Mediagazer: The Ninth Circuit says scraping in violation of a site's ToS is not a crime when taking the data itself is permitted, in recent Oracle v. Rimini case (Jamie Williams/Electronic Frontier Foundation)

9:00 PM ET, January 12, 2018

Top News:

Jason Koebler / Motherboard:

Facebook's News Feed changes liberate the media industry from Facebook's whims; journalism engineered for an algorithm is not journalism, it's marketing — Thursday, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg told the New York Times that the social network will revamp its news feed to emphasize “meaningful interaction” between friends and family.

Discussion: Nieman Lab, Digiday, @craigsilverman, The Atlantic, Polis, New York Times, TechCrunch, Business Insider, @gisellalomax, @adriennelaf, @jamesgleick, @jason_koebler, BuzzMachine, Peter O'Kelly's Reality Check, Ad Age and Fast Company, more at Techmeme »

Mike Isaac / New York Times:

Zuckerberg says News Feed will focus on what friends share, de-emphasize content from publishers and brands as it moves to favor interactions over passive posts — SAN FRANCISCO — Facebook introduced sweeping changes to the kinds of posts, videos and photos that its more than two billion members …

Discussion: Adweek, Musings of Modern Day Nomads, Digiday, Media Matters for America, CNBC, Fast Company, Columbia Journalism Review, The Guardian, Fortune, TechCrunch, Vox, Business Insider, Variety, Recode, One Man & His Blog, the Econsultancy blog, WIRED UK, UPROXX, The Daily Caller, Mashable, Bloomberg, The Hill, Social Media Week, Bustle, AdExchanger, Financial Times, Gizmodo, CNNMoney, New York Magazine, Forbes, The Wrap, Hollywood Life, FOX59, The Next Web, BetaNews, One Man & His Blog, Press Gazette, USA Today, Vanity Fair, Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook, MediaNama, Ad Age, France 24, @sarthakgh, @rasmus_kleis, MacRumors, The Verge, VentureBeat, @kantrowitz, BuzzFeed, Peter O'Kelly's Reality Check, Nieman Lab, @dskok, @ia, Engadget, @jonrussell, Financial Times, @craigsilverman, @lookner, @jbenton, WebProNews, TIME, @lukeoneil47, @bendreyfuss, @jgrovum, @mattgarrahan, @mathewi, Chris Cox, @caseynewton, @perlberg, @paul_shetler, @w7voa, @juddlegum, @sanasaeed, @oldrowswig, @lukeoneil47, @hannahkuchler, @zeynep and @247ls, more at Techmeme »

Lucia Moses / Digiday:
Publishers briefed on News Feed changes say Facebook told them reputable publishers will also be surfaced, though term was undefined, traffic impact was unclear

Noreen Malone / The Cut:

Footage from January 2016 shows MSNBC Hardball host Chris Matthews joking about a “Bill Cosby pill” during Hillary Clinton interview setup; Matthews apologizes — On January 5, 2016, MSNBC Hardball host Chris Matthews interviewed Hillary Clinton in an Iowa fire station during the Democratic primary season.

Discussion: CNNMoney, Mediaite, TVNewser, The Hill, Variety, The Wrap, The Daily Caller, Washington Times, Hollywood Reporter, AOL, Raw Story, @msully_94, Bustle, @amber_athey, @jackmirkinson, @_karensayss, @just_jenna, The Week and UPROXX

Taylor Lorenz / The Daily Beast:

Leaked DAU metrics from April to September show that only 20% of Snapchat users consume content from Discover Edition daily — Snapchat takes its secrecy seriously. Very, very seriously. — Take the case of one former Snapchat employee. On his first day, he was forced to sit through …

Discussion: the Econsultancy blog, Business Insider and TechCrunch, more at Techmeme »

Scott Nover / Poynter:

Critics fault BBC for uneven application of rules that prevent journalists who publicly support Carrie Gracie and equal pay from covering the topic — Carrie Gracie's resignation sent shock waves through Britain. Gracie, the former China editor for BBC News, resigned from her post Sunday …

Discussion: New York Times

Helena Horton / Telegraph:

