Top News:
Benjamin Mullin / Wall Street Journal:
Source: Mic Network has agreed to sell to Bustle Digital Group for about $5M, a fraction of Mic's valuation of $100M based on its investment round in April 2017 — Struggling digital publisher lays off most of its staff ahead of sale — Digital publisher Mic Network Inc. has agreed …
Discussion:
@benmullin, New York Post, Adweek, Variety, @mikeisaac, @benmullin, @davidsrudin, @dfnssr, @sophiekleeman, @dmedin11, @ptrmsk, @noahshachtman, MediaPost, @clarajeffery, @yashar, @mikkipedia, @shanedkavanaugh, @rafat, @zzzzaaaacccchhh, @maxwellstrachan, @shaig, @alexisohanian, @johndiesattheen, @emilybell, @rafat and @kylepope
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Peter Kafka / Recode:
Mic has laid off a majority of its 100-person staff ahead of Bustle acquisition; publisher Cory Haik has already left, sources say the cofounders will remain — The publisher is trying to sell the remainder of the company to Bustle Digital Group. — Mic is laying off the majority off …
Discussion:
The Information, @levinejonathan, Columbia Journalism Review, Nieman Lab, @kelseymsutton, @kelseymsutton, @cityofthetown, Fast Company, @chronotope, @wblau, @journalistslike, @zzzzaaaacccchhh, Variety, Gothamist, @chappelltracker, @mathewi, The Hill, @thomaspagemcbee, @s_m_i, @playoffs_dr_lic, HuffPost, @alexsteigrad, @amyharvard_, @madderka, @susanarendt, Splinter, @lukeoneil47, @jessicalessin, @jamilsmith, Adweek, @maghielse, CNN, @lukeoneil47, @tribranchvo, @joshsternberg, @kifleswing, @ingridostby, @saschasegan, @kelseymsutton, @jamesfdennin and Recode
Alex Hern / The Guardian:
Facebook will exempt ads from eligible news outlets from its political ad archive in the UK, a policy it plans to extend to the US and Brazil pending UK tests — Social network to act against ‘dark adverts’ with compulsory disclaimers saying who paid — Every political advert on Facebook …
Margaret Sullivan / Washington Post:
Though Fox rebuked its personalities for appearing in campaign rallies and providing interviewees with scripts, it's unclear if formal ethics standards exist — There are ethical standards at Fox News, we're told. — But just what they are, or how they're enforced, is an enduring mystery.
Discussion:
@dabeard, @sulliview, @greta, @ehananoki, @sulliview, @mattgertz, @jessicagolds, @bwestley, @politico, @clydehaberman, @dmihalopoulos and Media Matters for America
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Jason Schwartz / Politico:
Fox News has not tweeted since November 8 when it began an apparent boycott of Twitter, even with Tuesday's launch of its streaming service Fox Nation — The network hasn't tweeted since Nov. 8. — Tuesday was a red-letter day for Fox News: The launch of Fox Nation …
Discussion:
Reuters, Financial Times, The Hill, @maghielse, @candicechoi, @oliverdarcy and @pvolpe
Joshua Berlinger / CNN:
Independent news site Rappler and its founder, Maria Ressa, have been formally indicted on tax evasion charges by Philippine courts — Journalists are more important than ever — (CNN)Philippines news website Rappler and its chief executive have been indicted on tax evasion charges …
Discussion:
@karaswisher, RAPPLER, @icfj, Committee to Protect … and @rapplerdotcom
Gabe Rivera / Techmeme News:
Techmeme now publishing paid and free “Leaderboards” showing the most influential reporters around a specific news topic — Today Techmeme has begun publishing Topic Leaderboards, which list the top authors and publications covering 24 topic areas such as cloud computing, autonomous vehicles …
Discussion:
@seldo, @gaberivera, @kingkool68, @mgsiegler, @mkakav, @gaberivera, @shiraovide, @gaberivera, @martinsfp, @gaberivera, @jank0 and @jjvincent, more at Techmeme »
Jonathan Bach / Statesman Journal:
Oregon's Salem Weekly, an alternative bi-weekly newspaper launched in 2004, has closed effective immediately — Salem Weekly, an alternative bi-weekly newspaper, has closed “effective immediately” after more than a dozen years in business, according to a letter to readers.
Discussion:
@jonathanmbach and @raju
Wall Street Journal:
eMarketer: Amazon's ad revenue on pace to double this year to $5.83B, and the company is expected to collect 15% of US digital ads in 2020 — Its push challenges the big ad sellers, including Facebook, Google and TV networks — Amazon.com Inc. AMZN .01% handles nearly half of all online sales …
Discussion:
Inc.com, MediaPost, @gu881n5, @wsj and @ericfranchi
Julia Alexander / The Verge:
YouTube begins rolling out Stories, which last for seven days on its mobile app and can be viewed by everyone, to accounts with over 10,000 subscribers — Amid some concern from the community — YouTube is expanding its Instagram-like Stories capability to more creators today …
Discussion:
Engadget, TechCrunch, @loudmouthjulia and Mashable, more at Techmeme »
Rafat Ali:
Among the worst effects of the democratization of publishing is the perception that it is easy to be in media, whether it's building companies or careers — I have usually held unpopular views well enough, so I will go for it: it *should* be hard. Starting something in media, building in …
Discussion:
@sdkstl, @clarajeffery and @rafat
The Verge:
Alt-right commentator Laura Loomer has handcuffed herself to a front door of Twitter's NYC HQ to protest her ban and the alleged shadow banning of conservatives — “They may have banned me from Twitter but now I'm handcuffed to Twitter” — Earlier this afternoon, alt-right Jewish commentator …
Dave Jamieson / HuffPost:
Employees at Mashable and PCMag ask owner Ziff Davis to voluntarily recognize their union, which would become part of the NewsGuild of New York — Seeking more stability and job protections, staffers have asked owner Ziff Davis to recognize their union and start bargaining for a contract.
Discussion:
@promawhatup, @jason00cohen and @alexisthenedd