Mediagazer: Father of a child killed at Sandy Hook wins defamation lawsuit against the authors of a book that claimed the shooting never happened; publisher pulls book (Pat Eaton-Robb/Associated Press)

4:10 PM ET, June 18, 2019

Top News:

Janko Roettgers / Variety:

Spotify says Facebook's Libra cryptocurrency, launching in 2020, will help subscription services by reducing payment friction and opening new markets — When Facebook officially announced its plans for a new cryptocurrency called Libra Tuesday, it also revealed that Spotify was part …

Discussion: TechCrunch, Variety, Facebook, Nieman Lab, The Guardian, New York Times, Spotify, Gizmodo, @lyman_brian, @happicamp, @scribandotcom, @matthewkeyslive, GeekWire and @joshconstine, more at Techmeme »

Patrick Coffee / Adweek:

Advertisers, agencies, and social platforms form the Global Alliance for Responsible Media, a coalition to develop methods for protecting brands and consumers — Google, Facebook team up with agencies and advertisers for the Global Alliance for Responsible Media

Discussion: Ad Age, Wall Street Journal, GroupM, TechCrunch, @wsjcmo, The Hill, Reuters, @jeffjarvis and AdExchanger

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:

Amazon's Twitch has acquired social networking platform Bebo, source says for $25M, to bolster its esports business — While Facebook makes a bold move into cryptocurrency to capitalise on its multi-billion user base, a social network that was once a credible competitor to it has quietly been snapped up by a subsidiary of Amazon.

Discussion: The Drum, The Guardian, @sirslaw_, GeekWire and @mathewi, more at Techmeme »

Lillian Rizzo / Wall Street Journal:

TV station owners CBS, Cox, Scripps, Fox, and Tegna settle Justice Department antitrust charges that they illegally coordinated on sales of local ad spots — CBS, Cox and others agree to stop sharing competitively sensitive information for seven years — A group of five television station owners …

Discussion: Reuters, U.S. Department of Justice and Broadcasting & Cable

Joshua Benton / Nieman Lab:

Reuters report: 32% of global respondents, including 41% in US, actively avoid news mainly as it negatively affects their mood, not because they don't trust it — The modern digitally connected human (Homo smartphonicus, identifiable by its trademark slumped shoulders and bleary eyes) …

Discussion: @shansquared, Parse.ly, @b_fung, @jbenton, @rozmurph, @nikkiusher, @spj_tweets, @jayrosen_nyu, @dankennedy_nu, @alanmillernlp, @madbair, @newsmary, @niemanlab, @michaelkruse, @niemanlab, @chanders, @amyoleary and @iroughol

Chris Welch / The Verge:

Comcast adds eye control as an accessibility feature to its web-based remote control, says it supports all popular eye gaze hardware and software — Comcast is introducing eye control to its X1 cable platform, a new effort that the company says will improve the experience of watching TV …

Discussion: Fast Company, VentureBeat, Comcast, @fastcompany, @fastcompany, TechCrunch, Multichannel News, Media Star, Light Reading, UPI and Quartz

Orlando Sentinel:

Orlando Sentinel announces 17 months before the presidential election that it will not endorse Trump, citing his “successful assault on truth” — Donald Trump is in Orlando to announce the kickoff of his re-election campaign. — We're here to announce our endorsement for president in 2020 …

Discussion: Washington Post, Newser, Fast Company, @connieschultz, The Independent, Mediaite, Talking Points Memo, @jaketapper, UPI, Fox News, @kylegriffin1, @ironstache, @drdenagrayson, Politico and Slate

Gene Maddaus / Variety:

Federal jury orders VidAngel, a streaming service that filters out offensive material, to pay $62.4M to Disney, Fox, and Warner Bros. for copyright infringement — A jury on Monday ordered VidAngel to pay $62.4 million to Disney, Fox, and Warner Bros. for streaming hundreds of movies on its service without permission.

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, TechCrunch, Yahoo, Multichannel News, Plagiarism Today, MediaPost, @latimes, Hollywood Reporter, KSL-TV, Law360, Deseret News, Deadline and New York Post

Jason Lynch / Adweek:

After WarnerMedia's exit from the TV audience targeting platform, OpenAP partners with NCC Media, letting advertisers use OpenAP to buy across NCC's inventory — Advertisers can use the audience targeting platform's segment definitions across NCC's 85 million households

Discussion: Ad Age, Broadcasting & Cable, MediaPost, PR Newswire and FierceVideo

Pat Eaton-Robb / Associated Press:

Father of a child killed at Sandy Hook wins defamation lawsuit against the authors of a book that claimed the shooting never happened; publisher pulls book — HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — The father of a victim of the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre has won a defamation lawsuit against the authors …

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, CNBC, @emilygorcenski, New York Post, The Week, The Inquisitr and Media Law Prof Blog

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Apple adds support for Picture in Picture to tvOS 13 beta 2, letting Apple TV users watch two shows at once for content provided by Apple in the Apple TV app — Apple TV is getting a Picture-in-Picture mode that will allow users to stream two shows at the same time, TechCrunch has confirmed.

Discussion: 9to5Mac, @shiraovide, Digital TV Europe, Digital Trends, Engadget and The Verge, more at Techmeme »

Amy Zimmerman / The Daily Beast:

Eight women accuse Max Landis, the “Bright” screenwriter and son of director John Landis, of emotional, physical, and sexual abuse — Eight accusers have come forward against the ‘Bright’ screenwriter and Hollywood scion alleging a pattern of emotional, physical, and sexual abuse that spans a decade.

Discussion: The Wrap, The A.V. Club, Consequence of Sound, IndieWire, The Week, Vanity Fair, @feliciaday, The Playlist, @ahzimm and @remembrancermx

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Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
Donald Trump announces that Sriram Krishnan, until recently a general partner at a16z, will serve as senior policy advisor for AI at the White House OSTP

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