Top News:


Sources: Comcast is preparing an all-cash bid for 21st Century Fox's media assets which it has agreed to sell to Disney, but bid is dependent on AT&T case — (Reuters) - U.S. cable operator Comcast Corp is asking investment banks to increase a bridge financing facility by as much as $60 billion …
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, /Film, The Wrap, UPROXX, Mediawire, Variety, Light Reading, Media Star, @escoblades, The Hill, Fortune, C21Media, CNBC, Financial Times and Multichannel News

NewsWhip data shows Facebook's algorithm changes have adversely affected the engagement rates of quality news sources like the NYT and NBC — Some recent data on the best-performing news brands on Facebook seems to show that high-quality new sources are getting less engagement on Facebook …
Discussion:
@kevinroose, NewsWhip, Fast Company and Mashable


Univision has been in decline for years, with a shark-obsessed boss, millions wasted on consultants, and an executive who insisted on publishing softcore porn — This is the story of how corporate raiding, complacency, excess, and incompetence are gutting a media company that matters to tens of millions of people.
Discussion:
@verambergen


Alden plans 10-15% budget cuts at the Denver Post and other DFM properties; sources say at least one lender to withdraw financing after editorial resignations — Former Denver Post owner Dean Singleton is upset that the paper he built “has been totally gutted of news coverage...It is breaking my heart.”
Discussion:
@vosdscott, @kevinmodesti, Columbia Journalism Review, Denver Westword and @niemanlab
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The Denver Post's newsroom releases a statement in support of former Editorial Page Editor Chuck Plunkett — To our readers: — Newspapers tell the truth. — They must. Always. — That is why we, the newsroom of The Denver Post, are outraged at the unconscionable censorship imposed …


Liberal publications like The Atlantic can have ideological diversity without hiring sub-standard conservative writers with ideas that are demonstrably false — Donald Trump's election exposed the irrelevance of conservative intellectuals — and thereby, the incoherence of many a liberal publication's mission statement.
Discussion:
Hit & Run, @seanmcelwee, @seanmcelwee, @johnosullivannr, @robbysoave, @monachareneppc and @brithume


CNN is currently battling to keep its editorial guidelines secret, as part of a legal battle over an investigative piece from June 2015 — The New York Times puts its editorial guidelines on the Internet, for all to sample. So does The Post. BuzzFeed published its “News Standards And Ethics Guide” …


Scott Pruitt fast-tracked a water district in California for clean-up at the personal request of conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt — EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt placed a polluted California area on his personal priority list of Superfund sites targeted for “immediate and intense” …
Discussion:
New York Times, New York Magazine, @keithboykin, Mediaite, @emptywheel, @speakout_april, @mattmfm, @adamserwer, Washington Post and The Daily Caller


In an experiment to connect with readers, the New York Times hosts conference calls for subscribers that feature reporter interviews and audience questions — “We weren't sure how they would work out initially — the format sounded a little analog to us...As we've continued to do them, we noticed momentum building."


Following its merger with Scripps Networks, Discovery posted an $8M loss in its Q1 but revenue soared 43% YoY to ~$2.31B — The acquisition of Scripps Networks Interactive is likely to be a boon to the new Discovery Inc., which has swelled in size thanks to the companies' recent merger.
Discussion:
MediaPost and Broadcasting & Cable


A look at what Hollywood insiders are using cryptocurrencies for: investing, financing and distributing films, and, in one instance, a plot point in a romcom — It's little shock the volatile virtual currency has the attention of entertainment industry speculators (and their wary business managers) …


The Phnom Penh Post sold to Malaysian investor; senior editors ousted over a story about the connection between the investor's firm and the Cambodian government — PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — A newspaper widely seen as the last bastion of a free press in Cambodia has been sold to a Malaysian investor …
Discussion:
@tripgabriel, Mumbrella Asia, Asian Correspondent, @daphnechen_, Al Jazeera English, @colin_meyn, @quinnlibson, @joefree215, Reporters Without Borders, BBC, Asian Correspondent, Free Malaysia Today, Yahoo, CNNMoney, Reuters, The Cambodia Daily, Associated Press, Southeast Asia Globe Magazine, Mumbrella Asia and Phnom Penh Post