Mediagazer: Q&A with Dipayan Ghosh, former Facebook adviser, on how political disinformation is succeeding because of the digital advertising market (Casey Newton/The Verge)

6:35 PM ET, January 31, 2018

Top News:

Darren Rovell / ESPN:

21st Century Fox wins 5-year contract for NFL's Thursday Night Football in deal sources say is worth $660M+/year; streaming rights to be sold in next few weeks — Thursday Night Football is changing networks once again. — The NFL announced Wednesday morning that the package will go to Fox for the next five seasons.

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, TechCrunch, Recode, @kantrowitz and Engadget, 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: The Wrap, Facebook, TechCrunch, VentureBeat, Forbes, Ad Age, TechCrunch, Variety, Recode, CNBC and @anthony, more at Techmeme »

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 — Federal and state authorities are investigating the sellers of artificial followers and other fraudulent social media engagement.

Discussion: Columbia Journalism Review, @grantstern, @alicialutes, @peterwsinger, @shoq, @nickconfessore, @briankrebs, @rasmus_kleis, Engadget, @anthony, @mathewi, @nickconfessore, New York Magazine and Adweek

Maxwell Tani / The Daily Beast:

Memo: The Hill bars staffers from buying Twitter followers after NYT report on Devumi selling fake followers — The Hill announced to its staffers Wednesday morning that employees are now prohibited from purchasing Twitter followers. The new rule, conveyed via an internal memo obtained by The Daily Beast …

Discussion: Washington Post, The Ringer, @maxwelltani, @charles_gaba, @klasfeldreports, Gizmodo and MediaNama

Vanity Fair:

Alt-right personality Mike Cernovich has made a $500K bid for Gawker's assets — A leaked pitch deck shows how Cernovich would turn Gawker into a platform for his media ambitions—and, perhaps, a cudgel to get back at a site that once called him a “D-list right-winger.”

Discussion: Freedom of the Press …, Fast Company, Wonkette, @cernovich, @katiedrumm, @jordansarge, @willsommer, @crislopezg, @tina_nguyen, Mediaite and The Wrap

John Koblin / New York Times:

Netflix resumed production of the sixth season of House of Cards on Tuesday, after a three-month hiatus following Kevin Spacey allegations and firing from show — Kevin Spacey is out. Diane Lane and Greg Kinnear are in. — The sixth and final season of “House of Cards” …

Discussion: Hollywood Reporter, /Film, @joeconchatv, @angryblacklady, @koblin, @mikiebarb, The New York Observer, Mashable, Vanity Fair, Washington Post and Consequence of Sound

James Warren / Poynter:

Memo: Jeffrey Good, an executive editor at New England-based Pioneer Valley Newspaper group, said he was fired for advocating equal pay for female employees — Jeffrey Good, executive editor of Newspapers of New England's Pioneer Valley Newspaper group, said he's been fired for advocating equal pay for women employees.

Discussion: Jezebel, @dabeard, @jackhevans, @claire_bushey, @karenmcgrane, @williams_paige, @taylormtelford, @poynter, @mattwaite, @davis7d, @drewharwell, @lisagartner, @ajfriedenberger, @monaeltahawy and @jessicayellin

Jim Bankoff / Vox Media:

Memo: Vox CEO Jim Bankoff says company hit its financial targets for 2017, says hiring growth will slow in 2018, and hints at some projects being “scaled back” — Vox Media Chairman & CEO Jim Bankoff on an era where quality, scale and sustainability matter more than ever.

Discussion: Business Insider, @jayrosen_nyu, @jonsteinberg, @plante, @voxmediainc, @jeremymbarr, @petersontee, @lmoses, @gavinpurcell, @mattyglesias, @sarafischer, @petersontee, @charlie_l_hall, @jason_kint and @hollygressley

US Securities and Exchange Commission:

Pandora announces restructuring, shifting resources to ad tech and audience development, cutting workforce by 5% in Q1 but expanding in Atlanta — Pandora Redesigns Organization to Drive Strategic Priorities and Accelerate Growth — Pandora (NYSE:P), the largest music streaming service in the U.S. …

Discussion: Radio & Television …, MediaPost, Variety, TechCrunch, Business Insider, MarketWatch, AdExchanger and Radio Ink

Om Malik:

Decline in ratings for the Grammy Awards, down 24% from 2017, shows how media consumption has moved away from long TV shows, especially for shows about music — According to the Wall Street Journal, television viewership for the 60th Grammy Awards was down 24 percent from 2017 …

Discussion: @steverubel, @marccanter4real, CNNMoney, Deadline and Variety

Georg Szalai / Hollywood Reporter:

BBC Director-General Tony Hall says the corporation made a “mistake” in failing to review Carrie Gracie's salary as China editor — Tony Hall appears in London's House of Commons in a public evidence session along with other top executives of the public broadcaster and former China editor Carrie Gracie.

