Top News:
Peter Lawrence Kane / SFWeekly:
The East Bay Express has laid off four core members of its editorial staff and is moving to an all-freelance model; editor and publisher Robert Gammon remains — Four people at the 40-year-old alt-weekly lost their jobs. — UPDATE: Robert Gammon, the EBX's editor, has supplied a comment.
The Information:
Sources: Viacom in talks to acquire Tubi TV, an ad-supported streaming service partly owned by MGM and Lionsgate; one source estimated a cost of around $300M — Nearly every major media company in recent years has launched video streaming services that cost viewers a few dollars a month and don't carry ads …
CNN:
NBC and Megyn Kelly have officially parted ways; sources say NBC will pay Kelly the remaining sum of her contract, believed to total about $30M — (CNN)Two years after she signed with the network amid much fanfare, Megyn Kelly and NBC have officially parted ways.
Discussion:
New York Times, TMZ.com, The Wrap, @amyotto8, @bluechoochoo, @larryoconnor, @brianstelter, The Daily Beast, @oliverdarcy, @brianstelter and @brianstelter
Kit Walsh / Electronic Frontier Foundation:
Bird sends dubious DMCA takedown notice to Boing Boing over a post explaining how to legally buy an abandoned Bird scooter and convert it to a personal scooter — Every now and then we have to remind someone that it's not illegal for people to report facts that they dislike.
Discussion:
Boing Boing, TechCrunch, Gizmodo, The Verge, @alexstamos, Techdirt, @techdirt, @sil, @lenazun, @adamsinger and @waxpancake, more at Techmeme »
Matthew Kassel / Columbia Journalism Review:
As President Trump's press bashing continues unabated, local journalists face increased incidents of being spurned and vilified by elected officials — Douglas Burns, a fourth-generation journalist, is co-owner of the Daily Times Herald in Carroll, Iowa, a newspaper that has been in his family since 1929.
Discussion:
@penamerican, @cjr, @rokhanna, @news_collab, @spjlv, The Rural Blog, @rylandky and @ruralj
RELATED:
Laura Hazard Owen / Nieman Lab:
NYT announces it's launching a weekday 3-minute news briefing and a news quiz for Alexa-enabled devices, with eventual expansion to Google Assistant and Siri — The New York Times is pushing further into voice products for smart speakers. On Friday, the company announced that it's launching …
Discussion:
@digiphile, New York Times and MediaPost
Brianna Sacks / BuzzFeed News:
Ex-staffers of Freedom Daily say Brian Kolfage, who raised $20M via a GoFundMe campaign for Trump's wall, pushed them to fabricate stories for his website — “He never wanted the truth. It was all just for clicks, and the more inflammatory, the better," a former employee said.
RELATED:
NBC News:
Brian Kolfage's previous fundraising efforts relied on two ultra-conservative websites, Freedom Daily and Right Wing News; Kolfage denies he owned Freedom Daily
Brian Kolfage's previous fundraising efforts relied on two ultra-conservative websites, Freedom Daily and Right Wing News; Kolfage denies he owned Freedom Daily
Discussion:
@fpwellman, @oneunderscore__, @natashabertrand, @oneunderscore__, @ambiej, @oneunderscore__, @mikeisaac, @pattymo, @oneunderscore__ and Mashable
Washington Post:
Over half the top 20 YouTube search results for “RBG” this week pointed to false far-right videos, spotlighting how misleading videos bury credible content — Conspiracy theories about the health of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg have dominated YouTube this week …
Discussion:
@hshaban, @oneunderscore__, @marietjeschaake, @tonyajoriley, @jzheel, @hshaban, @garettsloane, @drewharwell and @slpng_giants
Alex Hern / The Guardian:
Facebook's fact-checking operation launches in the UK and partners with the independent charity Full Fact to assess the accuracy of content — Social network brings in independent charity in attempt to tackle misinformation — Facebook's fact-checking operation is launching in the UK …
Discussion:
Full Fact, Press Gazette, Telegraph and WIRED UK
Brent Lang / Variety:
Sources: CBS Films will fold into CBS Entertainment Group this year, with some layoffs in March and a focus on streaming after current films are released — CBS Films will be folded into CBS Entertainment Group over the next twelve months, Variety has learned.
Cynthia Littleton / Variety:
In SEC filing, Fox confirms it won't bid on the 22 regional sports networks Disney must sell — The new-model Fox Corp. will not be a bidder in the auction of the 22 regional sports networks that Disney is set to buy from 21st Century Fox. — Fox confirmed in a Securities …
Discussion:
SportsBusiness Daily, Wall Street Journal, The Wrap, @manabyte, Ad Age, Awful Announcing, @jbflint and Multichannel News
Rani Molla / Recode:
Top US ad buyers: Amazon could get 12% of total digital ad spending in 2020, up from 6% in 2018; Facebook's main platform may lose three percentage points — Top ad buyers say increased spending on Amazon is mostly coming from other digital platforms. — Amazon could double …
Discussion:
@kurtwagner8, Investor's Business Daily and Ad Age