Top News:
Washington Post:
Facebook bans deepfakes, but its new policy may not cover simpler forms of deception like with the distorted Pelosi video — Facebook has banned users from posting computer-generated, highly manipulated videos, known as deepfakes, seeking to stop the spread of a novel form of misinformation months …
Discussion:
About Facebook, MediaPost, @tonyromm, New York Times, TechCrunch, Fast Company, Engadget, The Independent, @megancgraham, @jeffstone500, @ldrogen, Gizmodo, CNET, The Verge, The Hill, The Wrap, Business Insider, @drewharwell, Axios, @mollymckew, @peterwsinger, @slpng_giants, @jerweber, @yoda, @jason_kint, The Next Web and VentureBeat, more at Techmeme »
Mark Kleinman / Sky News:
News Corp to sell Unruly, the video advertising platform it acquired for around £115M in 2015, to the ad tech company Tremor International — Rebekah Brooks will join the board of Tremor International as part of News Corp's deal to offload Unruly, Sky News learns. — City editor @MarkKleinmanSky
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Digiday, The Drum, The Drum, @paul_framp, @simonjharris, @shonaghosh, @andyoakes, @markkleinmansky, @mjbarash, Talking Biz News, MarTech Today, Reuters and Mumbrella
The Guardian:
Key figures from US media, including Dean Baquet, Ben Smith, Jorge Ramos, and Margaret Sullivan, describe their fears and ideas for covering the 2020 election — Key figures from major US newspapers, news sites and TV describe their fears about covering this year's election - and ideas on how to get it right
Discussion:
Columbia Journalism Review, @ashtonpittman, @buzzfeedben, @youngsinick, @redsteeze, @comfortablysmug, @ananny, @mariaramirezny, @scarylawyerguy, @film_girl, @sykescharlie, @baseballcrank, @froomkin, @oliverdarcy, @oliverdarcy, @asteadwesley, @maryheglar, @brianstelter, @ewaldeng, @owillis and @sulliview
Joe Pompeo / Vanity Fair:
News media's coverage of the Trump administration's conflict with Iran will be a test of lessons learned from the reporting preceding the 2003 Iraq war — Still living down the 2003 Iraq war disgrace, under pressure from multiple sides, and dealing with a truth-challenged administration …
Discussion:
Washington Post, New York Times, Politico, Rolling Stone, @mehdirhasan, @brianstelter, @vanityfair and Media Matters for America
Todd Spangler / Variety:
TiVo unveils TiVo Stream 4K, a streaming video dongle, with Sling TV as its subscription TV partner, available initially for $49.99 in April and then for $69.99 — DVR pioneer TiVo has officially planted its battle flag in the internet-streaming device wars.
Discussion:
Multichannel News, more at Techmeme »
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Memo: Viacom Digital Studios President Kelly Day, who has led VDS since its start in fall 2017, to exit role; Viacom veteran Stefanie Schwartz named EVP and GM — ViacomCBS has changed up the leadership of Viacom Digital Studios, Variety has learned: Kelly Day, who has served as VDS's president since …
Discussion:
@xpangler, Seeking Alpha, Deadline, The Wrap and Hollywood Reporter
Hanaa' Tameez / Nieman Lab:
The Sigma Awards for outstanding data journalism will replace the Data Journalism Awards that were earlier maintained by the now-defunct Global Editors Network — The Sigma Awards for outstanding data journalism will replace the Data Journalism Awards that were previously maintained by the now-defunct Global Editors Network.
Dan Kennedy / Media Nation:
Portland Press Herald cutting Monday edition before weekends is unusual, but it makes sense as it has fewer ads, lower circulation, and Sunday labor is pricey — Those of us who have followed the transition of newspapers from print to free digital and, now, to paid digital have long predicted …
Discussion:
MediaPost
Ben Strauss / Washington Post:
Sports Illustrated staff say they plan to unionize with NewsGuild, raising concerns about direction under Maven; organizers say 90%+ of staff signed petition — The staff of Sports Illustrated plans to unionize, it told management on Monday, saying it wants a greater say in the future …
Discussion:
Poynter, @si_union, @postsports, @four4thefire, @maggiomatt, @si_union, @jennyvrentas, Awful Announcing and The NewsGuild - CWA
Kyle Wiggers / VentureBeat:
Amazon expands Fire TV Edition to soundbars, car infotainment systems, set-top boxes, and more, and says Fire TV platform now has over 40M MAUs — It was only a few months ago that Amazon took the wraps off over 20 new Fire TV devices to fill out its growing portfolio, including a refreshed Fire TV Cube …
Discussion:
TechCrunch and The Streamable, more at Techmeme »
Jim Waterson / The Guardian:
UK Tax Tribunal rules that The Times' digital subscription revenue is VAT-exempt because its website, like a newspaper, is rarely updated — Rupert Murdoch's firm satisfies tax tribunal that subscriptions should be zero-rated — Rupert Murdoch's newspaper group could be set …
Discussion:
@janemartinson, @danbarker, @kadhim and @jimwaterson
Keith J. Kelly / New York Post:
Schneps Media, which recently purchased Metro New York and amNew York, to merge both of NYC's free papers under the new name amNewYork Metro starting January 6 — Fifteen-year-old Metro New York, one of the city's two freebie daily papers, will disappear following the sale of assets to Schneps Media …
Discussion:
Columbia Journalism Review, @kristindakota and New York Times