BBC:
Speaking to MPs, Carrie Gracie said the BBC offered her £100K in back pay and said she hadn't earned as much as male colleagues because she was “in development”

Discussion: The Guardian, Press Association, The Guardian, @markdistef, Chorley Citizen, @jamesworldnews, @janemartinson, Chorley Citizen, Daily Mail, @christineelmer and BBC

Alex Balk / The Awl:

The Awl, born in 2009 from the idea that intelligent readers wanted resonant, weird, and amusing news and ideas, has now passed away; archives survive — The Awl was born of the following thoughts: What if there were a website with a wealth of resonant, weird, important, frightening and amusing bits of news and ideas?

Discussion: @snackwave_julie, @tcarmody, @jyarvin, @andrewlavallee, @mishaangrist, @johndelsignore and @casey_cac

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More News:

Variety:
YouTube TV buys rights to games for Los Angeles Football Club, a new MLS team, with about 18 games to be exclusive on a channel for LA-based subscribers only

Discussion: Engadget and @reshmanuel

Silvia Killingsworth / The Awl:
An administrative error at Gizmodo Media Group led to newsroom staffers learning that Felix Salmon was earning $400K+ before he left Fusion

Henry C. Jackson / Politico:
On Tuesday, Hillary Clinton criticized the NYT over its handling of Glenn Thrush's case, while responding to a story about an aide accused of sexual misconduct

Discussion: @cgasparino

Columbia Journalism Review:
When CJR asked readers to tell their stories of harassment in the newsroom, 300+ responded - and the magazine has published each one

Discussion: @heidigroover, @c_chisholm, @juliaccarpenter, @hansenkarenm, @sydbrownstone, @aimeelevitt, @c_chisholm, @mdlaplante, @cjr, @sesmith, @lauren_kelley, @nausjcaa, @rasmus_kleis, @jon_allsop, @alexandrianeas, @cjr, @kylepope and @jmsummers

Casey Newton / The Verge:
Q&A with Dipayan Ghosh, former Facebook adviser, on how political disinformation is succeeding because of the digital advertising market

Discussion: Recode, The Guardian, Vanity Fair, Slate, Bloomberg, @loullysaney, @caseynewton and Fast Company, more at Techmeme »

Agence France-Presse:
Foreign correspondents in China are increasingly facing interference from officials, with 1 in 12 of those surveyed claiming they were manhandled or punched

Discussion: @wang_maya

Earlier Picks:

Patrick Frater / Variety:
HBO will launch in Japan on Amazon Prime Video on April 1, with the first six seasons of Game of Thrones and ~50 other past and current shows available

Discussion: FierceCable

Miranda Katz / Wired:
Podcasters first look at Apple's Podcast Analytics data shows listeners are highly engaged, with many listening to 80-90% of shows, and prefer longer formats

Discussion: @justinspratt, @mims, @jeroedeb, @marcoarment, @ezraklein, @ataussig, RAIN News and Fast Company

Yimian Wu / China Money Network:
Bytedance, operator of Chinese news app Toutiao, sues Baidu for unfair competition, claims Baidu deliberately places negative news about Toutiao in top results

Discussion: ecns, TechNode, South China Morning Post and globaltimes.cn

Chad Bray / New York Times:
Private equity firm Blackstone buys 55% stake in Thomson Reuters financial and risk division, valuing the unit at $20B including debt

Discussion: Bloomberg, Financial Times, @dnvolz, Bloomberg, Reuters and Reuters

Kathy E. Gill / WiredPen:
Creators of FactStream app for iOS tested curation of live fact checks of State of the Union speech, sourced from Washington Post, PolitiFact, FactCheck.org

Discussion: Nieman Lab, @billadairduke, Washington Post, Duke Reporters' Lab, @dukesanford and @rebeccaiannucci

From Techmeme:

Emma Roth / The Verge:
Mark Zuckerberg says Threads is testing custom feeds for certain profiles or topics; the Threads' version seems easier to use than Bluesky's custom feeds

Jibin Joseph / PCMag:
UK mobile operator Virgin Media O2 creates Daisy, an AI-generated “scambaiter” tool that mimics the voice of an elderly woman to waste scammers' time

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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