Mediagazer: Twitter launches new tool to combat misinformation on the US Census; a prompt will point users searching for Census-related keywords to the official Census site (Marty Johnson/The Hill)

11:30 PM ET, February 11, 2020

Top News:

Faced with questions about the lasting impact of online mugshot galleries, media outlets including the Houston Chronicle are increasingly doing away with them — Some are red-eyed from crying, others visibly drunk. Some sport black eyes or jarring face tattoos. Occasionally, one offers an addled grin.

Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:

Source: Spotify is paying close to $200M upfront for the Ringer, to be followed by more than $50M later — - Streamer has spent more than $600 million on podcast deals — Sports columnist Bill Simmons founded the Ringer in 2016 — Spotify Technology SA is paying close …

Discussion: @stocktwits, @jbenton, Music Business Worldwide, @nbashaw, @bbgmedia, @lindaholmes, @sarthakgh, @jaycodon, Business Insider and @ajs, more at Techmeme »

Freddy Mayhew / Reuters:

Reuters has created a virtual sports journalist prototype that reads out game summaries and reports using AI and footage of a human presenter — Reuters has created a virtual sports journalist using artificial intelligence technology and video footage of a human presenter.

Discussion: @themurdochtimes, @rossdawson and @gregianjohnson

Jim Waterson / The Guardian:

Sources close to Elisabeth Murdoch say she has no interest in the job of BBC director and is focused on launching a production company — Sources say Rupert's daughter not interested in job, after press reports made her the favourite — Elisabeth Murdoch has made clear she has no interest …

Discussion: @janemartinson

Adam Sherwin / inews:
Sources: the BBC is almost certain to appoint its first female Director-General, with Elisabeth Murdoch and ITV CEO Carolyn McCall as two top contenders

Discussion: @jbenton, @markdistef, @emilybell, @rmcunliffe, @arusbridger, @janinegibson, @jimwaterson, @jamesrbuk, @markdistef, @peterjukes, @taraconlan, @adamsherwin10, @tcmbigcheese, @adamsherwin10, careerssearch.bbc.co.uk, Press Gazette and Digital TV Europe

Andrew Morse / CNET:

Flipboard launches Flipboard TV, an in-app feature that offers professional short-form video, for $2.99/mo; will be a Galaxy S20 exclusive for first 3 months — The short-form video service faces stiff competition and subscription fatigue. — Flipboard, the popular news aggregator app …

Discussion: Wired, @markham, Digital Trends, @harrymccracken, Engadget, The Verge and Fast Company, more at Techmeme »

Marty Johnson / The Hill:

Twitter launches new tool to combat misinformation on the US Census; a prompt will point users searching for Census-related keywords to the official Census site — Twitter on Tuesday unveiled its plan aimed at minimizing the spread of misinformation about the 2020 census.

Discussion: Adweek and Twitter, more at Techmeme »

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

As part of Apple News' 2020 election coverage, Apple says Siri can now answer election-related questions, including sharing live election results from AP — Apple's built-in voice assistant won't help you figure out who to vote for, but it will be able to update you on different races around …

Discussion: SpokeDaily, @redletterdave, iMore and @danielpmcdermot, more at Techmeme »

Sara Fischer / Axios:

Sources: podcast subscription service Luminary is expanding to New Zealand, Ireland, and South Africa — Reproduced from The Nielsen Total Audience Report, February 2020; Chart: Axios Visuals — Luminary is expanding its service to three new countries, New Zealand, South Africa, and Ireland, sources tell Axios.

