Top News:
Washington Post:
US prosecutors charge Julian Assange with violating the Espionage Act in an indictment that says he “repeatedly encouraged” sources to steal government secrets — Federal prosecutors on Thursday accused WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange of violating the Espionage Act …
Discussion:
New York Times, The Daily Beast, Committee to Protect …, Rolling Stone, @adamserwer, @a_marshall_plan, @davidakaye, @normative, @snowden, @wikileaks, CNN, The Wrap, Freedom of the Press …, Gizmodo, U.S. Department of Justice, @freedomofpress, New York Times, Deadline, Slate, iMediaEthics, Reason, @adamserwer, @yashar, Politico, @petersterne, @ggreeneva, @ryanjreilly, @skinnerpm, @rachelweinerwp, @noahshachtman, @eriqgardner, @natashabertrand, @petersterne, Talking Points Memo, @natashabertrand, @natashabertrand, Law & Crime, @petersterne, @nickconfessore, @will_bunch, @adamserwer, @markszaidesq, @kampeas, BBC, @mlcalderone, @sivavaid, @john_hudson, @trevortimm, @jimwindolf, Bloomberg, @mattyglesias, @susan_hennessey, The Week, @edvanews, VICE News, @rollingstone, @bradmossesq, @eriqgardner, HuffPost, @glennkesslerwp, TechCrunch, @natashabertrand, @benrileysmith, @ggreenwald, @aodespair, @adamserwer, Fast Company, Boing Boing and Mashable
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Benjamin Goggin / Business Insider:
GateHouse Media cuts jobs for the second time in 2019; CEO of its parent company says the changes could affect about 200 people and are a small restructuring — - The local-newspaper giant GateHouse Media is laying off journalists across the US, multiple sources told Business Insider.
Axios:
Filing: Refinery29 is looking to raise up to $20M in convertible debt; source: $8M raised so far is from existing backers including Stripes Group, WarnerMedia — Refinery29, the venture-backed digital media company focused on millennial women, is looking to raise up to $20 million in new funding, according to an SEC filing.
Discussion:
WWD
Will Sommer / The Daily Beast:
Twitter permanently bans Brian and Ed Krassenstein, who frequently shared anti-Trump sentiments, alleging they ran fake accounts and purchased fake interactions — Ed and Brian Krassenstein are banned for life after ‘operating multiple fake accounts and purchasing account interactions,’ a Twitter spokesman said.
Discussion:
Mediaite, @willsommer, @lachlan, @lachlan, @mollyjongfast, @mollyjongfast, @cwarzel, @willsommer, Fox News, @sarahkendzior, @frankluntz, @oneunderscore__, @maxberger and @chrisgeidner, more at Techmeme »
Drew Harwell / Washington Post:
A distorted video of Speaker Pelosi, in which her speech is made to appear slurred, has 2M+ views on Facebook; YouTube says it has removed uploads of the video — Distorted videos of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), altered to make her sound as if she's drunkenly slurring her words …
Discussion:
CNN, Mediaite, @drewharwell, The Guardian, @drewharwell, @bostonjoan, @donie, @jason_kint, Politico, New York Post, @asharock, @maggiejordanacn, @qjurecic, Talking Points Memo, @mattriva, CNET, @joshtpm, @bykowicz, @mollymckew, @drewharwell, @olivia_gazis, @drewharwell, @drewharwell, @robbystarbuck, Mashable, @brendannyhan, @drewharwell, @johnjharwood and @mattyglesias, more at Techmeme »
Marc Tracy / New York Times:
Jay Fielden is out as Esquire editor in chief after three years as part of a reshuffling under Hearst Magazine President Troy Young — Jay Fielden is leaving his position as Esquire's editor in chief, a job he held three years, he and Hearst Magazines announced Thursday.
Discussion:
The Cut, WWD, @tomgara, @elainaplott, @coreypein, @kateaurthur, @mccanner, @tomgara, Adweek, @coreypein, @jimrutenberg, New York Magazine, Fashionista, Mediaite, The Wrap, New York Post and bookforum.com
Craig Silverman / BuzzFeed News:
As Twitter tests an increased ad load, users report a higher number of spammy or malicious promoted tweets — Twitter is running a test that has increased the number of promoted tweets showing up in people's timelines — and it has resulted in a range of user complaints about their new prevalence …
Discussion:
Bloomberg, @craigsilverman and AdExchanger, more at Techmeme »
Columbia Journalism Review:
A newly released report on DOJ's subpoena of AP phone records in 2013 shows that DOJ also considered subpoenaing phone records of WaPo, NYT, and ABC — With its latest leak indictment last week, the Department of Justice under Donald Trump is now on pace to break the previous record …
Discussion:
@trevortimm, @nickochsnerwbtv, @jameeljaffer, @cjr and @aaschapiro
Anthony Ha / TechCrunch:
Rotten Tomatoes says it will now calculate the Audience Score using only ratings or reviews from users whose ticket purchase has been verified through Fandango — Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes is taking additional steps to confirm that audience members actually see a movie before leaving a rating or review.
Discussion:
Variety, The Wrap, Vox, Fast Company, @ptibz, @edzitron, Engadget, /Film, @iamcoreyg, @danamrich, Business Insider, The A.V. Club and Associated Press, more at Techmeme »
Ryan Browne / CNBC:
Ireland's Data Protection Commission, the lead EU supervisory authority for Google, announces investigation into Google's online advertising data collection — KEY POINTS — Ireland's Data Protection Commission says its probe will examine whether Google's processing of data in advertising transactions breaches EU privacy rules.
Discussion:
Marketing Land, Reuters, MediaNama and Beyond Search
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Brooks Barnes / New York Times:
Sources: Harvey Weinstein and his former studio's board members reach a tentative $44M deal to resolve lawsuits by women who accused him of sexual misconduct — Harvey Weinstein and his former studio's board members have reached a tentative $44 million deal to resolve lawsuits by women …
Discussion:
The Wrap, Deadline, Wall Street Journal, Variety, Daily Express, New York Daily News and Los Angeles Times
Ashley Carman / The Verge:
Instagram says IGTV will now support landscape video, following feedback from creators and users, as the service struggles to gain traction — The vertical video experiment is over — Instagram is no longer all-in on vertical video. The company announced today that its longform video offshoot …
Discussion:
Digiday, Instagram, Engadget, @ashleyrcarman, SlashGear, TechCrunch and Variety, more at Techmeme »
Peter Kafka / Vox:
Q&A with Neal Mohan, YouTube's chief product officer, about how the service deals with objectionable content, YouTube remaining an open platform, and more — A Q&A with Neal Mohan, YouTube's chief product officer. — YouTube, the world's largest video site, has 2 billion users.
Kali Hays / WWD:
Fortune's 27 digital staffers unionize with NewsGuild after a vote forced by management showed a majority in favor; the group makes up 60% of editorial staff — After management refused voluntary recognition, staffers showed their resolve. — The print side of Fortune magazine has been unionized for decades.
Wall Street Journal:
Facebook says it won't pay commissions to employees who sell political ads; source: Zuckerberg decided to keep selling political ads after an internal debate — Company leaders considered dropping such ads, which are now viewed as a headache — Facebook Inc. said it stopped paying commissions …
Discussion:
New York Post, Adweek, Politico, Business Insider and Fast Company, more at Techmeme »