Top News:
Jeff Bezos:
Jeff Bezos publishes letters from National Enquirer owner AMI that he says show threats to publish his nude photos unless he stops probing AMI's reporting — Something unusual happened to me yesterday. Actually, for me it wasn't just unusual—it was a first. I was made an offer I couldn't refuse.
Discussion:
@jeffbezos, Columbia Journalism Review, @ronanfarrow, Poynter, Washington Post, Observer, Adweek, Bloomberg, USA Today, TechCrunch, Bloomberg, The Wrap, New York Times, Mediaite, @hypatiadotca, @maxwellstrachan, @felixsalmon, CNN, The Atlantic, The Daily Beast, Mashable, Page Six, HuffPost, @yashar, Business Insider, Vanity Fair, WTVR-TV, The Verge, The Intercept, Fortune, Recode, Splinter, Associated Press, The Hill, Citi Newsroom, @sonnybunch, The Week, @pkafka, @karaswisher, Big League Politics, @nxthompson, Al Jazeera, @ndrew_lawrence, @kfile, @normative, @jamilsmith, @renato_mariotti, @kbiegel, @eisingerj, @anildash, @maxwellstrachan, @noahshachtman, @profgalloway, @mrtsmith81, @heidilifeldman, @donnarapado, @popehat, @renato_mariotti, @dmgshuey, @popehat, @tjl, @jeffjarvis, @po8crg, @yashar, @mkarolian, @dkahanerules, @maxwellstrachan, @erikwemple, @elisewho, @benjaminwittes, @maggienyt, @moorehn, @maggienyt, @mmasnick, @nycsouthpaw, @kevinmkruse, @samstein, @jenniferjjacobs, @billkristol, @xeni, @nycsouthpaw, @harryh, @michaelsteele, @fritinancy, @renato_mariotti, Deadline, @washingtonpost, @renato_mariotti, @borzou, @brianstelter, @waltshaub, @renato_mariotti, @yashar, @rachelwalexande, @ksadjadpour, @renato_mariotti, @maxwellstrachan, @mrbromwich, @shiratarlo, @marklittlenews, @hypatiadotca, @gaberivera, @heerjeet, @popehat, @nxthompson, @yashar, VICE, @nycjim, The Guardian, @michaelavenatti, @mariashriver, @sdkstl, @popehat, @jerrydunleavy, @donie, @sulliview, @gbrockell, @danbarker, The Wrap, Slate, Contemptor, NPR, Hollywood Life, Jezebel, Vox, WINK NEWS, The A.V. Club, Boing Boing, WIRED UK, TMZ.com, The Japan Times, Wall Street Journal, KTLA, Fast Company, Gizmodo, Variety, GeekWire, The Daily Caller, WPIX 11 New York and Engadget, more at Techmeme »
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Washington Post:
AMI says it believes it acted lawfully in its Bezos reporting and characterizes its actions as “good faith negotiations” but will investigate the claims — The parent company of the National Enquirer said it would thoroughly investigate extortion claims by Amazon chief executive Jeffrey P. Bezos …
Discussion:
Variety, The Verge, CNBC, Los Angeles Times, New York Times and @amandamarcotte
Allyson Chiu / Washington Post:
Ronan Farrow said he and at least one other journalist involved in stories about National Enquirer and Trump faced “blackmail” threats from AMI — Ronan Farrow said Thursday that he and “at least one other prominent journalist” who had reported on the National Enquirer …
Discussion:
New York Times, CNN, @ronanfarrow, Business Insider, Bloomberg, @ronanfarrow, @noahshachtman, @tbridis, @johncarreyrou, Page Six and Newser, more at Techmeme »
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: in August, Mohammed bin Salman met with Vice's Shane Smith to discuss a joint venture like the one the state has with Bloomberg and the Telegraph — New link at Wall Street Journal
Discussion:
New York Times, The Daily Beast and Splinter
Washington Post:
Jill Abramson responds to plagiarism allegations, says some citations don't match with the right pages and some language is too close to sources, promises fixes — Former New York Times executive editor Jill Abramson responded Thursday to allegations that she plagiarized portions of her new book …
Discussion:
