Top News:
Joe Pompeo / Vanity Fair:
NYT editorial-page editor James Bennet defends op-ed page controversy, saying it publishes a variety of voices; newsroom sources voice concern and embarrassment — A yoga-pants refusenik, a climate science skeptic, and a tech writer with a neo-Nazi pal, among other offenders, have put James Bennet in the crosshairs.
Hollywood Reporter:
Weinstein Co. board of directors says in letter to bidders Maria Contreras-Sweet and Ron Burkle that they will pursue bankruptcy as talks for a sale break down — Maria Contreras-Sweet and Ron Burkle were part of a bid to buy the embattled company. — The Weinstein Co. board of directors …
Discussion:
Los Angeles Times, New York Times, CNBC, CNNMoney, The Wrap, New York Times, Deadline, Variety, Washington Post, /Film, Rolling Stone, Slate, USA Today, Billboard, Newsweek, The Hill, ABC News, The A.V. Club, The Daily Caller, 89.3 KPCC, Deadline, Mediaite, PAPERMAG, Fortune, Vanity Fair, NPR, Variety, San Francisco Chronicle, Press Association and AOL
Mark Sweney / The Guardian:
Comcast offers about £22B for Sky, a 16% premium on the offer from Murdoch's 21st Century Fox — US cable TV group outbids 21st Century Fox's existing offer for broadcasting group … Comcast is attempting to gatecrash Rupert Murdoch's takeover of Sky, submitting a rival offer …
Discussion:
Variety, Press Gazette, Variety, The Wrap, The Guardian, MarketWatch, Fortune, @financialtimes, Bloomberg, TheStreet, Telegraph, Seeking Alpha, Reuters and Wall Street Journal
Lloyd Grove / The Daily Beast:
A new book by Ryan Holiday alleges Peter Thiel considered bribery, theft, bugging, and hacking as part of his quest to destroy Gawker — Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel—who secretly schemed to annihilate Gawker Media, a goal he achieved in August 2016, and to force its founder …
Discussion:
TechCrunch, @johnjcook, @jeffbercovici, Vanity Fair, The Wrap, @rmac18, Fast Company, @williamturton, @kevinroose, @jeffbercovici, @johnjcook, @maxwellstrachan, @ashleyfeinberg and @bendwalsh
Greg Dool / Folio:
Fast Company names Vanity Fair deputy editor Stephanie Mehta as editor-in-chief — Mansueto Ventures has tapped Vanity Fair deputy editor Stephanie Mehta as the next editor-in-chief of Fast Company, CEO Eric Schurenberg announced today. — The announcement comes two months after Robert Safian …
Discussion:
@moorehn
Stewart Clarke / Variety:
CNN President Jeff Zucker says quality journalism is at risk without help from ad and tech firms, regulators should watch monopolies Facebook and Google — Jeff Zucker has called upon advertisers and tech firms to help find new way to monetize news content on mobile platforms …
Discussion:
Adweek, Business Insider, @markdice, The Daily Caller, TVNewser, UPROXX, Hollywood Reporter, CBS News and The Wrap
Kelly Weill / The Daily Beast:
Neo-Nazi group Atomwaffen Division continues to have a YouTube presence despite being implicated in five murders; YouTube says a warning label is sufficient — While social media platforms like Twitter crack down on abuse from alt-right accounts, YouTube is defending hosting propaganda videos …
Discussion:
Motherboard, @cwarzel and HuffPost
Gregg Kilday / Hollywood Reporter:
Turner's FilmStruck to add classic Hollywood movies from Warner Bros. film library as Warner Archive to shutter its streaming service — Turner and Warner Bros. Digital Networks have struck a new pact that will bring classics like ‘Casablanca’ to the streaming service.
Paul Sawers / VentureBeat:
YouTube Live gets automatic English captions, live chat replays, and location tagging — YouTube today announced a trio of new features for its YouTube Live streaming service. — Arguably the most interesting of the new features is automatic captions. YouTube has offered captioning functionality since 2006.
Brian Steinberg / Variety:
CBS is launching CBS Sports HQ, a free 24-hour streaming service dedicated to sports coverage — CBS is taking another swing at the streaming-video sector with the launch of a free 24-hour digital sports-news outlet known as CBS Sports HQ. — Executives said the service will feature live news …
Daniel Boffey / The Guardian:
Slovakian journalist investigating claims of tax fraud linked to ruling party shot dead — Police chief says murder of reporter and his girlfriend is probably linked to his work … A journalist investigating alleged tax fraud involving businessmen connected to Slovakia's ruling party has been found murdered alongside his girlfriend.
Discussion:
DW.COM, @jaspjackson, Daily Mail, The Independent, Newsweek, Politico, BBC, Washington Post, CNN, Bloomberg, AOL, BuzzFeed, Financial Times, The Slovak Spectator, Committee to Protect … and Associated Press
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
One-time Flickr rival 500px acquired by Visual China Group, the “Getty of China”, which had been one of its strategic investors — 500px, the photo-sharing site that once proposed to take on Flickr and Getty, has been acquired by Visual China Group (VCG), a strategic investor in 500px via previous financings.
Discussion:
PetaPixel, Tech Startups, BetaKit, PR Newswire and Android Police, more at Techmeme »