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 …
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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 …
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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 …
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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 …
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@moorehn
Pete Brown / Columbia Journalism Review:
Analysis of Live videos posted by 17 brands reportedly paid by Facebook until March 2017 show number of posted videos fell 51% between April and December 2017 — THE NUMBER OF FACEBOOK LIVE videos produced by paid partners more than halved by the end of 2017—and in one case fell by as much as 94 percent …
Discussion:
One Man & His Blog
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 …
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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.
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