Mediagazer: NPR's podcast measurement technology RAD has sparked debate within the industry, with Overcast's Marco Arment expressing concerns about tracking and privacy (Mathew Ingram/Columbia Journalism Review)

10:00 PM ET, December 18, 2018

Top News:

Guru Gowrappan / Verizon:

On January 8, Oath, which was created from Verizon's acquisitions of Yahoo and AOL, will be rebranded as Verizon Media Group — Verizon Media Group will replace the Oath brand, representing our strong alignment as a core pillar of Verizon's business. — I'm excited today to share …

Joe Pompeo / Vanity Fair:

Interview with Politico's Robert Allbritton on digital media, including Axios, and possible expansion into other areas beyond politics and policy — Despite some management upheaval, Politico has apparently been able to avoid the financial panic that has seized many of its peers.

Discussion: @timfernholz, @kelseymsutton, @joepompeo, @ddiamond, @dylanbyers, @gbrotman, @morningmoneyben, @jasonschwartz, @bmorrissey, @daviduberti and @dylanbyers

Jason Schwartz / Politico:

Ousted NPR exec Michael Oreskes and ex-Fox News editor John Moody to help launch a news site; CEO says he is not worried about past allegations against them — The site's founder says it will remedy the media's trust problems, but two top hires left their previous jobs after allegations of harassment and racism.

Discussion: @kevin_stank, @ggreeneva, @katchow, @jmsummers, @ericuman, @emilyasullivan, @dacheslow, @robtornoe, @pamela_vogel, @ckrewson and @dangillmor

Jeremy Barr / Hollywood Reporter:

Tucker Carlson loses at least 14 advertisers from his Fox News show, including Ancestry.com and NerdWallet, after his comments about immigrants — The host claimed on Monday night that he is “not intimidated” by the backlash and stands by what he said last week.

Emily Dreyfuss / Wired:

Amnesty International calls Twitter a “toxic place for women” in a study of 288,000 tweets aimed at 778 female journalists and politicians from the US and UK — FOR MANY WOMEN, especially journalists, politicians, and other public figures, Twitter is something to endure.

Discussion: Press Gazette, @nancyleong, @nxthompson, @sarahspain, @pronounced_ing, @emilydreyfuss, @thepbg, @nicole_soojung, @nototally, @pronounced_ing, @maramadavidson, Motherboard, Rewire.News and Fast Company, more at Techmeme »

Committee to Protect Journalists:

The Committee to Protect Journalists and First Look Media's press freedom defense fund aims to raise $500K for legal support, with Rappler as a recipient — International Center for Journalists and Reporters Without Borders Join Fundraising Campaign with Leading Organizations Fighting for Global Press Freedom

Discussion: @sulliview, @jeffjarvis, @alextarquinio and @joelcpj

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, NBC News, Fortune, @paulmwatson, @kylegriffin1, @amy_siskind, @justinhendrix, @tornadoesboreme, @sarahsmith2018, @shelbyholliday, Wonkette, The Wrap, Newser, The Week and Mediaite

Mike Masnick / Techdirt:

As EU debates Article 13, which would require sites to have an “upload filter”, a look at the failures of YouTube's sophisticated ContentID system — The entire Article 13 debate is a weird one. It appears that both the recording industry and the film industry are going for broke on this one.

Discussion: @mmasnick

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Sources: while Facebook had informal talks with cable networks including HBO and Showtime, it currently has no plans to launch a subscription video product — Is Facebook about to become cable TV provider? Don't bet on it. — The social giant has held informal discussions …

Discussion: @mattnavarra

Mathew Ingram / Columbia Journalism Review:

NPR's podcast measurement technology RAD has sparked debate within the industry, with Overcast's Marco Arment expressing concerns about tracking and privacy — Until recently, it hasn't been easy to measure the success of podcasts, beyond how many people download them …

more at Techmeme »

Sahil Patel / Digiday:

A look at how CBS is adding local news channels to its streaming service CBSN, starting with CBSN in New York, with plans to launch in LA in 2019 — CBS News plans to provide more local news coverage on connected TV screens. — Last week, CBS Television Stations and the company's digital arm …

Discussion: @maghielse and @awolk

Adam Jacobson / Radio & Television Business Report:

DOJ's antitrust division approves Gray's merger with Raycom Media on the condition that companies will sell overlapping TV stations in nine local markets — The Department of Justice late Friday gave its formal approval of Gray Television's merger with Raycom Media.

