Top News:
Michael M. Grynbaum / New York Times:
In a rare solo news conference, Trump made clear he is never more engaged than when he is sparring with the news media that he loves to say he hates — Sometime after he doubted the character of George Washington ("Didn't he have a couple things in his past?"), urged a wire-service reporter …
Donnelle Eller / Des Moines Register:
Trump's allegation of Chinese election interference via “propaganda ads” refers to a clearly labeled China Daily ad supplement, akin to ones run in NYT and WaPo — Twice Wednesday, President Donald Trump pointed to a Chinese government-backed advertising insert in the Des Moines Register …
Discussion:
@realdonaldtrump, BuzzFeed News, @davidmdrucker, Financial Times, Fortune, The Daily Beast and The Guardian
AAP:
Justin Milne, chairman of Australian broadcaster ABC, resigns after reports he demanded journalists be fired because the government didn't like their stories — ABC chairman Justin Milne has resigned after reports he demanded journalists be sacked because the government didn't like their stories.
Kashmir Hill / Gizmodo:
Study: Facebook lets ads target your account using info given for security purposes, like your phone number, as well as info from your friends' address books — Last week, I ran an ad on Facebook that was targeted at a computer science professor named Alan Mislove.
Discussion:
@trevortimm, @kashhill, @kashhill, @konklone, @saranormous, @privacymatters, @jenvalentino, @profcarroll, @jason_kint, @deaneckles, @consentsoftware, @bartongellman, @jenvalentino, @willoremus, Mashable, @mistydemeo, @miriamelder, @tomgara, @zeynep, @nickconfessore and Vox, more at Techmeme »
Alison Weissbrot / AdExchanger:
AT&T consolidates its advertising businesses under the banner of Xandr, inks deals with Altice USA and Frontier to aggregate and sell their TV inventory — Two multibillion-dollar acquisitions and one Justice Department lawsuit later, AT&T's advertising and analytics unit finally has a name: Xandr.
Discussion:
@hbsmktg, Marketing Dive, AdNews, Bloomberg, Broadcasting & Cable, Adweek and Variety
Sijia Jiang / Reuters:
Leaked doc: Tencent Music had $400M in earnings in 2017 and projects $764M profit in 2018 on revenue of $3.1B; sources say it is seeking a $2B IPO next month — HONG KONG (Reuters) - Tencent Music, which owns China's most popular music streaming apps, is often compared to Sweden's Spotify Technology …
Discussion:
TechNode
Todd Spangler / Variety:
CollegeHumor launches Dropout, a subscription service for videos, comics, and chat initially costing $3.99/mo, serving as an alternative to YouTube distribution — CollegeHumor, the IAC-owned comedy website that's been around since 1999, was running into roadblocks in pushing the creative envelope.
Berkeley Lovelace Jr / CNBC:
LA Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong calls for change in how people get news via social media: the “short attention span we're creating” is “very dangerous” — - Social platforms may have revolutionized how people get information, but they've also been criticized for spreading “fake news.”
Discussion:
@mattnavarra, @davidcayj, @hunterschwarz, @mattdpearce, The Wrap and WebProNews
Pew Research Center:
Pew: 82% of Democrats think news media criticism keeps politicians in line, compared with 38% of Republicans, the largest difference measured in three decades — While most Americans expect news will be accurate, most also say news organizations cover up mistakes, take sides
Missoulian:
Lee Enterprises reverses course, says former Gatehouse SVP Paul McArthur won't oversee four of Lee's Montana newspapers after controversy over Twitter account — A day after introducing a new publisher to oversee its western Montana newspapers, including the Missoulian, Lee Enterprises changed course.
Discussion:
@mfrank406, @david__erickson, @david__erickson, @cwarzel, @cwarzel, Folio and Great Falls Tribune
Matthew Garrahan / Financial Times:
Walt Disney and 21st Century Fox have decided to sell their shares in Sky to Comcast; Fox holds a 39% stake in Sky — Walt Disney and 21st Century Fox are selling their shares in Sky to Comcast, putting the US cable operator on course to take full control of the European media group.
Discussion:
VideoNuze Analysis, @mattgarrahan, @mattgarrahan and The Guardian
RELATED:
Stewart Clarke / Variety:
Comcast's bid for Sky values 21st Century Fox's 39% stake at about $15B
Discussion:
@jdawsey1, The Verge, MediaPost, Section Page News, Press Gazette and Broadcasting & Cable
Kristen Hare / Poynter:
New online outlet The Salem Reporter joins local newspaper companies Pamplin and EO to form the Oregon Capital Bureau, a collaboration to cover state government — Four years ago, as the number of reporters covering statehouses continued shrinking, two news organizations started working together to cover state government in Oregon.
Discussion:
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