Top News:
Ken Doctor / Nieman Lab:
Interview with Norm Pearlstine, LA Times executive editor with a new multiyear contract, on expanding staff, cross-functional teams, food coverage, and more — “With a traditional media company, you can have well-defined lines as long as you're doing the same thing every day.
Discussion:
Nieman Lab, @palewire, @jacquib, @bertrandp, @benmullin, @jbenton, @anthonyjpesce and @mattdpearce
Sebastian Murdock / HuffPost:
Alex Jones of InfoWars, in a deposition, denies he had intentionally spread lies about Sandy Hook and rejects responsibility for Sandy Hook parents' pain — For all his dangerous talk about the Sandy Hook school shooting, Alex Jones couldn't even recall the date it happened.
Rob Price / Business Insider:
Facebook says it “mistakenly deleted” some of Zuckerberg's old Facebook posts that were public and reported on, including a post about the Instagram acquisition — - Some old Facebook posts by CEO Mark Zuckerberg have disappeared, and the company says it “mistakenly deleted” them.
Discussion:
Newser, @vincemancini, CNET, @robaeprice, @kevinroose, Reuters, @zeynep and @robaeprice, more at Techmeme »
Kevin Roose / New York Times:
Interview with YouTube Chief Product Officer Neal Mohan about its recommendation algorithms, radicalization, violent extremism, and the rabbit-hole effect — Neal Mohan discusses the streaming site's recommendation engine, which has become a growing liability amid accusations that it steers users to increasingly extreme content.
Discussion:
@kevinroose, @brandyzadrozny, @gchaslot, @kevinroose, @dellcam, @kevinroose, @tayhatmaker, @patrickclaybon, @oneunderscore__, @goldman, @lam_barrett, @zeynep, @profcarroll, @brandyzadrozny, @cwarzel, @nealmohan, @bro_pair, @fraying, @oneunderscore__, @timcast, @lib_crusher, @cwarzel, @cwarzel, The Wrap, VICE News and Gizmodo, more at Techmeme »
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Brian Feldman / New York Magazine:
In his interview, Neal Mohan disingenuously fails to mention that YouTube gives users a heavily weighted single recommendation after each video via autoplay — There is perhaps no better pipeline to online radicalization, save for 4chan, than by watching videos on YouTube.
Discussion:
@dtunkelang, more at Techmeme »
Natalie Jarvey / Hollywood Reporter:
Memo: Ze Frank, BuzzFeed's chief research and development officer and a key architect of its video business, is leaving the company, will serve as an adviser — Frank, who has been serving as the head of research and development at BuzzFeed since 2018, will remain an adviser to the company.
Discussion:
@natjarv and @heyyyella
Yashar Ali / @yashar:
[Thread] Freelancer Yashar Ali accuses MSNBC/NBC News Managing Editor Dafna Linzer of bullying him on behalf of the DNC to delay a story on Democratic debates — 1. Yesterday, I received a call from @DafnaLinzer who serves as managing editor of NBC/MSNBC politics. Dafna's conduct during the call was highly inappropriate and unethical. So what was the purpose of her call? She called me to bully me on behalf of the DNC.
Discussion:
@tankie_viciedo, @ggreenwald, @saracarterdc, @brithume, @erikwemple, Mediaite, The Daily Caller and The Wrap
New York Times:
As Ukraine preps for Sunday's election, officials and candidates say Facebook, despite recent improvements, has been slow to respond to Russian disinformation — Campaigning for Ukraine's presidential election had just begun to heat up when the authorities announced they had thwarted …
Will Oremus / Slate:
How a 119-word local crime brief amassed more than 800K Facebook shares, nearly twice as many as any other piece of English-language content this year so far — A tale of accidental virality in the age of algorithms. — On an otherwise ordinary Sunday in late January …
Discussion:
@willoremus, @willoremus and @brianstelter
Diptendu Lahiri / Reuters:
WSJ report: Endeavor, which owns Hollywood's biggest talent agency and Ultimate Fighting Championship league, plans an IPO in the second half of 2019 — (Reuters) - Endeavor LLC, the international entertainment and marketing colossus that owns Hollywood's biggest talent agency …
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, @highzurrer, @luvhrakhe, @jackallisonlol, @kentremendous, The Wrap and Fast Company
Doris Truong / Poynter:
AP's updated stylebook explicitly permits the use of “racism” and “racist” to describe hatred of a race or superiority claims, discourages “racially charged” — American journalists look to the Associated Press as the arbiter of language.
Discussion:
@asteadwesley, @danibostick, @aaaj_aajc, @scalzi, @tiannamanon, @joelcifer, @angryasianman, @petersgoodman, @jimmy_wales, @alisonkrug, @ericlagatta, @mjlyle, @alicesperi, @poynter, @ashleynmcb and @mariaspov
Jessica Toonkel / The Information:
Sources: Amazon is planning to launch a free ad-supported video news app for Fire TV devices, featuring digital news programming from TV networks — Amazon.com is planning to launch a free ad-supported video news app for its Fire TV streaming video devices, featuring digital news programming …
Discussion:
@jessicalessin, The Verge, Pocket-lint, Fortune, GeekWire, Fast Company and Engadget
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