Mediagazer: Beto O'Rourke's staff removed a Breitbart writer from a campaign event, later saying site “walks the line between being news and a perpetrator of hate speech” (Jeanine Santucci/USA Today)

Top News:

Facebook tightens rules on political advertisers, requiring further identity proof such as tax-identification number or Federal Election Commission registration — Facebook on Wednesday announced it would tighten some of its rules around political advertising ahead of the 2020 presidential election …

Discussion: Facebook, TechCrunch, Associated Press, The Verge, @jeremybmerrill, ZDNet, @williamturton, @lachlan and The Daily Caller, more at Techmeme »

Splinter:

Federal judge rules in favor of Gizmodo Media Group in a $100M lawsuit brought by ex-Trump spokesman Jason Miller over a story about a child custody case — A federal judge on Tuesday ruled in favor of Splinter, the site's managing editor, Katherine Krueger, and the site's parent company …

Discussion: Mediaite, Talking Points Memo, Hollywood Reporter, The Wrap, @tomgara, @freedomofpress and @eriqgardner

Jeanine Santucci / USA Today:

Beto O'Rourke's staff removed a Breitbart writer from a campaign event, later saying site “walks the line between being news and a perpetrator of hate speech” — Democratic presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke's staff had a Breitbart News writer removed from an event in South Carolina on Tuesday.

Discussion: Breitbart, CNN, @noahshachtman, Mediaite, Breitbart, @brianstelter, @johnniemo, @jeaninesantucci, Politico, @agraybee, @timodc, @charlesppierce, @media_evan and @media_evan

John Wagner / Washington Post:

Trump accuses Fox News of “heavily promoting the Democrats” and urges his Twitter followers to “start looking for a new News Outlet” — President Trump on Wednesday lashed out at Fox News, accusing the conservative network of “heavily promoting the Democrats” …

Discussion: @realdonaldtrump, CNN, @brithume, TVNewser, @windsormann, The Wrap, @atrupar, @jackshafer, @capshower, Politico, @tedlieu and @chutry

Jim Waterson / The Guardian:

BBC says it will launch a voice assistant built into its website and iPlayer next year, allowing users to use their voices to engage with BBC content — Corporation recording voices of staff across UK to help Beeb software understand accents — The BBC is preparing to launch a rival …

Discussion: BBC, The Verge, @rasmus_kleis, @ariannahuff, American Press Institute, Gizmodo, RAIN News, CNET, TechCrunch, 9to5Google, Engadget, MacRumors and Fast Company

Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:

Reuters director says the agency is planning a P2P network to help journalists collaborate, as it launches its productivity suite, Reuters Connect — There is a “higher need” for journalists to work together to create trusted news instead of spending “all our energy fighting each other,” a director at Reuters news agency has said.

Discussion: @spj_tweets, Talking Biz News and Editor & Publisher

Rosie Gray / BuzzFeed News:

Sources and leaked emails from 2017 show Clarity Media, the owner of the Weekly Standard and Washington Examiner, explored purchasing the Federalist — As Donald Trump rose to take over the Republican Party, conservative media splintered: Some outlets became his mouthpieces, some his enemies …

Discussion: @jbouie, @lpolgreen, @badfoxgraphics, @davidklion, @jonathanchait and @rosiegray

Dominic Patten / Deadline:

Actress Paz de la Huerta adds Disney, Bob Iger, and ex-CEO Eisner to $60M sexual assault lawsuit against Weinstein, alleging their decision-making enabled him — Nearly a year after first taking the much-accused Harvey Weinstein to court, Paz de la Huerta has today added the Walt Disney Company …

Discussion: Hollywood Reporter, Vanity Fair and Fox News

Shoshana Wodinsky / Adweek:

Hudson MX, an ad-tech firm that provides a platform to buy ads on local broadcasters, partners with Comscore to bring its targeting tech to local markets — The partnership sees new-school tech pumped into old-school platforms — Thanks to the advent of ad tech, fine-grained audience targeting …

Discussion: Broadcasting & Cable, Radio & Television … and MediaPost

Laura Hazard Owen / Nieman Lab:

Kinzen, which initially built a consumer app for curated news, is now helping publishers offer personalized news on their own platforms, newsletters, and sites — When Mark Little and Áine Kerr first began thinking about developing a news product, they started going where many people had gone before …

Discussion: @kirstinestewart and @marklittlenews

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Hulu launches its live TV guide on the web, Roku, and Apple TV, and says the Live Guide is coming to other platforms soon — Yesterday, Hulu began rolling out an updated version of its mobile app sporting the brand-new interface the company first unveiled at CES in January.

Discussion: The Streamable, Engadget, Cord Cutters News and 9to5Mac, more at Techmeme »

Axios:

Adpay data on newspapers: ~$500M in total revenue comes from obituaries; obituary search company Legacy.com says it publishes 1 in 3 obituaries in US — Local newspapers still heavily rely on obituary placements for revenue, according to data from local obituary and advertising placement firm Adpay, which is owned by Ancestry.com.

Discussion: @rschallom, @sarafischer and @bmorrissey