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CBS and Viacom finalized their merger after market close Wednesday, combining CBS with Paramount, alongside Viacom channels including MTV and Nickelodeon — CBS and Viacom are finally, really, back to together. Less than four months after announcing their intentions to rejoin as one company …
Discussion:
Variety, New York Times, Broadcasting & Cable, Forbes, Adweek, TVNewser, Multichannel News, @manologvergara, Variety and Los Angeles Times


A study by Avaaz may have overstated the problem of false stories on Facebook, but it also revealed cracks, loopholes, and limitations in Facebook's systems — And in 2021. And 2022. — hree and a half years after the pope endorsed President Donald Trump (or didn't), Facebook has put in a lot of work to clean up its News Feed.
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As tech companies embrace fact-checking to prove they are active in trying to stop misinfo, fact-checking orgs' association with traditional media is weakening — Has our investment in debunking worked? — Personally I think the idea that fake news on Facebook, of which it's a very small amount …
Discussion:
@emilybell, @daviduberti, @emilybell, @joegermuska, @cjr, @emilybell and @emilybell


Six international press watchdogs say the EU should take action against Hungary as it has “systematically dismantled media independence” under Viktor Orban — BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Hungary has stifled its independent media and imposed a level of control over journalists …


Washington Post launches El Washington Post, its first Spanish-language news podcast aimed at a global audience, with 20-minute episodes on Tuesdays and Fridays — The Washington Post published the first episode of its new Spanish-language podcast today, its latest effort to expand …
Discussion:
Digiday, @verambergen, @niemanlab, Washingtonian, MediaPost and Washington Post


Amazon Web Services reaches multiyear deal with Fox to transmit content to TV customers and streaming services, replacing 90s-era infrastructure — - Multi-year deal makes AWS Fox's official cloud provider — Fox Corp. is turning to Amazon.com Inc.'s cloud to route video to the broadcaster's cable …
Discussion:
Hollywood Reporter and @erinscafe


Phone records show calls between journalist John Solomon and Lev Parnas, an associate of Rudy Giuliani, while Solomon was posting at The Hill about Ukraine — (CNN)Armed with never-before-seen phone records, Democrats on Tuesday accused President Donald Trump's allies of coordinating …
Discussion:
@bobcusack, Washington Post, Columbia Journalism Review, @lachlan, @bobcusack, @emptywheel, @kimstrassel, @emptywheel, @theplumlinegs, @mattgertz, @natashabertrand, MTV, @ericgeller, @mattgreenfield, @kentremendous, @tynanwrites, @justinbaragona, @existentialfish, @erikwemple, @kimmasters, @culturepulp, @jimsciutto, @propublica, @atrupar, @joncoopertweets, @mkraju, @philippereines, @mattzap, @joshtpm, @alexstamos, @lanceblairvo, @cjcmichel, @smartypants60, @hjelle_brian, @cnn, @charlie_savage, Washington Post, The Hill, Talking Points Memo, USA Today, Washington Examiner, Raw Story, The Daily Beast and Axios
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Plex launches a free, ad-supported streaming service featuring thousands of movies and shows from studios like MGM, available in ~220 countries — Plex today is launching its own ad-supported streaming service, a rival to The Roku Channel, Tubi, Crackle, Vudu's Movies on Us …
Discussion:
MediaPost, Plex, @moblordtv, The Streamable, The Verge and Variety, more at Techmeme »


The Information launches Tech Top 10, a human-curated tech news aggregator, available on iOS and Android for $29.99/year or $2.99/month — We launched The Information six years ago to the day with a mission to conduct fearless and deep original reporting about the technology industry.
Discussion:
Talking Biz News, App Store, @lauriesegall, @jessicalessin and @jessicalessin


Apple News launches a daily email newsletter with summaries written by Apple's editorial team — Apple News is expanding its mail notifications with a new ‘Good Morning’ daily newsletter. Previously, users could opt in to receive email alerts from Apple News about select featured stories.


UK's The Daily Telegraph says it now has 420K paying subs, the first time it's had more subs online than in print, and aims to add 100K more by October 2020 — The Telegraph now has more paying subscribers online than in print for the first time in its 164-year history.

Two jury members for the Data Journalism Awards once run by the closed Global Editors Network are planning new awards sponsored by The Google News Initiative — If you're seeking a community around data journalism, fear not: Several are bubbling up in the wake of the Global Editors Network's closure, which was announced a month ago.
Discussion:
@smfrogers and @pilhofer


Barstool Sports CEO says Barstool Gold has more than 30K subscribers since its January launch, of which 80% signed up for the annual plan — Barstool Sports has sold more than 30,000 people on its Barstool Gold subscription product, according to CEO Erika Nardini.
Discussion:
American Press Institute, @thesportsdotbiz and @bmorrissey