Top News:
Mark Sweney / The Guardian:
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 …
Sara Fischer / Axios:
Facebook to launch 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, three-month pilot program …
Discussion:
Facebook Media, Nieman Lab, TechCrunch, Adweek, Engadget, @thewilderthings, @michellemanafy, @nathanbomey, @onecolleen, @nkulw, @jason_w_white, @underoak and The Verge, more at Techmeme »
Lucia Moses / Digiday:
Publishers are pivoting to subscriptions, as they did to video, but industry execs warn that reader revenue is a difficult business model to implement — Publishers are pivoting hard to subscriptions. In the past few months alone, publishers including CNN, The Atlantic and Wired have made moves …
Discussion:
@craigsilverman, @digiday, @raju, @janebsinger, @lpolgreen and @heytimgriggs
Ashley Feinberg / HuffPost:
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.
Discussion:
Splinter and Editor & Publisher
RELATED:
Joe Pompeo / Vanity Fair:
NYT editorial-page editor James Bennet defends op-ed page controversy, saying it publishes a variety of voices; newsroom sources voice concern and embarrassment
Discussion:
HuffPost, @blakehounshell, The Wrap, bookforum.com, @wolfrum, @joshuahol, @jeffjarvis, @mathewi, @page88, @xeni, @gregmitch, @morlockp, Splinter, @glennf, Splinter, @maxboot, @rickyrawls, @vanityfair, @corgizhukov, @awinston, @paleofuture, @jbenton, @jayrosen_nyu and @tomscocca
Brian Stelter / CNNMoney:
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:
The New York Observer, Deadline and Hollywood Reporter
Georg Szalai / Hollywood Reporter:
Discovery Communications CEO David Zaslav said the company has added nearly 500K subscribers in Europe to its streaming services during the Winter Olympics — “I can't think of another company ... that has been able to garner almost half a million subscribers in less than 15 days," says Discovery CEO David Zaslav.
RELATED:
Julia Alexander / Polygon:
Logan Paul is rejoining YouTube's monetization program after a two-week suspension but is ineligible for its Preferred Ads, its platform for premium advertisers — A 90-day probation is still in effect — Logan Paul's YouTube channel is getting advertising again, but his probation isn't entirely over yet.
Discussion:
Tubefilter, Business Insider, @shadypenguinn and The Verge
Erik Wemple / Washington Post:
Michael Wolff has floated unsubstantiated rumors about Trump having an affair but has now backtracked and canceled interviews after tough questioning — Christian Fraser, a host with the BBC program “Beyond 100 Days,” has tweeted that Michael Wolff, author of “Fire and Fury …
Discussion:
@escarry, @viacristiano, @realfacelessman, @erikwemple and Mediaite
Tamara Mathias / Reuters:
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) …
Discussion:
Variety, New York Post, Radio Ink, PR Newswire, Wall Street Journal, @patricialclark, Radio Ink, Seeking Alpha, Media Star and Hits Daily Double
Maria Sheahan / Reuters:
Germany's highest court rules that Google is not obligated to ensure websites are free from defamatory content before displaying links to them in search results — FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Google (GOOGL.O) is not obligated to ensure websites are free from defamatory content before displaying links …
Discussion:
Search Engine Land and Engadget, more at Techmeme »
Quinn Norton / The Atlantic:
How social media created and attacked a version of myself that lacked context after The New York Times hired, and then fired, me for its editorial board — The day before Valentine's Day, social media created a bizarro-world version of me. I have seen strange ideas about me online before …
Discussion:
emptywheel, @digidave, @katierogers, @astepanovich, @nickstatt, @willsommer, @bafeldman, @aherman2006, @_cingraham, @lesterfreamon, @drewbeck, @kevin2kelly, @timothynoah1, @alexnazaryan, @ckummer, @aglasgowgirl, @sjgrunewald, @jessesingal, @vivian, @jason_pontin, @futureboy and @jayrosen_nyu
Brittany Shammas / Miami New Times:
Internal email: Howard Saltz, editor and publisher of Tronc's The Sun Sentinel in Broward County, is leaving effective Wednesday — Just after noon today, in the midst of covering what is arguably the biggest story in the nation right now — the Parkland high-school shooting spree …
Discussion:
@miaminewtimes, @rosemaryohara14, @buddynevins, @marcacaputo, miamiherald, @rosemaryohara14 and @marcacaputo
Keith J. Kelly / New York Post:
Vanity Fair Editor Radhika Jones has made a series of new hires, naming Claire Howorth as deputy editor and Caryn Prime as director of editorial operations — Ten days after Vanity Fair's new editor, Radhika Jones, took an ax to the staff she inherited from Graydon Carter, she is slowly filling some of the positions.
Deputy Ed. - Gen. Assignment Desk, DC — 
EU Technology Reporter, Brussels — 
Breaking News Reporter, NY — 
Harrisburg Reporter, PA — 
Senior Editor - Styles, NY — 
Part-time Editor, Remote — 
Home & Travel Reporter, Ireland — 
Assistant Digital Editor, MA — 
Senior Editor - Visuals (Temporary), DC — 
Copy Editor, Remote US — 
Markets Reporter, NY/CA — 
Staff Writer, MI — 
Food Reporter, CA — 
Staff Writer, NV — 
Pharma Editor, Remote — 
Higher Ed. Reporter, Remote CA — 
Politics Reporter, Brussels — 
Investigations & Enterprise Ed., WI — 
Social Strategy Editor, NY — 
Senior Narrative Editor, CA — 
Editor-in-Chief, NY (flexible) — 
Housing Reporter, OK — 
Writer/AI Content Reviewer, CA — 
Writer/Editor, Remote — 
Multi Media Reporter, NC — 
Afternoon/Night Editor, NH — 
Education Lab Editor, WA — 
Senior Editor, Remote US — 
State Worker Reporter, CA — 
Executive Editor, NM — 
News Assistant, NY — 
Local Editor, NJ (Remote) — 
News Writer, CA — 
News Editor/Reporter, KS — 
