Top News:
Craig Silverman / BuzzFeed:
Researchers say publisher of Newsweek and IBTimes used fraudulent methods to inflate traffic to get ad deals; company acknowledges buying traffic, denies fraud — Several of Newsweek Media Group's business websites are buying and manipulating traffic that originates on pirated video streaming sites.
Discussion:
Newsweek, @hadas_gold, The Wrap, @craigsilverman, Mic, Business Insider, @swiftonsecurity, @daniel_knauf, @bmorrissey, @morninggloria, @metacurity and @craigsilverman
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Hadas Gold / CNNMoney:
Etienne Uzac, co-owner and chairman of Newsweek Media Group, resigns along with his wife, Marion Kim, company finance director, amid probe of company finances — The co-owner and chairman of Newsweek Media Group and his wife, who acted as the company's finance director …
Discussion:
The Daily Caller and Talking Biz News
Financial Times:
Sources: BuzzFeed Editor Ben Smith has held preliminary talks with the Emerson Collective, funded by Laurene Powell Jobs, about investing in BuzzFeed News — The editor of BuzzFeed has had discussions with the company started by Laurene Powell Jobs, the widow of the late Steve Jobs …
Discussion:
CNNMoney, Recode, Fast Company, Variety, @oliverdarcy, Bloomberg, BloombergQuint, @perlberg, @markdistef, @erik_hayden, @pkafka, @mikeisaac, @rafat and @claranellist
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, @attackerman, @stevenlevy, @mattervc, @binarybits, @rafat, @mmasnick, @lmoses, @nxthompson, @nxthompson, @jason_pontin, @kottke, @jasontanz and Talking Biz News
Caroline Lees / European Journalism Observatory:
Reuters study: in Italy and France, false news sites' reach is much lower than that of news sites; Facebook interactions for a few false sites exceed news orgs — The first research into false news sites in Europe reveals that fake news sites in France and Italy have a far more limited reach than is often assumed.
Discussion:
Reuters Institute …, Nieman Lab, @melissakchan, @melissakchan, @dpfunke, @rasmus_kleis, @jayrosen_nyu, @rasmus_kleis, @sohnic and Reuters Institute …
Anthony Ha / TechCrunch:
Instagram announces plan to bring Carousel Ads to Stories, letting advertisers show up to three photos or videos in Stories — It's been less than a year since Instagram brought advertising to Instagram Stories — a format that its owner Facebook said in November has more than 300 million daily users.
Discussion:
Instagram for Business, Ad Age, Engadget and Fast Company, more at Techmeme »
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Ryan Faughnder / Los Angeles Times:
Owner of The Hollywood Reporter and Billboard combines media outlets with Dick Clark Productions and House of Cards producer MRC to create Valence Media — Media investor Todd Boehly is reshaping his entertainment empire with a complex deal that puts three very different Hollywood companies under the same corporate umbrella.
Discussion:
Hollywood Reporter, The Wrap, Business Wire, Billboard and Variety
Liz Moyer / CNBC:
CBS and Viacom say both companies have formed board committees to explore a merger — CBS and Viacom are nearer to officially starting talks on reuniting. — The companies said in separate statements Thursday that their boards have formed exploratory committees to mull a deal.
Discussion:
Variety, Radio & Television …, Adweek, The Wrap, Broadcasting & Cable, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, PR Newswire and @asharma
Parker Higgins / Freedom of the Press Foundation:
Freedom of the Press Foundation unveils an online archive using Archive-It, to preserve news sites threatened by powerful individuals, starts with Gawker.com — Freedom of the Press Foundation is launching an online archives collection in partnership with Archive-It, a service developed …
Discussion:
The New York Observer, @barryeisler, Wired, TechCrunch, @bartongellman, Engadget, New York Times, The Next Web, Fast Company and @internetarchive
Joe Pompeo / Vanity Fair:
Medium hires Siobhan O'Connor, who had been executive editor of Time, as vice president of editorial, reporting to Ev Williams — Time Inc. vet editor Siobhan O'Connor will be in charge of creating stories to pull readers past the paywall. — Medium, the pro-am Web-publishing outfit founded …
Shareen Pathak / Digiday:
Amazon's “other” revenue category, which is mostly from ads, grew to $1.7B in Q4, a 60% rise YoY, small revenue compared to Google, Facebook, but growing faster — In its fourth-quarter earnings today, the company reported that “other” revenue, which mostly means advertising …
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:
TechCrunch, Multichannel News, MacRumors, FierceCable, Engadget, The Verge and The Wrap, more at Techmeme »
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