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:
New York Times, The Intercept, Mediaite, The Guardian, @sulliview, @trevortimm, Fast Company, @dangillmor, Associated Press, @asharangappa_, @wikileaks, Boing Boing, @devlinbarrett, @charlie_savage, @colmorrisdavis, @bradmossesq, @evan_greer, @markszaidesq, @chipgibbons89, @caitoz, @emptywheel, The Week, @matthewamiller, The Hill, The Daily Caller, Politico, Peter O'Kelly's Reality Check and NBC News
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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, emptywheel, The Wrap, The Guardian, CNBC, Slate, NPR, @normeisen, The Week, The Daily Caller, Reuters, @mattzap, @mattzap, The Verge, The Daily Beast, Gizmodo, @sparrowmedia, @trevortimm, @jamesrbuk, TechCrunch, Al Jazeera, Engadget and Mediaite
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, VentureBeat, TechCrunch and The Hill, more at Techmeme »
CNN:
Judge orders White House to return Acosta's hard pass immediately, granting CNN's request for a temporary restraining order, and says CNN will likely prevail — (CNN)Federal judge Timothy J. Kelly sided with CNN on Friday, ordering the White House to reinstate chief White House correspondent Jim Acosta's press pass.
Discussion:
@schneidercnn, The Daily Beast, @davidafrench, @erikwemple, @erikwemple and MediaPost
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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, Mediaite, Hit & Run, KTLA, @kaitlancollins, @eriqgardner, @joeperticone, @gabriellahope_, @mattgertz, @petersterne, @farhip, @emkuhn, @brianstelter, @brianstelter, Deadline, Hollywood Reporter, CNN, Politico, Voice of America, @jonathanwpeters, @jonathanwpeters, Jon Slattery, Washington Post and CBS News
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, Sports Video Group, Broadcasting & Cable, Deadline, TVWeek.com, Ad Age and Multichannel News
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:
CBS News, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Slate, Washington Post, Vanity Fair, Business Insider, @natijomartinez, Engadget, Financial Times, @buzzfeedben, Axios, @mikeisaac, HuffPost, @sarahfrier, The Verge, @allmattnyt, @jacknicas, @allmattnyt, @bafeldman, @willoremus, @josh_emerson, @jank0, @jank0, @josh_emerson, @willoremus, @jank0, @yoda, @karlbode, @hunterschwarz, @mikeisaac, @donie, @zeynep, @oneunderscore__, @nbcnewstech, @oneunderscore__, @cwarzel and 9to5Mac, more at Techmeme »
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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:
Nieman Lab, The Guardian, New York Times, Bloomberg, The Daily Beast, @karlbode and @daphnehk, more at Techmeme »
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:
MediaPost, Broadcasting & Cable, The Wrap, Reuters 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, @ckrewson, @phildavis_cg and The NewsGuild - CWA
Laura Hazard Owen / Nieman Lab:
Reuters smart speakers study: 18% of owners in US use them daily for news, CNN, NPR lead as most popular news brands, users find news briefings too long — People are still much more likely to use smart speakers for music and weather than news. But that could change as news organizations …
Discussion:
Journalism.co.uk, Techdirt and VentureBeat, more at Techmeme »
Adam Bernstein / Washington Post:
William Goldman, Oscar-winning screenwriter of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and All the President's Men, dies at 87 — Badly hung over, the detective rises from a foldout couch in his office. He turns off the TV that has been on all night, dunks his head in ice water …