Top News:
Cecilia Kang / New York Times:
Congressman says office of FCC inspector general, a nonpartisan internal watchdog, is investigating the relationship between Ajit Pai and Sinclair Broadcasting — WASHINGTON — Last April, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Ajit Pai, led the charge for his agency …
Sara Fischer / Axios:
Chartbeat: AMP traffic to publishers increased 100% since 2017 as mobile dominates traffic growth; Parse.ly data shows Facebook referral traffic fell to 25.3% — According to new data from Chartbeat, the vast majority of traffic growth publishers are seeing from platforms is now coming from Google AMP …
Discussion:
Recode, Accelerated Mobile …, Digiday and Marketing Land, more at Techmeme »
Katie Notopoulos / BuzzFeed:
How Facebook prioritizing friends' content with many comments led to a post reappearing atop people's News Feed over and over, increasing “engagement” even more — Last Saturday — 12 days ago now — I shared a cringeworthy video on Facebook: a 6-minute clip …
Discussion:
@oliverdarcy, @cwarzel, @katienotopoulos, @annehelen, @dominicholden and @aahaworth, more at Techmeme »
RELATED:
Adam Rogers / Wired:
A look at the complicated case of Quinn Norton and The New York Times, in which the NYT compounded its apparent lack of due diligence with surrender to the mob — Tuesday afternoon, The New York Times announced it was hiring an opinion writer named Quinn Norton to write about “the power, culture, and consequences of technology.”
Discussion:
Slate, @bydanielvictor, @lpolgreen, @lorenraedej and New York Magazine
Freddy Mayhew / Press Gazette:
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, WWD and One Man & His Blog
Kara Bloomgarden-Smoke / WWD:
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:
Hollywood Reporter, The Wrap, Fashionista and @mlcalderone
Michelle Dean / Columbia Journalism Review:
How the nondisclosure agreement became a tool for powerful people to stymie journalists from informing the public — At this writing, the cast of characters in the sexual harassment scandals that have been carpet-bombing the media continues to expand. Every day new women come forward to say they've had a bad experience.
Chris Ariens / TVSpy:
Tegna acquires Midwest Television's radio and TV stations in San Diego for $325M; it now owns 47 TV stations and two radio stations in 39 markets — TEGNA is adding to its station group, finalizing its $325 million cash deal for Midwest Television, Inc.'s stations in San Diego, including KFMB …
Discussion:
Radio & Television … and Broadcasting & Cable
Tracy M. Cook / American Press Institute:
Study of digital subscription costs at 100 US newspapers finds weekly costs range from $0.46 to $7.85 and the median digital subscription price is $2.31/week — The dual-revenue model of print advertising and home delivery subscriptions that historically sustained newspapers is fading.
Discussion:
Nieman Lab
Benjamin Mullin / Wall Street Journal:
Forbes replaces unpaid contributor model with contracts guaranteeing its 1,500 contributors a $250/month minimum, will cut bottom 10% of performers every year — Financial news publisher becomes the latest media company to overhaul its contributor network — Forbes has a new message …
Discussion:
Forbes, @randalllane, @chloesorvino, TechCrunch, @jayrosen_nyu and Talking Biz News
Alex Kantrowitz / BuzzFeed:
Twitter begins streaming local news broadcasts next to timeline amid major news events, displaying Miami's WSVN 7 coverage of high school shooting on Wednesday — Twitter is starting to show live, local news broadcasts in a live streaming window next to its timeline during major breaking news events.
Discussion:
The Wrap, Mashable, The Next Web, The Verge, FierceCable, Engadget, Ubergizmo, 9to5Google, @stphnfwlr, @kantrowitz and @kantrowitz, more at Techmeme »
Christine Wang / CNBC:
CBS beats analyst estimates with Q4 revenue of $3.92B, up 11% YoY; CEO says CBS All Access and Showtime OTT now have nearly 5M subscribers combined — CBS reported fourth-quarter earnings and revenue that beat analysts' expectations on Thursday. — The stock gained about 2 percent in after-hours trade following the report.
Discussion:
Variety, The Wrap, Hollywood Reporter, @cbsinvestors, @jbflint, CBS Corporation and FierceCable