Discussion: TVSpy and Broadcasting & Cable

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 — Popular YouTube creator PewDiePie's ongoing battle to keep his channel's subscriber count No. 1 ahead of India's T-Series took …

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

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

Archived Page Info:

This is a snapshot of Mediagazer at 10:00 PM ET, December 18, 2018.

View the current page or another snapshot:

Who's Hiring in Media?

Deputy Ed. - Gen. Assignment Desk, DC — WaPo

EU Technology Reporter, Brussels — Bloomberg

Breaking News Reporter, NY — Guardian US

Harrisburg Reporter, PA — PCBC

Senior Editor - Styles, NY — NYT

Part-time Editor, Remote — Techmeme

Home & Travel Reporter, Ireland — Newsweek

Assistant Digital Editor, MA — Boston Globe

Senior Editor - Visuals (Temporary), DC — NPR

Copy Editor, Remote US — ProPublica

Markets Reporter, NY/CA — Sherwood Media

Staff Writer, MI — Watershed Voice

Food Reporter, CA — SF Standard

Staff Writer, NV — Las Vegas Weekly

Pharma Editor, Remote — Endpoints

Higher Ed. Reporter, Remote CA — EdSource

Politics Reporter, Brussels — Politico

Investigations & Enterprise Ed., WI — Cap Times

Social Strategy Editor, NY — WSJ

Senior Narrative Editor, CA — Cloud Chamber

Editor-in-Chief, NY (flexible) — The 74

Housing Reporter, OK — The Frontier

Writer/AI Content Reviewer, CA — Outlier

Writer/Editor, Remote — Mediaite

Multi Media Reporter, NC — Cardinal & Pine

Afternoon/Night Editor, NH — Keene Sentinel

Education Lab Editor, WA — Seattle Times

Senior Editor, Remote US — PCWorld

State Worker Reporter, CA — Sacramento Bee

Executive Editor, NM — Searchlight

News Assistant, NY — Quanta Magazine

Local Editor, NJ (Remote) — Patch

News Writer, CA — Hollywood Reporter

News Editor/Reporter, KS — Blade-Empire

Add your company here

See Also:

Mediagazer: site main

Mediagazer River: reverse chronological Mediagazer

Mediagazer Mobile: for phones

Mediagazer Leaderboard: Mediagazer's top sources

Subscribe:

Mediagazer RSS feed

Mediagazer on X

Mediagazer on Mastodon

More News:

Tim Baysinger / The Wrap:
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred confirmed the league is interested in acquiring Fox's regional sports networks, which Disney is required to divest after 21CF deal

Discussion: Multichannel News

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

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

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

Discussion: Fast Company

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

Stewart Clarke / Variety:
BBC Names Fiona Campbell as New Head of Online Channel BBC Three

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

Discussion: @mallarytenore, NPR, @mediaeu, @johnmdonnelly, @greenslader, @conradhackett, @conradhackett, TVNewser and Press Gazette

Earlier Picks:

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

Discussion: @peretti, @buzzfeedben and @annehelen

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

Discussion: @cjr, @kennethbaer, @raju, @carolyngearig, @annaleighclark, @cjr, @nicktheandersen and @dongonyea

Sahil Patel / Digiday:
To drive subscribers to Fox Nation, its new streaming service, Fox is adding membership-type benefits like access to life events, discount on merchandise, more

Tucker Higgins / CNBC:
CBS board completes investigation of Les Moonves, says grounds to terminate exist, and he will not receive his $120M severance pay

Bloomberg:
Senate report: Instagram dwarfs all social networks in Russia's IRA posts and engagements, yet Facebook execs have not been upfront about this

Lesley Goldberg / Hollywood Reporter:
Netflix has named former ABC Entertainment President Channing Dungey as its vice president of original content

Discussion: Variety, Variety, @kelleylcarter, @thrmattbelloni, @trevellanderson, Deadline, Fast Company, Observer, Ad Age, Vanity Fair and Adweek

From Techmeme:

Alex Heath / The Verge:
Meta details Llama 3: 8B- and 70B-parameter models, a focus on reducing false refusals, and an upcoming model trained on 15T+ tokens that has 400B+ parameters

Ryan Morrison / Tom's Guide:
Microsoft researchers introduce VASA-1, an AI model that creates a realistic talking face video from a portrait photo and an audio file, in research preview

Raffaele Huang / Wall Street Journal:
Apple removes WhatsApp and Threads from its App Store in China, saying it was ordered to do so by China's cyberspace officials citing national security concerns

Sister Sites:

Techmeme
Top news and commentary for technology's leaders, from all around the web

memeorandum
What US political commentators are discussing online right now

WeSmirch
The top celebrity news from all around the web on a single page