New York Times, @amyjbrittain, Hmm Daily, Associated Press, @willsommer, @melodyhahm, The Daily Beast, NPR, @genepark, BBC, @mattyglesias, @dansinker, @aaronblake, @versharma, @davidfolkenflik, @harrymccracken, @rickhasen, @farhip, @tomzellerjr, @mattyglesias, @dandrezner, @petridishes, @daveweigel, @dylanmatt, @susanschorn, @brendannyhan, @jason_pontin, @marcissist, @wolfereports, @erikwemple, @thealannoble, @melaniesill, @rafat, @carloslozadawp, @johnmcquaid, @sulliview, Washington Post, Mediaite and @ianfrisch
RELATED:
Mathew Ingram / Columbia Journalism Review:
While a fine line exists on what qualifies as plagiarism, it's irritating to have words borrowed for Jill Abramson's book with no apparent attribution — It's an odd feeling to have an otherwise unremarkable passage you wrote appear as an exhibit in an accusation of plagiarism …
Discussion:
@mathewi
Tamar Auber / Mediaite:
Vice News correspondent says former NYT executive editor Jill Abramson included plagiarized passages in chapters about Vice in her book, Merchants of Truth
Discussion:
@mcmoynihan, @ianfrisch, CNN, @oliverdarcy, @jillabramson, The Hill, @jillabramson, @mcmoynihan, @annehelen, @surooshalvi, American Press Institute, Plagiarism Today, @jrubinblogger, New York Magazine, @adrs, NPR, The Wrap, @normative, NB Blog, Vox, @bcmerchant, @bcmerchant and @benmullin
Brendan Nyhan / Medium:
Research comparing 2016 and 2018 suggests Facebook's efforts to limit the reach of fake news are working, but the platform's scale remains an alluring target — After the shock of the 2016 presidential election, many Americans found psychological refuge in a simple explanation for why Donald Trump won: “fake news.”
Max Willens / Digiday:
IAC's Dotdash, which owns Investopedia and the remnants of About.com, posts $131M in revenue in 2018, up 44% YoY, and expects 21% revenue growth YoY for 2019 — In a year where publishers scrambled to diversify their revenues and their business models, Dotdash posted breakout growth stemming from a course it charted a long time ago.
Discussion:
@pkafka, more at Techmeme »
Dami Lee / The Verge:
Spotify's new Terms of Service, which go into effect on March 1, will give Spotify the authority to immediately terminate accounts that use ad blockers — Cracking down on ad blockers — Spotify is now explicitly banning ad blockers, as stated in an updated Terms of Service policy sent out today.
Discussion:
Music Industry Blog, Android Police and Gizmodo, more at Techmeme »
Christine Schmidt / Nieman Lab:
Newsletter provider Substack is now offering support for podcasts by notifying subscribers when a podcast is published, which they can listen to via web player — “It's not paying for the newsletter or the audio file. It's the connection to the mind." — In another snippet of podcast news …
Discussion:
Audio Newsletter and Off The Chain
The Moscow Times:
Report: Google pulls government-banned sites from Russian search results, blocks ~70% of sites blacklisted by Russia's communications regulator Roskomnadzor — Google has started to remove certain entries from its search results in Russia in compliance with long-standing demands from the authorities …
Discussion:
Beyond Search and Meduza.io, more at Techmeme »
Mark Little / Kinzen:
Kinzen, formerly Neva Labs, launches a free iOS app for aggregated news with limited channels; premium membership is $4.99/month and offers curated digests — We have something new for you to try. Something a little bit different. It's an experience we think will reward your time and attention.
Cara Lombardo / Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Digital First Media, which owns ~7.5% of Gannett's stock and was rejected in a takeover attempt, has launched a proxy fight to remake Gannett's board — Digital First Media, the hedge-fund-backed newspaper chain whose takeover bid for Gannett was rejected, is preparing for a proxy fight to remake Gannett's board.
Discussion:
@cararlombardo
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