Top News:
Olivia Nuzzi / New York Magazine:
David Smith, the executive chairman of Sinclair Broadcast Group, said print media has no credibility and no relevance — David Smith, the executive chairman of Sinclair Broadcast Group, said he dislikes and fundamentally distrusts the print media, which he believes “serves no real purpose.”
Discussion:
CNN, Business Insider, Salon, Hit & Run, Mediaite, Washington Post, Quill, Slate, New York Times, Vox, @chanceseales, @mmehlsak, @kylegriffin1, @davidfolkenflik, Politico, The Wrap, Fast Company, Hollywood Reporter, KTLA, CBS San Francisco, TVWeek.com and @danrather
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Bloomberg:
Review of Sinclair employment contracts shows some employees cannot resign from firm without incurring a penalty equivalent to 40% of their annual compensation — Noncompetes, forced arbitration and a liquidated damages clause can equal 40 percent of annual salary. — , and
Discussion:
New York Times, @fox47madison, Washington Post, AOL, Politico and Jezebel
Keach Hagey / Wall Street Journal:
Sumner Redstone will not have final say on potential CBS-Viacom merger as he has only one vote on National Amusements, the holding company owning voting stakes — The 94-year-old media mogul would be one vote among seven National Amusements board members — Sumner Redstone …
Discussion:
@tomgara, @keachhagey, CNBC, @theferocity, @katie_martin_fx, @jdawsey1, @eorden, @sarahnassauer and @jswatz
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David Faber / CNBC:
Sources: talks between Viacom and CBS have hit a snag, as they are divided over who would be second-in-command at the new company, Bob Bakish or Joe Ianniello — - CBS has not made a formal offer to buy Viacom after social issues raised a roadblock in the talks.
Discussion:
Broadcasting & Cable
Gabriel Sherman / Vanity Fair:
Sources: Trump wants USPS to increase Amazon's shipping costs as advisers encourage the president to cancel Amazon's cloud computing contract with the Pentagon — With the West Wing finally calm, Trump is contemplating a multi-front campaign against Jeff Bezos.
Discussion:
VentureBeat, CNNMoney, @gabrielsherman, Media Nation, @coreypein, New York Magazine, The Hill, Business Insider, WGBH News, Reuters, CBS San Francisco, @bradmossesq, Bloomberg, The Week, @kbeninato, @kumailn, @page88, @maggienyt, @renato_mariotti, @nickbilton, Mediaite, @dangillmor and Dan Kennedy, more at Techmeme »
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Sydney Ember / New York Times:
Washington Post's Martin Baron refutes Trump's claims that the Post acts as a lobbyist for Amazon as Trump conflates the two, which have different leadership — Amazon does not own The Washington Post. President Trump, however — impervious to certain facts and armed with a Twitter account …
Discussion:
Bloomberg, CNNMoney, Reporters Without Borders, The Week, Mediaite, Sally Jenkins, Gene Park, @dangillmor, bookforum.com, Deadline, @nytimesbusiness, @dealbook, Variety, @wesleylowery, @jdawsey1, @fbihop and @melbournecoal
Jeremy Barr / Hollywood Reporter:
Fox News President Jack Abernethy releases statement in support of Laura Ingraham, says network will not be “censored by agenda-driven intimidation efforts” — The cable news outlet's co-president Jack Abernethy said the network won't be “censored by agenda-driven intimidation efforts.”
Discussion:
Los Angeles Times, Bill O'Reilly, The Wrap, Ad Age, Washington Post, TheBlaze, TVNewser and Mediaite
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Mark Sweney / The Guardian:
Disney has expressed an interest in acquiring Sky News, whether or not its acquisition of 21st Century Fox proceeds, as UK regulator scrutinizes Fox's bid — Move aims to allay media plurality fears over 21st Century Fox's takeover of British broadcaster
RELATED:
Georg Szalai / Hollywood Reporter:
21st Century Fox proposes to sell Sky News to Disney or establish it as a separate entity with a 15-year funding guarantee to seal the deal with UK regulators
Discussion:
Bloomberg, Independent.ie, Variety, BBC, Financial Times, Sky News, Reuters and Editor & Publisher
Peter Kafka / Recode:
Spotify, which posted operating loss of $461M in 2017, thinks its reliance on labels will ease; sources: hope is more artists will work directly with Spotify — The streaming music company wants to get more music — and more profitable music — from the little guys.
Discussion:
newsroom.spotify.com, Forbes, RAIN News, Mashable, The Verge, SlashGear and Fortune, more at Techmeme »
Facebook Newsroom:
Facebook is rolling out an “About this article” button in the US, showing where an article's been shared, the publisher's Wikipedia entry, and related stories — By Taylor Hughes, Software Engineer; Jeff Smith, Product Designer; and Alex Leavitt, UX Researcher
Discussion:
TechCrunch, The Verge, Fast Company, @jowens510 and Engadget, more at Techmeme »
Dan Rys / Billboard:
Amazon Music says it now has “tens of millions” of paid subscribers, with Amazon Music Unlimited subscriptions doubling in the past six months — Amazon Music tells Billboard it has “tens of millions” of paid customers, with Amazon Music Unlimited subscriptions having more than doubled …
Discussion:
NPR, @joaquinmencia, hypebot and RAIN News, more at Techmeme »
CNBC:
Sources: Snap in advanced talks to open office in Saudi Arabia; source: content deal with MiSK Foundation is in works to teach Saudi youth how to use Snapchat — - The company is also developing a content deal with MiSK Foundation to teach Saudi youth how to use Snapchat, according to a source.
Nicholas Diakopoulos / Columbia Journalism Review:
The age of trends is over, as social signals like retweets and likes are too easily manipulated by bots, and journalists must learn to identify their influence — Bots are everywhere. A report by The New York Times recently outed about 3.5 million of them on Twitter.
Discussion:
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