Top News:
Steven Musil / CNET:
Twitter puts account of Alex Jones in read-only mode for seven days after a tweet violated policy; he can browse but can't tweet, retweet, or like other posts — Twitter has cut off Alex Jones from key functions of his account after the founder and star of conspiracy site Infowars violated another Twitter policy.
Discussion:
HuffPost, New York Times, Deadline, Mediaite, CNNMoney, NPR, Quartz, The Verge, Gizmodo, @rmac18, USA Today, The A.V. Club, Hit & Run, @wendymolyneux, @onlxn, Variety, @mollyjongfast, @rmac18, @oliverdarcy, @caseynewton, @broderickgreer, 9to5Mac, @ggreeneva, NBC News, TechCrunch, Media Matters for America, @mgsiegler, @rmac18, @yoda, @yoda, Mashable, The Hill and @rmac18, more at Techmeme »
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David Greene / Washington Post:
It's wrong to just consider Alex Jones when debating content moderation on tech platforms because platforms have silenced voices that span political spectrum — David Greene is the civil liberties director and senior staff attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
Discussion:
@eff, @corizarek, @davidgreene and @sheeyahshee
Washington Post:
Jack Dorsey says Twitter is considering promoting alternative viewpoints in timeline, labeling bots, and redesigning the like button and follower count display — Twitter chief executive Jack Dorsey said he is rethinking core parts of the social media platform so that it doesn't enable …
Alyssa Newcomb / NBC News:
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey defends decision to just give Infowars' Alex Jones a timeout after Jones urged viewers to ready “battle rifles” against media and others — “We can't build a service that is subjective just to the whims of what we personally believe," Dorsey told NBC News' Lester Holt in an exclusive interview.
Discussion:
The Daily Beast, MediaPost, Ad Age, @cwarzel, Variety, @jack, @sosofiefatale, Washington Post, @caseynewton, @oliverdarcy, @jack and @ceciliakang, more at Techmeme »
Ryan Mac / BuzzFeed News:
Twitter has put the Infowars Twitter account in read-only mode for seven days shortly after doing the same for Alex Jones' Twitter account — Twitter restricted the Infowars account on Wednesday after finding a video that the conspiracy site shared had violated its terms of service.
Discussion:
NBC News, The Hill, Engadget, Vox and Vanity Fair, more at Techmeme »
Daniel Funke / Poynter:
Gallup-Knight survey of 1,203 US adults: 85% don't think tech platforms do enough to combat fake news; 88% want more transparency about how content is surfaced — Journalists regularly weigh in on what platforms like Facebook and Google are and aren't doing to stop the spread of viral misinformation.
Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
Sources: Amazon's Twitch has been pursuing exclusive livestreaming deals with popular companies and personalities, offering millions per year in some cases — It wants to turn its Twitch online hangout for avid gamers into a broader video service. — YouTube has become synonymous …
Discussion:
Business Insider, @digitalshields, @lucas_shaw, @shiraovide and MacRumors, more at Techmeme »
Anne Steele / Wall Street Journal:
PRX and PRI, two of the largest distributors of public radio programs in the US, are merging in a bid to capitalize on the growing popularity of podcasts — PRI and PRX are joining forces in hopes of becoming a podcasting juggernaut — Public-radio companies PRX and PRI are merging …
Discussion:
Fast Company, @romanmars, @ellenfrankman, @thenpriest and @cbcstephenquinn
Alexandra Bruell / Wall Street Journal:
Profile of Meredith Kopit Levien, COO at The New York Times and the architect of ad deals like the newspaper's controversial partnership with Samsung — Meredith Kopit Levien uses nontraditional ad deals amid challenging times in publishing — At the annual advertising festival …
Discussion:
@perlberg, @keachhagey, @klemkau, @alexbruell and @asharma
Steve Watkins / Cincinnati Business Journal:
E.W. Scripps Co. reaches deal with SummitMedia to sell the last 19 radio stations it owns for $47M — E.W. Scripps Co. has agreed to sell the last 19 radio stations it owns, wrapping up deals that will complete the sale of all of its radio stations as it exits that business.
Discussion:
Radio & Television …, Multichannel News, @stevecincibiz and PR Newswire
David McCabe / Axios:
Google launches the online searchable library of federal election-related ads it promised US lawmakers last year, but it does not include political “issue ads” — Google is rolling out the online library of U.S. political ads it promised lawmakers last year …
Discussion:
TechCrunch, MediaPost, The Keyword, @dmccabe and 9to5Google, more at Techmeme »
Bloomberg:
Source: TMZ founder Harvey Levin's relationship with Trump soured over his ban on transgender troops, leading to a shift in coverage of the President on TMZ — Harvey Levin, founder of the celebrity news site TMZ, locked his gaze on a toy monkey. It had fuzzy hair, brooding eyes, and a wan smile.
Discussion:
@retogregori, @felixgillette, @gerryfsmith and @davidfolkenflik
Jaclyn Peiser / New York Times:
The New York Times joins The Boston Globe's effort to print editorials on August 16 protesting Trump's attack on the press; 200+ newspapers have signed up — The call to arms came in the form of a memo. — Marjorie Pritchard, the deputy managing editor of The Boston Globe …
Discussion:
Observer, @arifleischer, Poynter, The Daily Caller, @neeratanden, @urbanachievr, @sopandeb, Washington Examiner and CBS News
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Steve Greene / IndieWire:
“Follow This”, a docu-series from Netflix that follows BuzzFeed News staffers around as they work on stories, debuts August 23 on the service — The first group of episodes, tracking developments in the site's stories about culture, science, and politics, drops next week. — 87 Photos
Jim Waterson / The Guardian:
Financial Times CEO John Ridding returns £510K of his annual £2.6M pay packet, after staff complained it was 100x the salary of a trainee journalist — Union complained that John Ridding's pay was 100 times that of a trainee journalist — The chief executive of the Financial Times …
Discussion:
@dabeard, @jimwaterson and @rositaboland