Top News:
Maxwell Tani / The Daily Beast:
CNN hires former GOP congressman Sean Duffy as a paid contributor, who immediately floats CNN-debunked conspiracy theory pushed by the White House on first day — In two separate CNN appearances, in his first 24 hours as a paid pundit, the ex-congressman pushed the president's unfounded CrowdStrike theory.
Discussion:
@courtneyhagle, @jaycaruso, The Daily Beast, Mediaite, Deadline, Media Matters for America, @marlownyc, @kanew, @soledadobrien, @juddapatow, @repmarkpocan, @dangillmor, The Daily Wire, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, @jayrosen_nyu, HuffPost, The Week, Mediaite, The Week, The Hill, Raw Story and The Wrap
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Verizon is giving away Disney+ for free for one year to all of its wireless customers on unlimited-data plans and to FiOS and 5G home internet customers — New Fios broadband, 5G home wireless internet customers also eligible for 12-month free offer — Verizon is giving away Disney Plus …
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: despite Catch and Kill controversy, NBC News President Noah Oppenheim signed a new contract “in recent months” and is expected to succeed Andy Lack — Instead of breaking the big story, NBC News has become the big story. The network's top brass, NBC News Chairman Andy Lack …
Discussion:
Fox News, Variety, The Wrap, @sil_lai and The Daily Beast
RELATED:
Carol Thompson / Lansing State Journal:
Network of ~40 websites branded as Michigan local news launched this fall with neutral names like Lansing Sun and Ann Arbor Times but offer political messaging — LANSING — Dozens of websites branded as local news outlets launched throughout Michigan this fall, with monikers like Lansing Sun …
Discussion:
@brianstelter, American Press Institute, Nieman Lab, @anneapplebaum, The Rural Blog, @janemayernyer, @spj_tweets, @callin_bull, @marmel, @tristanharris, @digiphile, @niemanlab, @christopherjm, @will_bunch, @jimsciutto, @leahmcelrath, @dangillmor, @melissaryan, @helenkennedy and @mattgertz, more at Techmeme »
Wall Street Journal:
Online influencers are expected to make $4.1B-$8.2B in 2019, but with no good way to measure sales, some advertisers are questioning whether it's worth it — Billions are paid to social-media personalities to pitch products in an influencer economy riddled with deceit
Discussion:
Axios, @sminero, @ivan_brussels, @katsvik, @_missleandra, @yared_theguy and @wsj
Kate Storey / Esquire:
Inside Bustle Media Group CEO Bryan Goldberg's ill-fated attempt to relaunch Gawker, which started with no clear plan and was plagued by scandals — Last year, Bryan Goldberg revealed big plans for his relaunch of Gawker, then postponed it indefinitely while laying off the whole staff.
Corey Hutchins / The Colorado Independent:
A look at the Colorado Media Project's new report, Local News is a Public Good, which recommends public funding to support independent local journalism — On Monday, members of the Colorado Media Project took questions at CU Denver about the group's new report “Local News is a Public Good” …
Discussion:
The Pew Charitable Trusts, @coreyhutchins, @coindependent, @coreyhutchins and Free Press
Allegra Hobbs / The Guardian:
Journalism and influencer culture is converging: just as influencers use their image to advertise, writers leverage social media presence to sell their work — After the summer of Caroline Calloway's Instagram infamy and Jia Tolentino's huge book launch, where is the line between author and lifestyle celebrity?
Discussion:
@allegraehobbs and @renireni
Natasha Lomas / TechCrunch:
UK chair of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee writes open letter to Nick Clegg asking why Facebook has dropped its ban on deceptive political ads — In yet another letter seeking to pry accountability from Facebook, the chair of a British parliamentary committee has pressed …
Discussion:
UK Parliament, The Guardian, @damiancollins, The Irish News, Vox, Talking Points Memo and Raw Story
Marc Tracy / New York Times:
Harper's names executive editor and author Christopher Beha to the top editor position, the magazine's fifth full-time editor since 2006 — Harper's Magazine has a new editor, effective next Monday: Christopher Beha, a novelist, essayist and the author of a memoir recounting the year …
Discussion:
@clarajeffery, @nytmedia, @nytimesbusiness, Publishers Lunch and Page Six
Vivian Wang / New York Times:
New York state lawmakers have proposed a requirement that any cable company operating in the state offer an independently produced local news channel — Legislators are proposing a first-in-the-nation bill to force cable companies to offer independent local news.
Discussion:
@nytimes, @senkevinthomas, @mgjohnson24, @mgjohnson24, @maghielse, @alexsilverman, @ctmirror and The Rural Blog
Megan Graham / CNBC:
Roku to buy ad tech platform Dataxu, which provides software for managing ad campaigns programmatically across digital platforms, for $150M in cash and stock — - Dataxu provides marketers with automated bidding and self-serve software to manage ad campaigns programmatically across digital platforms.
Discussion:
Broadcasting & Cable, TechCrunch, Hollywood Reporter and AdExchanger, more at Techmeme »
Josh Constine / TechCrunch:
Facebook now requires some page owners to disclose the orgs running them and if they're tied to state-owned media, will add labels to pages run by state media — Heaven forbid a political candidate's Facebook account gets hacked. They might spread disinformation...like they're already allowed to do in Facebook ads...
Discussion:
The Daily Caller, The Hill, @joshconstine, @hadas_gold, Tubefilter, The Drum, Adweek, Mother Jones, Facebook and Washington Post, more at Techmeme »
RELATED:
Facebook:
Facebook says it will more prominently label content that fact-checkers deem false on Facebook and Instagram, will ban ads suggesting voting is pointless
Discussion:
Nieman Lab, The Drum, @mantzarlis, ZDNet, @drewharwell, The Verge, The Next Web, Adweek, @lkfazio, @ow, @natijomartinez, Gizmodo, The Daily Caller, NPR, AdExchanger, Politico, MediaPost, New York Post, Ad Age, The Hill, VICE, The Week, Engadget, CNN and Fast Company, more at Techmeme »
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Meredith sells Money, whose print edition it shuttered in June, to Ad Practitioners, a Puerto Rico-based digital advertising and media company — After previously failing to find a buyer for Money — and shutting down the print edition — Meredith has found a new home for the personal-finance brand.
Discussion:
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