Mediagazer: Peter Thiel told Stanford student he may turn Gawker.com into a conservative investigative reporting site if he wins bid for its assets; spokesman issues denial (Ryan Mac/BuzzFeed)

6:00 AM ET, February 3, 2018

Top News:

YouTube says it will start labeling videos from state-funded broadcasters like PBS and RT, considers surfacing videos from credible sources alongside hoaxes — Google unit to provide more context around some videos — YouTube said it is planning changes to give users more context …

Discussion: CNNMoney, YouTube Blog, Hollywood Reporter, Mashable, The Next Web, Tubefilter, @gallovoa, The New York Observer, 9to5Google, Android Police, Telegraph, TV Tattle, Variety, The Verge, Gizmodo, Engadget and TechCrunch, more at Techmeme »

Brian Heater / TechCrunch:

YouTube CEO Wojcicki promises more transparency, better appeals process for demonetization, including more human reviews, and consequences for “egregious” cases — YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki took to the service's Creator Blog last night to issue some broad goals for the year forward.

Discussion: YouTube Creator Blog, Polygon, VideoInk, Android Central, Polygon, Engadget, The Verge, AndroidHeadlines.com and Tubefilter, more at Techmeme »

Dylan Byers / CNNMoney:

Sources: LA Times troubles can be traced to Tronc board manipulation by Eddy Hartenstein, Michael Ferro; Ferro seems to be using Tronc for personal enrichment — After years of painful, protracted decline, the Los Angeles Times has recently descended into chaos: There have been three editors …

Discussion: @whet, @cnn and @dylanbyers

Ricardo Lopez / Variety:
Kimi Yoshino returns to LA Times following her suspension by D'Vorkin on suspicion of leaking to outside newspapers about internal turmoil

Discussion: NPR, Talking Biz News, @byandreachang, @kyoshino and @shelbygrad

Jem Aswad / Variety:

Spotify adds songwriter, producer, and musician credits to tracks on its desktop platform — Spotify has addressed a long-standing complaint about its service by adding songwriter, producer and musician credits for tracks on its desktop platform, effective today.

Discussion: news.spotify.com, RAIN News, @kateo, @desmondchild, Fast Company, Music Week, PigeonsandPlanes, VentureBeat, Billboard, Pitchfork, TechCrunch and Engadget

Pamela McClintock / Hollywood Reporter:

Facebook appears to have deactivated a group planning to flood Rotten Tomatoes with negative audience scores for upcoming Black Panther film — Calling themselves “Down with Disney's Treatment of Franchises and its Fanboys,” the group is attempting to flood Rotten Tomatoes with poor audience scores …

Discussion: Marvel Studios News, Business Insider, Mashable, Variety, The A.V. Club, The Verge, The Wrap, Polygon, Inverse, Vanity Fair and The Daily Caller

Chicago Sun Times:

Following Chicago Sun-Times inquiry into Richard Roeper's purchase of Twitter followers, Roeper to resume reviews and has started a new Twitter account — Sign-Up for our Newsletter — On Saturday, Jan. 27, the Chicago Sun-Times became aware of a report in the New York Times …

Discussion: @nickconfessore, CBS Chicago, @jbenton, @lukeoneil47, iMediaEthics and TV Tattle

Ashley Cullins / Hollywood Reporter:

One of three founding partners of Charles Harder's law firm quits, says work for Trump and Hulk Hogan didn't square with interest in defending First Amendment — Media client concerns about the firm's docket contributed to Douglas Mirell's decision to leave.

Discussion: @vogon and @johnjcook

Ryan Mac / BuzzFeed:

Peter Thiel told Stanford student he may turn Gawker.com into a conservative investigative reporting site if he wins bid for its assets; spokesman issues denial — Peter Thiel, the billionaire venture capitalist and Facebook board member who secretly bankrolled lawsuits to undermine Gawker Media …

Discussion: @l0stsandal

Mya Frazier / Columbia Journalism Review:

Facebook, Amazon stifle public debate on tax incentives they receive by demanding prior notice before state and local govt. officials respond to FOIA requests — It was whispered like some secret oracle: Sidecat, sidecat is coming. — Negotiations over the tax incentive deal began in Ohio …

Discussion: The Hill, @lawrencehall105, @sarahfrier, @jon_allsop, @samthielman, @econ_marshall, @nitashatiku, @econ_marshall and @zephyrteachout

Alexandria Neason / Columbia Journalism Review:

Texas Monthly hires Pulitzer Prize winner Rich Oppel as ombudsman in response to CJR story about apparent deal with Bumble to promote editorial coverage — The skyline of Austin, Texas, where Texas Monthly is headquartered. Photo by KBaucherel via Pixabay — Texas Monthly is hiring an ombudsman.

Reuters:

Germany's antitrust regulator opening probe into online advertising industry as concerns arise over dominance of Google and Facebook and use of consumer data — FRANKFURT/BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's anti-trust regulator is opening an investigation into online advertising …

Reuters:

Bild editor in chief Tanit Koch resigns from the German tabloid over a dispute with digital chief Julian Reichelt, who takes over as EIC — BERLIN (Reuters) - The editor-in-chief of German red-top tabloid Bild, Europe's best-selling newspaper, quit on Friday after losing a power struggle with the head of its digital edition.

Discussion: New York Times

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Gerry Smith / Bloomberg:
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Katelyn Polantz / CNN:
Federal judge denies request by CNN, USA Today, and the Daily Caller for DOJ memos about conversations between former FBI Director James Comey and Trump

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Rebecca Morin / Politico:
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Pete Brown / Columbia Journalism Review:
One-day snapshot of Facebook Instant Articles usage shows 38 of 72 publishers did not post a single Instant Article; long-term analysis shows downward trend

Discussion: The New York Observer, @rbilton and @orskov

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Jeff Baumgartner / Multichannel News:
AT&T looks to launch next-gen version of DirecTV Now this spring and a voice-controlled client that supports DirecTV Now and other OTT services by end of year

Janko Rottgers / Variety:
Spotify is testing Stations, a Pandora-style free music app which includes some personalization options but is currently only available on some Android devices

Tatiana Siegel / Hollywood Reporter:
After dominating Sundance for the past two years, Amazon and Netflix skip acquisitions at the festival this year and instead focus on in-house productions

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Tony Romm / Washington Post:
Sources: the CFPB moves to place Google under formal federal supervision, an extraordinary move that may lead to regular inspections; Google fiercely resisted

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