Mediagazer: The Athletic apologizes to a reader for automatically deleting a comment about staff diversity on a post seeking feedback, says it's re-evaluating procedures (Andrew Bucholtz/Awful Announcing)

Top News:

Joshua Benton / Nieman Lab:

Modifying metadata to highlight publication dates, like the Guardian is doing, is one of several ways of better contextualizing articles shared on social media — This is a great idea: In order to reduce the number of its old stories that get recirculated as new, The Guardian is making …

Discussion: Columbia Journalism Review, @niemanlab, @kathviner, @klasfeldreports, @equartey, @chrismoranuk and @jbenton

Paul Karp / The Guardian:

Australia passes law penalizing content service providers and hosting services for failing to quickly remove abhorrent violent content, despite tech opposition — Labor supports legislation in response to Christchurch shooting that threatens jail for executives, despite media companies' concerns

Discussion: New York Times, The Wrap, TechCrunch, Facebook, @donie, aph.gov.au, ZDNet, @baekdal, Boing Boing, Mumbrella, ARN, iTnews, Engadget, NPR and 9to5Google

The Guardian:

Facebook will try to prevent political ad buys by non-Australians ahead of elections and won't roll out other transparency features like Ad Library until later — Facebook will not be rolling out transparency features it introduced in the UK, US, EU, India, Israel and Ukraine

Discussion: @nickevershed, more at Techmeme »

Jack Crosbie / Splinter:

The BuzzFeed union accuses the company of union-busting as recognition drags; the company only wants to recognize specific titles, not the newsroom as a whole — I don't know where he was today. It's a Wednesday, so I'm assuming he was at work, or doing work somewhere.

Janko Roettgers / Variety:

Snap emphasizes that its approach to privacy is different than others as it adds integrations like sharing buttons, with The Washington Post as a launch partner — Snap CEO Evan Spiegel wants to have it both ways: Keep Snapchat insulated from the darker sides of the internet, and also open it up to some of the rest of the web.

Discussion: TechCrunch, Digiday, Recode, VentureBeat, The Wrap, @lucas_shaw, Fast Company and Bloomberg, more at Techmeme »

Kurt Wagner / Recode:
Snap announces plans for the Snap Audience Network, which would sell vertical video ads on others' ad inventory, taking a percentage of revenue

Discussion: The Verge, Variety, Adweek and Ad Age, more at Techmeme »

Janko Roettgers / Variety:
Snap announces 10 new original shows from Indigo Development, a joint venture of Snap and NBCUniversal, BuzzFeed, New Form, and others

Discussion: Adweek and Engadget

Craig Timberg / Washington Post:

Jeff and MacKenzie Bezos announce a divorce settlement that will leave him with 75% of their Amazon stock and their full stake in The Washington Post — In a tweet Thursday, MacKenzie Bezos said that her divorce from Jeff Bezos was finalized and that she would give her ex-husband voting control of her Amazon shares.

Discussion: @mackenziebezos, TechCrunch, CNBC, Barron's Online, CNN, @ebboyd, @jackshafer, @eriqgardner, @sdkstl, @ianbremmer, @pkcapitol, @edmundlee, @yashar and @edmundlee, more at Techmeme »

Laura Hazard Owen / Nieman Lab:

Interview with Susan Smith Richardson, new CEO of the Center for Public Integrity, on increasing representation, using databases to connect trends, and more — Thirty years after it was founded, the D.C.-based investigative nonprofit Center for Public Integrity operates in a very different news environment …

Discussion: Center for Public Integrity, Columbia Journalism Review, @dabeard, @jenny8lee and @publici

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Conde Nast names Roger Lynch its first global CEO; Lynch was president and CEO of Pandora prior to its acquisition by Sirius XM — - Kate del Castillo Invests in Combate Americas as Part of MMA Franchise's $20 Million Round (EXCLUSIVE) — Roger Lynch has been named Condé Nast's first global CEO …

Discussion: New York Post, New York Times, Recode, @pkafka, Folio, @katierosman, WWD, MediaPost, Broadcasting & Cable, Wall Street Journal, Hollywood Reporter, Adweek and WWD

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Bumble is launching a print magazine, Bumble Mag, in partnership with Hearst as Bumble works to extend its brand beyond dating — Bumble is the latest digital brand to try to extend its reach through a print publication. The dating app maker today announced the launch of Bumble Mag …

Discussion: The Drum and Adweek

The Guardian:

Leaked UK government plans propose that social media companies be policed by an independent regulator, with annual “transparency reports” on harmful content — Exclusive: Long-awaited white paper proposes regulator to enforce duty of care and fine offenders

Discussion: Adweek, HBR.org, Variety and Real Clear Politics, more at Techmeme »

New York Times:

iHeartMedia files for an IPO, whose sale proceeds it would use to pay its debts, as it emerges from Chapter 11 bankruptcy — Is there room for radio in the age of Spotify? — That is the question underlying a securities filing on Wednesday by the broadcast giant iHeartRadio for what it says could be an initial public offering.

Discussion: NBC News, Reuters, @maradavis, Billboard, Talking Biz News, Forbes, Variety and RAIN News

Yunan Zhang / The Information:

ByteDance, the Chinese company behind TikTok and newsfeed app Toutiao, has doubled its headcount to ~40,000 in one year and now operates more than 20 apps — To grow fast in China, apparently, you've also got to get big. — ByteDance, the Chinese company behind TikTok …

more at Techmeme »

Andrew Bucholtz / Awful Announcing:

The Athletic apologizes to a reader for automatically deleting a comment about staff diversity on a post seeking feedback, says it's re-evaluating procedures — At first, a commenting system that removes comments flagged by multiple users sounds positive; theoretically …

Discussion: @viruk42, @dannypage, @awfulannouncing, @viruk42, @viruk42 and The Athletic