Discussion: @renayrich and @jbenton

BreAnna Bell / Variety:

Drake signs multiyear partnership with live streaming platform Caffeine to produce a series of rap battles and other live content — Live streaming service Caffeine.TV has announced an exclusive multiyear partnership with Drake. Infamous for his own rap feuds, the Canadian artist …

Discussion: VentureBeat, Forbes, TechCrunch and Fast Company

Georg Szalai / Hollywood Reporter:

Sirius XM invests $75M in SoundCloud in exchange for a minority stake and two seats on the board — The audio entertainment giant puts money into the open audio platform. — Audio entertainment giant SiriusXM Holdings said Tuesday it has invested $75 million in open audio platform SoundCloud …

Discussion: Music Business Worldwide, TechCrunch, Variety, SoundCloud press releases, @dalenorth, @pkafka, @ldignan, @pkafka and Wall Street Journal, more at Techmeme »

Andrew Bucholtz / Awful Announcing:

FloSports is launching FloBaseball, a platform that will host NCAA, high school, and youth baseball programming — We've seen FloSports amping up their sport-specific offerings recently, most notably with FloBikes offering 75 events and more than 300 days of racing this year …

Discussion: @awfulannouncing and Broadcasting & Cable

Janko Roettgers / Protocol:

Redbox has begun testing its ad-supported live TV online streaming service, powered in part by Xumo, with preprogrammed channels like USA Today and TMZ — Cord-cutting is driving a rush toward free video, but experts caution not to expect Netflix-size results.

Discussion: @richlightshed, Media Play News, Fast Company and Cord Cutters News

Archived Page Info:

This is a snapshot of Mediagazer at 11:30 PM ET, February 11, 2020.

View the current page or another snapshot:

Who's Hiring in Media?

Senior Data Journalist, NY — WSJ

Manager - Publishing Editorial, Manila — Reuters

Oil Reporter, Singapore — Bloomberg

Newsperson - State Govt. & Politics, CA — AP

Business Reporter, SC — Post & Courier

State Government Reporter, WA — Seattle Times

Climate Crisis Columnist — Prospect UK

Multimedia Journalist, CA — Paramount

Community Engagement Mgr., DC — Freedom Forum

Senior California Politics Reporter, CA — SFGATE

Staff Writer - Business, NY — WIRED

Team Editor - Opinion, ON — Toronto Star

Assistant Correspondent, DC — Kyodo News

Climate & Weather Reporter, MN — Star Tribune

Senior Tech Editor, Remote US — The Verge

Lead Business Reporter, TN — Daily Memphian

Managing Editor, WA — Everett Herald

Private Credit Reporter, NY — Debtwire

City Correspondent, London — Financial News

Legislative Reporter, CA — Sacramento Bee

Reporter, PA — Tribune-Review

Visual Editor, Remote — Rest of World

Staff Writer, MI — Watershed Voice

Senior Political Reporter, DC — The Lever

California Playbook Writer, CA — Politico

National Investigative Reporter, NY — HuffPost

Business & Gaming Reporter, NV — Las Vegas Sun

Coastal Climate Reporter, SC — Island Packet

Environment & Energy Reporter, CT — CT Mirror

Coordinating Editor, OR — OPB

Editor, Remote US — Daily Kos

Business Reporter, WA — Longview Daily News

Editor-in-Chief, AZ — Phoenix New Times

Add your company here

See Also:

Mediagazer: site main

Mediagazer River: reverse chronological Mediagazer

Mediagazer Mobile: for phones

Mediagazer Leaderboard: Mediagazer's top sources

Subscribe:

Mediagazer RSS feed

Mediagazer on X

Mediagazer on Mastodon

More News:

Freddy Mayhew / Press Association:
UK-based PA Media Group buys stock image company Alamy for an undisclosed sum

Discussion: PR Newswire

Adi Robertson / The Verge:
Patreon says creators can now set subscription prices in British pounds and euros, in addition to US dollars, and opens an office in Berlin

Todd Spangler / Variety:
Tubi says MAUs hit 25M in December 2019, up from 20M in June, with total viewing time of 163M hours, up 160% YoY, says content spending to exceed $100M+ in 2020

Discussion: The Streamable, TechCrunch and Broadcasting & Cable

Sara Fischer / Axios:
YouTube is funding TYT Academy, a Young Turks online course focused on the creation of digital-first local news; sources: investment is in the mid-six-figures

