Mediagazer: Examining the ethics of journalists buying Twitter followers, after the suspension of Chicago Sun-Times movie critic Richard Roeper (Paul Farhi/Washington Post)

Facebook's daily active user base in the US and Canada fell for the first time ever in Q4, dropping to 184M from 185M in Q3 — It was a small but negative change to daily active users in Facebook's most valuable market. — Here's a troubling data point if you're a Facebook investor …

Discussion: CNBC, @privacymatters, Bloomberg, ZDNet, MediaNama, @dhh, @bloombergasia, The Next Web, Fortune, @jmichaelwaller, GeekWire and Vanity Fair, more at Techmeme »

Richard Nieva / CNET:

Mark Zuckerberg says showing fewer viral videos reduced the total time people spent on Facebook by ~50M hours every day, as MAUs reach 2.13B, up 14% YoY — The world's biggest social network is almost minting money, but Mark Zuckerberg has warned news feed changes could hurt business.

Discussion: Facebook, CNBC, Press Gazette, Vanity Fair, @joshconstine, BGR, Recode, TechCrunch, Ad Age, The Wrap, New York Times, New York Magazine, VentureBeat, AdExchanger, Forbes, TechCrunch, CNBC, Business Insider, Variety and @anthony, more at Techmeme »

Eric Johnson / Recode:

Wired launches a metered paywall with five free articles per month, followed by a $20 annual subscription fee — Wired's wall goes up today: Four free clicks, then $20 a year. — Starting today at 9 am ET, Wired.com will have a paywall — although infrequent visitors might not notice it right away.

Discussion: Nieman Lab, Wired, WWD, @mmasnick, @kottke, @jasontanz and @attackerman

Keith J. Kelly / New York Post:

Meredith CEO Tom Harty says editorial staff face no changes yet at Time Inc. as Meredith takes over; Time Inc. CEO Rich Battista, other top executives to leave — Meredith is moving in. — The $2.8 billion acquisition of Time Inc. becomes final on Jan. 31, and Meredith officially takes over Feb. 1.

Discussion: Vanity Fair, @mediabistro, Fortune, Page Six, @davidzmorris, @abbywestnyc and TVWeek.com

Paul Farhi / Washington Post:

Examining the ethics of journalists buying Twitter followers, after the suspension of Chicago Sun-Times movie critic Richard Roeper — The greatest asset for all journalists is their credibility — the track record of accuracy that makes news consumers believe what they have to say.

Discussion: @charliemagne and The Ringer

New York Times:
Twitter accounts for celebrities and media figures lose followers after NYT probe into firm that sold followers and as officials call for scrutiny of practice

Discussion: Fortune, One Man & His Blog, Meduza.io, @wexler, Columbia Journalism Review, @grantstern, @alicialutes, @peterwsinger, @shoq, @nickconfessore, @briankrebs, @rasmus_kleis, @mathewi and @anthony, more at Techmeme »

Maxwell Tani / The Daily Beast:
Memo: The Hill bars staffers from buying Twitter followers after NYT report on Devumi selling fake followers

Discussion: Adweek, iMediaEthics, @maxwelltani, @charles_gaba and @klasfeldreports

Dirk VanderHart / Portland Mercury:

Memo: The Oregonian, owned by Advance Publications, lays off 11 newsroom staffers — After repeated rounds of layoffs, it's hard to imagine the Oregonian having anywhere else to cut. But the news business's grim prognosis marches on, so the cuts continue.

Discussion: Willamette Week, @cohencomms, @dabeard, @alecmacgillis, @danielcrowe4or, @byrosenberg, @ryanchittum, @leah_sottile, @ryanchittum, @lucashammill, @ryanchittum, @editorswindler, @lucashammill, @editorswindler, @halejamesb and Blazer's Edge

Alexandra Alter / New York Times:

National Book Awards will recognize translated books, giving awards jointly to living authors and translators for works published in the US — The National Book Awards, among the most prestigious literary prizes, are going global. — Starting this year, the National Book Foundation …

Discussion: Publishers Weekly, Bookseller News, @scottesposito, @philnel, @likaluca, @likaluca, Melville House Books and NPR

David Katzmaier / CNET:

YouTube TV is now available on select Roku devices for $35/month; YouTube says the service is coming to Apple TV “very soon” — YouTube's $35-per-month alternative to cable TV is now on the most popular streaming platform. — Just in time for the big game, the Winter Olympics …

Discussion: Multichannel News, TechCrunch, The Wrap, FierceCable, MacRumors, The Verge and Engadget, more at Techmeme »

Lucia Moses / Digiday:

A look at the economic shifts as publishers move from guaranteed payments to revenue sharing with content recommendation services like Outbrain and Taboola — For the past three years, publishers have benefited from fat guarantees from content recommendation services like Outbrain and Taboola.

Discussion: @randfish, @simonowens and @mathewi

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Pandora announces restructuring, shifting resources to ad tech and audience development, cutting workforce by 5% to save $45M annually, will expand in Atlanta — Pandora Media is pink-slipping about 5% of its workforce, a move the streaming-music company said will help it save $45 million annually.

Discussion: TechCrunch, Fast Company, Radio & Television …, MediaPost, RAIN News, Pandora, Business Insider, Radio Ink, @conorsen, AdExchanger, MarketWatch, @urvaksh and TechCrunch, more at Techmeme »

Nellie Andreeva / Deadline:

Podcast network Gimlet Media launches Gimlet Pictures, a new film and TV division headed by Chris Giliberti — Podcast network Gimlet Media is establishing a footprint in film and television with the launch of Gimlet Pictures, a new film and television arm headed by the company's Chris Giliberti.

Scott Roxborough / Hollywood Reporter:

126 prominent European screenwriters and directors sign open letter urging EU lawmakers to adopt copyright law aimed at better compensating creatives online — The 126 signatories, including directors Alan Parker, Stefan Ruzowitzky and Agnieszka Holland, are pushing for the European Union …

Alex Kantrowitz / BuzzFeed:

Twitter now says 1.4M+ US users interacted with tweets from Russia-linked accounts during 2016 election, up from 670K previously announced, has notified them — Twitter on Wednesday said it notified 1.4 million people in the US that they engaged with Kremlin-linked troll accounts during the 2016 US election.

Discussion: @cfarivar, @propornot, The Hill, @markseibel, Recode, TechCrunch, Engadget, Fortune, @kantrowitz and @kimzetter, more at Techmeme »