Mediagazer: Despite claiming that it had no role in making and soliciting sex ads on its site, Backpage used a Philippine contractor to lure such ads from competitors (Washington Post)

12:35 PM ET, July 11, 2017

Top News:

Hadas Gold / Politico:

The White House asked the White House Correspondents' Association to release a statement criticizing a reporter's story, WHCA President Jeff Mason has claimed — The White House asked the White House Correspondents' Association to single out a reporter and criticize an article, WHCA President Jeff Mason said Monday evening.

Discussion: @pareene, @john_hudson and @tvietor08

Hadas Gold / Politico:
Sinclair increases “must-run” segments from former Trump official Boris Epshteyn from three a week to nine a week

Discussion: Salon, New York Magazine and Variety

Washington Post:

Despite claiming that it had no role in making and soliciting sex ads on its site, Backpage used a Philippine contractor to lure such ads from competitors — A contractor for the controversial classifieds website Backpage.com has been aggressively soliciting and creating sex-related ads …

Dustin Volz / Reuters:

Knight First Amendment Institute sues Trump for blocking Twitter users, alleging the practice amounts to an unconstitutional effort to suppress dissent — A free-speech group said on Tuesday it sued U.S. President Donald Trump for blocking Twitter users from his @realDonaldTrump account …

Daniel Funke / Poynter:

Fact-checking site Snopes is locked in a legal battle with a small digital services company, Proper Media, over control of Snopes' parent company — The owner of Snopes is locked in a legal battle with a small digital services company for control of the popular debunking site.

Richard Horgan / Adweek:

Hearst Magazines' international arm is partnering with an Indian company to open a chain of whiskey lounges in the country under Esquire magazine's brand — Starting with a location in central Delhi scheduled for 2018 — Here's an interesting twist on the international management of a brand-name U.S. magazine.

Hadas Gold / Politico:

NBC News confirms Megyn Kelly's morning show will premiere September 25 at 9AM with a live studio audience — EXCLUSIVE — MEGYN KELLY MORNING SHOW DETAILS: Megyn Kelly's new morning show will debut on NBC Sept. 25 at 9 a.m. and will feature a live studio audience, I have learned and NBC News has confirmed.

Discussion: The Wrap, Variety and AOL

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Nielsen Music Mid-Year Report: on-demand audio streams in the US up 62.4% year-over-year to 184.3B in the first half of 2017 — A new report from Nielsen out this week paints a picture of the booming on-demand audio streaming business, pointing to a significant increase in consumers' use …

Discussion: @leolaporte, hypebot and Marketing Charts

Benjamin Mullin / Poynter:

Reuters redesigns its website, adding content widgets to each article, tracking readers interest to deliver more relevant stories, and cutting page load by 50% — Despite his last name, Isaac Showman isn't a fan of big, dramatic website unveilings. — That's why, if you visit Reuters.com this morning …

Kate Holton / Reuters:

Ex-FT owner Pearson set to raise $1B after selling its Penguin Random House shares to majority owner Bertelsmann, reducing its stake from 47% to 25% — Pearson (PSON.L) is set to raise $1 billion from the sale of a 22 percent stake in book publisher Penguin Random House to majority owner Bertelsmann …

Discussion: Fortune, The Bookseller and Fox Business

Alex Nichols / The Outline:

Heat Street failed because it tried to appeal to every faction of the online right at once with the most barebones content possible, spreading itself too thin — The website aimed at young conservatives never really made much sense. — As of August 4, Heat Street, a news outlet featuring …

Pew Research Center:

Pew: 85% of Republicans and Republican leaners think the national news media has a negative effect on the country, up from 76% two years ago and 68% in 2010 — Republicans increasingly say colleges have negative impact on U.S. — Republicans and Democrats offer starkly different assessments …

Discussion: Forbes, New York Magazine, Boing Boing, Political Insider blog, Washington Post, The Federalist, Nieman Lab, Broadcasting & Cable, AOL, The Week, Business Insider, The Daily Caller, Talking New Media, @rachelweisel, @carrolldoherty, @pewresearch, @dkthomp and The New York Observer

Steven Perlberg / BuzzFeed:

A Pulitzer-winning NYT story that relied heavily on a Russian news site offers a case study in how foreign correspondents re-report articles by local media — The Times' prize-winning story relies heavily on two articles in Meduza, a Russian news site based in Latvia.

Discussion: New Yorker, @mtaibbi, @gwfrink3, @perlberg, @miriamelder, @mrochabrun and @mccarthyryanj

Bloomberg:

Sources: Chinese government has told state-run telecoms to block individuals' access to VPNs by February 1, 2018 — 2018 deadline to stop individuals from accessing global web — Tightening controls come amid Xi's goal of “cyber-sovereignty” — China's government has told telecommunications carriers …