Discussion: @oliverdarcy, @scottbrodbeck, @jeffjarvis, @jeffjarvis, @jon_allsop, @media_evan, @vinnysgreen and National Review

Bloomberg:
To challenge Netflix and tap Culver City's deep entertainment resources, Amazon, Apple, and HBO are moving into vast office and production spaces in the city

Discussion: @jackskelley, more at Techmeme »

NBC News:
Sources: Condé Nast is planning on suspending its Vanity Fair New Establishment Summit this year as the conference is losing money

Kayleigh Barber / Digiday:
Dennis Publishing is launching The Week Junior in the US in March, four years after its debut in the UK; the magazine is aimed at kids ages 8-14

Discussion: Folio

Joan E. Solsman / CNET:
Nielsen: streaming makes up 19% of US TV watching, with Netflix comprising 31% of streaming on TVs, followed by 21% on YouTube, 12% on Hulu, and 8% on Amazon

Discussion: Adweek, MediaPost, Broadcasting & Cable, @scottcowley, @randfish, @jtoeman, The Wrap, Variety, Reuters, TechCrunch and VentureBeat, more at Techmeme »

Earlier Picks:

Adam Satariano / New York Times:
Profile of Ben Nimmo, a founder of Atlantic Council's Digital Forensic Research Lab, who helped pioneer investigations into online disinformation

Discussion: @general_ben, @dfrlab, @ngleicher, @alexstamos, @satariano and @benimmo

Irene Wangui / International Journalists' Network:
A look at WanaData Africa, a pan-African network of around 100 women journalists and data experts, who have collectively published over 100 stories since 2017

Discussion: American Press Institute

Tim Arango / New York Times:
Profile of Carl Butz, a 71-year-old retiree who stepped in at the beginning of the year to save The Mountain Messenger, California's oldest weekly newspaper

Discussion: @themountainmess, @christopherjm, @karaswisher, @livmqhenry, @jswatz, @emilybell and The Rural Blog

Joshua Benton / Nieman Lab:
WaPo's digital subscriber growth doesn't seem to be making expected gains on NYT despite a mass-oriented strategy, and WaPo hasn't posted the numbers since 2018

Discussion: @spj_tweets

Liam Knox / NBC News:
Black News Channel, a 24/7 cable channel featuring black anchors and co-founded by former Republican congressman J.C. Watts, launches in select US markets

Discussion: American Press Institute, @placebo90511492, @nbcblk, @eviefordham, @mvgal92691, @mayaaking, @ronkelawal, @liamhknox, Fox Business, @spj_tweets, NPR, BBC, CNN, Mashable, The Hill and The Root

Brian Steinberg / Variety:
CBS Sports strikes a deal with British bookmaker William Hill, making it the official provider of sportsbook and wagering data across all CBS Sports properties

Discussion: A Media Operator, Axios, Axios, @alexweprin, MediaPost and Broadcasting & Cable

Tony Maglio / The Wrap:
The 2020 Oscars drew 23.6M viewers, an all-time low and down 20% YoY; the 2018 Oscars held the previous all-time low of 26.5M viewers

From Techmeme:

Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
Anthropic raised another $4B from Amazon, will make AWS its primary training partner, and is working with Annapurna Labs to develop new Trainium accelerators

Tim Hardwick / MacRumors:
A UK CMA report finds that Apple's policies hold back innovation in mobile browsers and recommends investigating Apple and Google's mobile ecosystem activities

Andy Greenberg / Wired:
Researchers detail a “nearest neighbor attack” by Russia's APT28, which remotely breached a target's Wi-Fi by hijacking a laptop in a building across the street

Sister Sites:

Techmeme
Top news and commentary for technology's leaders, from all around the web

memeorandum
What US political commentators are discussing online right now

WeSmirch
The top celebrity news from all around the web on a single page