Mediagazer: HQ Trivia postpones rollout of its premier HQ Words gameshow and Google ad campaign until later this week; sources say the company had ~$10M ad revenue in 2018 (Garett Sloane/Ad Age)

12:45 PM ET, December 18, 2018

Top News:

Senate report: Instagram dwarfs all social networks in Russia's IRA posts and engagements, yet Facebook execs have not been upfront about this — - Document prepared for Senate Intelligence evaluates posts — Instagram tops Facebook in IRA posts and unique engagements

Washington Post:
Report prepared for the Senate analyzes Russian disinformation that supported Trump across millions of posts on YouTube, Instagram, Tumblr, Pinterest, and more

Wall Street Journal:

Trump adviser Roger Stone settles $100M defamation lawsuit brought by Chinese businessman over claims he made on InfoWars, admits making false statements — Trump adviser made the admission in settling a defamation suit brought against him by an exiled Chinese businessman

Discussion: Washington Post, The Wrap, NBC News, Wonkette, Newser, The Week and Mediaite

Margaret Sullivan / Washington Post:

It's time for the media to stop amplifying lies from Kellyanne Conway and to quit repeating falsehoods in tweets and alerts just because the president said them — Lies are coming at the American public in torrents — raining down on them everywhere they turn.

Discussion: @gitagovinda, @eshap, @jljacobson, @laurahelmuth, @johnlgoodman, @jayrosen_nyu, @richarddeitsch, @jayrosen_nyu, @owillis, @dangillmor, NBC News and Mediaite

Tucker Higgins / CNBC:

CBS board completes investigation of Les Moonves, says grounds to terminate exist, and he will not receive his $120M severance pay — Former CBS CEO Les Moonves will not receive severance pay following a sexual misconduct probe, the company's board of directors announced Monday evening.

Discussion: New York Times, @koblin, Hollywood Reporter, Deadline, TVWeek.com, Broadcasting & Cable, The Wrap, Ad Age, CBS Corporation, Variety, Fortune, @brianstelter, @cnbcnow, @danlinden, CNN, Adweek, The Daily Caller, CBS News, Washington Post and Mediaite

Tim Baysinger / The Wrap:

A former Wisconsin police sergeant is suing Netflix and the filmmakers behind the “Making A Murderer” series over his portrayal in it — Andrew Colburn, a former police sergeant in Manitowoc County, Wisconsin, has sued the filmmakers of “Making a Murderer” as well as Netflix …

Discussion: Fast Company

Stewart Clarke / Variety:

BBC Names Fiona Campbell as New Head of Online Channel BBC Three — The BBC has named Fiona Campbell the new boss of its youth-skewing online channel, BBC Three, replacing outgoing controller Damian Kavanagh, who is leaving in the new year to run Endemol Shine-owned producer Tiger Aspect.

Max Read / New York Magazine:

PewDiePie has used YouTube to promote anti-Semitic content and uttered racist slurs but the site's culture means he will remain popular, with 75M+ subscribers — Last week, the Swedish YouTube star Felix Kjellberg, known to his fans as PewDiePie, uploaded an edition of “Pew News,” …

Discussion: @max_read, @loudmouthjulia, Motherboard, bookforum.com and The Daily Beast, more at Techmeme »

Todd Spangler / Variety:
A branded content section of WSJ's website was hacked on Monday, with a message posted praising YouTuber PewDiePie; he later tweeted a link to the page himself

Discussion: The Verge, @loudmouthjulia, @rajivpant, Tubefilter, Engadget, Business Insider, Talking Biz News and iMediaEthics

Joan E. Solsman / CNET:
Some of PewDiePie's fans are suspected of being behind a WSJ hack in which a message was posted claiming the paper had apologized to him for critical coverage

Discussion: @rajivpant, @danielpmcdermot and @cnet

Reporters Without Borders:

RSF: number of journalists killed increased 15% YoY in 2018 to 63, with the US joining the list of the deadliest countries for the press — Organisation — RSF_en — A total of 80 journalists were killed this year, 348 are currently in prison, and 60 are being held hostage …

Discussion: TVNewser, Press Gazette and @johnmdonnelly

Jeremy Barr / Hollywood Reporter:

Ancestry.com becomes the sixth company to pull ads from Tucker Carlson's Fox News show, following comments he made about immigrants last week — The host claimed on Monday night that he is “not intimidated” by the backlash and stands by what he said last week.

Discussion: The Guardian, TVNewser, New York Magazine, @markghuneim, Fortune, The Daily Beast, Ad Age, Contemptor, The Wrap, Jezebel, Fast Company and Vox

Garett Sloane / Ad Age:

HQ Trivia postpones rollout of its premier HQ Words gameshow and Google ad campaign until later this week; sources say the company had ~$10M ad revenue in 2018 — Founder's death causes company to reschedule — HQ Trivia plans to run its regularly scheduled game on Monday evening …

Discussion: Vanity Fair, Business Insider and The Week, more at Techmeme »

Tampa Bay Times:

The charitable trust of Nelson Poynter's 92-year-old widow is suing Tampa Bay Times parent company Times Publishing Co., claiming it's owed millions — The charitable trust benefitting the 92-year-old widow of Nelson Poynter has sued Times Publishing Co. in federal court, claiming it is owed millions of dollars.

Ben Smith / Nieman Lab:

In 2019, the perceptions of media will move away from the 1980s-style media diet elevated by the president that emphasizes linear TV and legacy media — The president of the United States is, among other things, the media-consumer-in-chief. Presidents elevated the new media of television and radio and …

Andrew McCormick / Columbia Journalism Review:

19-year-old Sammy Sussman penned a 6,500-word story for his university paper detailing four decades of sexual assault allegations against a music professor — A 6,500-word feature is a feat for any journalist to pull off. It's another thing altogether for a 19-year old music major …

Discussion: @cjr and @dongonyea