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Facebook begins testing Facebook News with a subset of people in the US across four categories of select publishers: general, topical, diverse, and local news — Testing a dedicated place for news in the US — Journalism plays a critical role in our democracy.
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At an event with News Corp's Robert Thomson, Mark Zuckerberg says every internet platform has a responsibility to fund and form partnerships for news — Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg — aiming to counter skeptics who believe the social network is a chief culprit in promulgating a flood of misinformation …
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Facebook is paying some major publishers millions of dollars per year while excluding smaller local ones, who are struggling and worried about being left behind — New York (CNN Business)Facebook has a message for the skeptical news industry: We're here to help.
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Facebook takes a step forward by putting money behind high-quality journalism, but it can't leave small publishers behind or promote purveyors of disinformation — Ronald Reagan called these the nine most terrifying words in the English language: “I'm from the government and I'm here to help.”
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Columbia Journalism Review, @emilybell, Yahoo Finance, @sulliview, @timobrien, @emilybell and Slate

Zuckerberg cited a need for diversity of views when asked about Breitbart's presence in Facebook News, but also said News is only for high-quality, curated news
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Sources: John Solomon, now at Fox, worked closely with Rudy Giuliani associate Lev Parnas, sharing files and letting him watch an interview with Ukraine source — ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up for ProPublica's Big Story newsletter …
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Pew: 22% of US newsroom employees live in NYC, LA, or DC; NYC has 12% of all newsroom employees; 41% of people working for digital outlets are in the Northeast — New York, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., are the financial, entertainment and political capitals of the United States …
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News industry columnist Ken Doctor says he's working on Lookout, a platform for local news, set to launch in 2020 with funding from Google and Knight Foundation — Over the past decade here at Nieman Lab, I've reported a lot of news industry news. Today, I'm sharing some of my own.
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@wjeffreybrown, @dankennedy_nu, @niemanlab and @jayrosen_nyu


AT&T says HBO Max will be available free to the 10M AT&T customers who are also US HBO subscribers; sources: AT&T to launch cheaper ad-supported tier in 2021 — (Reuters) - In the bestselling novel “Circe” — optioned by WarnerMedia for its forthcoming HBO Max streaming service …
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Google News Initiative announces 34 winners of its North American Innovation Challenge, with grants ranging from ~$32K to $300K in this $5.8M round — On the same day that Facebook's tab will start paying (some) publishers for their content, Google has announced its grantees …
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Local News Initiative, The Keyword, Google News Initiative, @googlenewsinit and SiliconValley.com


NBCUniversal says it would release ex-NBC News staffers who believe they were sexually harassed from NDAs, in a statement read by Maddow before Farrow interview — NBCUniversal said Friday night it would release former NBC News staffers who believe they were sexually harassed from confidentiality …
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@maddowblog, TVWeek.com, Mediaite, Deadline, Hollywood Reporter and @ronanfarrow


Sources: Derek Jeter's The Players' Tribune is exploring a sale; the site, which helps athletes connect directly with fans, has raised a total of $60M — The Players' Tribune, a website started by baseball star Derek Jeter, is exploring a potential sale, according to people familiar with the matter.
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@kerrymflynn


NPR plans to merge its NPR and NPR One apps into one app in 2020, with local and national content as well as possibly more editorial control for local stations — NEW ORLEANS — NPR will focus on promoting a single app for its content beginning next year with a new app powered by NPR One's technology.
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@michellemanafy, @loritodd, @elanazak and @sinersays