Mediagazer: Vice Media has fired Chief Digital Officer Mike Germano following two separate allegations of sexual misconduct against him (Jon Levine/The Wrap)

Kurt Wagner / Recode:

Facebook says it's banning all ads for cryptocurrencies, ICOs, and binary options to avoid “misleading or deceptive promotional practices” — It's an “intentionally broad” policy aimed at stopping scammers. — Facebook is banning all ads that promote cryptocurrencies …

Jon Levine / The Wrap:

Vice Media has fired Chief Digital Officer Mike Germano following two separate allegations of sexual misconduct against him — Vice Media has fired its chief digital officer, Mike Germano, after at least two women accused him of sexual misconduct, TheWrap has learned.

Discussion: Digiday, New York Times, CNNMoney, Ad Age, Mediawire, Associated Press, @moorehn, Business Insider, @emilysteel, Variety, Adweek, @emilysteel and Fast Company

Sam Charles / Chicago Sun Times:

Chicago Sun-Times EIC Chris Fusco says Times will not publish anything by Richard Roeper as it investigates allegations he paid to boost his Twitter followers — The Chicago Sun-Times will not publish columns or reviews authored by Richard Roeper as the newspaper investigates the legitimacy of Roeper's sizable Twitter following.

Alex Kantrowitz / BuzzFeed:

Study: Twitter cuts into Facebook's lead on traffic sent to publishers; this month FB sent 2.5 visitors for each one Twitter sent, down from 4.7:1 in Oct. 2017 — Publishers are freaking out about Facebook's plan to show 20% less news in the News Feed. But over the past four months …

more at Techmeme »

Miranda Katz / Wired:

Podcasters first look at Apple's Podcast Analytics data shows listeners are highly engaged, with many listening to 80-90% of shows, and prefer longer formats — The public radio producer had started a podcast as a side project in early 2017, and the exploration of her experience …

Discussion: Nieman Lab, RAIN News, Fast Company and MacStories

Chad Bray / New York Times:

Private equity firm Blackstone buys 55% stake in Thomson Reuters financial and risk division, valuing the unit at $20B including debt — LONDON — What is now Thomson Reuters came to life a decade ago in a $17 billion merger of the Thomson financial information business and the Reuters news service.

Discussion: Bloomberg, Reuters, Financial Times, Reuters, Thomson Reuters, Bloomberg, Financial Times, @dnvolz, Agence France-Presse and Financial Times

Kathy E. Gill / WiredPen:

Creators of FactStream app for iOS tested curation of live fact checks of State of the Union speech, sourced from Washington Post, PolitiFact, FactCheck.org — On January 9, 2018, less than year after being sworn in as president of the United States, Donald Trump told his 2,000th lie.

Discussion: Duke Reporters' Lab, @billadairduke, @dukesanford, @rebeccaiannucci, Washington Post and American Press Institute

Damien Cave / New York Times:

Journalists who receive anything deemed classified by the government could face up to five years in prison under Australia's proposed espionage laws — SYDNEY, Australia — When Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull of Australia recently proposed new espionage laws, he stressed the need for disclosure …

Discussion: @hannahhrlc, @petergreste, @farrellpf, @emmaels, @caugustelliott, Human Rights Watch and @billcode

BBC:

PwC review of BBC pay structure found no gender bias in decision making, but identified anomalies, recommends clear pay framework, narrower pay ranges — Today the BBC has published a review of on-air pay carried out by PwC, and set out a five-point plan to help create a fairer and more equal BBC.

Discussion: Variety, Press Gazette, allmediascotland, Press Gazette, National Union of Journalists, @scottygb, @bbcscotlandnews, Deadline, Hollywood Reporter, BBC, @rachel_hump, @newsfrommichiel, Press Gazette and Westmonster

Discussion: The Guardian, National Union of Journalists, HuffPost UK and Press Gazette

Agence France-Presse:

Foreign correspondents in China are increasingly facing interference from officials, with 1 in 12 of those surveyed claiming they were manhandled or punched — One in 12 correspondents claims to have been manhandled or beaten in 2017, BBC reporter says he was punched

Mark Schilling / Variety:

HBO will launch in Japan on Amazon Prime Video on April 1, with the first six seasons of Game of Thrones and ~50 other past and current shows available — Largely absent from Japan until now, U.S. pay-TV giant HBO is to launch in Asia's second largest market via Amazon Prime Video.

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Sources: Amazon and Facebook are interested in bidding for streaming rights to WWE's “Raw” and “Smackdown” franchises, as tech firms compete with TV giants — The year is 2034. The Olympics that have been a fixture on channels owned by NBCUniversal since 2002 have disappeared from TV altogether.

Discussion: @jimandrews_esp

Vanity Fair:

Alt-right personality Mike Cernovich has made a $500K bid for Gawker's assets — A leaked pitch deck shows how Cernovich would turn Gawker into a platform for his media ambitions—and, perhaps, a cudgel to get back at a site that once called him a “D-list right-winger.”

Discussion: The Wrap, @willsommer, @jordansarge, @crislopezg, @tina_nguyen and Mediaite

Celeste Katz / Newsweek:

Newsweek Media's chief content officer Dayan Candappa takes immediate leave following report of his 2016 dismissal from Reuters over sexual harassment complaint — The chief content officer of Newsweek Media Group, which publishes Newsweek and a suite of other digital properties …

Discussion: The Wrap

Discussion: HuffPost, Fortune, @sydneyp1234, @michelefilmat11 and New York Post