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The Axios coverage of Trump's plan to get rid of US birthright citizenship was a perverse, obsequious mix of bleak news and promotion of an Axios series on HBO — You wouldn't trust a music critic who's buddies with the band, nor should you trust a tech reporter who hoots and hollers whenever Tim Cook takes the stage.
Discussion:
@jonathanvswan, Splinter, Axios, @mattyglesias, NPR, Observer, @ryanlcooper, @lpolgreen, @jamilsmith, AOL, @mollyjongfast, @mmasnick, @cliomiso, @atrupar, @sarahljaffe, @theferocity, @jonathanvswan, @theferocity, @jbendery, @garylegum, @jrhennessy, @moryan, @sethdmichaels, @melissagira, @charoshane, @libbycwatson, @samfbiddle, @fieldproducer, @axios, @ericboehlert, @joshtpm, @jonathanvswan, @simon_cullen, @ajentleson, @jonathanvswan, @ajentleson, @mthreadgould, @sammynickalls, @libbycwatson, @jribas, @theintercept, @jeremypgordon, @jayrosen_nyu, @cwarzel and Fast Company


Reporters tried to buy fake Facebook ads on behalf of all 100 US senators and Facebook approved all of them, following other high profile fake ad approvals — One of Facebook's major efforts to add transparency to political advertisements is a required “Paid for by” disclosure at the top …


Facebook says it is banning the Proud Boys and co-founder Gavin McInnes from Facebook and Instagram after a violent attack on protesters in NY in early October — - Facebook is banning accounts and groups associated with The Proud Boys, a far-right extremist group linked to political violence in the US.
Discussion:
TechCrunch, The Verge, @robaeprice, @robaeprice and ThinkProgress
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Twitter's new dedicated page for the US midterms, meant to provide commentary and analysis, quickly surfaced tweets from conspiracy theorists, bots, and others — Twitter launched an events page for the upcoming US midterm elections on Tuesday. And already it is surfacing tweets …
Discussion:
TechCrunch, @jack, The Hill, @redcrew, @rmac18, @rmac18, @rmac18 and Engadget, more at Techmeme »


Sources: Fox News' ruthless PR team, led by Irena Briganti, tried to plant negative stories about Megyn Kelly right up until her exit from NBC — For 18 turbulent months at NBC, when Megyn Kelly stumbled, her former employer was lurking in the shadows. — For 18 turbulent months at NBC …
Discussion:
Hollywood Reporter, Variety, @thrmattbelloni, @tvietor08, @willsommer, @miekeeoyang, @kateaurthur, @swin24 and SPLICETODAY.com
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Pew: adults under 30 in eight Western European countries less likely to trust news media than adults 50 and up, twice as likely to get news online than from TV — Across eight Western European countries, adults ages 18 to 29 are about twice as likely to get news online than from TV.
Discussion:
Nieman Lab


As Google rolls out a news feed under the search box on its mobile homepage, questions remain about the effects it could have on society — This is exhausting; I'm exhausted — I woke up this morning to two pieces of news that I couldn't help but see as two sides of the same coin …
Discussion:
Nieman Lab and Digital Content Next, more at Techmeme »


THR/Morning Consult poll: 56% of Americans say cable is unaffordable; 18-29 year olds spend more time with video games, social media, and YouTube than TV — Meanwhile, 47 percent say the same about satellite, while just 17 percent deem streaming unaffordable, a new Hollywood Reporter/Morning Consult poll finds.
Discussion:
TVWeek.com, @onejarednewman and @thr


Journalists working the local news beat in the US say they're regularly being verbally abused or physically assaulted, driven by attacks from Trump — NEW YORK (AP) — The hostility she's felt from the public recently wasn't necessarily the last straw in television news photographer Lori …
Discussion:
@chrismegerian, @raju, @roseveleth, @kronayne, @uspresstracker, @apentertainment, @heidiprzybyla, @shiplives and Heidi Przybyla


Subscription-based sports site The Athletic has raised $40M Series C led by Founders Fund and Bedrock Capital, sources say at a $200M valuation — The Athletic, a subscription-based digital sports media company, raised $40 million in a series C funding round.


Acclaimed filmmaker Ava DuVernay is making a documentary on Prince for Netflix and has been granted access to the singer's archives and unreleased material — EXCLUSIVE: Ava DuVernay directed the film that opened the Smithsonian's National Museum of African-American History and Culture in Washington …
Discussion:
Variety, /Film, @ava, The Playlist, @davdav1228, Vanity Fair, @deadlinedominic, @anildash, @mattgallowaycbc, Engadget, The Verge, Slate, Fast Company, The Root, UPROXX, The Guardian, The Wrap and The A.V. Club


David Poltrack, CBS chief research officer who helped greenlight some of the network's biggest shows, is retiring in June after 50 years at the company — Dr. Poltrack had some interesting news for a group of CBS executives trying to sort out the network's primetime schedule in 1992.
Discussion:
@jbflint, Ad Age, Broadcasting & Cable, @variety_cynthia, Multichannel News and MediaPost


German broadcaster ProSiebenSat.1 buys eharmony, report says at $85M valuation, two years after buying majority stake in dating agency Parship — FRANKFURT/MUNICH (Reuters) - Germany's ProSiebenSat.1 Media said on Monday it had bought U.S. online dating site eharmony, in the first significant deal since …
Discussion:
Telegraph, Los Angeles Business Journal, Hollywood Reporter, DW.COM, TBI Vision, Deadline, Variety and Financial Times