Mediagazer: Netflix buys rights to Extreme Universe comics from Rob Liefeld, creator of Deadpool, in a seven-figure deal (Mike Fleming/Deadline)

6:40 PM ET, March 8, 2018

Top News:

New York Times obituaries now feature Overlooked, a series on women and people of color who hadn't received obituaries when they died, starting with 15 women — The poet Sylvia Plath and the novelist Charlotte Brontë. Ida B. Wells, the anti-lynching activist.

StarWars.com:

Iron Man director Jon Favreau to write and produce a live-action Star Wars series for Disney's new streaming service — The director of Iron Man and The Jungle Book will helm the series for Disney's new direct-to-consumer platform. — Lucasfilm is excited to announce that Emmy-nominated producer …

Maria Temming / Science News:

Study of 4.5M+ tweets from 2006 to 2017 confirms inaccurate news spreads faster and further than true stories, and humans, not bots, are primarily to blame — An analysis of 4.5 million tweets shows falsehoods are 70 percent more likely to get shared — There's been a lot of talk …

Discussion: Science, Washington Post, Gizmodo, Forbes, New York Times, TechCrunch, The Guardian, New York Magazine, Mother Jones, The Week, @sulliview, The Register, Vox, Mashable, CommonHealth, Engadget, The Verge and NBC News, more at Techmeme »

Mike Fleming / Deadline:

Netflix buys rights to Extreme Universe comics from Rob Liefeld, creator of Deadpool, in a seven-figure deal — EXCLUSIVE: Netflix has bet big on the Extreme Universe of graphic novel characters hatched by Rob Liefeld, whose disruptive Deadpool creation was the blockbuster movie surprise of 2016.

Discussion: /Film, TV Shows, Vulture, The Verge, The A.V. Club and Engadget

Dieter Bohn / The Verge:

Google says it is taking the lessons it has learned from AMP and is applying them to web standards that could allow instant loading for non-AMP web content — Can the most contentious piece of the web form the basis of a new standard? — In a blog post today, Google is announcing …

Discussion: Accelerated Mobile …, TechCrunch, Mashable, ZDNet, 9to5Google, Engadget and Search Engine Land, more at Techmeme »

Wall Street Journal:

Analysis shows that IRA-backed trolls flooded social media to oppose Romney as a possible secretary of state, following claims that Russia was opposed to him — Online campaign targeted the ex-GOP nominee as Donald Trump considered him in late 2016 — Weeks after Donald Trump was elected president …

Discussion: The Hill, more at Techmeme »

Reporters Without Borders:

Egyptian prosecutors seek death sentence for photojournalist Mahmoud Abou Zeid, who was arrested in 2013 during an anti-government protest while on assignment — Organisation — RSF_en — Prosecutors have requested a death sentence for Mahmoud Abou Zeid, an Egyptian photojournalist known …

Discussion: @kristenmctighe, @freeegyptpress and @malikramzanisra

Todd Spangler / Variety:

YouTube TV renews MLB marketing deal and adds MLB Network to channel lineup, will sponsor 2018 and 2019 World Series — YouTube TV adds MLB Network to channel lineup under expanded deal — YouTube is back in Major League Baseball's clubhouse with an expanded marketing deal that makes YouTube TV …

Discussion: Adweek, Fortune, Forbes, TechCrunch, Android Police and Engadget

The Guardian:

Sri Lankan authorities block access to Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and other social media services in an attempt to curb anti-Muslim violence — Reports of attack on Buddhist temple sparks anti-Muslim riots in Kandy district — Michael Safi in Colombo and Amantha Perera

Discussion: Engadget, Associated Press, Committee to Protect …, The Week, Al Jazeera English and New York Times

David Beard / Poynter:

Brandy Zadrozny, a librarian and researcher at The Daily Beast who uncovered Russia's troll farm, Eric Trump's charity, moves to NBC News as a national reporter — Earlier in this decade, Brandy Zadrozny had been happy in Vermont, baking pies, cross-country skiing, working at the Burlington Public Library …

Discussion: @oneunderscore__, @michellerafter and @dabeard

David McCabe / Axios:

Lobbying group that includes Twitter, Reddit, and Automattic asks for changes to anti-sex-trafficking bill to make it easier for smaller companies to implement — A group of web companies including Twitter, Reddit and Yelp are mounting a last-ditch effort to modify an anti-trafficking bill …

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, The Hill and Techdirt, more at Techmeme »

Brian Steinberg / Variety:

Lester Holt on changes to news broadcasts: focus is on scoops, exclusive interviews, and on-site reporting, given that viewers already know the day's news — Even as NBC News takes a moment to celebrate the history of its flagship evening newscast, Lester Holt says he's ready to keep covering the history of the modern world.

Discussion: TVNewser

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More News:

Peter Kafka / Recode:
Netflix data shows that while only 25% of users sign up on TVs, most viewing, ~45% after one month and 70% after six months, happens on TVs

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Lucinda Southern / Digiday:
Bustle expands to UK with a 10-person staff; CRO says 80% of every UK deal has a branded content component

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David McCabe / Axios:
Senator Lindsey Graham says he wants to hold hearings to question social media companies about how threats of gun violence spread online

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Kaitlyn Tiffany / The Verge:
Profile of Know Your Meme, a website and video series that has been documenting viral online content and internet meme culture for over ten years

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Armin Rosen / Fast Company:
Activists documenting Syrian war say YouTube takedowns and restorations of videos in 2017 left 200K+ videos offline with deletions now continuing at slower pace

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Earlier Picks:

Chance Miller / 9to5Mac:
Changelog: MoviePass updates iOS app to “remove unused location capabilities” following privacy concerns

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Wall Street Journal:
Univision board chair says CEO Randy Falco plans to retire at end of 2018, earlier than planned; sources say a company review could lead to cost cuts of ~$200M

Discussion: Hollywood Reporter, Broadcasting & Cable, TVWeek.com, Deadline, Variety, @brianstelter, CNNMoney and Hollywood Reporter

Etan Vlessing / Hollywood Reporter:
CBS COO says its CBS All Access streaming service will air six to seven original series within the next year, to drive subscriptions and compete with Netflix

Discussion: Engadget, TechCrunch and Tubefilter

Meg James / Los Angeles Times:
Tronc says FTC and DOJ have approved sale of LA Times as company reports Q4 loss of $373K on revenue of $435M, up 2.3% YoY; print ad revenue down 11.2%

Discussion: TVWeek.com, Deadline, Chicago Tribune and tronc, inc.

Wall Street Journal:
Newsweek Media Group says it fired two engineers connected with code that inflated ad metrics, says it removed code; some ad tech firms cut ties with company

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From Techmeme:

Connor Jones / The Register:
UnitedHealth says the February ransomware attack on Change Healthcare cost the company $872M in Q1; another ransomware group appears to be extorting the company

Financial Times:
Microsoft invests $1.5B in Abu Dhabi-based AI startup G42 for a minority stake, after G42 severed ties with Chinese suppliers; Brad Smith will join G42's board

Raphael Satter / Reuters:
The Open Source Security Foundation and the OpenJS Foundation say the attempt to insert a secret backdoor into XZ Utils “may not be an isolated incident”

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