Top News:
New York Times:
More than two dozen editors and writers who worked at Time Inc. reflect on the company's rise to prominence and its slow decline that began about a decade ago — It was once an empire. Now it is being sold for parts. — Time Inc. began, in 1922, with a simple but revolutionary idea hatched by Henry R. Luce and Briton Hadden.
Discussion:
@jayrosen_nyu, @mathewkatz, @jayrosen_nyu, @rafat, @poniewozik, @alexandrajacobs, @jeffjarvis, @jdickerson, @therebeccasun, @saglalbachiara, @amlwhere and @harrymccracken
Paloma Almoguera / The Splice Newsroom:
Q&A: Wei Xing, founder of Pear Video, a short news video platform with 500M daily views, on news decentralization and working with a network of videographers — Pear employs 500 staff in tech, marketing and administration. And not a single full-time journo. This is how it works. — Splice
Discussion:
@splicenewsroom and @niemanlab
Katrin Bennhold / New York Times:
Inside Facebook's deletion center in Berlin, where 1,200 people review posts violating firm's rules or German law and decide what is free speech or hate speech — A country taps its past as it leads the way on one of the most pressing issues facing modern democracies: how to regulate the world's biggest social network.
Discussion:
@hctechburger, @albertonardelli, @melissakchan, @abusulayman, @nytimesbusiness, @nytimes and @danielsilvabook
RELATED:
Linda Kinstler / The Atlantic:
German law requiring social media companies to take down hate speech within 24 hours prompts far right claims of lack of clarity, chilled speech, and censorship — The new year was just a day old when Alice Weidel, the 38-year-old co-leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) …
Discussion:
@fabiochiusi
Janko Rottgers / Variety:
Analysis: Amazon Channels, which resells subscriptions to HBO, Showtime, and others, now accounts for 55% of à la carte direct-to-consumer video subscriptions — Amazon has quietly become a major player in the subscription video sales business: Amazon Channels, the company's platform …
Discussion:
@simonkhalaf, more at Techmeme »
Brady Dale / CoinDesk:
VideoCoin, blockchain-based video streaming project backed by CNET co-founder Halsey Minor, raises $50M in an ICO completed via private placements — Streaming a TV show or a sports game directly to your laptop doesn't make big TV networks much money today.
Natalie Jarvey / Hollywood Reporter:
Q&A with Vox Media's Jim Bankoff on the challenges facing digital media companies, partnering with Hollywood, and the growth of podcasting — The New York-based exec also opens up about what he learned when the dotcom world went belly-up. — As an AOL executive in Silicon Valley in the early 2000s …
Margaret Sullivan / Washington Post:
Michael Avenatti threatened to sue one media outlet and bashed two others with whom he disagreed, sparking comparisons to Trump; next moves decide his legacy — Ever since the story broke in March over President Trump's lawyer paying hush money to porn actress Stormy Daniels, her hard-charging lawyer has been everywhere.
Discussion:
@jd_blanchard, @michaelavenatti, @chrisgeidner and The Daily Caller
Ernie Smith / Motherboard:
A history of the music industry's first efforts at creating music streaming services after Napster and why they failed given the importance of streaming now — Lessons from the music industry's initial consumer-hostile reaction to the Napster saga. Going from $16 CDs to unlimited streaming is really hard.
Discussion:
Techdirt
Jon Allsop / Columbia Journalism Review:
The Idahoan, a publication by a PAC veteran, stirs controversy with some claiming it is a political mailer, as deputy AG rules it is a newspaper under Idaho law — THE IDAHOAN IS A NEWSPAPER; at least, that's what its publisher says. As of this week, the Idaho Attorney General's office agrees with him.
David Folkenflik / NPR:
Profile: Fox News' Neil Cavuto, a Trump skeptic who champions capitalism, financial markets, and free trade, and whose health makes for unique on-air challenges — Neil Cavuto's voice comes through loud and clear on President Trump, and it's not admiring. — Neil Cavuto's voice strikes a tone of bemused reason on Fox News.
Shan Wang / Nieman Lab:
A look at how the South China Morning Post is expanding its audience to the “globally curious” through its verticals as its audience makeup shifts from China — With its new verticals Abacus and Inkstone, the century-old newspaper is trying to use Alibaba money to build products …
Discussion:
@niemanlab