Top News:
Associated Press:
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 …
Discussion:
Mediaite, New Yorker, Fox News, CNNMoney, ThinkProgress, The Wrap, @debramessing, @petersterne, Washington Post, RADAR, Vanity Fair, @newyorker, fox5sandiego.com, The Daily Beast, @ronanfarrow, @lrozen, @peterstris, @carolleonnig, @emmersbrown, @michaelluo, @petersterne, @rohded, @rohded, @jasonleopold, @lalpert1, @yashar and @passantino
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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:
@maxwelltani, Politico, @tommorton, @rafat, @fidmart85, @johngary, @benmullin, @barry, @heyveronica, @toomuchme, @joepompeo and @joepompeo
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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:
@facebook, Media Matters for America, TheResurgent.com, @andrewkirell, The Daily Beast, @juddlegum, Diamond And Silk, @juddlegum, @maggiejordanacn, @juddlegum, @juddlegum, @facebook, @ewerickson, @juddlegum, Washington Post, @kazweida, Mediaite, Mashable and The Verge, more at Techmeme »
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 …
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
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: FCC wants more distance between Sinclair and the would-be owners of WPIX-TV and WGN-TV, is concerned it is selling the stations for below market prices — Regulator pushes back against potential buyers of TV stations Sinclair plans to unload to gain approval for the deal
Discussion:
Washington Free Beacon and Media Matters for America
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, Recode, GeekWire, TechCrunch and Axios, more at Techmeme »
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
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 …
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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
Discussion:
Mashable, Gizmodo, The New York Observer, Mediaite, @grady_booch, @sarahfrier, @daveyalba and @johnpaczkowski, more at Techmeme »
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:
@digiday, New York Magazine, @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
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 …
Discussion:
@mattdpearce, @jaweedkaleem, @jaweedkaleem, Bethany Mollenkof and LA Observed
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