Mediagazer: Streaming service ESPN Plus will cost $4.99/month and launch in spring, requires ESPN subscription via “traditional or non-traditional methods”, Disney CEO says (Variety)

7:00 PM ET, February 6, 2018

Top News:

Sources: Tronc is expected to announce it is selling the Los Angeles Times and the San Diego Union-Tribune to major shareholder Patrick Soon-Shiong — The Chicago-based owner of the Los Angeles Times is expected to announce it is selling the newspaper, according to people familiar with the company's plans …

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, @farhip, Variety, @rachelking, The Wrap, @latlands, 89.3 KPCC, @petersterne, Splinter, @gabekahn, @kevinding, @chrismegerian, @kenvogel, @bencjacobs, @billshaikin, @mollyesque, @mattdpearce, @jbflint, @brianstelter, @jackshafer, NPR and KTLA

Christine Wang / CNBC:

Disney reports mixed Q1 results with revenue of $15.35B vs. $15.45B expected; media and networks, consumer and interactive, and studio units miss targets — The Walt Disney Company reported quarterly earnings that beat expectations on Tuesday, but revenue missed estimates.

Discussion: Variety, Broadcasting & Cable, The Walt Disney Company, TVWeek.com, The New York Observer, The Wrap, The Playlist, @jyarow and FierceCable

Variety:

Streaming service ESPN Plus will cost $4.99/month and launch in spring, requires ESPN subscription via “traditional or non-traditional methods”, Disney CEO says — ESPN's standalone streaming service will launch this spring, Disney CEO Bob Iger told analysts and investors shortly …

Discussion: CNBC, Broadcasting & Cable, Recode, Associated Press, The Verge, @spingriffey and 9to5Mac

David Uberti / Splinter:

Memo: Nancy Cooper, IBT's Managing Ed, named acting editor of Newsweek; Jonathan Davis to return as chief content officer pending investigation into current CCO — After a handful of top reporters and editors were fired in a purge of the Newsweek masthead on Monday, about 40 …

Discussion: @itsdavidford, @daviduberti, Politico, @moorehn and New York Times

Chris Roush / Talking Biz News: Investigative reporter David Sirota has resigned from Newsweek-owned International Business Times, after Newsweek EIC and others were fired

Lawrence Bonk / Mediaite:
Newsweek senior writer Matthew Cooper resigns in protest of firings and installation of editors seeking clicks and retweets over accuracy and fairness

Discussion: @mattizcoop, Washington Post and The Daily Beast

Gaby Del Valle / The Outline:
Memo: Newsweek fires EIC Bob Roe, news director Ken Li; reporters Katz, Saul, who were investigating parent company's finances, also fired, according to report

Jeremy Barr / Hollywood Reporter:

Megan Greenwell becomes the first female chief editor at Gizmodo Media Group's sports site Deadspin, replacing Tim Marchman who was promoted — Greenwell becomes the site's first female chief editor and replaces the promoted Tim Marchman. — Megan Greenwell was announced on Tuesday …

Discussion: @megreenwell, @raju, The Wrap, @page88, @michellelegro, @jamilsmith, @amandahess, @djheller, @erikmal, @max_read, @attackerman, @albertburneko, @minakimes, @emmaroller, @stevekandell, @byjoelanderson, @senari and @aliciakennedy

Sarah Frier / Bloomberg:

Snap's Q4 revenue, $285.7M vs. $252.8M est., topped analysts' estimates for first time since the firm's IPO, and average revenue per user rose 46% YoY to $1.53 — Company tops analysts' estimates for first time since 2017 IPO — In rare win, social-media underdog adds clients, runs more ads

Discussion: Snap Inc., Digiday, VentureBeat, Forbes, TechCrunch, Business Insider, @jank0, @kantrowitz, @bloombergtv, The Verge, Engadget and Business Insider, more at Techmeme »

Financial Times:

Study of 48K Facebook pages and 14K Twitter accounts from Oct. 2017 to Jan.: Trump backers share more extremist and phony posts than all other groups combined — Ultra-rightwing conservatives shared more false stories on Facebook than all other political groups combined in the three months …

Discussion: Mother Jones, The Guardian, Oxford Internet Institute, @markfollman, @stepleton6, @samueloakford, @mattgarrahan, @john_hudson, @solange_lebourg, McClatchy Washington Bureau, Harold Capenter, Newsweek, The Daily Caller, @niemanlab and New York Magazine

Boris Kachka / The Cut:

Inside a decade of sexual harassment allegations and bullying at WNYC, amidst CEO Laura Walker's attempt to turn the organization around — One morning in late November, an employee in the sponsorship department of WNYC, the public-radio behemoth that transmits “Radiolab,” “All Things Considered …

Discussion: Nieman Lab, @jayrosen_nyu, @glennf, @siddhmi, @mitrakalita, @ericuman, @glennf, @ilyamarritz and @maryjaneweedman

Corey Ford / A Matter-Driven Narrative:

Matter announces local news bootcamps for for-profit news outlets, working with colleges in MO, NY, CA, and GA, plus Google News Lab and News Media Alliance — Today, we launch Open Matter: Local News Bootcamps with Google News Lab, News Media Alliance, and 4 Top J. schools.

