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With little evidence, Definers Public Affairs pitched a story last summer suggesting Apple News editors were biased against the GOP, based on campaign donations — New York (CNN)The conservative public affairs firm that worked for Facebook, and spread opposition research …
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Fast Company, The Atlantic, The Verge, @emilybell, Mercury News, Vanity Fair, getrevue.co, @stevekopack, @donie, Business Insider, NBC News and Techdirt, more at Techmeme »
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In interview, Sheryl Sandberg says “we absolutely did not pay anyone to create fake news” and says she didn't know Facebook had hired Definers — A day after a searing investigation into Facebook by The New York Times, the company's chief operating officer, Sheryl Sandberg, is defending herself and the social media giant.

Tim Miller, who has worked with Definers Public Affairs and Crooked Media, defends his work, including the effort to link Soros to anti-Facebook groups — Setting the Record Straight Regarding My Facebook Work — Over the past 48 hours I've had some extremely serious accusations leveled against my integrity and my work.
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@timodc, @libbycwatson, @samstein, @parkermolloy, @oneunderscore__, New York Times, TechCrunch, Business Insider and Fast Company, more at Techmeme »


With Tim Miller, suspended after NYT Facebook report, Crooked Media engaged in the familiar media exercise of featuring a Never Trumper in the name of “balance” — And we're back with friend of the pod Tim Miller, who this week has managed to sully the fine name of Pod Save America by being a dirtbag!
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Nieman Lab, @lakshmigandhi, @bayarea4bernie, The Next Web, @ericrennerbrown, The Guardian, Slate and New York Times


Judge orders White House to return Acosta's hard pass immediately citing violation of due process, thus granting CNN's request for a temporary restraining order — (CNN)Federal judge Timothy J. Kelly sided with CNN on Friday, ordering the White House to reinstate chief White House correspondent Jim Acosta's press pass.
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Washington Post, Press Gazette, Wall Street Journal, TVNewser, Hollywood Reporter, Poynter, NPR, @philiprucker, Bloomberg, Associated Press, Vox, @thr, @postbaron, @thr, @erikwemple, @jameeljaffer, @erikwemple, @farhip, @davidafrench, Senator Bob Menendez, @hadas_gold, @erikwemple, France 24, New York Times and Fortune
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Press freedom advocates express cautious relief, for now, after the return of Jim Acosta's press press, and praise unity of most media outlets supporting access — A federal judge temporarily restored Jim Acosta's White House press credentials, but didn't rule on the CNN correspondent's First Amendment claims.
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@scottnover, CNN, Washington Post, @scottnover, @medialawrocks, @loebvernon, @scottnover, @spj_tweets and @scottnover


UK's Johnston Press, publisher of The Scotsman, The Yorkshire Post, and the i, is ending its effort to be sold and is planning to place itself in administration — Regional publisher Johnston Press has announced it is ending its attempts to find a buyer for the company and placing itself in administration.
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@skynewsbreak, @jimwaterson, Reuters, Telegraph, @dizzytigerstu, @lyramckee, @marksweney, @scottwilsonecho and @willwatt


Court filings in an unrelated case and sources reveal prosecutors have charged Julian Assange under seal, but the nature of charges remains unclear — WikiLeaks' founder Julian Assange has been charged under seal, prosecutors inadvertently revealed in a recently unsealed court filing …
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New York Times, @seamushughes, Washington Post, emptywheel, Freedom of the Press …, Committee to Protect …, Associated Press, Associated Press, Vanity Fair, @pressfreedom, Mashable, @normeisen, @jonathanwpeters, Fortune, @jonathanwpeters, @razhael, Slate, The Wrap, NPR, The Guardian, @sparrowmedia, The Week, @jamesrbuk, The Daily Caller, @trevortimm, @mattzap, @mattzap, The Verge, TechCrunch, Al Jazeera, Gizmodo, Reuters, The Daily Beast and Engadget
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The Obama DOJ didn't prosecute Julian Assange because it would have been a threat to press freedom, a reason as valid now, post-DNC leak, as it was then
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New York Times, @trevortimm, CNBC, Mediaite, Law & Crime and The Week

Sources: DOJ is preparing to prosecute WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange; exact charges are unclear but could possibly involve the Espionage Act
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New York Times, @trevortimm, @sulliview, @dangillmor, Columbia Journalism Review, Gizmodo, The Guardian, @wikileaks, @asharangappa_, @evan_greer, @chipgibbons89, @caitoz, @matthewamiller, @devlinbarrett, @markszaidesq, @colmorrisdavis, @bradmossesq, @charlie_savage, @emptywheel, Fast Company, Boing Boing, The Week, Politico, The Hill, The Daily Caller, Peter O'Kelly's Reality Check and Mediaite


The Criterion Collection says it will launch a streaming service of classic films in the spring, after outcry over WarnerMedia's decision to shut FilmStruck — “Round up your buddies,” Steven Spielberg told Edgar Wright, when a campaign was launched to save FilmStruck.
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The Wrap, The Criterion Collection, MediaPost, TechCrunch, @filmstruck and @devancoggan


William Goldman, Oscar-winning screenwriter of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and All the President's Men, dies at 87 — Badly hung over, the detective rises from a foldout couch in his office. He turns off the TV that has been on all night, dunks his head in ice water …
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Hollywood Reporter, Deadline, @realronhoward, @redhourben, Slate, Vox, @keitholbermann, Variety, @timobrien, Vanity Fair, The A.V. Club, The Ringer, New York Times, NBC News, The Week, New York Times, Business Insider, The Wrap and io9


In earnings call, Paramount Pictures CEO said the studio signed a multi-picture film deal with Netflix following The Cloverfield Paradox release strategy — Paramount Pictures has signed a multi-picture film deal with Netflix, studio boss Jim Gianopulos revealed today during Viacom's fourth …
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Observer and The Playlist


Reuters smart speakers study: 18% of owners in US use them daily for news, CNN, NPR lead as most popular news brands, users find news briefings too long — People are still much more likely to use smart speakers for music and weather than news. But that could change as news organizations …
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Journalism.co.uk, kottke.org, Techdirt and VentureBeat, more at Techmeme »