companies (The Wrap)

7:00 PM ET, January 12, 2018

Top News:

Jason Koebler / Motherboard:

Facebook's News Feed changes liberate the media industry from Facebook's whims; journalism engineered for an algorithm is not journalism, it's marketing — Thursday, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg told the New York Times that the social network will revamp its news feed to emphasize “meaningful interaction” between friends and family.

Discussion: Nieman Lab, Digiday, @craigsilverman, The Atlantic, Polis, TechCrunch, New York Times, BuzzMachine, @gisellalomax, @adriennelaf, @jamesgleick, @jason_koebler, Business Insider, Peter O'Kelly's Reality Check and Fast Company, more at Techmeme »

Mike Isaac / New York Times:

Zuckerberg says News Feed will focus on what friends share, de-emphasize content from publishers and brands as it moves to favor interactions over passive posts — SAN FRANCISCO — Facebook introduced sweeping changes to the kinds of posts, videos and photos that its more than two billion members …

Discussion: Musings of Modern Day Nomads, Media Matters for America, Adweek, Digiday, Fast Company, Columbia Journalism Review, CNBC, Financial Times, Mark Zuckerberg, Vox, TechCrunch, Facebook, Fortune, Business Insider, One Man & His Blog, Variety, Social Media Week, The Guardian, Recode, Mashable, CNNMoney, the Econsultancy blog, WIRED UK, UPROXX, The Daily Caller, Bloomberg, Hollywood Life, The Hill, Gizmodo, Bustle, AdExchanger, New York Magazine, Forbes, BetaNews, One Man & His Blog, The Wrap, FOX59, Nieman Lab, The Next Web, Vanity Fair, Press Gazette, USA Today, MediaNama, @sarthakgh, Ad Age, Financial Times, @craigsilverman, The Verge, @rasmus_kleis, France 24, @kantrowitz, VentureBeat, BuzzFeed, MacRumors, @dskok, Peter O'Kelly's Reality Check, @ia, Engadget, @jonrussell, @jbenton, @lookner, @bendreyfuss, TIME, @lukeoneil47, @jgrovum, @mattgarrahan, @mathewi, Chris Cox, @caseynewton, @perlberg, @paul_shetler, @w7voa, @juddlegum, @sanasaeed, @oldrowswig, @lukeoneil47, @hannahkuchler, @zeynep, @247ls, @craigsilverman, 9to5Mac and WebProNews, more at Techmeme »

Lucia Moses / Digiday:

Publishers briefed on News Feed changes say Facebook told them reputable publishers will also be surfaced, though term was undefined, traffic impact was unclear — The end is nigh. Facebook is planning a major change to its news feed, starting as early as next week, that will decisively favor user content …

Noreen Malone / The Cut:

Footage from January 2016 shows MSNBC Hardball host Chris Matthews joking about a “Bill Cosby pill” during Hillary Clinton interview setup; Matthews apologizes — On January 5, 2016, MSNBC Hardball host Chris Matthews interviewed Hillary Clinton in an Iowa fire station during the Democratic primary season.

Discussion: CNNMoney, The Hill, Mediaite, TVNewser, The Wrap, Washington Times, Hollywood Reporter, The Daily Caller, Raw Story, AOL, The Week, @jackmirkinson, Bustle, @msully_94, @amber_athey, @_karensayss, @just_jenna and UPROXX

Taylor Lorenz / The Daily Beast:

Leaked DAU metrics from April to September show that only 20% of Snapchat users consume content from Discover Edition daily — Snapchat takes its secrecy seriously. Very, very seriously. — Take the case of one former Snapchat employee. On his first day, he was forced to sit through …

Discussion: TechCrunch, the Econsultancy blog, Business Insider and VatorNews, more at Techmeme »

Michael M. Grynbaum / New York Times:

How news outlets handled the decision to repeat President Trump's “shithole” comment, and why some editors decided readers needed to see the word — Lester Holt opened the “NBC Nightly News” on Thursday with a parental warning: “This may not be appropriate for some of our younger viewers.”

Discussion: Washington Post, The Wrap, Forbes, Poynter, CNBC, Media Matters for America, @pittsburghpg, Bustle, Splinter, Fortune, BKLYNER, AOL, Washingtonian, USA Today, Rolling Stone, Business Insider, @nyt_first_said, New York Magazine, Vox, Quartz, Mediaite, Mother Jones, Hit & Run, ThinkProgress, The A.V. Club, Washingtonian, Wonkette, KTLA, The Guardian, @b_fung, Global Voices, Jezebel, The Daily Caller, The Daily Beast, Miami New Times, @scottdetrow, The Week, Mashable, @sulliview, The Daily Beast, Columbia Journalism Review, UPROXX, Hollywood Life, France 24, Vanity Fair, @bbcjamescook, @bgrueskin, @alexhousethomas, @annafifield, @abeaujon, @edatpost, Variety, @marycaitlinbyrd, @palafo, @grynbaum, @nyteileen, @davidfolkenflik, Chris Riemenschneider, Gabriella CF, Washington Monthly, @samjcharles, @dinahvp, @sarah_k_brooks, @marycaitlinbyrd, NPR, @nydailynews, @davidaxelrod, @steventdennis, Charles Apple, @lpolgreen, Charles Gasparino, @doylealbee, @farhip, TIME and WGN-TV

