Top News:
Jeff Bezos:
Jeff Bezos publishes letters from AMI that he says show threats to publish his nude photos unless he stops probing AMI's earlier reporting and motivations — 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, TechCrunch, Bloomberg, New York Times, The Guardian, The Daily Beast, Washington Post, @ronanfarrow, @maxwellstrachan, @hypatiadotca, @felixsalmon, Mediaite, The Wrap, TechCrunch, HuffPost, Deadline, CNN, Fast Company, @yashar, USA Today, Business Insider, NPR, @maxwellstrachan, Vox, @ndrew_lawrence, @michaelsteele, Variety, @heerjeet, @dmgshuey, @popehat, @tbridis, Hollywood Life, Jezebel, @tjl, Mashable, @sonnybunch, WINK NEWS, @yashar, @yashar, @popehat, Slate, @mmasnick, @billkristol, Splinter, @kevinmkruse, @karaswisher, The A.V. Club, @po8crg, @popehat, @popehat, @maxwellstrachan, Associated Press, Fortune, @maggienyt, @kfile, @normative, The Verge, @renato_mariotti, @kbiegel, @eisingerj, @anildash, @noahshachtman, Boing Boing, Gizmodo, @mrtsmith81, @heidilifeldman, @donnarapado, @renato_mariotti, @jeffjarvis, @mkarolian, @maxwellstrachan, @erikwemple, @benjaminwittes, @maggienyt, @moorehn, KTLA, @nycsouthpaw, @samstein, @jenniferjjacobs, @nycsouthpaw, @harryh, @fritinancy, @renato_mariotti, @renato_mariotti, @borzou, @waltshaub, @renato_mariotti, @yashar, @rachelwalexande, @ksadjadpour, @renato_mariotti, @mrbromwich, @shiratarlo, @marklittlenews, @gaberivera, @michaelavenatti, GeekWire, @sdkstl, @jerrydunleavy, @donie, @sulliview, @gbrockell, @danbarker, The Daily Caller, The Week, Los Angeles Times, Engadget and WPIX 11 New York, more at Techmeme »
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:
@amyjbrittain, @willsommer, @melodyhahm, The Daily Beast, Associated Press, NPR, Hmm Daily, Mediaite, @genepark, @wolfereports, @daveweigel, @davidfolkenflik, BBC, @dansinker, @mattyglesias, @mattyglesias, @aaronblake, @versharma, @rickhasen, @dandrezner, @petridishes, @dylanmatt, @carloslozadawp, @melaniesill, @thealannoble, @harrymccracken, @tomzellerjr, @rafat, @erikwemple, @johnmcquaid, @sulliview, @susanschorn, @brendannyhan, @jason_pontin, @marcissist, Splinter, The Wrap, @ianfrisch, Fast Company and New York Post
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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 …
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, @jillabramson, @oliverdarcy, The Hill, New York Times, @ajwimsatt, American Press Institute, @jillabramson, @normative, Washington Post, The Wrap, Plagiarism Today, NPR, New York Magazine, @mcmoynihan, @surooshalvi, @jrubinblogger, @adrs, @annehelen, Vox, NB Blog, Associated Press, @bcmerchant, @bcmerchant, Newser, TVNewser, @benmullin, @jakemalooley, @bobruggiero2, @hshaban, @cjsprigman, @cjsprigman, @bruce_arthur, @originalspin, @sgtjanedoe, @brianstelter, @davidfolkenflik, @marissarmoss, @radleybalko, @tressiemcphd, @samthielman, @kennethn, @ianfrisch, @ianfrisch, @citizenmurphy, @amylittlefield, @pareene and @pareene
Manish Singh / VentureBeat:
News aggregator Nuzzel sold to Scroll, which is building a news subscription service; Nuzzel founder Jonathan Abrams and COO Kent Lindstrom to leave the company — News aggregator Nuzzel has found a new home and leadership and is undergoing some product changes.
Discussion:
Nieman Lab, @arctictony, Scroll Blog, @mattmcgee, TechCrunch and 9to5Mac, more at Techmeme »
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 »
Gene Maddaus / Variety:
Woody Allen sues Amazon for $68M, claiming Amazon breached a four-picture deal and refused to release A Rainy Day in New York — Woody Allen filed a $68 million suit against Amazon Studios Thursday, alleging that the streamer has backed out of a multi-picture film deal due to “a 25-year old, baseless allegation.”
Discussion:
Business Insider, Hollywood Reporter, TMZ.com, Deadline, @henereyg, The Week, The A.V. Club, New York Daily News, Jezebel, IndieWire, The Wrap, Observer, CNBC, The Verge, @gerryconway, @ronanfarrow, TVWeek.com and TechCrunch
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
Foreign Policy:
Former Fox News reporter and US Navy veteran Lea Gabrielle is named to lead the State Department agency that counters foreign propaganda and disinformation — Former Fox News correspondent and Navy veteran Lea Gabrielle to head long-troubled Global Engagement Center.
Discussion:
CNN, @dancohen3000, @maxboot, @statedept and Mediaite
Sahil Patel / Digiday:
Insider Inc says it achieved profitability in 2018 with revenue up 20% YoY and exceeded $100M in revenue for the first time — Times may be tough in digital publishing right now, but Business Insider parent company Insider Inc. says it just had its best revenue year ever.
Discussion:
@seangriffey, @bmorrissey, @gaberivera, @jayshams and @rafat
Kent Walker / The Keyword:
Google experiment finds 45% traffic decline to news sites with search results without snippets, in a moderate version of what is proposed in EU's Article 11 — In the next few days, European legislators meet to decide on a final text of the European Copyright Directive.
Discussion:
Julia Reda, The Next Web, Search Engine Land and ZDNet, 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.
Ashley Carman / The Verge:
For Spotify to succeed as a podcast app, it needs to clearly separate podcasts from music, help users discover podcasts better, and allow creators to monetize — Some suggestions for improvement — Spotify announced today that the company plans to spend up to $500 million on podcast-related acquisitions.
Discussion:
CNN, @awrd and Talking Biz News
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Peter Kafka / Recode:
Spotify buys podcast producer Gimlet Media, sources say for ~$230M, and Anchor, a startup which makes it easier for users to record and distribute podcasts
Discussion:
@spotifynews, Poynter, Music Industry Blog, Forbes, Wall Street Journal, CNBC, hypebot, @anchor, @mayafish, @mignano, MediaPost, Fortune, The Week and Digital TV Europe
New York Times Company:
In Q4, The New York Times added 265K digital subscriptions, bringing total number of digital subs to 3.4M but profit decreased to $74.7M from $90.5M a year ago — NEW YORK—(BUSINESS WIRE)— The New York Times Company (NYSE: NYT) announced today fourth-quarter 2018 diluted earnings per share …
Discussion:
Nieman Lab, @oliverdarcy, @dkiesow, @bydanielvictor and CNBC
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