Top News:
Washington Post:
Sources: in FBI-seized audio recording, Trump and Cohen discuss possible payment to National Enquirer parent AMI after media company paid Karen McDougal $150K — Two months before the 2016 election, longtime Donald Trump attorney Michael Cohen secretly taped a conversation …
Discussion:
@realdonaldtrump, New York Times, Deadline, New York Times, NPR, Law & Crime, KTLA, Wall Street Journal, The Daily Caller, The Week, @kylegriffin1, @kylegriffin1, @pbump, @carolleonnig, AOL, Jezebel and @amyfiscus
Erik Wemple / Washington Post:
Ta-Nehisi Coates to leave the Atlantic saying, “I became the public face of the magazine in many ways and I don't really want to be that. I want to be a writer” — Ta-Nehisi Coates is leaving his position as a national correspondent for the Atlantic, a publication where he has emerged …
Discussion:
@penenberg, New York Times, @amescg and Slate
Kurt Wagner / Recode:
WhatsApp to test limiting the forwarding of messages to 20 chats globally and 5 chats in India in a bid to stop the spread of fake news — The social messaging service has been blamed for its role in spreading dangerous and inaccurate information. — Facebook-owned WhatsApp is making changes …
Thomas Curwen / Los Angeles Times:
Remembering the eccentric Times Mirror Square as the Los Angeles Times moves out of its longtime downtown headquarters — The headlines from Washington — Nixon and the Watergate hearings — seemed far away as guests strolled through the new corporate headquarters for Times Mirror Co.
Discussion:
Poynter and @mattdpearce
Mark Kleinman / Sky News:
Sources: Alibaba, Tencent, and CMC are in early-stage discussions about buying roughly 20% of WPP China, valuing the business between $2B and $2.5B — Alibaba Group and Tencent Holdings, the two biggest names in China's technology industry, are in talks to buy a stake in the $2.5bn (£1.9bn) Chinese operations of WPP Group.
Farhad Manjoo / New York Times:
Facebook executives struggle to describe a coherent strategy to deal with misinformation on the site; it's a hodgepodge of “exceptions to the exceptions” — Facebook was once the most nimble company of its generation. The speed at which it adapted to every challenge was legendary.
Discussion:
New Republic, Business Insider, @feardept, The Week, @fmanjoo, @nathanbomey, @metaviv, CNNMoney, Slate, Vox, Engadget, The Daily Beast, AOL, Hit & Run and Beyond Search, more at Techmeme »
Rory Carroll / The Guardian:
As LA Times moves to new offices, the owner Patrick Soon-Shiong talks about his plans for the paper, competition with NYT and WaPo, and why he moved into media — Patrick Soon-Shiong despises clickbait and says the future belongs to quality journalism. Will his gamble pay off?
Discussion:
@palewire
Corey Hutchins / Columbia Journalism Review:
Reporters moving from the Denver Post to the Colorado Sun is a sign that journalists from Texas to Tennessee increasingly see news startups as viable jobs — The politics desk at The Denver Post has imploded. Starting in April with voluntary exits that included Brian Eason, a Statehouse reporter …
Discussion:
@daviduberti, @jillian_bell and @cjr
Kevin Roose / New York Times:
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty may have acted in violation of laws protecting Americans from domestic propaganda by buying Facebook ads targeted at US users — A broadcasting organization backed by the federal government has used Facebook to target ads at United States citizens …
Discussion:
@jeffgiesea and getrevue.co
Pew Research Center:
Study shows 58% of Americans often get news on a mobile device, nearly triple the 21% who did so in 2013, outpacing desktops and laptops — Mobile devices have become one of the most common ways Americans get news, outpacing desktop or laptop computers. Roughly six-in-ten U.S. adults …
David Streitfeld / New York Times:
Q&A with NYT tech reporter David Streitfeld on staying away from Twitter and Facebook, covering Amazon, and raising a child in a largely tech-free home — How do New York Times journalists use technology in their jobs and in their personal lives? David Streitfeld, a technology reporter …
Discussion:
@ronlieber
Abdi Latif Dahir / Quartz:
As more African governments restrict internet access, activists push back by calling them out, educating users on workarounds, and even hacking government sites — First, it was “gossip” that supposedly pushed Uganda's government to introduce a tax on social media use.