Top News:
Patrick Radden Keefe / New Yorker:
A profile of Mark Burnett, the Hollywood producer behind the TV hit “The Apprentice” which elevated Trump from a tabloid figure of fun to an icon of success — With “The Apprentice,” the TV producer mythologized Trump—then a floundering D-lister—as the ultimate titan, paving his way to the Presidency.
Discussion:
The Wrap, Mediaite, Decider, The Daily Caller, The Week, @pamelacolloff, @joenbc, @poniewozik, @janemayernyer, @andreachalupa, The Daily Beast and Deadline
Max Fisher / New York Times:
1400+ pages of leaked Facebook content rules show the site is censoring mainstream speech in some countries while extremist language flourishes in others — Under fire for stirring up distrust and violence, the social network has vowed to police its users. But leaked documents raise serious questions about its approach.
Max Read / New York Magazine:
Studies suggest that less than 60% of web traffic is human, with fake metrics, news, and bot-driven conversations and transactions, leading to falling trust — In late November, the Justice Department unsealed indictments against eight people accused of fleecing advertisers of $36 million …
Discussion:
@chronotope, @joemarchese, Hit & Run, @buzzfeedben, @molleindustria, @coreypein, @timmaughan, @ganeumann, @necolas, @ekp, @trumpery45, @johnb78, Marketing Land, @hselftax, @mjrobbins, @fs0c131y, @scottwamplerbmd, @toryanarchist, @toad_spotted, @mdudas, @kristapley, @scottwamplerbmd, @mattdpearce, @politicalshort, @mollymckew, @joshtpm, @taylorlorenz, @seldo, @taylorholiday, @sheril_, @slpng_giants, @mikeisaac, @saschasegan, @robpegoraro, @chronotope, @chronotope, @katienotopoulos, @mantzarlis and Boing Boing
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: New York Yankees in talks with Amazon, Sinclair about joint bid for the team's regional network, YES, that Disney must sell as part of Fox acquisition — Baseball team has also spoken with Altice USA and RedBird Capital about buying remaining 80% stake from Disney
Discussion:
Fast Company and Fortune
Wolfgang Spahr / Billboard:
German music channel Viva is shutting down on December 31 after 25 years; parent company Viacom wants to focus on MTV, Comedy Central, and Nickelodeon — Viva, the Viacom-owned music video channel in Germany, will officially close up shop on Dec. 31, ending a 25-year run.
Emily Birnbaum / The Hill:
MSNBC says it beat Fox News in key ratings and in total viewers for the first time in 17 years during the week of December 17-21 — MSNBC beat out Fox News last week in key ratings for first time in 17 years, topping its competitor in total viewers for the first time since 2000, according to a news release from MSNBC.
Discussion:
NBC Universal, @badfoxgraphics, @davidwohl, @dchristakos84, TVWeek.com and Newser
Shirin Ghaffary / Recode:
How unions can protect staff at digital media publishers during layoffs and mergers and the limits of their powers — Newly formed unions have been warning employees that winter is coming. Now that it has arrived, what can a union actually do about it? — 2018 has been a bumpy year for digital media publishers.
Laura Kayali / Politico:
David Kaye, the UN's Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Opinion, says Trump is the worst perpetrator of false information in the US — The President of the United States is the “worst” perpetrator of misinformation on the internet, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Freedom …
Discussion:
@attalidesm, @dktatlow, @sarah_boxer, @malloryknodel, The Daily Caller and Mediaite
Craig Silverman / BuzzFeed News:
An NYT story about a disinformation experiment in Alabama election didn't disclose its reporter had spoken at an event organised by the company behind it — Last week the New York Times revealed that money from tech billionaire Reid Hoffman was used to run a small disinformation “experiment” …
Discussion:
The Week, Mashable and TechCrunch, more at Techmeme »
Matthew Schafer / BuzzFeed News:
A look at the role public records played in BuzzFeed News reporting in 2018, a year during which it filed ten FOIA lawsuits in federal courts — Texas was in a bind. The manufacturer of pentobarbital, the drug Texas uses to execute death row inmates, had prohibited its distributors …
Alex Marshall / New York Times:
As Turkey's TV shows gain in popularity worldwide, Netflix produces its first Turkish show, free from the “decency” regulations that govern TV broadcasters — LONDON — On a recent evening, Nahid Akhtar, 47, sat on a sofa in London shouting at a TV.
Michael M. Grynbaum / New York Times:
A look at Trump's relationship with the press in 2018: 70+ interviews granted but traditional briefings eschewed, anti-press rhetoric that led to violence, more — It can be easy to forget that, two years ago, the White House press briefing took place nearly every day.
Discussion:
@jonlemire, @ennisnyt, @jayrosen_nyu, @stiles and The Daily Caller
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