Top News:
Gavin de Becker / The Daily Beast:
Bezos' security chief says AMI demanded he claim Bezos story didn't result from hacking or external forces, and says he's confident Saudis accessed Bezos' phone — The National Enquirer's lawyer tried to get me to say there was no hacking. — For 40 years, I've advised at-risk public figures …
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:
CNET, @robaeprice, @kevinroose, @zeynep, @vincemancini, @robaeprice, Beyond Search and Engadget
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
Blake Droesch / eMarketer:
eMarketer expects Amazon Music will pass 35M MAUs in the US this year, up 17.7% YoY, growing faster than any other digital audio service in its forecast — Amazon Music will cross 35 million monthly listeners in the US this year. At a growth rate of 17.7% year over year …
Discussion:
RAIN News, more at Techmeme »
Cristina Tardáguila / Poynter:
Inside FactCheckEU, a collaboration between 19 EU media outlets from 13 countries that fact checks articles and debunks rumors ahead of upcoming EU elections — It's been more than a week since 19 European media outlets from 13 countries started collaborating to separate facts from fiction ahead …
Laura Wagner / Deadspin:
Current and former MLB Advanced Media employees say the company has fostered a toxic and overly demanding work environment for years under poor leadership — On the second Tuesday of February, at 3:00 in the afternoon, around 40 employees of MLB Advanced Media—one arm of MLB's media empire …
Discussion:
@timmarchman, @bittergiantsfan, @timmarchman, @tobins, @tobins, @mikevorkunov, @dannyoneil, @spencerfordin, @megreenwell, @bubbaprog and @spaldingballs
Nina Lakhani / The Guardian:
United Mexican Journalists survey of ~400 women in media: 73% suffered sexual harassment, 50% by their bosses, 43% by sources; only 20% made official complaints — Mexican wave of the movement erupted in creative industries and media where 73% of female workers have faced sexual harassment
Discussion:
@nobelwomen
MediaPowerMonitor:
Google gives a €50K grant to media company running Origo, a Hungarian pro-government news portal, baffling free expression activists and independent journalists — Google joins the Hungarian government of Viktor Orban and its allies in funding the company that runs Origo, a Hungarian pro-government news portal.
Discussion:
Digital News Initiative and Media1
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 …
Discussion:
@mollyjongfast, @caseynewton, @rprose and @amprog
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, @dellcam, @kevinroose, @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
RELATED:
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