Top News:
Politico:
Sarah Isgur, who was the DOJ's lead spokesperson under AG Jeff Sessions, is joining CNN as political editor next month and will coordinate 2020 coverage — Sarah Isgur will coordinate political coverage for the 2020 campaign at the network. — President Donald Trump has derided CNN …
Discussion:
Vox, @brianstelter, CNN, The Daily Beast, Mediaite, Mediaite, @atrupar, @elisefoley, @mattyglesias, @tvietor08, @jesselehrich, @trevortimm, @jbendery, @joshtpm, @andrewfeinberg, @myrmecos, @cahnemily, @jesselehrich, @loopemma, @rezaaslan, @gdinges, @hamiltonnolan, @markskrikorian, @_cingraham, @alexmleo, @shanegoldmacher, @jdawsey1, @harlan, @justagirl515, The Week, Media Matters for America, TVNewser, Contemptor, The Wrap and Fortune
Zeynep Tufekci / Wired:
As it gets harder to distinguish fakes from truth, facts lose their power, and so we must develop means of verifying info, from geolocation to blockchain — IN THE SUMMER of 2006, Fidel Castro unexpectedly announced that he was temporarily handing over power to his brother.
Discussion:
@zeynep, @wolfiechristl and @digiphile
Keith Coffman / Reuters:
Covington Catholic student Nicholas Sandmann sued the Washington Post for $250M, claiming it falsely accused him of racist acts and instigating a confrontation — (Reuters) - A high school student from Covington, Kentucky, sued the Washington Post for defamation on Tuesday …
Discussion:
Washington Post, New York Daily News, The Wrap, @aoc, @clarajeffery, Hemmer DeFrank PLLC, @evertonbailey and Slate
Laura Hazard Owen / Nieman Lab:
Knight Foundation pledges $300M over five years to further local news and free speech, with the bulk going to national orgs working with local partners — The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation will provide a whopping $300 million over five years to organizations including …
Discussion:
Knight Foundation, Poynter, miamiherald, American Press Institute, @b52malmet, @lenfestinst, @thegrade_, @danfagin, @niemanlab, @josh_good_, @charlesornstein, Fortune, @niemanlab, @bradfordpearson, @michaelkruse, @cthomasclt, @markobbie, @rafat, @lenfestinst, @brianstelter and @jenniferpreston
Melissa Brown / The Montgomery Advertiser:
Goodloe Sutton, publisher of the Alabama newspaper the Democrat-Reporter, authored an editorial calling on the KKK to “ride again” and “clean out DC” — The editor of a small-town Alabama newspaper published an editorial calling for “the Ku Klux Klan to night ride again” …
Discussion:
Washington Post, @itsmelissabrown, New York Times, @repterrisewell, Alabama Political Reporter, @ashtonpittman, @espiers, @jbenton, Shakari Briggs WDAM, @jbenton, @bradheath, @drpetesmith, @saifmkha, @ewerickson, @jeffamy, NPR, @blakehounshell, @laneyruckstuhl, @will_bunch, @kristenclarkejd, @kevinmkruse, @adamhdomby, @debramessing, CNN, The Rural Blog, The Week, WPIX 11 New York, The Daily Caller, New York Post, The Guardian, al.com, The Wrap, AOL, Newser, Slate, KTLA and Boing Boing
CNN:
Justice Clarence Thomas calls for a review of 1964 NYT vs Sullivan ruling that said the Constitution created a higher barrier for public figures to claim libel — Washington (CNN)Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas on Tuesday called for reconsideration of a landmark First Amendment precedent …
Discussion:
New York Times, Washington Post, @fawfulfan, @drewshenkman, @hadas_gold, @froomkin, Newser and Hit & Run
Kevin Roose / New York Times:
For YouTube, curbing misinformation on its platform may mean punishing some of its stars, a step it's not shown it can broadly take, despite recent policy shift — Last month, the YouTube star Shane Dawson uploaded his new project: a 104-minute documentary, “Conspiracy Theories With Shane Dawson.”
Discussion:
Peter O'Kelly's Reality Check, TechCrunch, The Guardian and HuffPost, more at Techmeme »
AllAccess.com:
In a first for podcasts, American Public Media's In the Dark wins a Polk Award — LONG ISLAND UNIVERSITY has announced the winners of the 70th annual GEORGE POLK Awards in Journalism, and for the first time, a podcast was one of the winners, with the second season of AMERICAN PUBLIC MEDIA/APM REPORTS' …
Discussion:
C-SPAN.org
Natalie Jarvey / Hollywood Reporter:
Hearst Media acquires Clevver, a pop culture news brand with 15M+ YouTube subscribers that was formerly owned by Defy Media, which shut down in November — The pop culture news brand has more than 15 million subscribers across its YouTube channels. — Clevver has found a new home following the fall shutdown of owner Defy Media.
Elaine Low / Variety:
Amazon's Audible partners with Lorne Michaels' Broadway Video to produce multiple audio-only comedy originals, starting with Heads Will Roll with Kate McKinnon — Lorne Michaels' Broadway Video and Amazon's Audible have struck a deal to create multiple audio-only original comedy programs …
Discussion:
Business Wire, @audible_com, @bariweiss and TechCrunch
Tim Ingham / Music Business Worldwide:
SoundCloud adds distribution feature to its premium tier, so artists can now upload their music to services including Spotify, YouTube Music, Tencent, and more — SoundCloud has launched a new distribution feature in open beta which enables artists to spread their music to a range of rival streaming services.
Discussion:
Fast Company, Variety and TechCrunch
The New York Times Company:
New York Times online access will now be available for free in all California public libraries, home to 23M library card holders — The New York Times and California State Library today announced that all of the nearly 1,200 public libraries across the state will offer their patrons free NYTimes.com access.