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After claims that CNN scripted words for a Florida student for town hall, CNN releases emails showing student was asked to use a question he submitted — CNN appears to have had enough. — On Friday afternoon, the network released email correspondence between one of its producers …
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YouTube removed Infowars video from The Alex Jones Channel claiming Florida student was paid actor; source: first of 3 strikes before YouTube terminates account — Shooting survivor: I'm not a crisis actor — (CNN)InfoWars, a far-right media organization run by Alex Jones and known …
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Reddit admins' messages to r/conspiracy mods about revealing David Hogg's identity signals evolving policy on harassment focusing on tone and intensity of posts

Group of public radio stations is buying assets of Gothamist, LAist, DCist, and DNAInfo, funded by 2 anonymous donors; Gothamist to post new stories this spring — AFTER BILLIONAIRE JOE Ricketts announced the shuttering of local news organizations Gothamist and DNAInfo last fall …
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Amazon targeted in calls to drop NRA TV app, which is also on Apple TV, Roku, and Chromecast — Amazon is in the cross-hairs of a campaign to drop the National Rifle Association's NRA TV streaming service from its devices, in the wake of the deadly mass shooting last week at a Florida high school.
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CNNMoney, CNNMoney, Mediaite, Mashable, New York Times, CBS San Francisco, RT and Gizmodo
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NRATV, the online streaming arm of NRA media, keeps producing pugilistic messages even after school shootings and pushes mistrust in traditional news — NRATV, the organization's online video channel, has become a little-noticed but vital forum for the dissemination of some of the most strident pro-gun messaging in politics.

Study: Number of fact-checking projects up 3x over the last four years, with 149 projects in 53 countries; funding comes from membership, donations, syndication — A new report from the Duke Reporters' Lab offers a snapshot of the evolving fact-checking ecosystem around the world.
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Nieman Lab

Judge dismisses coal baron Bob Murray's defamation suit against John Oliver and HBO, which was filed in response to a Last Week Tonight segment criticizing him — A West Virginia judge dismissed a coal mogul's defamation lawsuit this week against cable television host John Oliver and HBO.
Discussion:
Mashable, @billinportland, The Daily Caller, @eshap, @mike_stark, @garymwalters, Paste, The A.V. Club and Connecticut Post

Sources: an Australian named Aron D'Souza, who has few public ties with Peter Thiel, helped mastermind the lawsuits that led to Gawker's closure — Billionaire venture capitalist Peter Thiel did not come up with the idea to covertly fund lawsuits against Gawker Media.
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Max Willens / Digiday:
Media outlets' partnerships with Scroll, Invisibly, and Brave signal return of micropayments as solution to ad-blocking, poor user experience, low revenue — With digital ad revenue harder to come by, a growing number of publishers are considering micropayments again, albeit from different angles.
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A profile of The Player's Tribune, a site where athletes write their own stories, taking narrative control from the media and escaping journalistic scrutiny — The Players' Tribune, a pet project of Derek Jeter's, allows the stars to tell their own stories. It's occasionally great — but is it journalism?
Discussion:
@ourand_sbj, @willystaley and @tomhoffarth

Twitter's annual report says it has written off $66.4M of its investments in private firms, most likely related to rumored $70M investment in SoundCloud in 2016 — Twitter's lost almost all of the money it had invested in SoundCloud, the company disclosed as part of its 2017 annual report Friday.
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Twitter Inc. and Recode, more at Techmeme »

The Bay Journal, which covers Chesapeake Bay environmental issues, is suing the EPA, alleging the EPA cut the outlet's funding because of its coverage — The Thomas Point Shoal Light in the Chesapeake Bay. (Photo by Pete Milnes/United States Coast Guard)
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Miami New Times