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.
Discussion:
Nieman Lab, Wall Street Journal, Press Gazette, Digiday, CNN, TechCrunch, Adweek, Variety, Crain's New York Business, Splinter, Tubefilter, @hshaban, @rafat and @zachdcarter
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.
Discussion:
New York Times, Washington Post, Mediaite, CNBC, Contemptor and @frankbruni
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.
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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 — Twitter revealed Thursday that it had removed thousands of malicious accounts thought to have originated in Iran …
Discussion:
New York Times, Blog Network, Twitter, @wiczipedia, @josh_emerson, @yoyoel, @policy, @justinhendrix, @wiczipedia, @dcherring, NBC News, Twitter, PCMag India, Adweek, Recode, 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
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, Gizmodo, Mashable, Fortune, Ad Age, DFRLab, The Guardian, VentureBeat, Engadget, The Verge, The Wrap, CyberScoop, The Hill, TechCrunch and Business Insider, more at Techmeme »
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 …
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
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, NPR, Washington Post and 9to5Mac, more at Techmeme »
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, @brendannyhan, @edfischman, @cristianafarias, @brynstole, @rcfp, @missryley, @davidgura, @rcfp, @ponyphaeton, @dmhj, @eoinhiggins_, @deepakguptalaw, @egavactip, @bradfordpearson, @miekeeoyang, @waldojaquith, @mjs_dc, @dataeditor, @srl, @marshamcleod_ny, @archivieren and @digiphile
Edmund Lee / New York Times:
A look at the legal grounds for Locast's existence and its role in the relationship between broadcasters and cable, satellite companies — Want to watch the Super Bowl and other network TV for free? A start-up called Locast will let you, and (so far) the big broadcasters aren't trying to stop it.
Discussion:
@edmundlee, Fast Company, @ronlieber, @mathewi, The Verge and Broadcasting & Cable