Mediagazer: Profile of NewsGuard, a rare for-profit fact checking startup that uses a team of 25 journalists to rate 2,000+ news outlets, and the challenges it faces (Rani Molla/Recode)

11:40 PM ET, February 15, 2019

Top News:

Twitter hides a tweet, reportedly from Iran's head of state, for pointing out that a previous leader's verdict to murder novelist Salman Rushdie is still valid — Twitter removed a tweet from an account that reportedly belongs to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei on Friday …

Discussion: @mrejfox, @rmac18, @dabeard and @digiphile, more at Techmeme »

Wall Street Journal:

Sources: Great Hill Partners is in exclusive talks with Univision to buy Gizmodo Media Group for an undisclosed sum — Deal would include websites such as Gizmodo, Deadspin, Lifehacker and Jezebel — Great Hill Partners is in exclusive talks with Spanish-language broadcaster Univision Communications Inc …

Discussion: @onionincunion, @jeremymbarr, @benmullin and @jayrosen_nyu

Hollywood Reporter:
Univision reports Q4 revenue of $688.5M, down 8.9% YoY and a loss of $40.2M amid ongoing carriage dispute with Dish

Discussion: @jeremymbarr, @benmullin, Variety, Wall Street Journal and Hollywood Reporter

Bob Bauer / The Atlantic:

The AMI-Bezos conflict is a case study of legal exposure that can stem from flouting journalistic norms and of how norms relate to constitutional protections — The National Enquirer pushed the limits of journalistic norms—and in the process called into question the legal protections enjoyed by the media.

Discussion: CNBC, Vanity Fair, Business Insider, @theatlideas and Vox, more at Techmeme »

James Vincent / The Verge:

OpenAI says it won't release the dataset behind GPT-2, its new text generator algorithm that can write, translate, and summarize text, due to fears of misuse — OpenAI's researchers knew they were on to something when their language modeling program wrote a convincing essay on a topic they disagreed with.

Discussion: The Guardian, MIT Technology Review, @enkiv2, Gizmodo, @techreview, @jimwaterson, The Guardian, Fast Company, Business Insider and The Next Web, more at Techmeme »

Todd Spangler / Variety:

SEC filing: Spotify paid ~$337M to buy Gimlet Media and Anchor; Spotify told investors it expects to spend $400M-$500M in total on podcast acquisitions in 2019 — - After Machinima Shutdown, Rooster Teeth Revives ‘Inside Gaming’ and Rescues Other Machinima Shows

Discussion: TechCrunch, more at Techmeme »

Adam Jacobson / Radio & Television Business Report:

Apollo Global Management acquires majority stake in Cox Media Group's TV arm; earlier report placed the value at $3B — DAYTON, OHIO — On January 26, RBR+TVBR overheard a conversation involving a Cox Media Group Ohio employee who noted “we should know in a couple of weeks” what their fate would be …

Discussion: CNBC, @adamrjacobson1, @b_fung, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Bloomberg, Broadcasting & Cable and Variety

Mark Di Stefano / BuzzFeed:

Sources detail the “generational shift” occurring at the BBC, as it loses four high-profile male presenters in recent months, including David Dimbleby — In just eight months, Andrew Neil, John Humphrys, David Dimbleby, and Eddie Mair have all stepped down.

Discussion: @markdistef, @alexgspence, @markdistef, @tomwhx and @aljwhite

Gwilym Mumford / The Guardian:
BBC says This Week, its late night politics show hosted by Andrew Neil, will conclude this summer after 16 years on the air

Discussion: The Times & The Sunday Times, @mrharrycole, BBC, @mattkmoore, @hackneyabbott, @iaindale, @afneil and Guido Fawkes

Sarah Frier / Bloomberg:

Facebook says it is exploring ways to address anti-vaccine misinformation including reducing or removing it from recommendations and demotion in search results — Facebook Inc., under pressure to reduce harmful, misleading and fake content, said it is exploring removing anti-vaccine information …

Discussion: Gizmodo, @rmac18, @jayrosen_nyu, The Week, schiff.house.gov, Engadget, Fortune, Fast Company, The Daily Beast, The Hill, Business Insider, The Verge and CNN

Kim Lyons / Columbia Journalism Review:

Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh files complaint with National Labor Review Board, claiming Post-Gazette's publisher threatened to fire staff for union activity — On Saturday night, February 9, John Robinson Block—publisher of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, one of more than a dozen news outlets owned …

Discussion: New York Times, @cjr, @cjr, @michaelafuoco, @jsilverpg, CNN, @jamieson, @pgnewsguild, @dlboardman and Newser

Melynda Fuller / MediaPost:

Hearst Magazines names its first chief data officer, Mike Smith, in charge of ad products, digital ad operations, and data capabilities — In its latest move as a data-driven content company, Hearst Magazines has appointed Mike Smith its first Chief Data Officer. — Smith will report to Hearst Magazines President Troy Young.

