Mediagazer: Ben Smith recounts his mistakes as a young reporter in Belarus in 2001: assuming democracy would win, sources would be safe, and US officials wouldn't lie (Ben Smith/BuzzFeed)

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Ben Smith / BuzzFeed:

Ben Smith recounts his mistakes as a young reporter in Belarus in 2001: assuming democracy would win, sources would be safe, and US officials wouldn't lie — As a young reporter in Eastern Europe in 2001, I expected to witness the “end of history” and the flowering of democracy.

Martin Pengelly / The Guardian:

Speaking on CNN's “Reliable Sources”, NYT Editor Dean Baquet said Trump's attacks on press are out of control and WHCA should rethink its annual dinner event — Donald Trump's attacks on the press are “out of control” and damaging “the civic life and debate of the country”, the editor of the New York Times said on Sunday.

Discussion: Washington Post, Axios, Associated Press, Mediaite and Slate

Michael Warren / Weekly Standard:

How Trump's White House creates an anti-immigration feedback loop by distributing talking points to friendly journalists, pundits, and hosts via email — The monomaniacal White House talking points. — They are emails designed to grab you by the lapels. “CRISIS AT OUR SOUTHERN BORDER,” announced one.

Brian Stelter / CNNMoney:

Sinclair is showing the 30-second Allied Progress ad with Deadspin video montage critical of Sinclair, but inserts its own 15-second responses before and after — Ex-Sinclair news director: We had must-run pieces — Sinclair Broadcast Group has agreed to air a commercial …

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon, @mikiebarb, @jayrosen_nyu, @paulconstant, @jeremylittau, HuffPost, @jayrosen_nyu, @jeremylittau, Quill, @brianstelter, @alliedprogress, @slpng_giants, @dabeard, Mediaite and The Wrap

Reuters:

Sources: Viacom has asked CBS to increase its valuation of the company by $2.8B to $14.7B — (Reuters) - Viacom Inc (VIAB.O) has asked CBS Corp (CBS.N) to sweeten its merger bid by about $2.8 billion or almost a quarter more than CBS's offer, people familiar with the matter said …

Discussion: Variety and Broadcasting & Cable

Conor Friedersdorf / The Atlantic:

Kevin Williamson's hiring at The Atlantic was greeted by some of his critics as if they were opposition researchers and their aim was to render him toxic — Last month, The Atlantic hired Kevin Williamson, the longtime National Review staffer. Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor in chief of The Atlantic …

Discussion: USA Today, Esquire, MediaFile and New York Times

Christine Schmidt / Nieman Lab:

A guide to new initiatives that work to repair people's trust in media, including information on funders, participants, and partners — Can't tell Trusting News from the Trust Project, or the News Integrity Initiative from the Journalism Trust Initiative? Get informed here — trust us.

Discussion: Project News

Yardena Schwartz / Columbia Journalism Review:

Women who have spoken out about sexual harassment at news organizations discuss how they've been blacklisted by other orgs and face abuse on social media — Women who speak out about sexual harassment are often blacklisted by other news organizations — Juliet Huddy thought the worst …

Kate Holton / Reuters:

Source: WPP could publish the findings of its investigation into an allegation of misconduct against Chief Executive Martin Sorrell as early as next week — LONDON (Reuters) - WPP (WPP.L) could publish the findings of its investigation into an allegation of misconduct against Chief Executive Martin Sorrell …

Lucinda Southern / Digiday:

Norwegian aggregator Sol uses algorithms and human editors to surface local content, claims 50K daily users who spend a daily average of 11 minutes in app — Sol, an aggregated news site from Norwegian magazine and news publishing group Aller Media, launched an app in December to gain new, younger readers.

Megha Rajagopalan / BuzzFeed:

The Sri Lankan government and civil society groups say that Facebook has failed for years to monitor and remove accounts inciting ethnic violence in Sri Lanka — DIGANA, Sri Lanka — When the Sri Lankan government temporarily blocked access to Facebook last month amid a wave of violence against Muslims …

Discussion: @profgalloway, @buzzfeednews, @francis_wade, @buzzfeednews, @fabiochiusi, @markscott82, @gerryshih, @meghara, @rmac18 and @buzzfeedben

Christina Anderson / New York Times:

Three Nobel Literature Prize judges resign from the Swedish Academy amid sexual assault allegations against a major figure with close ties to the institution — STOCKHOLM — The Swedish Academy, which awards the Nobel Prize in Literature, was hit this past week by one of its worst crises …

Discussion: The Guardian, @nytimesworld and Associated Press