Top News:
Natalie Jarvey / Hollywood Reporter:
Vice to lay off 10% of staff, or ~250 people, across the company as part of restructuring effort; weekly “Vice” show on HBO also ending — The cuts, which will impact around 250 people, are part of new CEO Nancy Dubuc's strategic plan to tighten spending and achieve profitability.
Michael M. Grynbaum / New York Times:
In interview with Trump, NYT journalists and publisher try explaining the global effect of “fake news” claims but his focus shifted to his personal grievances — President Trump takes credit for popularizing the term “fake news.” — But the consequences? Not his concern.
Chuck Strouse / Miami New Times:
Memo: McClatchy is offering a voluntary early retirement program to about 450 employees, says it will be a one-time opportunity — This morning, Craig Forman, CEO of McClatchy Company, emailed all staff to say about 10 percent of the newspaper chain's employees would be offered voluntary buyouts.
Discussion:
@lindseywasson, @sulliview, @cliomiso, @parkermolloy, @charlesapple, @jeffdomingues, @stevejanoski and @romenesko
Daniel Funke / Poynter:
Snopes pulls out of Facebook partnership, says Facebook's closed, manual fact-checking entry system is too labor intensive and fails to benefit the whole web — Snopes is no longer debunking misinformation in partnership with Facebook. In a statement published Friday …
Discussion:
Snopes.com, CNBC, @tmclaughlin3, Mashable, @tarletong, @bendwalsh, Snopes.com and @dpfunke, more at Techmeme »
Taylor Soper / GeekWire:
Amazon's “other” revenue, which is mostly composed of its advertising services, hit $3.4B in Q4, up 95% YoY and reaching $10.1B for all of 2018 — Amazon's advertising business is showing no signs of letting up. — Amazon reports record profits of $3B, crushes Wall Street expectations for holiday quarter
Paul Farhi / Washington Post:
The Pentagon hasn't done an on-camera press briefing since May; formerly daily State Department briefings averaged six per month in last three months of 2018 — With President Trump sending more troops to the southern border, pulling some out of Syria and causing uncertainty among allies in NATO …
Hannah Murphy / Financial Times:
Facebook says it was able to uncover the Iranian network thanks to information from Twitter and that the two have been sharing notes sooner than previously — Facebook and Twitter have removed thousands of fake accounts originating from Iran, some dating back as far as 2010, after collaborating to combat disinformation.
Discussion:
Engadget
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Tony Romm / Washington Post:
Twitter says it removed thousands of malicious accounts that originated in Iran, Russia, and Venezuela for spreading disinformation about the 2018 midterms
Discussion:
New York Times, Twitter, @wiczipedia, @justinhendrix, @josh_emerson, @yoyoel, @policy, Blog Network, @wiczipedia, @dcherring, NBC News, Twitter, PCMag India, Adweek, Recode, Ad Age, Reuters and The Week, more at Techmeme »
Facebook:
Facebook says it removed 262 Pages, 356 accounts, three groups, and 162 Instagram accounts tied to Iran for engaging in coordinated inauthentic behavior
Discussion:
Adweek, CNN, @donara_barojan, @donie, Al Jazeera, @jank0, @martyswant, @martyswant, SiliconANGLE, Mashable, Gizmodo, Fortune, Ad Age, DFRLab, The Guardian, VentureBeat, Engadget, The Verge, The Wrap, CyberScoop, The Hill, TechCrunch and Business Insider
Colin Lecher / The Verge:
What to expect as oral arguments begin Friday in Mozilla's lawsuit to stop FCC's repeal of net neutrality rules — The FCC will make its case against the rules — Oral arguments will begin tomorrow for one of the most important cases in internet law history.
Discussion:
Ars Technica, Free Press, Gizmodo, NPR, 9to5Mac and Washington Post, more at Techmeme »
Ken Doctor / Nieman Lab:
For M&A possibilities among legacy newspaper companies and even digital startups, the next recession looms large and everything is on the table — In an industry where expense reduction is the prime strategy, much more consolidation is likely on the way. Little regulation prevents it, and the financials all favor it.
Discussion:
@darrendcarroll, @timhanlon and @newsbyschmidt
Bloomberg:
Sources: Sinclair and the MLB, among others, bid for Fox's regional sports networks minus the YES network, with offers much lower than the anticipated $20B — - Bids value assets at well below the $22 billion estimated — Latest round attracts offers from Sinclair, Apollo and MLB
Discussion:
Awful Announcing
Daniel Sanchez / Digital Music News:
A ranking of music streaming services by royalty payouts: Napster leads the way with $.019/stream, and YouTube trails with $.00069/stream — Late last month, Digital Music News updated its list of what streaming music services pay. — Thanks to information from third-party websites and actual artists …
Discussion:
@euforcreators
Mark Di Stefano / BuzzFeed:
Nina Burleigh, author of the Melania Trump article for which The Telegraph apologized, is demanding the newspaper retract its apology, claiming defamation — US journalist Nina Burleigh claims The Daily Telegraph's apology has turned her into an “international poster girl for fake news”.
Anna Gutierrez / The Reporters Committee …:
A coalition of 28 media organizations has filed a court brief supporting a lawsuit that challenges fees for court records accessed via PACER — The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and 27 media organizations support the rights of the public and the press to have affordable access to court records.
Discussion:
New Republic, @marshamcleod_ny, @brendannyhan, @brynstole, @davidgura, @miekeeoyang, @dmhj, @egavactip, @waldojaquith, @mjs_dc, @dataeditor, @srl, @rcfp, @rcfp, @edfischman, @missryley, @deepakguptalaw, @archivieren, @ponyphaeton, @eoinhiggins_, @bradfordpearson, @cristianafarias and @digiphile
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