Top News:
Davey Alba / New York Times:
Facebook and Twitter shut down a network of fake accounts using AI-generated faces to “masquerade” as Americans; Facebook links the network to Epoch Media Group — Researchers said the profiles, linked to the Epoch Media Group, used photos generated by artificial intelligence in a preview of an …
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Snopes.com, CNN, About Facebook, @dabeard, @maddowblog, @pr_johnson, Mashable, @apolyakova, @ericfish85, @jeffstone500, @carolecadwalla, @dfrlab, @snopes, @snopes, CNET, Twitter, @oneunderscore__, @debunker, @mattnavarra, @ndiakopoulos, @olivia_gazis, @cristianafarias, @karankanishk, @mczub, @amy_siskind, @heathercampbell, @nytimes, @poppy_haze, @kevinroose, @tonyromm, FOX31 Denver, The Verge, Wired, Engadget, Fast Company and The Daily Beast, more at Techmeme »
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Stephen Gregory / The Epoch Times:
Epoch Media Group asks Facebook to withdraw claim that it is involved with The BL, which was tied to fake accounts, says Epoch Times Vietnam publishes The BL — Facebook claims that it has removed accounts operated by the website BL that are linked to The Epoch Media Group.
John Ourand / Sports Business Daily:
CBS says it will end its SEC football contract after 2023; sources: ESPN/ABC in final talks to take over, paying over 6x the $55M/year that CBS currently pays — CBS will walk away from the SEC when its contract ends after the 2023 football season, and all indications are that the package will move to ESPN/ABC.
Discussion:
@ourand_sbj, @smittysbj, @ourand_sbj, Broadcasting & Cable, The Daily Caller, @jimdunaway, @clemsontom, @valleyshook, @raycoletv, Axios, @futbolvisionary, @ralphdrussoap, @mattscalici, @walsha, @mikeconti929, @richlightshed, @jbenton, @alex_kirshner, @claytravis, @petesampson_, @dolphinstalk, @wildcatnews, @crupicrupicrupi, @johnfischesser, @twesq and Awful Announcing
Alan Rappeport / New York Times:
Columbia University finds Monica Crowley committed “localized instances of plagiarism” in a dissertation but concludes she did not commit research misconduct — An investigation concluded that the Treasury Department's top spokeswoman did not commit research misconduct, but required extensive revisions.
Discussion:
@arappeport, Breitbart, @harrymccracken, @orrchris, @eric_alterman, @nycsouthpaw, @rtmannjr, The Hill, @peterbakernyt, @dangillmor, @dfriedman33, @kenvogel, @greenfield64, @dandrezner, @dburbach, @emilybell, CNN and Mediaite
New York Times:
Amid a crisis in local news, eight journalists who left newsrooms in 2019 reflect on the stories left in their notebooks — Amid a crisis in local news, eight journalists who left newsrooms in 2019 reflect on the stories left in their notebooks. Photographers who also lost their jobs captured them on their former beats.
M. Scott Havens / Nieman Lab:
2020 predictions: global data regulation and the messy digital ad marketplace will prompt publishers to invest in first-party data, bolstering ties with readers — M. Scott Havens is global head of digital and media distribution for Bloomberg Media. — 2020 will be a watershed year …
Madeline Berg / Forbes:
Forbes estimates that the highest paid YouTube star of 2019 is Ryan Kaji, an eight-year-old with 23M subscribers, who has earned $26M this year — Anastasia Radzinskaya is an unlikely media star. Born in southern Russia with cerebral palsy, her doctors feared she would never be able to speak.
Discussion:
@nongaap, Business Insider, The Guardian and The Wrap, more at Techmeme »
Lisa Kaplan / Lawfare:
TheSoul, a Russian web publisher with YouTube channels like 5-Minute Crafts, has the most reach among entertainment groups on YouTube, after Disney, WarnerMedia — What the heck is TheSoul Publishing? I'm still honestly not sure. — Here's what I do know: Measured in terms of views and subscribers …
Discussion:
@benjaminwittes, @sykescharlie, @lawfareblog, @ashkan and @lisackaplan, more at Techmeme »
Craig Newmark / Nieman Lab:
2020 prediction: some newsrooms will adopt rules requiring tweets, headlines, and stories to never present falsities without first clearly stating the truth — Craig Newmark is the founder of craigslist and Craig Newmark Philanthropies. — For 2019, I predicted that news organizations …
Discussion:
@kathyenglish
Georg Szalai / Hollywood Reporter:
ViacomCBS acquires 49% stake in Miramax, which is owned by BeIN, for $375M — The L.A.-based company, which has been owned by Doha-based BeIN Media Group and run by CEO Bill Block, has a library with 700-plus titles, including such Oscar winners as ‘Pulp Fiction’ and ‘Chicago.’
Discussion:
Variety, Broadcasting & Cable, @viacomcbs, @richlightshed, @variety, MediaPost and Axios
Bryan Curtis / The Ringer:
Profile of Josh Katzenstein, who once covered the New Orleans Saints for the Times-Picayune and who has transferred his reporting skills to CBD product sales — For now, at least. The New Orleans Saints journalist who lost his job this year has made a career transition.
Discussion:
@jamiemottram, @ddiamond, @ringer, @jjones9, @hlas, @kelleyroot, @jkatzenstein, @bryancurtis, @jourdanrodrigue, @joefav, @timrohan, @kevinmdraper, @tmorris504, @wesleylowery and @justin_rogers
Deanna Ting / Digiday:
Small publishers see more traffic from mobile news aggregators like TopBuzz, News Break, and Flipboard, than Facebook and Google — This November, Inquisitr CEO Dominick Miserandino noticed that TopBuzz News, the news aggregator app from ByteDance, the same company behind wildly popular …
Discussion:
@managewski, @chartbeat, @adriana_lacy and @mpamagmedia
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