Mediagazer: A-list celebrities, from Will Smith to Zac Efron to Alexa Chung, have recently become YouTube vloggers, adopting the feel of authenticity for the new medium (Sophie Kleeman/VICE)

Top News:

NYT updates its article on the history of the Tea Party with an insubstantial sentence referring to the movement's links to racism following complaints — The New York Times story by Jeremy W. Peters on tea-party history is extensive and well-written. And it featured a hole …

Discussion: @nytpolitics, New York Times, @tomperriello, @wesleylowery, @paulkrugman, Splinter, Fox News and The Daily Caller

Janko Roettgers / Variety:

Plex to launch an ad-supported streaming service this year, plans to begin reselling video subscription services and add transactional VOD, in H1 2020 — Get ready for yet another ad-supported video service: Media center app maker Plex is gearing up to add free movies and TV shows to its app …

Discussion: TechCrunch and Multichannel News, more at Techmeme »

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: @sarahmarshall, @nhelberger, @kirstinestewart and @marklittlenews

Lesley Goldberg / Hollywood Reporter:

NYT's Amy Chozick to co-author and co-produce The Girls on the Bus for Netflix, a fictional show about female reporters on the campaign trail — ‘The Girls on the Bus’ will be inspired by a chapter from New York Times journalist Amy Chozick's book, with the author attached as a writer.

Discussion: @amychozick, Jezebel, Variety and Deadline

Kelsey Sutton / Adweek:

All YouTube original content released after Sept. 24 will be available to watch free with ads for a certain time, starting with Karate Kid spinoff Cobra Kai — All new series released after Sept. 24 will be available to watch for free — YouTube is moving the first season …

Discussion: Variety, Broadcasting & Cable, Financial Times and The A.V. Club

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, @brithume, CNN, The Daily Beast, CNN, @atrupar, The Week, @jeremymbarr, @windsormann, @jackshafer, @chutry, @tedlieu, @capshower, Hollywood Reporter, The Daily Beast and Politico

Sophie Kleeman / VICE:

A-list celebrities, from Will Smith to Zac Efron to Alexa Chung, have recently become YouTube vloggers, adopting the feel of authenticity for the new medium — Over the past 20 or so months, some of the biggest stars in the world have turned to something people do to get famous in the first place: vlogging.

Discussion: @mattnavarra and @dory_carrharris, more at Techmeme »

Christopher R. Martin / Nieman Reports:

As newspapers wrote off working class readers in the '60s, and with no labor coverage in network/cable news, it's become clear more labor reporters are needed — A 1951 Nieman Foundation conference on labor reporting tells us what we are missing in reporting today

Discussion: American Press Institute, @68dodgecoronet, @faduda and bookforum.com

Lachlan Cartwright / The Daily Beast:

John Carreyrou has left WSJ after almost 20 years, citing the paper's ban on paid speaking engagements, in place to avoid the appearance of conflict of interest — The man who exposed Theranos and Elizabeth Holmes has left the paper he's called home for 20 years.

Discussion: Talking Biz News and @bobbierman

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, 9to5Mac and Cord Cutters News, more at Techmeme »

Tony Romm / Washington Post:

Facebook tightens rules for political advertisers in the US, requiring further identity proof such as tax-ID 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 …

Sydney J. Freedberg Jr / Breaking Defense:

Secretary of Defense Mark Esper holds first televised Pentagon press briefing in over a year: “I intend to do these briefings to maintain an open dialogue” — In a media-wary administration, the big news from Defense Secretary Mark Esper's formal press briefing was that he actually held one, and pledged to keep doing so.

Discussion: Washington Examiner