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NYT editorial-page editor James Bennet defends op-ed page controversy, saying it publishes a variety of voices; newsroom sources voice concern and embarrassment — A yoga-pants refusenik, a climate science skeptic, and a tech writer with a neo-Nazi pal, among other offenders, have put James Bennet in the crosshairs.
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Transcript of a Q&A with the New York Times' Editorial Page Editor James Bennet which happened during a meeting with NYT staffers in December — “The world needs this from us right now.” … James Bennet: So the op-ed page was created to do a bunch of different things.

Comcast offers about £22B for Sky, a 16% premium on the offer from Murdoch's 21st Century Fox — US cable TV group outbids 21st Century Fox's existing offer for broadcasting group … Comcast is attempting to gatecrash Rupert Murdoch's takeover of Sky, submitting a rival offer …
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Variety, Press Gazette, InvestEgate, Broadcasting & Cable, Fortune, MarketWatch, Variety, Wall Street Journal, The Wrap, Bloomberg, TheStreet, Telegraph, The Guardian, Seeking Alpha, Reuters and @financialtimes

Facebook to announce launch of the Local News Subscriptions Accelerator, a $3M three-month pilot program to help metro papers boost digital subscription efforts — Facebook Journalism Project will announce today the launch of its Local News Subscriptions Accelerator, a $3 million …
Discussion:
@thewilderthings and @nathanbomey

Liberty Media offers $1.16B for a 40% stake in restructured iHeartMedia and will finance working capital if iHeart files bankruptcy according to term sheet — (Reuters) - Certain lenders and noteholders of iHeartMediaInc (IHRT.PK) on Monday said John Malone's Liberty Media Corp (FWONA.O) …
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Variety, New York Post, Hits Daily Double, Wall Street Journal, Radio Ink, Seeking Alpha, Media Star and @patricialclark

The News Media Alliance is setting up a political action committee, which will reward members of Congress who help the newspaper industry meet its goals — The newspaper industry is working with Facebook to launch a new project to help local newspapers beef up their digital subscription efforts, Axios has learned.

Neo-Nazi group Atomwaffen Division continues to have a YouTube presence despite being implicated in five murders; YouTube says a warning label is sufficient — While social media platforms like Twitter crack down on abuse from alt-right accounts, YouTube is defending hosting propaganda videos …
Discussion:
@anthony, @cwarzel, HuffPost and Motherboard

Petition by father of Parkland shooting survivor calling on Amazon to drop NRAtv has nearly reached its 200K goal, at which point it would be sent to Jeff Bezos — - A mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School has ignited a wave of protests against the National Rifle Association (NRA).
Discussion:
The Hill

The New York Times is in talks with streaming services and cable channels about launching a weekly ~30-minute TV show — The New York Times has conquered the podcasting world with “The Daily.” Now it wants to crack television with a weekly news program. — The Times is seeking …
Discussion:
Deadline and Hollywood Reporter

Fast Company names Vanity Fair deputy editor Stephanie Mehta as editor-in-chief — Mansueto Ventures has tapped Vanity Fair deputy editor Stephanie Mehta as the next editor-in-chief of Fast Company, CEO Eric Schurenberg announced today. — The announcement comes two months after Robert Safian …
Discussion:
@moorehn

One-time Flickr rival 500px acquired by Visual China Group, the “Getty of China”, which had been one of its strategic investors — 500px, the photo-sharing site that once proposed to take on Flickr and Getty, has been acquired by Visual China Group (VCG), a strategic investor in 500px via previous financings.
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PetaPixel, Tech Startups, BetaKit, PR Newswire and Android Police, more at Techmeme »

Ján Kuciak, a journalist who was investigating tax fraud by a businessman linked to Slovakia's ruling party, found shot dead alongside his girlfriend — Police chief says murder of reporter and his girlfriend is probably linked to his work … A journalist investigating alleged tax …
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DW.COM, @jaspjackson, Committee to Protect …, Daily Mail, The Independent, Newsweek, Politico, BBC, Washington Post, CNN, The Slovak Spectator, Bloomberg, AOL, Financial Times, BuzzFeed and Associated Press