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, @trevortimm, @dangillmor, The Guardian, @sulliview, @wikileaks, @devlinbarrett, @charlie_savage, @colmorrisdavis, @bradmossesq, @evan_greer, @markszaidesq, @chipgibbons89, @caitoz, @emptywheel, @asharangappa_, @matthewamiller, Fast Company, Boing Boing, The Week, The Hill, The Daily Caller, Politico, Peter O'Kelly's Reality Check and Mediaite
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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, Associated Press, Washington Post, Fortune, Mashable, The Wrap, Slate, @mattzap, @mattzap, The Verge, @normeisen, The Week, @sparrowmedia, The Guardian, @trevortimm, @jamesrbuk, The Daily Caller, NPR, TechCrunch, Gizmodo, Al Jazeera, Reuters, The Daily Beast and Engadget
Glenn Greenwald / The Intercept:
The Obama DOJ didn't prosecute Julian Assange because it would have been a threat to press freedom, a reason as valid now, post-DNC leak, as it was then — The Trump Justice Department inadvertently revealed in a court filing that it has charged Julian Assange in a sealed indictment.
Discussion:
@trevortimm, Mediaite, CNBC, Law & Crime and The Week
CNN:
Judge orders White House to return Acosta's hard pass immediately citing violation of due process, thus granting CNN's request for a temporary restraining order — (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:
Washington Post, @robherring, Press Gazette, Wall Street Journal, TVNewser, Hollywood Reporter, Poynter, @schneidercnn, NPR, @philiprucker, New York Times, @thr, Mediaite, Vox, @postbaron, @thr, France 24, @erikwemple, @jameeljaffer, @farhip, @davidafrench, Senator Bob Menendez, @hadas_gold, @erikwemple and Fortune
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Scott Nover / The Atlantic:
Press freedom advocates express cautious relief, for now, after the return of Jim Acosta's press press, and praise unity of most media outlets supporting access
Press freedom advocates express cautious relief, for now, after the return of Jim Acosta's press press, and praise unity of most media outlets supporting access
Discussion:
@scottnover, The Wrap, Washington Post, @scottnover, @spj_tweets, @medialawrocks, @loebvernon, @scottnover and @scottnover
CBS News:
In interview, Sheryl Sandberg says “we absolutely did not pay anyone to create fake news” and says she didn't know Facebook had hired Definers — A day after a searing investigation into Facebook by The New York Times, the company's chief operating officer, Sheryl Sandberg, is defending herself and the social media giant.
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Donie O'Sullivan / CNN:
With little evidence, Definers Public Affairs pitched a story last summer suggesting Apple News editors were biased against the GOP, based on campaign donations — New York (CNN)The conservative public affairs firm that worked for Facebook, and spread opposition research …
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, @stevekopack, @donie, Slate, Mercury News, @emilybell and Financial Times
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
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
Discussion:
New York Times, Business Insider, The Daily Beast, Washington Post, Axios, @karlbode and @daphnehk, more at Techmeme »
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+
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+
Discussion:
Sheryl Sandberg, Tim Miller, New York Times, @natijomartinez, Vanity Fair, Business Insider, @buzzfeedben, @mikeisaac, HuffPost, The Guardian, Business Insider, TechCrunch, @sarahfrier, The Verge, Engadget, Mashable, @allmattnyt, Investor's Business Daily, @jacknicas, @allmattnyt, Recode, @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 »
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, @pt, @soleio, CNN, The Next Web, @goldman, @charliebeckett, @facebook, @tfranti, @rezendi, @mathewi, Engadget, VentureBeat, TechCrunch, Adweek and The Hill
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 …
Discussion:
Variety, Hollywood Reporter, TVWeek.com, The Wrap, New York Times, Deadline, Slate, Business Insider, The Ringer, @realronhoward, The Week, @redhourben, New York Times, @keitholbermann, @timobrien, NBC News and io9
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, kottke.org, Techdirt and VentureBeat, more at Techmeme »
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
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:
The Wrap, MediaPost, Hollywood Reporter, Broadcasting & Cable and Reuters
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:
Multichannel News, Variety, SportsBusiness Daily, Sports Video Group, Broadcasting & Cable, Deadline, TVWeek.com, Ad Age and The Wrap
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Amazon says its Thursday night football games had 14.7M viewers on Prime Video and Twitch, up 22% YoY in the first seven weeks of the football season — Amazon has amassed a bigger crowd of gridiron fans so far in its second season streaming the NFL's “Thursday Night Football.”
Discussion:
The Wrap, MediaPost, The Wrap and Broadcasting & Cable