Top News:
Rosalind S. Helderman / Washington Post:
Internal AT&T documents show it made a $600K deal with Cohen days after inauguration, specifying he would advise on Time Warner merger and on matters before FCC — Three days after President Trump was sworn into office, the telecom giant AT&T turned to his personal attorney Michael Cohen …
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Reuters:
Internal email: AT&T's CEO says hiring Michael Cohen was a serious misjudgment, but “was done according to the law and entirely legitimate” — (Reuters) - Hiring President Donald Trump's personal attorney, Michael Cohen, was a “big mistake,” AT&T Inc (T.N) …
Discussion:
@hadas_gold, CNNMoney, CNNMoney, CNBC, @crewcrew, The Wrap, Vanity Fair, Quartz, Above the Law and Splinter
Benjamin Mullin / Wall Street Journal:
Luminary Media raises $40M; sources say it plans to launch subscription service for premium podcasts, has begun to strike licensing deals with podcast creators — The newly created venture has raised $40 million from New Enterprise Associates and others to enter the rapidly expanding realm of podcasting and audio.
Stella Bugbee / The Cut:
Anna Wintour's effort to rehabilitate the reputation of Harvey Weinstein's estranged wife, designer Georgina Chapman, is a way to seek forgiveness for herself — Anna Wintour is our Fashion Pope, the infallible ruler of Vogue, fashion's Vatican. Both because of her reputation …
Discussion:
@gregorg, Fashionista, @lpolgreen, New York Times, Fortune, @janinegibson, @victoriaspies, @edmundlee, @askmrmickey, @ruthannharnisch, Vogue and Slate
Carol Morello / Washington Post:
One of only two reporters on Mike Pompeo's mission to North Korea gives a behind-the-scenes account of the trip to bring three prisoners home — The State Department normally craves elaborate planning and procedures for everything. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's 13-hour visit to North Korea had little of that.
Discussion:
Columbia Journalism Review, @nktpnd, @yashar, @davidnakamura and @cfishman
David Skok:
Interview with Google News VP Richard Gingras on data privacy, Google's internal culture and politics, criticism ahead of the GDPR, and rethinking journalism — The head of Google News discusses the news ecosystem, responds to GDPR criticism, and answers the question: Is Google really a child of the open web?
Discussion:
@niemanlab, @sophienadeau, @jason_kint, @mrjohncrowley, @mdichristina, Nieman Lab, @jason_kint, @niemanlab and @niemanlab
Freia Nahser / Global Editors Network:
Q&A with The Guardian's Anna Bateson, chief customer officer, on asking readers for funding, the importance of Google and Facebook, and preparing for the GDPR — In a conversation with the Global Editors Network, Anna Bateson, chief customer officer at the Guardian talks about the Guardian's reader …
Thanks:@geninnovate
Christine Schmidt / Nieman Lab:
Zetland, a Danish subscription news outlet with 10K members, has been testing news via audio and found 60% of members prefer listening over reading — “We're definitely not a short-form news outlet. When we launched, we thought it would be late evening media, something where you would crash on the sofa and read our stories."
Discussion:
@martinsfp and One Man & His Blog
Amy X. Wang / Rolling Stone:
Apple Music says it removed R. Kelly's music from featured playlists weeks ago while Pandora currently does not promote the singer's music — Three streaming services have now removed the R&B singer's music from curated playlists — Spotify caused a mighty stir yesterday when it announced that …
Discussion:
The Ringer, Fortune, Pitchfork, Engadget and 9to5Mac, more at Techmeme »
Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
Sources: NewTV, Jeffrey Katzenberg's effort to fund high-end TV series with short episodes, raises $800M, including from 21st Century Fox and Warner Bros. — - Hollywood mogul looks to make shows with short running times — Executive helped lead Walt Disney's comeback during the 1980s
Discussion:
@joshelman, Tubefilter and Hollywood Reporter, more at Techmeme »
Ann-Christine Diaz / Creativity Online:
HBO joins The Atlantic's Question Your Answers series, a collection of short films designed to foster civil discourse and help expand the magazine's reach — The campaign broadens with support and talent from the broadcaster — Editor's Pick — Actor Jeffrey Wright ("The Hunger Games" …
Maxwell Tani / The Daily Beast:
Sources: NBC News staffers skeptical of Lauer harassment internal inquiry; Brokaw accuser declined to participate in investigation without a neutral third party — The results of NBC's internal investigation into how its former biggest star repeatedly engaged in sexual misconduct in the office …
Discussion:
@sarahlellison, Mediaite and Variety
Reuters:
News Corp beats estimates with Q3 revenue of $2.09B, up 5.8% YoY, records net loss of $1.13B mainly due to write-downs for Telstra/Foxtel deal in Australia — (Reuters) - News Corp (NWSA.O), controlled by media mogul Rupert Murdoch, topped analysts' estimates for quarterly revenue on Thursday …
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