Top News:
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Facebook offered millions to ABC News, Dow Jones, Washington Post, and Bloomberg to license their content for a Facebook news section to debut in 2019 — Company approached ABC News, Dow Jones, Washington Post and Bloomberg as it plans to launch news section
Discussion:
@caseynewton, New York Times, MediaPost, The Wrap, Broadcasting & Cable, Press Gazette, CNBC, Associated Press, American Press Institute, @dankennedy_nu, CNET, Mashable, Nieman Lab, Twipe, Breitbart, Business Insider, What's New in Publishing, @elanazak, @dskok, @mathewi, Engadget, @nicnewman, @rasmus_kleis, @jayrosen_nyu, @caseynewton, @mikeisaac, @elanazak, @ow, @samsanders, @juddlegum, @mikeisaac, Ad Age, The Next Web, @pat_garofalo, @niemanlab, @waltmossberg, @perlberg, @bradesposito, @jbillinson, @rachelcharlenel, @bendreyfuss, @futterish, @benmullin, @benmullin, @rafat, @mattyglesias, @rdmurphy, Digital Trends, @jeffyoung, @benmullin, UPI, Reclaim The Net, Deadline, The Verge, Ars Technica, Boing Boing and The Hill, more at Techmeme »
New York Post:
New Media Investment Group's shares fell ~33% between Monday and Wednesday, after the cash and stock acquisition of Gannett was announced, endangering the deal — A $1.4 billion deal to buy USA Today owner Gannett Co. has been so poorly received since it was announced on Monday that executives …
Discussion:
Nieman Lab, @mattdpearce, Yahoo News, @mattkatz00, @abbeycrain, @conarck, @dekotagregory, @senyorreporter, @lmower3, @cmonstah, @apantazi, @mattdpearce, @mattdpearce, @gtoppo, @breakinbriks44, @mbayer1248, @ehernandez, @sindap, @chrisvannini, @davidfolkenflik, Awful Announcing, Milwaukee Business Journal and Bloomberg
Freddy Mayhew / Press Gazette:
News UK says The Times and The Sunday Times now have combined paid digital-only subscribers of 304K, up 19% YoY, for a total of 539K paid subscribers — The Times and Sunday Times now have more than 300,000 paid digital-only subscribers between them. — The titles, which both publish …
Discussion:
The Drum and @eduardosuarez
Shira Feder / The Daily Beast:
NYT is examining deputy Washington editor Jonathan Weisman's “poor judgment on social media and in responding to criticism”, after his responses to Roxane Gay — The New York Times is “closely examining” the social-media habits of its deputy Washington editor Jonathan Weisman …
Discussion:
Politico, @yashar, @rgay, @scarylawyerguy, @jayrosen_nyu, @alexi, @yashar, @libbycwatson, @kawebb_, @rjcc, Splinter, Talking Points Memo and Mediaite
Michael Malone / Broadcasting & Cable:
CBS says it is accelerating its rollout of streaming news service CBSN Local to remaining 11 markets by early 2020, ahead of political primaries and elections — Accelerated rollout means local streaming news products in place before primaries — CBS Television Stations and CBS Interactive …
Discussion:
TVNewser, investors.lionsgate.com, Hollywood Reporter, The Wrap, Variety, The Streamable and The Streamable
RELATED:
Pew Research Center:
Study: 46% of adult social media users say they feel “worn out” by the number of political posts and discussions they see on social media — Well over a year before the 2020 presidential election, many social media users in the United States are already exhausted by how much political content they see on these platforms.
Discussion:
The Wrap, Poynter, @facttank, @monicaranders, @pewresearch, Mashable and Adweek
Natalie Jarvey / Hollywood Reporter:
With a subscriber miss, ballooning costs, rivals circling, and a dire need for more in-house hits, Netflix is looking like the entertainment giants it disrupted — With a subscriber miss, ballooning costs, competitors circling and an existential need to produce more in-house hits …
Discussion:
Techaeris, Techaeris, @johnfinnegan247, @thrmattbelloni and @rahulpuri, more at Techmeme »
Max Willens / Digiday:
Since debuting in May, Vice Media's astrology app Astro Guide has been downloaded 100,000 times; over half who try the free trial end up subscribing for $6/mo. — Like almost every other venture-backed digital media publisher, Vice Media is looking for ways to serve its most engaged readers.
Discussion:
@seyitaylor
Cristina Tardáguila / Poynter:
WhatsApp-advised startup Meedan unveils a tool that auto-responds to fact-check queries from chat apps like Messenger and WeChat if a fact-checked answer exists — The love/hate relationship between fact-checkers and reader-submitted tips from private messaging may soon be a thing of the past.
Discussion:
@poynter and @factchecknet, more at Techmeme »
Tim Peterson / Digiday:
Flipboard to debut its first co-branded podcast series with Digital Trends, as a weekly audio-only spin-off from the video show Digital Trends Live — Flipboard, best known for distributing publishers' articles on its platform, is debuting its first co-branded podcast series with tech publisher Digital Trends.
Trevor Timm / The Intercept:
A Brazil Supreme Court minister bars the Bolsonaro administration from investigating The Intercept Brasil and Glenn Greenwald for their reporting — In a crucial victory for press freedom in Brazil, Minister Gilmar Mendes, a member of Brazil's Supreme Court, has barred the Bolsonaro administration …
Discussion:
@freedomofpress and @trevortimm
Rachael Burford / London Evening Standard:
An administrator at The Guardian, who was in charge of paying freelance journalists, has been jailed for 20 months for stealing £138K+ from the newspaper — An administrator at The Guardian who stole more than £138,000 from the newspaper to bankroll his wedding has been jailed for 20 months.
Discussion:
@markdistef, @markdistef, @adambanksdotcom, @whatthebit and @imaniamrani
Michael Malone / Broadcasting & Cable:
CBS All Access will add children's programming, including more than 1,000 episodes from its library and new original series, will begin rollout this year — Original series include ‘Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs’ and new ‘Danger Mouse’ — CBS All Access is bringing children's programming …
Discussion:
The Streamable and The Streamable
Bijan Stephen / The Verge:
Twitch launches Twitch Studio, the company's first broadcasting software, aimed at new streamers, now in closed beta for PC users only — This is the company's first broadcast offering — Twitch just launched Twitch Studio, the company's first broadcasting software.