Top News:


Since 2016, American Media has made Karen McDougal professional promises and paid $150K in a catch-and-kill arrangement for her story of her affair with Trump — One woman's account of clandestine meetings, financial transactions, and legal pacts designed to hide an extramarital affair.
Discussion:
@maggienyt, Columbia Journalism Review, The Wrap, Fast Company, Mediaite, AOL, New York Magazine, Fortune, @isaacdovere, @maggienyt, @eisingerj, Decider, Washington Post, East Bay Times, thecut, Bloomberg, Slate, Business Insider, @anthony, @jimwaterson, Variety, KTLA, Axios, Splinter, IndieWire, People.com, Hollywood Reporter, The Big Lead, Hollywood Life, The Week, The Daily Beast and New York Times


Interview with The Intercept's Research Director Lynn Dombek on researchers, their skill sets, and their role in site's Dakota pipeline and Rob Porter stories — Move over, Woodward and Bernstein. — This era's great journalistic diggers include Julie Tate, Kitty Bennett, Alice Crites, Margot Williams and Sheelagh McNeill.


District court judge says using image from tweet in a news story could violate copyright, in a case involving multiple news outlets including Vox Media, Gannett — The defendants including Breitbart, Time, Vox and the Boston Globe warned a loss would “cause a tremendous chilling effect on the core functionality of the web.”


Reporter's outreach to shooting survivors via Twitter was hindered by accounts falsifying her words and targeting her; Twitter said targeting didn't break rules — In the wake of the Florida high school shooting Wednesday, Twitter users began spreading doctored tweets targeting Miami Herald reporter Alex Harris.
Discussion:
@cwarzel, @emilybell, @mat, @noupside, @derekwillis, @marxmedia, @harrisalexc, Poynter, @hashtaggriswold, @harrisalexc and Media Matters for America


New analysis shows 36K tweets from Internet Research Agency linked most often to Breitbart News, then Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle; RT ranked 19th — Russia's disinformation campaign during the 2016 presidential election relied heavily on stories produced by major American news sources …
Discussion:
Wired, Nieman Lab, @wired, @nitashatiku, Fast Company, Jonathan Albright, @ilvestoomas, @profcarroll and @justinhendrix


Digital First Media has acquired the Boston Herald in a bankruptcy auction with an $11.9M bid, beating out GateHouse Media and Revolution Capital — Digital First Media won the Boston Herald in a five-hour bankruptcy auction with an $11.9million bid that all but settles who will carry …
Discussion:
BostonGlobe.com and @bobmcgovernjr


Magna Global: TV ad sales in the US fell 7.8% to $61.8B in 2017, the biggest drop outside a recession in at least 20 years, with no sign of a pickup in 2018 — Sales drop last year was worst outside a recession in 20 years — The peak of the market was two years ago, Magna Global says


Layoffs hit Condé Nast's Vanity Fair and Glamour, with net cuts eventually to equal about 12 positions at Vanity Fair and 5 at Glamour — Samantha Barry and Radhika Jones are cleaning house. — Condé Nast's new editors in chief are cleaning house.
Discussion:
New York Post, Folio, Hollywood Reporter, Fashionista, Fashionista, The Wrap and @mlcalderone

McClatchy reports Q4 revenue of $244.7M, down 6.7% YoY, and net income of $60.4M, compared to $3.1M in Q4 2016; digital audience revenue up 8.2% — Sacramento-based newspaper publisher McClatchy on Friday reported a year-over-year gain in fourth quarter net income for 2017, with an accompanying boost in digital subscribers.
Discussion:
McClatchy


Univision reports $3B revenue and $655M net income, says benefit from new tax law saw its tax rate reduce to ~24% from ~38% — U.S. Spanish-language media giant Univision Communications had both good and bad news to deliver during its fourth-quarter and 2017 year-end earnings report on Thursday.
Discussion:
Radio & Television …, Univision Communications and Broadcasting & Cable


Facebook partners with Lyft, Chase, Save the Children, and others to bolster its Community Help efforts by offering more information on food, transport, shelter — Facebook is amping up its Community Help efforts, now enabling companies like Lyft, Chase, International Medical Corps and Save …
Discussion:
Facebook, Forbes, Android Police, Engadget, Fast Company and Adweek, more at Techmeme »


UK magazine circulation July-December 2017: Economist up 8% YoY, Fortune EU down 32%, Spectator at all-time high as editor lauds digital for rising print sales — Spectator editor Fraser Nelson has said digital is behind a “renaissance” of print sales, which he said were at an all-time high …
Discussion:
Coffee House, One Man & His Blog and WWD