Discussion: Nieman Lab, The Keyword, @ptalamantes, @coreyford, @newsalliance, @mckeanml, @morepete, @kenromano, @grove, @googlenewslab and Editor & Publisher

Alex Heath / Cheddar:

Sources: Viacom is to announce another round of layoffs this week affecting dozens of staff, mostly in its sales and marketing divisions — Viacom is planning to announce a significant round of layoffs this week, Cheddar has learned. — The exact number of cuts is unclear …

Discussion: @rwmead, Tubefilter, @pcsathy and @bingchen

April Simpson / Current:

NPR's Daniel Zwerdling, a veteran investigative journalist, has left the network; sources say allegations of sexual harassment were filed to HR in November — Daniel Zwerdling, a veteran investigative journalist at NPR, has left the network amid allegations of sexual harassment.

Discussion: @kryssypease, @aprilehrlich, @alyssaedes and NewsCut

Daniel Funke / Poynter:

Fact-checkers from news orgs including Libération, Snopes, and Factcheck.org will meet with Facebook today to discuss their efforts to tackle fake news — Facebook and its fact-checking partners will meet in Silicon Valley Tuesday to work out their differences — and the latter have some pretty specific asks.

Discussion: @intergentic, @niemanlab, @mantzarlis, @dpfunke and @rasmus_kleis

Jessica Elgot / The Guardian:

UK's Theresa May launches a review that will examine the health of online ad-driven media and whether state intervention is needed to preserve the press — Government review will assess whether state-intervention is needed to preserve the press … The decline of local journalism is a threat …

Discussion: @oldmansaid

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More News:

Stewart Clarke / Variety:
European Commission conditionally approves Discovery Communications $14.6B takeover deal for Scripps Networks Interactive

Discussion: Engadget and Broadcasting & Cable

Nadia Khomami / The Guardian:
UK judge rules that the warrant for Julian Assange's arrest should stand, despite Swedish case being dropped, because he breached UK bail conditions

Discussion: @skynewsbreak, HuffPost UK, Law & Crime, @horsehousing, @blogdiva, @angryblacklady and @psawers

Ted Johnson / Variety:
Recent FCC filings suggest Sinclair Broadcast Group will seek waivers so it can own more than one top-four station in a market alongside Tribune acquisition

VICE:
Two far-right nationalists barged into Vice's Romania offices and filmed the encounter, the latest in a string of similar incidents by white supremacists

Discussion: @caitlin__kelly

Jim Rutenberg / The Wilson Quarterly:
How attacks by candidate and President Trump gave the NYT a renewed excitement to show the worth of traditional journalism based in fact and without aggression

Earlier Picks:

Sara Guaglione / MediaPost:
Teen Vogue names Samhita Mukhopadhyay, previously of Mic, as its first executive editor, reporting to Chief Content Officer Phillip Picardi

Discussion: WWD and Melville House Books

Steve Erickson / Los Angeles Magazine:
MSNBC's roster of female reporters, anchors, and commentators has grown organically, driven by talent, contrasts sharply with CNN and Fox's male-dominated faces

David Ingram / Reuters:
Seattle's Ethics and Elections Commission says Facebook violated election ad law, orders Facebook to disclose political ad spend info during 2017 city elections

Discussion: @tylercreighton, @dhh, Engadget, The Stranger …, Sunlight Foundation, The Stranger …, TechCrunch, GeekWire, The Hill, Associated Press, @elijsanders, @byrosenberg and CNET, more at Techmeme »

WARC:
Report: total UK ad spend on mobile, including display, search, and other formats like SMS, was higher than TV spend for the first time in Q3 2017

Discussion: @ianmaude and @benedictevans

From Techmeme:

Daniel Wiessner / Reuters:
Google scraps a 2019 policy requiring US suppliers and staffing firms to pay their employees $15 an hour and provide health insurance and other benefits

Gaby Del Valle / The Verge:
The US Senate reauthorizes FISA's Section 702; some communication service providers had threatened to stop cooperating with the US government in case of a lapse

Kate Rogers / CNBC:
A look at Los Angeles' Homelessness Prevention pilot program, which uses AI to identify those at risk of becoming homeless, offering aid to keep them housed

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