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Inside Endless Mayfly, an Iran-aligned network of websites and online personas used to spread false information targeting Saudi Arabia, the US, and Israel — Endless Mayfly1 is an Iran-aligned network of inauthentic websites and online personas used to spread false and divisive information …
Discussion:
Nieman Lab, The Atlantic and @gabriellelim


Lionsgate shares soar ~15% after report that CBS interim CEO made an offer of around $5B to acquire Starz; Lionsgate said to have rejected offer — KEY POINTS — Rumors that CBS had made an informal offer to buy Starz from the media company sent the stock soaring.
Discussion:
The Information, Hollywood Reporter, @sherman4949, New York Post, NickALive!, Variety, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Reuters and Cord Cutters News
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Sources: Lionsgate offered to sell Starz to CBS for $5.5B after CBS made an informal $5B bid for the network — (Reuters) - Lions Gates Entertainment offered to sell cable channel Starz to CBS Corp for $5.5 billion after rebuffing a lower offer, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.
Discussion:
@matthewkeyslive

Techdirt settles suit by Shiva Ayyadurai, who claimed to invent email; no money exchanges hands; Techdirt to link to an Ayyadurai statement on related articles — It's possible that some of you saw the news earlier this week that the legal dispute, in which Shiva Ayyadurai sued us for defamation …
Discussion:
PR Newswire, @normative, @scot_blog, @adamsteinbaugh, @scottgreenfield, NBC News and Boing Boing, more at Techmeme »


A look at Twitter in Japan, its second-largest market, raking in $136M in Q1 revenue, where the service has mass appeal and many users have multiple accounts — Rising ad dollars from Japan has bolstered the company's total revenue — When Yu Sasamoto joined Twitter Inc. as head of Japan in 2014 …


Spotify to start testing Car Thing, a voice-controlled smart assistant device that connects to your car and phone over bluetooth, with some Premium users in US — To learn how people consume audio in their car — Spotify will begin publicly testing its first hardware today …
Discussion:
Spotify, BGR, The Week, Android Police, RAIN News, Fast Company, Android Headlines, Variety, Engadget, Music Ally, Thurrott, TechCrunch, Mashable and Music Business Worldwide, more at Techmeme »


Q&A with Google News creator Krishna Bharat on the impact of AI on journalism, the future of assisted interviews, and AI's contribution to democratic processes — In recent years, the threats posed by AI to democracies through hacking, manipulation, and disinformation campaigns have garnered public attention.


The battle for readers' attention translates to pandering to biases and flattening information, so trivial and significant stories get equal standing — Could it be a civic duty to tune out the news? Journalist Oliver Burkeman floats this provocative idea in a recent essay published in the Guardian newspaper.
Discussion:
@maggiemfox and @michaelkruse


Google says it will shut down Jump, its cloud-based VR video stitching service, on June 28, due to a usage decline as new video formats and VR cameras came out — Google will shut down Jump, its cloud-based video stitching service, this summer. The company emailed creators Friday afternoon …
Discussion:
Engadget


The Guardian updates style guide to recommend “global heating” instead of “global warming”, and “climate emergency, crisis or breakdown”, over “climate change” — From now, house style guide recommends terms such as ‘climate crisis’ and ‘global heating’
Discussion:
Nieman Lab, @markdistef, Press Gazette, @lauraolin, @dicapriofdn, @cwarzel, @extinctionr, @saboulez, @cwharlow, @greenpeaceuk, The Hill, @dougmcneall, The Wrap, The Daily Caller, Fox News and The Week


As streaming services look for content, the price to option magazine articles has soared; journalists and media organizations sometimes clash over revenue split — As a peripatetic writer for national magazines, David Kushner has traveled to some far-flung destinations.
Discussion:
@gerryfsmith, Thanks:@steverubel


Sources: Google agreed to refund advertisers that paid for ads displayed in an ad fraud scheme discovered in 2017, following lawsuit over back-payments — Google has agreed to refund advertisers for ads purchased through its ad marketplaces that ran on websites with fraudulent traffic …
Discussion:
@dinasrinivasan, @asharma, @craigsilverman and Marketing Land, more at Techmeme »