Top News:
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: DOJ is preparing to prosecute WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange; exact charges are unclear but could possibly involve the Espionage Act — Over the past year, U.S. prosecutors have discussed several types of charges they could potentially bring against the WikiLeaks founder
Discussion:
Fast Company, New York Times, The Guardian, @dangillmor, Boing Boing, @wikileaks, The Hill, @devlinbarrett, @charlie_savage, @colmorrisdavis, @bradmossesq, @evan_greer, @markszaidesq, @trevortimm, @chipgibbons89, @caitoz, @emptywheel, The Week, @matthewamiller, The Daily Caller, Politico, Mediaite and Peter O'Kelly's Reality Check
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Washington Post:
Court filings in an unrelated case and sources reveal prosecutors have charged Julian Assange under seal, but the nature of charges remains unclear — WikiLeaks' founder Julian Assange has been charged under seal, prosecutors inadvertently revealed in a recently unsealed court filing …
Discussion:
@seamushughes, TechCrunch, The Intercept, The Week, The Daily Caller, The Verge, @mattzap, @mattzap, The Daily Beast, Gizmodo, @sparrowmedia, @trevortimm, @jamesrbuk, Al Jazeera and Engadget
Jacob Kastrenakes / The Verge:
Facebook to demote “borderline content” in News Feed by default and let users appeal content moderation decisions to an independent body — The new term is ‘borderline content’ — Facebook is once again tweaking how stories spread through the News Feed, this time going after posts that are …
Discussion:
Facebook, Facebook, CNN, @pt, @soleio, @facebook, @goldman, @tfranti, @charliebeckett, The Next Web, @mathewi, Engadget, @rezendi, TechCrunch, VentureBeat and The Hill, more at Techmeme »
Brian Stelter / CNN:
Judge postpones his decision until Friday in CNN's preliminary hearing against the White House over Jim Acosta's press pass — (CNN)Lawyers for CNN and the Trump administration are awaiting an initial ruling on the network's federal lawsuit over press access to the White House.
Discussion:
@robherring, @gabriellahope_, @kaitlancollins, @eriqgardner, @farhip, @mattgertz, @joeperticone, @petersterne, @emkuhn, @brianstelter, @brianstelter, MediaPost, Deadline, Hollywood Reporter, Mediaite, Politico, Voice of America, CNN, Jon Slattery, @jonathanwpeters, @jonathanwpeters, Washington Post, Washington Examiner, Media Matters for America and Variety
Karl Bode / Techdirt:
Facebook's use of Definers Public Affairs is by no means unique, mirroring the way the telecom industry uses think tanks, PR firms, and bogus news operations — So by now most people have probably read the New York Times deep dive into what can only be described as Facebook's deep well of internal dysfunction and self delusion.
Discussion:
New York Times, Washington Post, Bloomberg, TechCrunch, The Daily Beast, @karlbode and @daphnehk, more at Techmeme »
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NBC News:
Definers, the lobbying firm used by Facebook, runs a “news” site with positive posts on clients, negative posts on rivals, and a Facebook page followed by 120K+ — Facebook's ties to Definers Public Affairs, first reported on Wednesday in The New York Times, sparked widespread criticism and accusations of hypocrisy.
Discussion:
New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Slate, Vanity Fair, @natijomartinez, Washington Post, Financial Times, Axios, The Guardian, @buzzfeedben, @mikeisaac, The Verge, @jank0, HuffPost, @jank0, @karlbode, @hunterschwarz, @mikeisaac, @willoremus, @josh_emerson, @yoda, @josh_emerson, @donie, @sarahfrier, @bafeldman, @allmattnyt, @jank0, @jacknicas, @willoremus, @zeynep, @allmattnyt, @oneunderscore__, 9to5Mac, @nbcnewstech, @oneunderscore__, @cwarzel and Business Insider, more at Techmeme »
Marisa Guthrie / Hollywood Reporter:
Fox Sports and MLB extend their rights deal through 2028, expanding the network's digital and Spanish-language rights and adding more broadcast games — The pact keeps the World Series and All-Star game at Fox Sports, which also airs weekly games on its broadcast network.
Discussion:
Variety, SportsBusiness Daily, Broadcasting & Cable, Deadline, TVWeek.com, Ad Age, Multichannel News and The Wrap
Brian Steinberg / Variety:
Viacom tops Q4 expectations with profit of $386M down from $674M in 2017, with revenue from cable operations falling 1% to $2.52B due to ad revenue shortfall — Viacom Inc. said net income in its fiscal fourth quarter fell as revenue slumped overseas and stayed flat with year-earlier results …
Discussion:
Broadcasting & Cable, The Wrap and Hollywood Reporter
Erik Wemple / Washington Post:
Journalists at The Capital, where five died in a shooting in June, continue their push to unionize with other nearby newsrooms as the Chesapeake News Guild — The Capital, a Maryland community newspaper where five employees were killed in June in a mass shooting, is pushing to unionize under …
Discussion:
Baltimore Fishbowl, @phildavis_cg and The NewsGuild - CWA
Jem Aswad / Variety:
Apple signs a multiyear deal with a top independent studio, New York-based A24, for a slate of films — Apple is enlisting Oscar-winning indie studio A24 to produce a slate of films for the tech behemoth. The partnership comes as Apple is delving more deeply into making its own shows and movies …
Discussion:
Hollywood Reporter, @brooksbarnesnyt, The Week, /Film, The Playlist, Wall Street Journal, MacRumors, Deadline and 9to5Mac
Mariella Moon / Engadget:
Twitter's Explore tab starts sorting stories into topic-based sections, such as News, Sports, Fun, and Entertainment, in the US for iOS — Twitter has updated its Explore tab for iOS, sorting entries into separate sections depending on their topics. The platform says it implemented …
Discussion:
@twittersupport, Adweek, MacRumors and 9to5Mac, more at Techmeme »
Ed Christman / Billboard:
Universal Music Group reported $1.73B revenue for Q3 as streaming revenue hits $767M, a 37.6% increase YoY; parent Vivendi narrows bankers for partial UMG sale — Parent company Vivendi says it is narrowing down banks to help sell as much as half of the major record label.
Discussion:
Financial Times