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WaPo suspends Felicia Sonmez after she tweeted a story about a rape allegation against Kobe Bryant, responded to criticism, and uploaded abuse sent to her email — Felicia Sonmez (right), who covers national politics for The Washington Post, posted a link to a story about the Kobe Bryant rape case …
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TMZ.com, Mediaite, The Outline, The Desk, @davidklion, New York Times, The Hill, @sdkstl, Breitbart, @sopandeb, @jimrutenberg, The Guardian, @olivianuzzi, @dylanmatt, @froomkin, @oneunderscore__, @davidklion, DCist, @petersterne, @libbycwatson, @maxwelltani, @marlownyc, @elongreen, @notesfromhel, @travelfish, @stacyontheright, @davidklion, @lam_barrett, @libbycwatson, @jbenton, @heerjeet, @katzonearth, @chanders, The Guardian, @libbycwatson, @markdistef, @chadloder, @mattgertz, The Wrap, New York Post and VICE
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Felicia Sonmez shares her account of suspension from WaPo, says Managing Editor Tracy Grant had concerns that the tweets didn't pertain to her coverage area — The Post has suspended reporter Felicia Sonmez following her social-media activity over the death of NBA great Kobe Bryant.
Discussion:
New York Times, The Wrap, @tomgara, Washington Post, @geneweingarten, VICE, @rmc031, @wesleylowery, @aleksnotalex, @maggienyt, @poniewozik, @poniewozik, @jscros, @libbycwatson, @jscros, @jimwaterson, @lydiadepillis, @mrshickadance9, @ggreenwald, @yashar, @zachdcarter, @maxwelltani, The Atlantic, Quartz, The Miscellanies, The Week, Columbia Journalism Review, Breitbart, Fox News, MTV and iMediaEthics

Washington Post Guild issues scathing critique of the paper's suspension of Felicia Sonmez, says WaPo should let her return and provide a security detail — To Marty Baron and Tracy Grant: We write to share our alarm and dismay that our newsroom leaders have chosen to place Felicia Sonmez …
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Washingtonian, @marcatracy, @abeaujon and @abeaujon


The Washington Post says tweets from now-suspended political reporter Felicia Sonmez “displayed poor judgment that undermined the work of her colleagues” — Washington Post reporter Felicia Sonmez was suspended Sunday after tweeting about the 2003 rape case against Kobe Bryant …
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Variety, @gynostar, @carlasosenko and @mskristinawong


Emily Ramshaw and Amanda Zamora, who stepped down from Texas Tribune in November, launch the 19th, a new media outlet focused on women, with $5M in funding — The idea of creating a new media outlet focused on women came to Emily Ramshaw four years ago during her maternity leave.
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@eramshaw, @eramshaw, Nieman Lab, @projomike, PR Newswire, @pkafka, @eugene_scott, @edokeefe, @ericazucco, @jbenton, @terri_rupar, @jmsummers, @cindi_leive, @eramshaw and @amzam


Charges against Assange arguing interactions with sources can be a crime have created a template for other countries, with Brazil arguing the same for Greenwald — Edward Snowden is the author of “Permanent Record” and is the president of Freedom of the Press Foundation …
Discussion:
New York Times, @robertmackey, @snowden, @arusbridger and Common Dreams


ESPN plans to air more than 500 live original shows across its digital platforms and social media this year, more than doubling its output since 2018 — With a new social media star and a fresh studio dedicated to its digital programming, ESPN is upgrading online game viewing.
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The Streamable, Always Be Watching, @mathewi, @foss and @dangillmor


UK government says Cairncross review's recommendation to create an institution for public interest news would amount to inappropriate government interference — The government has rejected the central recommendation from a report into the future of news provision to set up an “institute for public interest news.”
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Press Gazette, GOV.UK, The Guardian, @markdistef, @jimwaterson, CityAM, expressandstar.com and @jimwaterson


Politico launches AgencyIQ, a new B2B product covering the FDA, with subscriptions costing $25K-$75K/year and plans to expand coverage to agencies like FTC, FCC — Politico is chasing after more subscription revenue by starting on Monday a new business-to-business product covering the Food and Drug Administration called AgencyIQ,
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MediaPost, Talking Biz News, @raju and @gbrotman


Initial coverage of Kobe Bryant's death was an illuminating example of how breaking news reports will be wrong due to the drive to be first at any cost — If the media world were ruled by thoughtfulness, rigor and ethics, TMZ wouldn't have broken the news about Sunday's helicopter crash …
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Esquire, Jerry's Newsletter, @lesbowen, @martinonyc, @satoshijournal and Poynter


Founder of right-wing Christian site TruNews, who has made anti-Semitic comments, says the White House gave five TruNews staffers press credentials for Davos — The White House granted TruNews, a right-wing Christian site, press credentials for the president's Davos trip after its founder's remarks calling impeachment a “Jew coup.”
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@nebraskamegan, @miriam2626, @markszaidesq, @mattnegrin, @gadyepstein, @paulkrugman and @brianstelter


Sources: MGM has held preliminary talks with a number of companies, including Apple and Netflix, to gauge whether they're interested in acquiring it — - Apple, Amazon, AT&T, Comcast, Disney and Netflix may be a new “Big 6” among global media companies. — MGM has held preliminary talks …
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/Film, The Playlist, The Streamable, @getfandom, @sherman4949, @sherman4949, @dylanbyers and @mattrosoff