Mediagazer: GateHouse Media has acquired the Akron Beacon Journal and its website, Ohio.com, from Black Press Group for $16M; Black Press paid $165M for the paper in 2006 (Crain's Cleveland Business)

4:00 PM ET, April 12, 2018

Top News:

Sources: National Enquirer owner paid former Trump doorman $30K for rumor that Trump had illegitimate child; contract had $1M fine if rumor disclosed elsewhere — NEW YORK (AP) — Eight months before the company that owns the National Enquirer paid $150,000 to a former Playboy Playmate …

New York Times:

Probe of Trump's lawyer examines ties with David Pecker, head of American Media Inc., and raises questions about First Amendment and company's political role — President Trump has long had ties to the nation's major media players. But his connections with the country's largest tabloid publisher …

Joe Pompeo / Vanity Fair:

As executives leave Univision's Fusion Media Group, staffers worry about looming budget cuts and possibly new owners — Two years after its splashy acquisition of the former Gawker sites, Isaac Lee's Fusion Media Group is careening into a new era of belt-tightening and downsizing.

Discussion: Politico, @tommorton, @rafat, @fidmart85, @johngary, @benmullin, @barry, @heyveronica, @toomuchme, @joepompeo and @joepompeo

Maxwell Tani / The Daily Beast:
On Tuesday, Gizmodo Media Group staff had heated 90-minute meeting with Univision's Head of Digital Media Sameer Deen who disclosed that Fusion isn't profitable

Discussion: @williamturton, @sophiekleeman, @artiofab, @nkulw, @kmmokai, @maxwelltani and Digiday

Sydney Ember / New York Times:

A Colorado civic group, Together For Colorado Springs, is leading an effort to buy The Denver Post, owned by Alden Global Capital, with $10M pledged so far — A Colorado civic group is spearheading an effort to buy The Denver Post, which on Sunday excoriated its owner, a New York hedge fund …

Discussion: Mercury News, @chaseneil, @mattdpearce, @rcfp, @jcstearns, @jimbrady, @itsjmartinelli, @mgafni, @mattdpearce, @coreyhutchins, @usprojectcjr, @coreyhutchins and Columbia Journalism Review

CNNMoney:

The government's star witness in its AT&T lawsuit, economist Carl Shapiro, took the stand on Weds to argue that AT&T-Time Warner deal would be bad for consumers — The government's star witness in its suit to stop AT&T's proposed purchase of Time Warner took the stand in a marathon court session Wednesday.

Discussion: Bloomberg, @ceciliakang and @romoraleselcoro

Chris Welch / The Verge:

First look at ESPN+, the $4.99 per month direct-to-consumer streaming service, launching today within a redesigned ESPN app on iOS and Android — Today is the debut of ESPN+, a $4.99 direct-to-consumer subscription video service that offers a little bit of MLB and NHL action with a lot …

Discussion: Variety, Variety, GeekWire, Recode, TechCrunch and Axios, more at Techmeme »

Daniel Boffey / The Guardian:

European Commission says it could scrap voluntary code of conduct on removal of online hate speech in favor of legislation and sanctions — Commissioner says voluntary code could be scrapped in favour of legislation and sanctions … A loss of trust in Facebook in the light …

Nick Statt / The Verge:
Reddit CEO Steve Huffman says open racism, including use of slurs, isn't against Reddit's rules and that communities can set their own standards around language

Discussion: Slate, TechCrunch, Engadget, @gracelisascott and @dsaipher, more at Techmeme »

Davey Alba / BuzzFeed:
Answering lawmakers, Zuckerberg repeatedly relied on the promise of AI to weed out undesirable content, a defense that lets Facebook avoid responsibility

Judd Legum / ThinkProgress:

Crowdtangle data for Diamond and Silk's Facebook page shows steady numbers for total interactions; original video views decline was similar to Maddow's page — On Tuesday and Wednesday, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg came to Washington and testified, for the first time, in front of two Congressional committees.

Discussion: Media Matters for America, TheResurgent.com, @juddlegum, @maggiejordanacn, @juddlegum, @juddlegum, @facebook, @facebook, @ewerickson, @juddlegum, Washington Post, @kazweida and The Verge

Sahil Patel / Digiday:

Sources: Snap is testing a feature with some publishers that lets them sell products in the Snap Store Discover channel, alongside Snap's own products — Snap has been stepping up efforts to curry favor with publishers, especially as publishers continue to feel the impact of Facebook's news feed changes.

Discussion: New York Magazine, @digiday, @creativenerdsuk and 9to5Mac, more at Techmeme »

Michael Massing / American Prospect:

A look at how mainstream news outlets can avoid the mistakes of 2016 election coverage in the 2020 political season by using roving correspondents and more — As local newspapers shrink and many of the national media close local bureaus, we depend increasingly on coverage by reporters who parachute into communities.

Discussion: @thegrade_ and @theprospect

Laura Hazard Owen / Nieman Lab:

ProPublica investigative journalist Julia Angwin and data scientist Jeff Larson are leaving to launch a newsroom covering tech's impact on society — “I've long wanted to build a newsroom around this concept of pairing technical experts with journalists. So that is what this newsroom will be about."

Discussion: @laurahazardowen, @ndiakopoulos, @palewire and @zararah

Paul Sandle / Reuters:

The UK's takeover regulator has ruled that Disney must make an offer to buy Sky in its entirety if its acquisition of 21st Century Fox succeeds — LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's takeover regulator ruled on Thursday that Walt Disney (DIS.N) must make an offer for the whole of Sky if it succeeds …

Discussion: Bloomberg and The Drum

L.A. Times Guild:

Guild analysis of newsroom salary data at the LA Times shows Tronc has underpaid journalists of color and women at the paper by an average of $14K+ a year — Tronc has underpaid women and journalists of color by thousands of dollars a year at the Los Angeles Times, suggesting systemic salary gaps …