Top News:
Wall Street Journal:
Draft lawsuit filed last week says Facebook and Google agreed to help each other in case of investigation of their pact to work together in online advertising — Draft lawsuit quotes Facebook's Sandberg saying Google pact was a ‘big deal strategically’ — WASHINGTON— Facebook Inc …
Dominick Mastranglo / The Hill:
Newsmax claims it “has not reported as true certain claims” made by “various guests, attorneys and elected officials” on air about Smartmatic and Dominion — Conservative media outlet Newsmax issued a clarification on Monday about recent claims made by guests …
Discussion:
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Ben Smith / New York Times:
Voting machine companies including Smartmatic have hired high-powered libel lawyers and, legal experts say, have strong cases if they sue Fox, Newsmax, and OAN
Discussion:
@benyt, @llinwood, @justinbaragona, @davidmackau, @benyt, Law & Crime, @bubbaprog, @scottshanenyt, @bobcesca_go, @file411, @garylegum, @tomgara, @mrkrudd, @benyt, @ursulaperano, @taniel, The Daily Beast, @digiphile, @ericowensdc, Overtime, @mollyjongfast, Mediaite, Newser, Axios, @timobrien, The Week, @dandrezner, @joannelipman, @thephilosotroll, @froomkin, @slpng_giants, @leablackmiami, @brianstelter, TVNewser, @mikewiseguy, @badfoxgraphics, @jfkeeler, @oneunderscore__, @ashkan, @danielchaitin7, @atompkins, Business Insider, @meiselasb, @ansonmount, @loweringthebar, @toddschnitt, Washington Post and @nschneideraz13
Alex Gallagher / NME:
The COVID-19 relief bill passed by Congress includes the Felony Streaming Bill, which makes illegal streaming for profit a felony, with up to 10 years jail time — Targeting illegal for-profit streaming providers, not individual users — The US Congress has passed a COVID-19 stimulus bill …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Hollywood Reporter, New York Times, MUSIC x, @andrew_gilden and @joe_loguidice, more at Techmeme »
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David Shepardson / Reuters:
The COVID-19 relief bill includes a provision to expand forgivable government loans to additional struggling local news outlets
Discussion:
@vwpickard, @penamerica, @defensebaron, @kwoodsome, New York Times and @taraemcg
Jem Aswad / Variety:
Congress' COVID-19 relief deal includes the Save Our Stages Act to give ~$15B in relief to independent music venues and movie theaters shut due to the pandemic
Discussion:
New York Times, Hollywood Reporter, @variety, The Wrap, @winston_fisher1, @matthaneysf, Washington Post, The Hill, Mediaite and New York Post
Mike Masnick / Techdirt:
The omnibus funding bill Congress passed contains the controversial CASE Act, introduces a small claims copyright system, and may increase copyright trolling
Discussion:
TechCrunch, Business Insider, Reason, @aoc, Thom Tillis …, The Verge, New York Post, @artramp, Engadget, @johnscarce, @nme, @lexialex, @chrismessina, @zfdigivagrant, @sbjohnsrpi, @ovenotter, @mmasnick, @xirzon and @eriqgardner, more at Techmeme »
Tim Baysinger / The Wrap:
Group Nine Media has launched a SPAC and plans to go public, according to an SEC filing on Monday — Group Nine Media has formed a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), according to an SEC filing on Monday. — The company, called Group Nine Acquisition Corp., was formed …
Jessica Bursztynsky / CNBC:
IAC says it plans to spin off its full stake in Vimeo, making it an independent, publicly trade company in Q2 2021 — - IAC is spinning off its full stake in Vimeo, the company announced Tuesday. — Following completion of the deal, which is expect to occur in the second quarter of 2021 …
Discussion:
Axios, Variety and The Verge, more at Techmeme »
Peter Dizikes / MIT News:
MIT names Dava Newman director of its Media Lab, following the resignation of Joi Ito in 2019 over funding the organization received from Jeffrey Epstein — Visionary astronautics researcher, explorer, and expert on human adaptation to space will lead the Institute's world-renowned research center.
Discussion:
@medialab
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: MGM Holdings has begun a formal sale process, looking for a price double its $5.5B valuation — Movie studio has tapped bankers to find a buyer, as media companies look to stock up on content — MGM Holdings Inc., the movie studio behind the “James Bond” franchise, is exploring a sale …
New York Times:
An international phishing scam is tricking writers, editors, and agents into sharing unpublished book manuscripts, but the endgame of the scam is unclear — A phishing scam with unclear motive or payoff is targeting authors, agents and editors big and small, baffling the publishing industry.
Discussion:
Boing Boing, @merrilymaralie, @gabehudson, @harikunzru, @pamelapaulnyt, @nytimesbooks, @juliussharpe and Jezebel
Shoshana Wodinsky / Gizmodo:
Analysis: of the 60 biggest brands that paused Facebook ads in 2020, only ~10 are still pausing ads and some of those have kept spending using other FB tools — This past summer, dozens of major brands pulled their ad dollars from Facebook in a protest of the company's handling of the hate speech and disinformation.
Discussion:
@hkanji and @swodinsky, more at Techmeme »
Ben Strauss / Washington Post:
As sports betting booms in the US, gambling operators have turned to sports media companies to attract customers, including big ad deals and hiring reporters — Readers of the Chicago Tribune have come to know sportswriter Teddy Greenstein over the past two-plus decades for his coverage …
Discussion:
@tomfarrey, @teddygreenstein, @spj_tweets and @benjstrauss
Reuters:
Journalist Rahmatullah Nekzad was shot in Afghanistan on Monday, the fourth to be killed in the country in the last two months — KABUL (Reuters) - An Afghan journalist was shot dead by unknown assailants in Afghanistan's central Ghazni province on Monday, the fourth to be killed in the war-torn nation in last two months.
Discussion:
Al Jazeera
Sara Fischer / Axios:
Blaze Media, the result of the merger between Glenn Beck's The Blaze and CRTV, has 450K subscribers to BlazeTV, paying an average of $102/year — The conservative media company that owns BlazeTV has quietly been building a massive subscriber base, a direct threat to any digital TV effort …
Discussion:
@thedomino
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