Top News:
Stanford Internet Observatory:
Microsoft's Bing appears to return an alarming amount of disinformation for user queries, far more than Google does, based on a test of 13 queries — Bing's importance in the information landscape of the U.S. shouldn't be overlooked. While its share of the search market in the U.S. might …
Discussion:
The Keyword, @alexstamos, @whatthebit, @mathewi, @brendannyhan, @majorhayden, @welhai, Search Engine Land and Softpedia News
Megan Graham / CNBC:
Ad exchange Rubicon Project agrees to merge with video advertising management platform Telaria, to better compete with Google and Facebook — - Public ad tech companies Telaria and Rubicon Project have agreed to merge as they try to make a stronger play in the growth of connected television …
Keida Kostreci / Voice of America:
Albania approves a set of anti-defamation laws which critics see as an attempt to muzzle the media and give the nation's top media regulator too much power — Albania's Parliament approved a controversial set of government-proposed anti-defamation laws on Wednesday, which critics say grant …
Discussion:
Reuters, Committee to Protect …, Associated Press, Balkan Insight, Albanian Daily News, The Shift News and @penamerica
Sara Fischer / Axios:
NBC News forms a team to report on US election security issues, led by SVP Janelle Rodriguez, and has created a dedicated landing page called Vote Watch — NBC News has created a new editorial team to report on issues related to U.S. election security and voting called “Vote Watch.”
Discussion:
@ajvicens, @cynthiamcfadden, @ajvicens, @byjacobward, @oset and @nbcnewspr
Chris Eggertsen / Billboard:
Jury finds Cox Communications liable for its customers' piracy of 10,000+ musical works, awards $1B to Sony Music, EMI, Universal, and Warner Music — Cox Communications was found liable for piracy infringement of more than 10,000 musical works by a U.S. District Court jury in Virgina on Thursday …
Discussion:
Variety, The Verge, TorrentFreak, @mmasnick, @future_of_music, @marcjacobsonpc, @eriqgardner, Hollywood Reporter, Axios and The Wrap
Tripp Mickle / Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Apple executives met with MGM representatives and the Pac-12 Conference this year to find ways to broaden the appeal of Apple TV app and TV+ — Tech giant is considering ways to broaden the appeal of its Apple TV app and TV+ service that launched with nine original programs
Discussion:
@stevekopack, @sportstvratings, @lamonicabuzz, @trippmickle, @edmundlee, @jyarow, Awful Announcing, The Streamable, CNET, TheStreet and 9to5Mac
Tim Baysinger / The Wrap:
NY governor signs a bill prompting a study of opportunities for female and minority TV writers and directors and providing $5M to spur more diversity in hiring — New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the state's Television Diversity Tax Credit Bill into law on Thursday.
Discussion:
Multichannel News, Variety and Deadline
Sara Guaglione / MediaPost:
The Atlantic's feature on Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, which was read for 30M+ “total engaged minutes”, is #1 in Chartbeat's Most Engaging Stories of 2019 — Chartbeat, the digital publisher data and analytics company, has revealed its annual list of most engaging stories of the year.
Discussion:
Chartbeat Blog
Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
Sources: Facebook is pursuing rights to music videos from record labels to boost interest in Watch, has already begun testing music videos in Thailand and India — Facebook Inc. is pursuing rights to music videos from major record labels, programming that could boost interest in its Watch video service …
Discussion:
CNET and Engadget, more at Techmeme »
Brian X. Chen / New York Times:
A summary of NYT reporters' favorite tech tools, based on three years of the Tech We're Using column: smartphones, encrypted communication, and spare batteries — After three years and more than 130 columns, the smartphone was tops. There were also some deliberate Luddites among us.
Tamar Lapin / New York Post:
Cooper Hefner joins the US Air Force, putting on hold his earlier plans to launch a media company separate from Playboy — Hugh Hefner's son Cooper has joined the Air Force. — The youngest child of the late Playboy founder departed for basic training Tuesday, his wife, “Harry Potter” actress Scarlett Byrne, posted on Instagram.
Discussion:
Fox News, @whatthebit and @noonanjo
Association of American Publishers:
Research and publishing orgs pen letter against proposed policy to mandate free distribution of peer-reviewed journal articles reporting on govt-funded research — More than 135 scientific research and publishing organizations join together in opposition to proposed Administration policy …
Discussion:
@raphaelwimmer, @fredericjacobs, @sigchi, @peaceea, @gkalinkat, @sxbegle, @ginasue, @mathewi, @cfiesler, @schock, @peterpur, @wilbanks, @acm_president, @libskrat, @andreawiggins, @syardi, @andreawiggins, @heycori, @jeffbigham, @msphelps, @guyvdb, @jeffbigham, @syardi, @terrainsvagues, @petersuber, @brembs, @annemariebridy, Bookseller News, Publishers Weekly and Personanondata
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