Top News:
Steven Perlberg / BuzzFeed News:
Sources: Bloomberg reporters express concern after Michael Bloomberg said his company might not cover politics if he ran for president — Reporters at Bloomberg News are on edge after their boss announced that if he chooses to run for president in 2020 — a decision he will have to finalize relatively soon …
Discussion:
CNBC, New York Post, Talking Biz News, Mediaite, Radio Iowa, @perlberg, @bykowicz, @zzzzaaaacccchhh, @jonbernhardt, @onesarahjones, @awinston, @yashar, @davidfrum, @mattrosoff, @byrontau, @nycsouthpaw, @sruhle, @slpng_giants, @mirandayaver, @rmac18, @maggienyt, @yashar, @media_evan, @sulliview, @katenocera, @digiphile, The Wrap, CNN and Business Insider
Laura Hazard Owen / Nieman Lab:
Google launches a personalized audio news feed on Google Assistant using Google News in the US and releases specs for publishers for single-topic audio stories — People like smart speakers, but there are a lot of things they don't like about news on smart speakers.
Discussion:
The Keyword, TechCrunch, MediaPost, Search Engine Journal, @jbenton, @niemanlab and Engadget, more at Techmeme »
upvoted:
Reddit says it now gets 1.4B native video views per month and serves 13M+ hours of video monthly, up 38% since the beginning of 2018 — Community highlights, best-of's and the top trends for the year ahead — This time of year, there are recaps and best-ofs a-plenty …
Discussion:
Tubefilter, @mattnavarra, @dougcantor and @nmfreed
Brooks Barnes / New York Times:
MoviePass is introducing three new plans offering three movies/month, but with restrictions, in Jan, as subscribers decline and cash flow remains problematic — LOS ANGELES — The last year has been a roller coaster with 20 loops for MoviePass and its customers.
Discussion:
Variety, /Film, USA Today, TechCrunch, MediaPost, Vox, 9to5Mac, The A.V. Club, Gizmodo, Gothamist, Vanity Fair, Business Insider, @frankpallotta, The Week, The Verge, Fast Company, Engadget and The Wrap
BuzzFeed News:
An imposter Facebook account spread early misinformation about the Honduran migrant caravan; Facebook has deactivated it, declines to give account details — Days before the migrant caravan left Honduras, a fake Facebook account was used to try to bolster its numbers.
Discussion:
@buzzfeednews, @spiccoli, @aflores and @kenbensinger
Jack Shafer / Politico:
The Weekly Standard is dying so its patron, Philip Anschutz, can strengthen his other conservative political publication, the Washington Examiner — Its Never-Trump crusade violated the first commandment of political magazines: Keep your rich owner happy. — Political magazines depend …
Discussion:
New York Times, @billkristol, The Week, @newrepublic, @nickgillespie and bookforum.com
New York Times:
A draft report for CBS board says separation between 60 Minutes and CBS News permitted misconduct by some employees and that Jeff Fager's firing was justified — For decades, “60 Minutes” has reigned at the top of television news, bringing in hundreds of journalistic awards …
Discussion:
New York Post, @billritter7, @harrymccracken, @moryan, @jimrutenberg, @perlberg, @koblin, @koblin, New York Times, @hunteryharris and @miriamelder
Chris Smith / Forbes:
The Players' Tribune acquires Unscriptd, whose mobile app lets athletes create, edit, and publish short-form videos, and which'll be rebranded The Players' Post — When Derek Jeter founded The Players' Tribune in 2014, he did so to give fellow athletes an outlet where they could tell their stories directly to fans.
Discussion:
SportsPro Media, SportsPro Media, SportTechie, @roter, @forbes, @mathewi, Awful Announcing, PR Newswire and MediaPost
Sarah Clark Schiff / Facebook:
Facebook to launch political ad library for India in early 2019, requiring political advertisers to confirm identity/location, exempts eligible news publishers — It's important that people know more about the ads they see — especially those that reference political figures, political parties, elections, and legislation.
Discussion:
Adweek, @cyrilsam, VentureBeat and @coreypein
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Amazon Music rolls out new features that let people chat more naturally with Alexa to narrow playlist options and indicate music preferences — Amazon Music, reportedly the third-largest subscription-based music service worldwide, is doubling down on voice.
Discussion:
Variety, Fast Company, VentureBeat, The Verge, RAIN News and MIDiA Research, more at Techmeme »
Daniel Funke / Poynter:
Poynter's International Fact-Checking Network launches a three episode podcast, (Mis)informed, about fact-checking and fake news — Who is fact-checking for? How can reporters avoid amplifying bogus claims? And is fact-checking even the best way to fight online fakery?
Jaclyn Peiser / New York Times:
Billboard names Hannah Karp editorial director; magazine consulted with Poynter Institute on reestablishing editorial independence from its business division — One of the biggest jobs in music journalism sat vacant for two and a half years. Now Billboard magazine has finally found its new top editor …
Discussion:
Billboard, @ericboehlert and Music Business Worldwide