Mediagazer: Facebook debuts $149 Portal TV, a streaming box supporting Prime Video, Showtime, and CBS All Access that can also make video calls while viewing Facebook Watch (Casey Newton/The Verge)

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Aaron Rupar / Vox:

CNN booked Corey Lewandowski for an interview just hours after telling Congress he has “no obligation to be honest with the media” — Believe it or not, cable news networks are not obligated to showcase liars. — You might think that Corey Lewandowski's admission during …

Discussion: Fortune, TVNewser, Talking Points Memo, The Hill, CNN, Mediaite, @soledadobrien, @angryblacklady, @im_pulse, @segalmr, HuffPost, CNN, @jamesfallows, @stephgracela, @dangillmor, @dorothy410berry and @jayrosen_nyu

Erik Wemple / Washington Post:

After Corey Lewandowski pronounced his freedom to lie to media, a look at how a Fox News “straight news” anchor interviewed him and sidestepped the lying issue — Fox News and its peers in the mainstream media seldom find common cause, though extraordinary circumstances occasionally give them opportunity to do so.

Discussion: @rachellarris, @sophiatesfaye, @badfoxgraphics and Vox

Laura Hazard Owen / Nieman Lab:

Only one of The Correspondent's five full-time hires for its English-language version is based in the US, with others in Italy, Nigeria, India, and London — The Dutch journalism site De Correspondent raised $2.6 million to launch a U.S. — strike that, English-language — office.

Discussion: @jbenton, @niemanlab and The Correspondent

Casey Newton / The Verge:

Facebook debuts $149 Portal TV, a streaming box supporting Prime Video, Showtime, and CBS All Access that can also make video calls while viewing Facebook Watch — Bringing friends and family to the biggest screen in the house — Facebook is bringing its connected device strategy to the television.

Discussion: Facebook, Adweek, TechCrunch, USA Today, Fast Company, @auchenberg, @davezatz, Financial Times, @mikedrucker, @ow, @amahnke and Fortune, more at Techmeme »

Daniel Chaitin / Washington Examiner:

NYT reporter who co-wrote Kavanaugh book says removing reference to woman not recalling incident was an editor error “done in haste” when removing her name — The two New York Times reporters behind the story detailing a new sexual misconduct allegation against Supreme Court …

Discussion: @realdonaldtrump, New Republic, The Guardian, Politico, The Hill and RealClearPolitics

Tal Axelrod / The Hill:

NYT announced Tuesday that it is shutting down its Spanish-language platform, NYT en Español, which debuted in 2016, saying it was not financially successful — The New York Times on Tuesday announced the closure of its Spanish-language platform, NYT en Español.

Discussion: New York Times, Nieman Lab, The Wrap, @raju, @hshaban, @hugobalta and @hechaenchicago

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Plex adds Lionsgate as a worldwide content partner for its ad-supported streaming service, joining Warner Bros., which was previously announced as a US partner — Plex has added a new content partner for its soon-to-launch ad-supported video service. The company announced this morning …

Discussion: Variety, The Streamable, 9to5Mac and Windows Central

Lukas I. Alpert / Wall Street Journal:

Facing mounting antitrust pressure, Google and Facebook have been cozying up to publishers, offering oft-requested fees and news-ranking changes — Facing mounting antitrust probes, tech platforms offer fees, news-ranking changes media outlets have pursued for years

Discussion: @buzzfeedben, @mccarthyryanj and @jason_kint

Sara Fischer / Axios:

Misinformation reporters talk about how they identify the people behind troll accounts and avoid traps designed to thwart their reporting — Some of the top journalists covering misinformation today look less like reporters and more like cyber investigators, combining new technologies …

Discussion: @donie and @grahambrookie

Max Willens / Digiday:

BuzzFeed refocuses its sales strategy as CRO Lee Brown leaves for Spotify; Jonah Peretti continues president search, expects to fill the role within months — BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti has been talking about revenue diversification and balance for years. Following his company's latest …

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Comcast will give internet-only customers free access to Xfinity Flex, its streaming platform with 10K+ movies and shows, which used to cost $5 per month — Comcast will hand out one free set-top box for broadband subscribers to access Xfinity Flex, its video-streaming product for internet-only customers …

Discussion: The Wrap, Deadline, Multichannel News, corporate.comcast.com, Fast Company, @xpangler, Deadline, TechRadar.com, Broadcasting & Cable, The Streamable, The Verge, The Wrap and Engadget

Washington Post:

Congress grills Google, Facebook, and Twitter again as lawmakers weigh creating a commission with subpoena power to study and monitor social media weaponization — House lawmakers are planning to unveil legislation to probe social media and online extremism

Discussion: MarketWatch, Ars Technica, @tonyromm and @tonyromm, more at Techmeme »

Tim Peterson / Digiday:

Sources: as Amazon gets ready to add linear TV channels to IMDb TV, partners push back against its plans to sell all ads with 55% revenue share to publishers — Amazon's free, ad-supported streaming video service IMDb TV plans to follow rival services by adding linear channels from TV networks …

Discussion: @tvrev