BBC lets John Humphrys keep presenting on equal pay despite Humphrys being accused of mocking Carrie Gracie's equal pay stand in breach of impartiality rules — The BBC has said John Humphrys will continue to present segments on Equal Pay - because the broadcaster does not feel his comments …

Discussion: The Sun, The Times & The Sunday Times, @claire_phipps, @dawnbutlerbrent, The Guardian, @jane__bradley, Mashable, Press Gazette, The Guardian, @horton_official, @horton_official, @claire_phipps and @markdistef

The Wrap:

Sources: Viacom and CBS vice-chairwoman Shari Redstone to consider a merger of the two media companies; Redstone's National Amusements controls both companies — Viacom and CBS vice-chairwoman Shari Redstone is pursuing a merger of the two media companies that split more than a decade ago …

Discussion: Multichannel News, Bloomberg, CNNMoney, The New York Observer, CNBC, TVWeek.com, Reuters, Variety, @cnbcnow, @edmundlee, @tylerauggied and @edmundlee

Michael M. Grynbaum / New York Times:

How news outlets handled the decision to repeat President Trump's “shithole” comment, and why some editors decided readers needed to see the word — Lester Holt opened the “NBC Nightly News” on Thursday with a parental warning: “This may not be appropriate for some of our younger viewers.”

Discussion: Washington Post, Business Insider, CNBC, The Wrap, Poynter, Forbes, USA Today, Bustle, Rap-Up, Rolling Stone, Splinter, ThinkProgress, The A.V. Club, Hit & Run, Washingtonian, Wonkette, AOL, Vox, Fortune, Quartz, BKLYNER, Media Matters for America, Mother Jones, Jezebel, The Guardian, Global Voices, KTLA, The Daily Caller, New York Magazine, @b_fung, Miami New Times, Mediaite, @pittsburghpg, The Week, Mashable, Washingtonian, Columbia Journalism Review, @nyt_first_said, The Daily Beast, UPROXX, @sulliview, The Daily Beast, Hollywood Life, France 24, Vanity Fair, @scottdetrow, Variety, Washington Monthly, NPR, @bbcjamescook, @alexhousethomas, @annafifield, @abeaujon, @edatpost, @marycaitlinbyrd, @palafo, @grynbaum, @nyteileen, @davidfolkenflik, Chris Riemenschneider, Gabriella CF, @samjcharles, @dinahvp, @sarah_k_brooks, @marycaitlinbyrd, @bgrueskin, @davidaxelrod, @steventdennis, WGN-TV, Charles Apple, @lpolgreen, Charles Gasparino, @doylealbee, @farhip and TIME

David Cohen / Adweek:

Facebook signs licensing deals with Global Music Rights, HFA/Rumblefish, and Kobalt, allowing users post music and music videos on Facebook, Instagram, Oculus — The partnerships followed similar deals with Universal Music Group and Sony/ATV — Music continued to fill the air in Menlo Park …

Discussion: Facebook Media, Music Ally, Billboard, Variety, RAIN News, hypebot, Bloomberg and 9to5Mac, more at Techmeme »

Charlie Warzel / BuzzFeed:

Screenshots show the coordinated harassment campaigns against conservative media by Twitter trolls who support far-right congressional candidate Paul Nehlen — When Steve Bannon, Breitbart, and other conservatives cut ties with far-right activist and congressional candidate Paul Nehlen …

Discussion: The Week, @yair_rosenberg, @anthony, @karaswisher, @anildash and @chiangku

Jamie Williams / Electronic Frontier Foundation:

The Ninth Circuit says scraping in violation of a site's ToS is not a crime when taking the data itself is permitted, in recent Oracle v. Rimini case — Good news out of the Ninth Circuit: the federal court of appeals heeded EFF's advice and rejected an attempt by Oracle to hold …

Discussion: Boing Boing

TechCrunch:

Source: Verizon is working on an OTT offering that could package channels focusing on news, entertainment, and sports as standalone apps, using Oath content — Jan 12, 2018, 4:23 amJan 12, 2018, 8:39 am — At CES, the big consumer electronics show underway this week in Las Vegas …

Discussion: FierceCable, more at Techmeme »