Mediagazer: In court, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson says Time Warner deal would help AT&T keep up with tech giants, sending content directly to viewers and improving ad sales (CNNMoney)

Investigation: 300+ organizations' ads ran on extremist YouTube channels despite many advertisers saying they use YouTube's sensitive subject exclusion filter — Advocates say YouTube is collecting kids' data — Ads from over 300 companies and organizations — including tech giants …

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CNNMoney:

In court, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson says Time Warner deal would help AT&T keep up with tech giants, sending content directly to viewers and improving ad sales — Why the AT&T-Time Warner trial matters — After weeks of testimony from economists, survey experts and rival executives …

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Variety, @hadas_gold, @b_fung, @hadas_gold, @dallasnews, Multichannel News, New York Times, Axios, Wall Street Journal, Dallas Morning News, CNBC, Los Angeles Times, Variety and CNNMoney

CNNMoney:

At antitrust trial, AT&T's Randall Stephenson announced AT&T Watch, a $15/month bundle with no sports; spokesman says it will debut in “next several weeks” — Here's a different way to announce a new product — during your testimony in a federal court case.

Discussion: MediaPost, The Wrap, @b_fung, Engadget, Multichannel News, @eriqgardner, FierceCable and BGR

Pew Research Center:

Pew: 58% in US prefer to protect the freedom to publish rather than letting government restrict false info; 56% favor tech firms restricting false information — But 56% support steps from technology companies, even if it means some limits on publishing and accessing information

Discussion: The Guardian, Poynter, Fast Company, MediaPost, @pewjournalism, @yeyoza, @pewresearch, @pewresearch, @michaelbarthel and Pew Research Center, more at Techmeme »

Josh Gerstein / Politico:

Michael Cohen drops libel lawsuits against BuzzFeed and Fusion GPS over publication of Steele dossier, which alleges he met with Russian operatives for Trump — Embattled attorney Michael Cohen has dropped a pair of much-touted libel suits against BuzzFeed and the private investigation firm Fusion GPS …

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Cheddar and Hulu make a deal to bring Cheddar's live linear content to Hulu Live TV, with daily news briefs and other content coming to Hulu on-demand — Cheddar isn't done making deals with the over-the-top streaming TV providers. Only yesterday, news came out that Cheddar was the first digital …

Discussion: Cheddar, Engadget, The Wrap, MediaPost, Deadline and Variety

Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg / Wall Street Journal:

Jen Wong, former Time Inc. president of digital and COO, joins Reddit as COO and will focus on business strategy and growth, both of revenue and users — Wong departed Time Inc. after it was acquired by Meredith Corp. in January — Digital media veteran Jen Wong has been named Reddit's …

Discussion: Recode, Upvoted, Variety, New York Post, Mediawire, Business Insider and @onewong, more at Techmeme »

Tony Maglio / The Wrap:

SEC filing on Murdoch earnings from Disney-21st Century Fox deal: Rupert Murdoch, $66.7M; Lachlan Murdoch, $69.1M; and James Murdoch, $70.6M — The Murdochs have a lot of money, and once Disney's $52.4 billion acquisition of the bulk of 21st Century Fox goes through, Fox's top executives …

Discussion: Variety, Business Insider, Deadline and Wall Street Journal

Discussion: Broadcasting & Cable, FierceCable, Variety, New York Times, @shalini, @shalini and @pkafka

Nick Visser / HuffPost:

Comey memos detail Trump's idea of jailing reporters, first reported in 2017: “They spend a couple days in jail, make a new friend, and they are ready to talk” — The president wanted to stop leaks pouring from the White House. — President Donald Trump floated the idea …

Discussion: New York Times, The Daily Beast, Mediaite, Talking Points Memo, Hollywood Reporter, The Hill, @tomjonesnbc and Business Insider

Daniel Funke / Poynter:

A look at Facebook's month-long rollout of its fact-checking tool and its partners in Mexico, Indonesia, the Philippines, India, and Colombia — What started as a pilot project 16 months ago is now one of Facebook's primary weapons against fake news. — During his testimony to Congress last week …

Discussion: Peter O'Kelly's Reality Check

Reuters:

German Supreme Court rules that ad blockers are legal, in favor of Adblock Plus, and throws out a case brought by Axel Springer — KARLSRUHE/FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Germany's Supreme Court on Thursday threw out a case brought by Axel Springer seeking to ban a popular application …

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, BBC, Engadget and @jason_kint, more at Techmeme »

Todd Spangler / Variety:

MoviePass parent to sell 10.5M shares at $2.75, 28.2% below Wednesday's $3.83 closing price, as auditor has “substantial doubt” about MoviePass' future — - Vice Inks Netflix, Theatrical Deals for Motherboard's ‘The Most Unknown’ Science Documentary (EXCLUSIVE)

Discussion: TechCrunch, Variety, East Bay Times, TechCrunch, Deadline, Engadget, The A.V. Club, /Film and The Playlist, more at Techmeme »