Top News:
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: DOJ is preparing to prosecute WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange; exact charges are unclear but could possibly involve the Espionage Act — Over the past year, U.S. prosecutors have discussed several types of charges they could potentially bring against the WikiLeaks founder
Discussion:
New York Times, The Intercept, Mediaite, The Guardian, Fast Company, @trevortimm, @dangillmor, Associated Press, @asharangappa_, @wikileaks, Boing Boing, @devlinbarrett, @charlie_savage, @colmorrisdavis, @bradmossesq, @evan_greer, @markszaidesq, @chipgibbons89, @caitoz, @emptywheel, The Week, @matthewamiller, The Hill, The Daily Caller, Politico and Peter O'Kelly's Reality Check
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Washington Post:
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 …
Discussion:
@seamushughes, The Wrap, The Guardian, Slate, NPR, The Week, The Daily Caller, @mattzap, @mattzap, The Verge, The Daily Beast, Gizmodo, @sparrowmedia, @trevortimm, @jamesrbuk, TechCrunch, Al Jazeera, Engadget and Mediaite
Jacob Kastrenakes / The Verge:
Facebook to demote “borderline content” in News Feed by default and let users appeal content moderation decisions to an independent body — The new term is ‘borderline content’ — Facebook is once again tweaking how stories spread through the News Feed, this time going after posts that are …
Discussion:
Facebook, Facebook, CNN, @pt, @soleio, @facebook, @goldman, @tfranti, @charliebeckett, The Next Web, @mathewi, Engadget, @rezendi, VentureBeat, TechCrunch and The Hill, more at Techmeme »
NBC News:
Definers, the lobbying firm used by Facebook, runs a “news” site with positive posts on clients, negative posts on rivals, and a Facebook page followed by 120K+ — Facebook's ties to Definers Public Affairs, first reported on Wednesday in The New York Times, sparked widespread criticism and accusations of hypocrisy.
Discussion:
CBS News, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Slate, Washington Post, Vanity Fair, Business Insider, @natijomartinez, Financial Times, @buzzfeedben, Axios, @mikeisaac, HuffPost, @sarahfrier, The Verge, @allmattnyt, @jacknicas, @allmattnyt, @bafeldman, @willoremus, @josh_emerson, @jank0, @jank0, @josh_emerson, @willoremus, @jank0, @yoda, @karlbode, @hunterschwarz, @mikeisaac, @donie, @zeynep, @oneunderscore__, @nbcnewstech, @oneunderscore__, @cwarzel and 9to5Mac, more at Techmeme »
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Karl Bode / Techdirt:
Facebook's use of Definers Public Affairs is by no means unique, mirroring the way the telecom industry uses think tanks, PR firms, and bogus news operations — So by now most people have probably read the New York Times deep dive into what can only be described as Facebook's deep well of internal dysfunction and self delusion.
Discussion:
Nieman Lab, The Guardian, New York Times, Bloomberg, The Daily Beast, @karlbode and @daphnehk, more at Techmeme »
Brian Steinberg / Variety:
Viacom tops Q4 expectations with profit of $386M down from $674M in 2017, with revenue from cable operations falling 1% to $2.52B due to ad revenue shortfall — Viacom Inc. said net income in its fiscal fourth quarter fell as revenue slumped overseas and stayed flat with year-earlier results …
Discussion:
MediaPost, Broadcasting & Cable, The Wrap, Reuters and Hollywood Reporter
Marisa Guthrie / Hollywood Reporter:
Fox Sports and MLB extend their rights deal through 2028, expanding the network's digital and Spanish-language rights and adding more broadcast games — The pact keeps the World Series and All-Star game at Fox Sports, which also airs weekly games on its broadcast network.
Discussion:
Variety, SportsBusiness Daily, Broadcasting & Cable, Deadline, TVWeek.com, Ad Age, Multichannel News and The Wrap
Erik Wemple / Washington Post:
Journalists at The Capital, where five died in a shooting in June, continue their push to unionize with other nearby newsrooms as the Chesapeake News Guild — The Capital, a Maryland community newspaper where five employees were killed in June in a mass shooting, is pushing to unionize under …
Discussion:
Baltimore Fishbowl, @ckrewson, @phildavis_cg and The NewsGuild - CWA
Brian Stelter / CNN:
Judge postpones his decision until Friday in CNN's preliminary hearing against the White House over Jim Acosta's press pass — (CNN)Lawyers for CNN and the Trump administration are awaiting an initial ruling on the network's federal lawsuit over press access to the White House.
Discussion:
@robherring, @kaitlancollins, @eriqgardner, @joeperticone, @gabriellahope_, @mattgertz, @petersterne, @farhip, @emkuhn, @brianstelter, @brianstelter, MediaPost, Deadline, Hollywood Reporter, Mediaite, Politico, Voice of America, @jonathanwpeters, @jonathanwpeters, Jon Slattery, CNN, Washington Post, Washington Examiner and Media Matters for America
Laura Hazard Owen / Nieman Lab:
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 …
Discussion:
Journalism.co.uk, Techdirt, VentureBeat and Reuters Institute …, more at Techmeme »
Benjamin Oreskes / Los Angeles Times:
After covering last year's Oroville dam failure, Chico Enterprise-Record editor David Little knew to prioritize nuts-and-bolts information for the CA Camp fire — It's an iconic if horrifying shot of the Camp fire pulverizing Paradise — a large ball of grayish-black smoke with fire radiating on the right …
Discussion:
Poynter, @johnnykats, @marymactv, @robertsalonga, @mattdpearce, @ddiamond, @shelbygrad and @karlmondon
Ed Christman / Billboard:
Universal Music Group reported $1.73B revenue for Q3 as streaming revenue hits $767M, a 37.6% increase YoY; parent Vivendi narrows bankers for partial UMG sale — Parent company Vivendi says it is narrowing down banks to help sell as much as half of the major record label.
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