Top News:
Jeremy Barr / Hollywood Reporter:
Fox News says Shepard Smith is stepping down from his longtime role as chief news anchor and leaving the network — In a shocking turn of events that stunned the media industry, Fox News anchor Shepard Smith announced his departure from the network after more than 23 years.
Discussion:
@jolingkent, @passantino, New York Times, @mlcalderone, Washington Post, @brianstelter, @brianstelter, Los Angeles Times, Adweek, Fox News, Variety, Deadline, @brianstelter, @brianstelter, @johnrobertsfox, Ad Age, @ananavarro, USA Today, @nicoleperlroth, @pareene, @brianstelter, @sykescharlie, @heidinbc, @sulliview, @maggienyt, @michaelshermer, @sarahellison, @rakeshlobster, @kirstenpowers, @megynkelly, @ryangirdusky, @philiprucker, @oliverdarcy, @latimes, @erikwemple, @nickkristof, @elienyc, @philminator, @nomikikonst, @violetblue, @briantylercohen, @kanew, @wakeup2politics, @mattyglesias, @stevenportnoy, Fox News Channel Press, @jenniferjjacobs, @bretbaier, @salhernandez, @roadmn, @brianstelter, @davidfolkenflik, @herring_nba, @thestalwart, @maggienyt, @grynbaum, @nycsouthpaw, @ashleyfeinberg, @alexweprin, The A.V. Club, The Daily Caller, Hollywood Reporter, SPIN, Vox and Boing Boing
RELATED:
Brian Stelter / CNN:
Source: Shepard Smith asked Fox News management in September to let him out of his contract; tensions with pro-Trump opinion shows were the breaking point — New York (CNN Buiness)Last month Shep Smith decided that he had simply had enough. — With President Trump actively distorting …
Discussion:
CNN, Variety, @danrather, Vanity Fair, @xlnb, Rolling Stone, @djlavoie, @ericmgarcia, @brianros1, @colbyhall, @jayrosen_nyu, @bluechoochoo, Mediaite, Breitbart, TVNewser, Boing Boing and The Wrap
Brian Steinberg / Variety:
With Shepard Smith gone, Fox News will have less of a balance to point to when asked to defend its primetime excesses, but its bottom line will be just fine — Analysis: Fox News' stick-to-the-facts anchor didn't always please the faithful. And that's how the network makes its money
Discussion:
CNN, @johnnydollar01, @bristei, @johnnydollar01, Washington Post and Mediaite
New York Times:
AG William Barr met privately on Wednesday with Rupert Murdoch, whose media holdings include Fox News, which recently has been more critical of Trump
Discussion:
The Daily Beast, @atrupar, Mediaite, @brendannyhan, HollywoodLife, The Daily Caller, @jeffjarvis, The Wrap, Politico, @vickypjward, FOX59, Talking Points Memo, The Week, @renato_mariotti, @chrislu44, @mattklewis, @lisatozzi, @mollyjongfast, @pauldutton1968, @mrbromwich, @karlbode, @freedlander, @jdawsey1, @juddlegum, @chrisgeidner and The Hill
Brian Fung / CNN:
Elizabeth Warren targets Facebook's ad policy of exempting ads by politicians from third-party fact-checking by running a Facebook ad with a clear falsehood — Zuckerberg says legal battles during a Warren presidency would ‘suck’ — (CNN)A fresh series of Facebook ads this week …
Discussion:
@juliacarriew, New York Times, The Wrap, @donie, Slate, Common Dreams, @mehdirhasan, @parkermolloy, @juddlegum, @joycewhitevance, @abdulelsayed, @brhodes, @randfish, @cmccrudden, @jason_kint, @jason_kint, Washington Post, Business Insider, Engadget, The Guardian, Mediaite and Boing Boing, more at Techmeme »
Rich McHugh / Vanity Fair:
Ronan Farrow's producer recounts how NBC news chairman Andrew Lack and news president Noah Oppenheim personally intervened to shut down Weinstein investigation — Rich McHugh recounts how top NBC brass, including news chairman Andrew Lack and news president Noah Oppenheim, bowed to Harvey Weinstein to quash the truth.
