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 Daily Beast, @maxwellstrachan, @felixsalmon, TechCrunch, The Wrap, HuffPost, Mediaite, Deadline, CNN, Fast Company, USA Today, Variety, @yashar, Slate, Business Insider, The Guardian, @sonnybunch, Fortune, @popehat, Vox, @mmasnick, Associated Press, @billkristol, Splinter, @kevinmkruse, The A.V. Club, @po8crg, @popehat, @popehat, @karaswisher, @maxwellstrachan, @maggienyt, @mrbromwich, @michaelavenatti, @waltshaub, @mrtsmith81, @moorehn, @normative, @fritinancy, @renato_mariotti, @renato_mariotti, @renato_mariotti, @renato_mariotti, @renato_mariotti, @renato_mariotti, @donie, @noahshachtman, @jeffjarvis, @samstein, @maxwellstrachan, @erikwemple, KTLA, @nycsouthpaw, The Week, @maggienyt, @jenniferjjacobs, Boing Boing, @gaberivera, @sdkstl, @nycsouthpaw, Gizmodo, Mashable, @marklittlenews, @benjaminwittes, @heidilifeldman, @gbrockell, @yashar, @kbiegel, @kfile, @shiratarlo, @anildash, @donnarapado, @ksadjadpour, @mkarolian, @borzou, @rachelwalexande, @harryh, @danbarker, @jerrydunleavy, @eisingerj, Los Angeles Times, The Verge, GeekWire, The Daily Caller, @sulliview, WPIX 11 New York, Engadget and Rehak/Stuebing Mostly Media, 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, The Daily Beast, Associated Press, BBC, @genepark, @aaronblake, @rickhasen, @petridishes, @dylanmatt, New York Post, @tomzellerjr, @susanschorn, @brendannyhan, @jason_pontin, @carloslozadawp, @melaniesill, @thealannoble, @harrymccracken, Splinter, @rafat, @erikwemple, @johnmcquaid, @sulliview, @marcissist, The Wrap, Fast Company, @ianfrisch, @cmclymer, @ftrain, @paperhaus and Washington Examiner
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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, The Hill, New York Times, @jillabramson, CNN, @ajwimsatt, American Press Institute, The Wrap, @jillabramson, Washington Post, Plagiarism Today, New York Magazine, Hmm Daily, @normative, NPR, @mcmoynihan, @surooshalvi, Associated Press, @jrubinblogger, @adrs, @annehelen, Vox, NB Blog, Newser, @bcmerchant, @bcmerchant, @benmullin, TVNewser, @jakemalooley, @bobruggiero2, @hshaban, @cjsprigman, @cjsprigman, @bruce_arthur, @originalspin, @sgtjanedoe, @brianstelter, @davidfolkenflik, @marissarmoss, @radleybalko, @tressiemcphd, @samthielman, @kennethn, @ianfrisch, @ianfrisch, @citizenmurphy, @amylittlefield, @pareene, @pareene, @mmasnick, @onekade, @coreyrobin, @mlcalderone, @nycsouthpaw, @sir__ian, @robertwrighter, @passantino, @brianstelter, @jodyavirgan, @dangillmor, @brianstelter, CNN and Wall Street Journal
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 »
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 and @rafat
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.”
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, Mediaite, @dancohen3000 and @statedept
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, ZDNet and 9to5Google, more at Techmeme »
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, Nieman Lab, CNBC, MediaPost, hypebot, @anchor, @mayafish, @mignano, Fortune, The Week, Digital TV Europe, @cfishman, Anchor, @dcseifert and @stalman
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
Lucia Moses / Business Insider:
NYT to start testing raising prices for its digital subscriptions soon; it hasn't raised these prices in seven and a half years — - The New York Times will test higher prices for digital subscriptions as it aims for a goal of 10 million subscribers by 2025.
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, CNBC, @jeremylittau, @adamgoldmannyt, @peterbakernyt, @niemanlab, @snorthfield45 and @tribunekevin
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