Discussion: Folio

Duncan Cooper / Pitchfork:

While some artists whose music is used in TikTok videos are compensated through their labels' sales of blanket licenses, others forgo payment for exposure — The company behind lip-sync app TikTok is reportedly worth three times as much as Spotify, but the artists whose music powers the platform are seeing very little of that money.

Discussion: @getalternative and @mattnavarra

Amy X. Wang / Rolling Stone:

Interview with the Swedish social science research team behind Spotify Teardown, a forthcoming book that takes a deep look at the music streaming giant — Researchers behind the controversial new book into Spotify's operations chat with Rolling Stone about their most surprising findings

Discussion: Music Ally

Rani Molla / Recode:

Profile of NewsGuard, a rare for-profit fact checking startup that uses a team of 25 journalists to rate 2,000+ news outlets, and the challenges it faces — Experts weigh in on whether a for-profit journalism initiative can do what big tech can't. — A battle between fact and fake news …

Discussion: @jimwarren55, @dariasolo and @newsguardrating

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Senior Assignment Editor, DC — WaPo

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Trade & Climate Correspondent, DC — FT

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More News:

Christine Schmidt / Nieman Lab:
Inside.com, which has raised $2.6M from SeedInvest and others, hit $1.1M in revenue in 2018 with 750K subscribers and a newsletter open rate of around 40%

Discussion: @niemanlab, @niemanlab and @jason

Hillel Italie / Associated Press:
NPD BookScan: Jill Abramson's Merchants of Truth sold just over 2,800 print copies in its first week of publication, following plagiarism controversy

Discussion: @tomgara and @maxwelltani

Garett Sloane / Ad Age:
Sources: Facebook is working with some media partners to test connecting third-party ad tech, like Google Ad Manager, to Watch

Nobel Women's Initiative:
The Nobel Women's Initiative launches InterviewHer, a global database to connect media to women experts on conflict, peace, and security

Lucinda Southern / Digiday:
GQ UK launched GQ Hype, a free weekly digital publication which gets its revenue from display ads and content partnerships, in December, as a gateway to GQ

Vindu Goel / New York Times:
Critics say India's proposed internet rules, which could let Indian officials compel companies to remove posts, violate constitutional free speech protections

Discussion: @sflcin, @mdudas and @histoftech

Earlier Picks:

DW.COM:
Council of Europe report: attacks on journalists almost doubled YoY in 2018, and new threats like verbal abuse and public stigmatization increased

Jeremy Barr / Hollywood Reporter:
Sources: Fox rejected a 30-second ad called “It Can Happen Here,” set to air on Hannity for an Oscar-nominated documentary which recounts 1939 Nazi rally in NYC

Discussion: New York Magazine, Washington Post and Gothamist

Dade Hayes / Deadline:
CBS reports Q4 revenues of $4B, up 3% YoY, missing estimates, adjusted operating income of $837M, up 10% YoY, and says it has 8M direct-to-consumer subscribers

Discussion: MediaPost, CNBC, @lucas_shaw, Variety, Engadget, Los Angeles Business Journal, Variety, Bloomberg, @lucas_shaw, @jbflint, The Wrap, @lucas_shaw, Business Insider, Variety and CBS Corporation SEC Filings

Alexander Russo / kappanonline.org:
Since Columbine, media coverage of school shootings has improved, but issues of accuracy, follow-up, and narrow focus on gun control advocacy remain

Discussion: Columbia Journalism Review, WBUR, @poynter, @kristenhare, @rpetty, Poynter, @samsanders and Poynter

Al Jazeera:
Maria Ressa has been released after spending one night in NBI custody and posting bail of 100K Philippine pesos, or about $1,900

Discussion: CNN, @mariaressa, RAPPLER, The Guardian, CNN, @iamsuperbianca, Washington Post, @brianstelter, @issamahmed, Global Voices Advocacy and CNN

From Techmeme:

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple is working on a smart doorbell system with advanced facial recognition that can wirelessly connect and unlock third-party smart locks

Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
Donald Trump announces that Sriram Krishnan, until recently a general partner at a16z, will serve as senior policy advisor for AI at the White House OSTP

Financial Times:
Sources: Palantir and Anduril are in talks with OpenAI, SpaceX, and more to form a consortium to bid for US defense contracts and plan to announce it in January

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