Top News:
Mike Isaac / New York Times:
Sources: over 250 Facebook employees have signed a letter visible on an internal forum that says letting politicians lie in ads is “a threat” to the company — In an open letter, the social network's employees said letting politicians post false claims in ads was “a threat” to the company.
Discussion:
@mikeisaac, New York Times, The Guardian, MediaPost, The Independent, @sarahfrier, The A.V. Club, @aoc, Politico, TechCrunch, Mercury News, CNN, VICE, @brianstelter, Ad Age, @oneunderscore__, @peterwsinger, @mattlech, @davmicrot, The Next Web, @wiczipedia, @ewarren, @senblumenthal, @mikeisaac, Business Insider, @benioff, KTLA, RAPPLER, The Verge, Wall Street Journal, Beyond Search, Fortune, The Wrap, The Week, The Hill, Gizmodo, Memex 1.1, Mashable and Engadget, more at Techmeme »
John Sands / Knight Foundation:
Local news survey: 45% of Americans trust it “quite a lot” or more; 53% of Americans view it as balanced though 50% of Democrats trust it vs. 27% of Republicans — When it comes to trust, local news media continue to outperform their national counterparts.
Discussion:
Nieman Lab, Knight Foundation, @newsalliance, @maryellenklas, The Rural Blog and Fast Company
Joe Pompeo / Vanity Fair:
The Recount, John Heilemann and John Battelle's short-form video political news outlet, has raised ~$10M seed from investors including Jay-Z and Kevin Durant — A-List investors (Fred Wilson, Jay-Z, Robert Wolf, Kevin Durant) are pouring millions into the journalist's new business.
Discussion:
@thisfamilymeal, @johnbattelle, @therecount, @joepompeo, @jheil and Politico
Ryan Glasspiegel / The Big Lead:
Deadspin's interim editor-in-chief, Barry Petchesky, who has worked for the publication for ten years, says he has been fired for “not sticking to sports” — It was a solid bet when The Daily Beast reported that G/O Media management issued an edict to Deadspin to stick to sports …
Discussion:
@weareyourfek and @gmgunion
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Kelsey Mckinney / @mckinneykelsey:
Deadspin writer says G/O Media management removed a letter to the readers from Deadspin staff that criticised the recent addition of autoplay videos to the site
Discussion:
@gmgunion, @chronotope, Awful Announcing, @barry, @williamfleitch, @katiedrumm, @mckinneykelsey, @ashleyfeinberg and Gizmodo
Maxwell Tani / The Daily Beast:
G/O Media memo to staff says “Deadspin will write only about sports” and to focus 100% of resources on sports; the site also covered politics, culture, and more
Discussion:
Mediaite, VICE, @bubbaprog, @dansolomon, @themadstone, @mlcalderone, @ftrain, Poynter, @lindseyadler, @mikemadden, @jaythenerdkid, @cdcarter13, @espiers, @drrubidium, @tylercoates, @rossalincoln, The Drum, @russbengtson, @beyondreasdoubt, @revrrlewis, @icehockeystick, @_shireenahmed_, @rowankaiser, @passionweiss, @thescibabe and @ashleyfeinberg
Alex Weprin / Hollywood Reporter:
National Amusements has voted to approve the CBS-Viacom merger, which is now expected to close by early December; the merged company will be called ViacomCBS — National Amusements, the company controlled by the Redstone family, has voted to approve the merger.
Discussion:
Variety, The Wrap, Deadline and TVWeek.com
Paul Farhi / Washington Post:
Federal judge reinstates libel lawsuit by Covington Catholic student Nicholas Sandmann against WaPo, narrowing its scope from 33 published statements to three — A federal judge reinstated part of a lawsuit against The Washington Post filed by the family of a Kentucky teenager that alleged …
Discussion:
Fox News, Washington Examiner, The Hill, Deadline, New York Post, Washington Times and Fox News
Jessica Davies / Digiday:
FT says it is testing subscriber-only podcasts, deviating from its audio strategy of ad-supported open-access podcasts, hires its first global head of audio — The Financial Times has expanded its audio strategy to include subscriber-only podcasts, a first for the publisher.
Discussion:
Press Gazette, Talking Biz News and RAIN News
Amol Rajan / BBC:
Daily Mail soft-launches Mail+, a bulletin-based digital service separate from its free Mail Online that will charge readers for some content in upcoming months — The long heralded next chapter of the Daily Mail's push into digital media will take shape this week, as consolidation across …
Discussion:
Press Gazette and @amolrajan
Michael Calderone / Politico:
The RedState reporter who published the Katie Hill photo has since promoted GOP candidates for her seat, a blurring of roles unacceptable in mainstream outlets — Shortly after Rep. Katie Hill announced her resignation from Congress on Sunday night, the RedState reporter …
Discussion:
VICE, @stellinitweets, @jenvanlaar, @politico, @mattdpearce, @joshuahol, @mlcalderone, Washington Free Beacon, The Week, New York Post, Breitbart and Talking Points Memo
Sara Fischer / Axios:
Sources: NBC News Digital is expanding its staff by 20% over the next year, amounting to ~70 new jobs, and shutting down its digital video studio NBC Left Field — NBC News Digital is expanding its staff by 20% over the next year, an addition of roughly 70 jobs across multiple departments …
Ryan Mac / @rmac18:
Judge rules that Elon Musk won't be able to depose BuzzFeed reporter Ryan Mac in the defamation case brought by cave rescuer, who will be allowed to depose Mac — A judge ruled a few hours ago that Elon Musk won't be able to depose me in the ongoing defamation lawsuit against him from cave rescuer Vernon Unsworth. A win for the free press. The case goes to trial next month and we will continue to cover it. https://twitter.com/...
Discussion:
@markdistef, @trevortimm and @thomas_violence
Jason Gurwin / The Streamable:
Sony says it will shut down its PlayStation Vue live TV subscription service on January 30 — The Streamable is reader-supported and may earn an affiliate commission when you sign up with our links. — This is breaking news, the story will be updated. — After much speculation …
Discussion:
Variety, more at Techmeme »
Todd Spangler / Variety:
AT&T says it will spend $1.5B-$2B on HBO Max in 2020 and $1B per year in both 2021 and 2022, expects profitability in year four — AT&T is telling investors it has the intestinal fortitude to win in the streaming wars — even as its traditional TV business continues to crumble.
Discussion:
/Film, The Streamable, Axios, @xpangler, Tubefilter, Ad Age, Fortune, Business Insider, MediaPost, Engadget, Deadline and Variety
RELATED:
Wall Street Journal:
AT&T reaches a truce with activist investor Elliott Management, agrees to regular share buybacks, new directors, no more major M&A, and more in three year plan
Discussion:
@ptolemy_3, Variety, @shalini, @lucas_shaw, @xpangler, @reckless, The Drum, Reuters, Fox Business, CityAM, CNBC, Ars Technica, Bloomberg, The Verge, Deadline and New York Times
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