RELATED:
The Daily Beast:
NBC News President Noah Oppenheim, who allegedly downplayed a rape allegation against Matt Lauer, also penned sexist columns in the Harvard Crimson 20 years ago
Discussion:
@joshablock, @thegarance, @jamielynncrofts, Washington Post, The Wrap, TVNewser, TVWeek.com, The Daily Beast, Fox News, Mediaite and Page Six
Paul Farhi / Washington Post:
NBC News president has visited seven news orgs to present a rebuttal to Farrow's contention that the network ordered him to stop reporting on Weinstein
Discussion:
@chloesalsameda, @jkbjournalist, @rtraister, @thecut, @nytimesbooks, @blakehounshell, VICE, East Bay Times, New York Times, @lisatozzi, @koblin, Poynter, @sulliview, New York Times and HuffPost
BuzzFeed News:
Sources: in early 2018, Eddy Cue and Morgan Wandell, Apple's international TV lead, asked some Apple TV+ show creators to avoid portraying China in a poor light — We thought trade would bring Western values to China. Instead, it brought Chinese values to Apple.
Discussion:
CNET, @rmac18, Vanity Fair, @reckless, @reckless, @buzzfeedben, @tomwarren, @mdmadhusudan, @panzer, @juddapatow, @hotlinejosh, 9to5Mac, Pastebin, Daring Fireball, Observer, Breitbart, MacRumors, @seamoosi, @blakersdozen, @crtejada and Fast Company, more at Techmeme »
Lesley Goldberg / Hollywood Reporter:
Apple launches an internal studio, allowing it to own its content; the first series will be Masters of the Air, a follow-up to HBO's Band of Brothers — ‘Masters of the Air,’ which was originally developed for HBO, will be the third story in the WWII saga from Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks …
Discussion:
Deadline, Gizmodo, TechCrunch, Fast Company, Cord Cutters News, Engadget, Digital Trends, /Film, The Verge, 9to5Mac, The Streamable and Collider, more at Techmeme »
Dani Deahl / The Verge:
Music streamer Audius is built on blockchain, introducing issues regarding removing infringing material, which has proliferated, and identifying its hosts — New startup Audius says its blockchain-based music streaming service is the solution that finally pays attention to indie artists' needs.
Julie Reynolds / The Intercept:
Alden Global Capital's Digital First Media, which has sold off newspaper real estate and centralized print design, is outsourcing news design to the Philippines — Investigative journalist Thomas Peele remembers the day he learned that he and fellow reporters at the East Bay Times …
Discussion:
@dankennedy_nu, @dkiesow, @theintercept, @michalskilaura, @theintercept, @dngcwamulligan, Media Nation and Dan Kennedy
Lucinda Southern / Digiday:
LadBible says it is rebranding Pretty 42, its female-focused spinoff launched in 2017, as Tyla due to low brand awareness — LadBible made its name with Facebook fare of prank-meets-entertainment videos, like this guy getting squirted in the face with pepper spray and this on America's fattest bear.
Joshua Benton / Nieman Lab:
How local papers in a Brazil state were made docile via “media capture”, where around 40% of journalists leaving the papers were hired by local governments — A strategy of “capturing the main professionals from the newspapers, in their respective fields of work …
Discussion:
@jbenton, @meeraselva1, @jbenton and @jbenton
Dave Jamieson / HuffPost:
In email, G/O's editorial director tells staff he sees no reason for them to cover Splinter's shutdown and that any post about it will need his approval — The editorial director of G/O Media told top editors not to publish anything about the news and opinion site being shut down.
Discussion:
@aleksnotalex, @martinsfp, The Daily Caller, @jamieson, @jatayler, @richardkimnyc, @dylanmatt, @annebranigin and @dataeditor
Accounting Specialist Editor, Remote US — 
Senior Correspondent - Wealth, NY — 
Asia Credit Reporter, Seoul — 
Senior Social Media Specialist, NC — 
Associate Editor - Aviation, TN — 
Assistant Editor - Digital, NC — 
Video Producer - YouTube, NY — 
Senior Managing Ed. - Daily Desk — 
Multimedia Journalist, CA — 
Content Managing Editor — 
Editor, MA — 
Team Editor - Breaking News, ON — 
Senior Reporter & Event Host, NY/CA — 
Associate Editor, Remote — 
Retail Reporter, MN — 
Managing Ed. - Berks County, PA — 
News Editor - UK, Remote — 
News Reporter, MA — 
Multimedia Journalist, PA — 
Service Journalism Editor, CA — 
Content Director, Remote — 
Los Angeles Issues Reporter, CA — 
Reporter - Middle East — 
Executive Editor, OR — 
California Playbook Writer, CA — 
Senior Media Editor — 
National Investigative Reporter, NY — 
Lexington County Reporter, SC — 
Reporter - Offshore Wind — 
General Assignment Reporter, FL — 
Staff Reporter, CA — 
Data Editor, NY — 
