Top News:
Megan Farokhmanesh / The Verge:
Twitch tightens community guidelines for hateful behavior, harassment, and sexually suggestive conduct, effective Feb. 19 — New rules go into effect this month — Twitch is enacting stricter policies in the interest of curbing harassment and sexually suggestive behavior.
Discussion:
Twitch Blog, Twitch.tv, TechCrunch, Kotaku, Kotaku, Fast Company, VentureBeat, Gamasutra, @skyhookart, CinemaBlend, @pretzel_rocks, @twitch, Engadget, @barnacules, @penphiva, @valroths, @rt_lozelda, Polygon, @nowyouseebree, @twitch, @riottiza and @tamsinwood92
Sydney Ember / New York Times:
New York Times overall subscription revenue, which now accounts for 60% of total revenue, rose to more than $1B for 2017; Q4 revenue rose 10% YoY to $484M — In a tough environment for journalism, The New York Times Company continued to post significant subscriber growth, propelling the company to a healthy 2017.
Discussion:
Recode, The New York Observer, Business Wire, Poynter, @ceciliakang, AdExchanger, @mattblaze, @dangoodin001, @bernardchickey, @bruceanderson, @ryanchittum, Ad Age, @adrianmorrow, The New York Times Company, @journalistslike, Jim Dwyer, @nickconfessore, @mathewi, @christophclarey, @bcappelbaum, @cliffordlevy and Wall Street Journal
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Filing: Hulu lost $920M in 2017, compared to $531M in 2016, as owners invested $1B, vs. $733M in 2016; analyst estimates losses will climb 80% in 2018 to ~$1.7B — Hulu dropped deeper into the red last year as it boosted spending on originals and launched its live TV service — and the losses are expected to mount in 2018.
Discussion:
The Wrap, Fast Company, Ubergizmo, Cord Cutters News, 9to5Mac and The Verge
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Steven Waldman / Report for America:
Report for America names 9 more news outlets that will host journalists, starting in June, including The Dallas Morning News, Chicago Sun-Times, and The Incline — The crisis in local journalism - a.k.a. the crisis in local democracy, a.k.a. why you can't find out if your water is polluted …
Selina Wang / Bloomberg:
Twitter Q4: profit of $91.1M, its first ever, revenue of $731.6M, up 2% YoY, vs. $686.4M est.; MAUs up 4% YoY but flat QoQ at 330M vs. 333M est.; stock up 10%+ — Revenue rises to $732 million, topping analysts' estimates — Efforts to fight spam, bots limited gains in user numbers
Discussion:
Recode, Fortune, VentureBeat, Wall Street Journal, The Verge, AdExchanger, Android Police, NPR, TechCrunch, TechCrunch, The Verge, Fast Company, VentureBeat, The Daily Caller, Forbes, New York Magazine, BloombergQuint, The Week, @leliosimi, @theoptionoracle, 9to5Google, @richbtig, @twitterir and @espnmichele, more at Techmeme »
Josh Constine / TechCrunch:
Facebook confirms test of “downvote” button on some comments for users to give feedback to company, with options like “Offensive”, “Misleading”, “Off Topic” — How can Facebook promote meaningful interaction between users?
Discussion:
USA Today, The Verge, The Daily Beast, @daveleebbc, @joshconstine, Business Insider and Mashable, more at Techmeme »
The Daily Northwestern:
Northwestern journalism professor Alec Klein, director of the Medill Justice Project, takes leave of absence amid probe into allegations of harassment — Medill Prof. Alec Klein, who yesterday was accused of harassment by several former students and employees of Medill, is taking a leave of absence from Northwestern.
Associated Press:
Knight Foundation grants $1.9M to Arizona State University's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism over three years to support innovation in TV news — https://apnews.com/515391b73ece4c83beaa d5f943edcdf0 — PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona State University's journalism school on Thursday …
Discussion:
Nieman Lab, TVSpy, ASU Now and Broadcasting & Cable
John Koblin / New York Times:
HBO signs deal with hosts of Pod Save America for series of TV specials ahead of midterm elections, a week after launching four shows by hosts of 2 Dope Queens — HBO is getting into podcasts. — The premium cable network has signed a deal with the hosts of the popular “Pod Save America” …
Discussion:
Variety, The Wrap, TechCrunch, Deadline, Washington Free Beacon and The Ringer
Jeff Baumgartner / Multichannel News:
SEC filing: T-Mobile paid about $325M for Denver-based Layer3 TV, to help launch T-Mobile's new TV service later this year — Will use acquisition to launch ‘disruptive’ OTT TV service later this year — T-Mobile paid about $325 million to acquire Layer3 TV, the Denver-based MVPD …
Discussion:
Multichannel News and FierceCable, more at Techmeme »
Bloomberg:
UK MPs grill Facebook, Google, Twitter execs about misinformation during first committee visit to US, suggest issues stem from lack of laws, ad revenue reliance — First public hearing by the committee outside the U.K. — U.K. lawmakers traveled to Washington for an unusual hearing …
Discussion:
Quartz, Washington Post, @profcarroll, @profcarroll, @profcarroll, @hadas_gold, @hadas_gold, The Guardian, @mathewi and BloombergQuint
Matthew Cooper / Politico:
A look inside the changes at Newsweek: changing owners, leaner budgets, and uneven standards in the last year as editors focused on traffic over accuracy — Newsweek is in shambles. Time moved to Des Moines. Is it my fault? — It was 3 a.m. on Saturday, and I was seething.
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Andrew Liptak / The Verge:
Scribd, now with 700K subscribers, brings back unlimited subscriptions for $8.99/month and ends Scribd Select, but will throttle voracious readers — But there's a small catch for voracious readers — Two years after shifting away from its unlimited subscription model in favor of monthly credits …
Discussion:
Scribd Help Center, TechCrunch, Publishers Weekly and Fast Company