Mediagazer: Sources: Viacom has asked CBS to increase its valuation of the company by $2.8B to $14.7B (Reuters)

Top News:

Martin Pengelly / The Guardian:

Speaking on CNN's “Reliable Sources”, NYT Editor Dean Baquet said Trump's attacks on press are out of control and WHCA should rethink its annual dinner event — Donald Trump's attacks on the press are “out of control” and damaging “the civic life and debate of the country”, the editor of the New York Times said on Sunday.

Discussion: Axios, Associated Press, AOL, @reliablesources, Mediaite, Washington Post and Vanity Fair

Michael Warren / Weekly Standard:

How Trump's White House creates an anti-immigration feedback loop by distributing talking points to friendly journalists, pundits, and hosts via email — The monomaniacal White House talking points. — They are emails designed to grab you by the lapels. “CRISIS AT OUR SOUTHERN BORDER,” announced one.

Ben Smith / BuzzFeed:

Ben Smith recounts his mistakes as a young reporter in Belarus in 2001: assuming democracy would win, sources would be safe, and US officials wouldn't lie — As a young reporter in Eastern Europe in 2001, I expected to witness the “end of history” and the flowering of democracy.

Reuters:

Sources: Viacom has asked CBS to increase its valuation of the company by $2.8B to $14.7B — (Reuters) - Viacom Inc (VIAB.O) has asked CBS Corp (CBS.N) to sweeten its merger bid by about $2.8 billion or almost a quarter more than CBS's offer, people familiar with the matter said …

Discussion: Variety, Broadcasting & Cable, The Wrap, Los Angeles Times, Hollywood Reporter, Deadline and FierceCable

Pew Research Center:

Pew: the 500 most-active suspected bot Twitter accounts are responsible for 22% of links from prominent news and media sites that are shared on Twitter — An estimated two-thirds of tweeted links to popular websites are posted by automated accounts - not human beings

Discussion: TechCrunch, Fast Company, Nieman Lab, MediaPost, Adweek, VentureBeat and Vox

Mark Glaser / MediaShift:

MediaShift has laid off most of its staff and is exploring a sale of its site and newsletters, with publication suspended for the moment — Ch-ch-changes are coming to MediaShift, the publication I started more than 12 years ago as part of PBS. Starting today, the business will focus exclusively …

Discussion: NewsLab, Thanks:@steverubel

Brian Stelter / CNNMoney:

Sinclair is showing the 30-second Allied Progress ad with Deadspin video montage critical of Sinclair, but inserts its own 15-second responses before and after — Ex-Sinclair news director: We had must-run pieces — Sinclair Broadcast Group has agreed to air a commercial …

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon, @mikiebarb, HuffPost, @jayrosen_nyu, Quill, @jeremylittau, @jeremylittau, Mediaite, @jayrosen_nyu, @alliedprogress, @slpng_giants, @paulconstant, @brianstelter, @dabeard and The Wrap

Maxwell Tani / The Daily Beast:

Gizmodo CEO Raju Narisetti out as parent company Univision becomes more involved and considers cuts; sources disagree whether Narisetti quit or was forced out — Gizmodo Media Group's top executive is exiting the company—a sign that parent Univision plans to get more directly involved …

Discussion: @maxwelltani, @coreypein, Talking Biz News, @nash076, @ashleyfeinberg, @justinjm1, @maxwelltani and @barry

Conor Friedersdorf / The Atlantic:

Kevin Williamson's hiring at The Atlantic was greeted by some of his critics as if they were opposition researchers and their aim was to render him toxic — Last month, The Atlantic hired Kevin Williamson, the longtime National Review staffer. Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor in chief of The Atlantic …

Discussion: Media Matters for America, MediaFile, USA Today and Esquire

Owen Bowcott / The Guardian:

Family of Sunday Times' Marie Colvin file claim alleging Assad regime killed her, making it the first war-crimes related case against Syrian govt to reach court — Sunday Times correspondent's family files claim in Washington court alleging Syrian government targeted journalists

Discussion: New York Times, The Independent, Washington Post, Newsweek and The Intercept

Anthony Ha / TechCrunch:

Harper Collins is launching Veronica Roth's new book on Scribd; Scribd is not getting the book exclusively but will be the only subscription service to have it — Scribd is setting its sights on bigger, newer titles. — E-book and audiobook versions of The Fates Divide …

Lucinda Southern / Digiday:

Norwegian aggregator Sol uses algorithms and human editors to surface local content, claims 50K daily users who spend a daily average of 11 minutes in app — Sol, an aggregated news site from Norwegian magazine and news publishing group Aller Media, launched an app in December to gain new, younger readers.