Mediagazer: Apple and Kevin Durant's Thirty Five Media to develop a scripted drama; NBA's Tony Parker, Blake Griffin, Steve Nash also have scripted projects in the works (Brooks Barnes/New York Times)

3:35 PM ET, February 18, 2018

Top News:

Alex Kantrowitz / BuzzFeed:

President Trump uses tweets on Russian ad spending from Facebook ads VP Rob Goldman to call reporters covering election interference the “Fake News Media” — President Trump approvingly passed along comments from Facebook ads VP Rob Goldman on Saturday, using Goldman's remarks …

Discussion: @robjective, @jbenton, TechCrunch, @robjective, @realdonaldtrump, @realdonaldtrump, @realdonaldtrump, The New York Observer, Wired, @robjective, @justinhendrix, @robjective, Vanity Fair, Business Insider, Mother Jones, @boztank, @karaswisher, @robjective, The Verge, CNN, The Federalist, Recode, @karaswisher, @robjective, New York Magazine, RT, @sarahcuda, @jayrosen_nyu, @katienotopoulos, @jayrosen_nyu, @nathanchubbard, CNBC, @peter_tl, @carnage4life, @mediadissector, @kevinroose, @jacobwe, @maxboot, @mollymckew, @page88, @rcohen, @chronic, @bakari_sellers, @joshhendler, @flyosity, @emilybell, @samswey, @juddlegum, AOL, Gizmodo, @wikileaks, @govhowarddean, @joshtpm, @bmorrissey, @philippereines, Splinter, The Hill, @jtemple, U.S. Department of Justice, Mediaite, @evan_mcmullin, @jason_kint, @alexburnsnyt, @davidfrum, @tvietor08, @mat, @pkafka, @pkafka and John Tuteur, more at Techmeme »

Dustin Volz / Reuters:

Facebook says it will mail postcards to would-be buyers of election-related ads mentioning federal candidates, will have codes to verify identity and location — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Facebook Inc will start using postcards sent by U.S. mail later this year to verify the identities …

Discussion: TechCrunch, New York Times, CNBC, BuzzFeed, Gizmodo, @husca, The Hill, The Drum, Engadget, The Verge and USA Today, more at Techmeme »

CNBC:

US indicts 13 Russian nationals and 3 Russian entities, including Internet Research Agency, in Mueller's probe into Russian interference in the 2016 elections — - Special counsel Robert Mueller said a grand jury had indicted 13 Russian nationals and three Russian entities for alleged interference in the 2016 presidential election.

May Jeong / Wired:

Kim Wall's friend tries to find out how she died, profiles the man accused of her murder, and recounts conversations about the dangers faced by female reporters — Kim Wall went for a ride on a submarine, hoping to write a story about a maker of “extreme machines.” She never did.

Discussion: @natashalennard, @mariagallucci, @mayjeong, @mayjeong, @brookejarvis, Longreads and Fortune

Brooks Barnes / New York Times:

Apple and Kevin Durant's Thirty Five Media to develop a scripted drama; NBA's Tony Parker, Blake Griffin, Steve Nash also have scripted projects in the works — LOS ANGELES — Kevin Durant, for the record, has no aspirations to act. — “I haven't really seen a lot of 6-foot-10 actors …

Discussion: San Bernardino Sun

Sahil Patel / Digiday:

Wojcicki sees YouTube Red as a music service, has no plans to compete with video streaming services; media execs say subscriptions make creators little revenue — What, exactly, is YouTube Red? That's a question creators and YouTube network executives might want to ask more than two years …

Discussion: @trengriffin

Maria Bustillos / Columbia Journalism Review:

An overview of digital media archives, like the Wayback Machine, and their responsibilities in the face of authoritarian regimes and the “billionaire problem” — When an online news outlet goes out of business, its archives can disappear as well. The new battle over journalism's digital legacy.

Discussion: @pressfreedom, @gabrielsnyder and @cjr

Shawn Musgrave / Politico:

How 4chan trolls organized to spread misinformation about Florida shooter's ties to a white supremacist group; ADL, ABC, AP, and others spread the false story — ABC, AP and others ran with false information on shooter's ties to extremist groups. — Following misrepresentations …

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Associated Press, @ap, HuffPost, New York Times, Media Matters for America, @joaquincastrotx, @kellyweill, Mediaite, BuzzFeed and The Guardian, more at Techmeme »

Ryan Faughnder / Los Angeles Times:

Weinstein Company fires president and COO David Glasser “for cause” after NY AG accused Glasser of failing to respond to complaints about Harvey Weinstein — Weinstein Co.'s president and chief operating officer, David Glasser, has been fired “for cause,” the New York entertainment …

Discussion: CNNMoney, Variety, Associated Press, New York Times and IndieWire

Peter Kafka / Recode:

Overtime, a startup that wants to turn high school jocks into social media stars, raises $9.5M Series A from investors including a16z and Kevin Durant — Low-cost content that's built for social sharing = $9.5 million in new funding from Andreeseen Horowitz and Kevin Durant.

Discussion: @cwarzel, @pkafka, Hollywood Reporter, SportsBusiness Daily, Variety and Business Insider

Benjamin Mullin / Wall Street Journal:

The New York Times launches nytDEMO, a data science and analytics team that will adapt its internal tools for advertisers — Team will help lure marketers with tools to predict which articles will resonate with certain readers to better target advertising — Publishers are increasingly …

Discussion: @dsi_columbia, @wsj and Editor & Publisher

Klint Finley / Wired:

Google says 42% of sites notified made preemptive changes ahead of Chrome ad blocker launch; fewer than 1% of most popular sites violate suggested ad guidelines — YOU MIGHT SEE fewer ads on the web from now on. But you probably won't. — On Thursday, Google Chrome …

Discussion: @jason_kint and @jyarow, more at Techmeme »

Jack Shafer / Politico:

The shift to a reader-sustained business model means subscriptions cancellations and reader boycotts will have a bigger impact on revenue and possibly coverage — With its shift in business models, the paper of record will inevitably change to reflect its new masters.

Discussion: @noahcrothman and @nycsouthpaw

Barry Schwartz / Search Engine Land:

After signing a licensing deal with Getty, Google Image Search removes View Image button; Search by Image button also removed but still works through search bar — Google has removed the View Image button and the Search by Image feature when viewing an individual image within Google Image Search.