Scott Nover / Poynter:

Critics fault BBC for uneven application of rules that prevent journalists who publicly support Carrie Gracie and equal pay from covering the topic — Carrie Gracie's resignation sent shock waves through Britain. Gracie, the former China editor for BBC News, resigned from her post Sunday …

Discussion: New York Times

Helena Horton / Telegraph:

BBC lets John Humphrys keep presenting on equal pay despite Humphrys being accused of mocking Carrie Gracie's equal pay stand in breach of impartiality rules — The BBC has said John Humphrys will continue to present segments on Equal Pay - because the broadcaster does not feel his comments …

Discussion: The Sun, The Times & The Sunday Times, @claire_phipps, @dawnbutlerbrent, The Guardian, @jane__bradley, Mashable, The Guardian, Press Gazette, @horton_official, @horton_official, @claire_phipps and @markdistef

The Wrap:

Sources: Viacom and CBS vice-chairwoman Shari Redstone to consider a merger of the two media companies; Redstone's National Amusements controls both companies — Viacom and CBS vice-chairwoman Shari Redstone is pursuing a merger of the two media companies that split more than a decade ago …

Discussion: Bloomberg, Multichannel News, CNNMoney, The New York Observer, CNBC, TVWeek.com, Reuters, Variety, @cnbcnow, @edmundlee, @tylerauggied and @edmundlee

David Cohen / Adweek:

Facebook signs licensing deals with Global Music Rights, HFA/Rumblefish, and Kobalt, allowing users post music and music videos on Facebook, Instagram, Oculus — The partnerships followed similar deals with Universal Music Group and Sony/ATV — Music continued to fill the air in Menlo Park …

Discussion: Facebook Media, RAIN News, Billboard, Variety, Music Ally, hypebot, Bloomberg and 9to5Mac, more at Techmeme »

Charlie Warzel / BuzzFeed:

Screenshots show the coordinated harassment campaigns against conservative media by Twitter trolls who support far-right congressional candidate Paul Nehlen — When Steve Bannon, Breitbart, and other conservatives cut ties with far-right activist and congressional candidate Paul Nehlen …

Discussion: @yair_rosenberg, @anthony, @karaswisher, @anildash, @chiangku and The Week

TechCrunch:

Source: Verizon is working on an OTT offering that could package channels focusing on news, entertainment, and sports as standalone apps, using Oath content — Jan 12, 2018, 4:23 amJan 12, 2018, 8:39 am — At CES, the big consumer electronics show underway this week in Las Vegas …

Discussion: FierceCable, more at Techmeme »

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More News:

Kevin Cullen / The Boston Globe:
Publisher of the Boston Herald, Pat Purcell, defends his salary as the newspaper goes up for sale amid bankruptcy, likely shedding pension liabilities

Terry Flores / Variety:
Profile of Roku and its founder Anthony Wood, looking at the company's early days, how Roku plans to compete with its rivals, and more

Discussion: @adamnash, more at Techmeme »

Tom Kludt / CNNMoney:
Sources: Washington Post reporter Janell Ross, who spoke at a liberal conference last year, has been put on leave and is unlikely to return

Discussion: @donmoyn and The Daily Caller

Christine Schmidt / Nieman Lab:
Chicago's City Bureau trains and pays Documenters to take notes at public meetings, given absence of journalistic coverage, and is expanding to Detroit

Discussion: @laurenhorsch and @niemanlab

Earlier Picks:

Rebecca Sun / Hollywood Reporter:
Teen Vogue EIC Elaine Welteroth, who expanded the brand to cover politics, feminism, and more, is leaving the magazine and has signed with talent agency CAA

Discussion: Mediawire, @fashionista_com, Jezebel, Fashionista, The Drum, thecut and Folio

Kara Swisher / Recode:
Recode partners with MSNBC for town halls about tech's impact, hosted by Kara Swisher, Ari Melber, airing on cable and online; 1st features Google, YouTube CEOs

Discussion: Wired, Vox Media, @jess, MSNBC and Peter O'Kelly's Reality Check, more at Techmeme »

Christine Schmidt / Nieman Lab:
Xinhua News Agency rebuilds newsroom around AI, introduces “Media Brain”, a platform integrating cloud computing, Internet of Things, and AI in news production

Robert Mackey / The Intercept:
A group of Dutch journalists collectively pressed the new US ambassador about a false claim he made, in contrast to how US outlets handle Trump's false claims

Discussion: NPR, New York Times, Washington Post, Wonkette, Mediaite and The Week

From Techmeme:

Shakeel Hashim / Transformer:
New emails released as part of Elon Musk's lawsuit against OpenAI show Greg Brockman and Ilya Sutskever had serious concerns about Sam Altman as early as 2017

Yifan Yu / Nikkei Asia:
Biden admin finalizes its $6.6B CHIPS Act grant to TSMC; money will be disbursed in stages and TSMC is expected to receive at least $1B by the end of 2024

Financial Times:
Sources: xAI raised $5B at a $45B valuation, almost double its valuation a few months ago; SpaceX prepares a tender offer that would value the company at $250B+

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