Mediagazer: Two writers for conservative RedState, owned by Salem Media, say they are quitting because of the site's pro-Trump stance and stifling of any Trump criticism (The Bulwark)

Anthony Ha / TechCrunch:

Hulu to launch banner ads, which will appear after viewers pause video, in Q2 2019; hopes all non-disruptive ads will comprise 50% of ad revenue within 3 years — Just to get this out of the way: Yes, Hulu is introducing an ad unit that will show up when you pause a video. But no, the ad won't be a video.

Discussion: Digiday, /Film, AdExchanger, Hulu, Mashable, Fast Company, The Verge, Adweek, Gizmodo and 9to5Mac

Joe Pompeo / Vanity Fair:

Penske Media has bought the 49% of Rolling Stone that it didn't already own, from minority owner BandLab Technologies — Last week, Penske Media Corporation signed a deal to purchase the rest of the magazine, following a majority takeover in 2017. — Over the past few years …

Facebook:

Facebook says it removed 262 Pages, 356 accounts, three groups, and 162 Instagram accounts tied to Iran for engaging in coordinated inauthentic behavior — Today we removed multiple Pages, groups and accounts that engaged in coordinated inauthentic behavior on Facebook and Instagram.

Discussion: VentureBeat, The Wrap, TechCrunch, CNN, The Hill, @jank0, @martyswant, @martyswant, Engadget, The Verge, CyberScoop, Mashable and Business Insider, more at Techmeme »

Tony Romm / Washington Post:

Twitter says it removed thousands of malicious accounts that originated in Iran, Russia, and Venezuela for spreading disinformation about the 2018 midterms — Twitter revealed Thursday that it had removed thousands of malicious accounts thought to have originated in Iran …

Discussion: Twitter, NBC News, Reuters, Twitter and The Week, more at Techmeme »

Edmund Lee / New York Times:

A look at the legal grounds for Locast's existence and its role in the relationship between broadcasters and cable, satellite companies — Want to watch the Super Bowl and other network TV for free? A start-up called Locast will let you, and (so far) the big broadcasters aren't trying to stop it.

Discussion: @edmundlee, Fast Company, Multichannel News, @ronlieber, The Verge and @mathewi

Jeremy Littau / Wired:

Monopolistic thinking and lack of attention to the internet's role in distribution has decimated media, but foundation journalism, subs, and community can help — LAST WEEK, LAYOFFS at BuzzFeed, HuffPost, and Gannett landed like consecutive punches. The news signaled a difficult year ahead …

Discussion: @jeremylittau, @wired, @lenfestinst, @mayerjoy, @benwhitelaw, @tomrosenstiel, @ash_detroit and @jeremylittau

James Walker / Press Gazette:

NewsGuard, whose trustworthiness ratings are available on Chrome and Edge, improves its rating of the Daily Mail from red to green to indicate its accuracy — US news website rating tool Newsguard has changed its verdict on Mail Online after originally declaring the UK's most-read news website failed …

Discussion: Nieman Lab, @markdistef and @niemanlab

Jim Waterson / The Guardian:

Evgeny Lebedev has sold ~20% of Lebedev Holdings, which has a ~90% stake in the Evening Standard, to a company in the Caymans; a Saudi investor may be the buyer — London newspaper refuses to reveal identity of new financial backer — An anonymous offshore investor has taken a 20% stake …

Discussion: Financial Times, Press Gazette, Jon Slattery, @adambienkov, @professorshaw and @michaelpmdavis

Owen Bowcott / The Guardian:

US district court rules that Syria is liable for the killing of Sunday Times correspondent Marie Colvin, awards $300M+ in damages — Syria ordered to pay $300m over death of Sunday Times journalist in ‘targeted’ shelling in 2012 — The Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad has been held liable …

Discussion: Press Gazette, Financial Times, Press Association, @robinlustig, @nickkristof, @naderalihashemi, @hayley_barlow and Committee to Protect …

Alex Sherman / CNBC:

Sources: CBS board wants company to grow, first through a merger with Viacom, possibly followed by Discovery acquisition; CBS hoping to find CEO by end of March — The CBS board has decided the company needs to get bigger, but merging with Viacom is not enough for Shari Redstone …

Discussion: Bloomberg, Los Angeles Times and Variety

Jared Newman / Fast Company:

Free ad-supported streaming services are on the rise as consumers reach subscription overload and premium services move away from licensed video — People who pooh-pooh the cord-cutting phenomenon love to argue that the cost of streaming services such as Netflix and Hulu really adds up …

Discussion: Forbes, Light Reading, TechCrunch, MediaPost, Multichannel News and Tubefilter

Janko Roettgers / Variety:

Ultraviolet, the cloud movie locker that launched in 2011 with support from major Hollywood studios, is shutting down on July 31 — Ultraviolet, a cloud movie locker once hailed as Hollywood's best bet to get consumers hooked on digital movies, is shuttering.

Discussion: TechCrunch, Multichannel News, Variety, The Wrap, /Film, Engadget, @jank0, @robtrench, The Verge, PCMag India, ScreenRant, @jank0, @awallenstein, MacRumors, @jank0 and 9to5Mac, more at Techmeme »

Keith J. Kelly / New York Post:

New York Media recognizes the New York Magazine Union, with about 180 full-time and part-time staff across Vulture, Intelligencer, the Cut, and more — New York magazine's editorial employees have unionized amid stalled talks to sell the iconic title and its popular web sites.

Discussion: @nyguild and @nymagunion

Max Willens / Digiday:

How BuzzFeed is reorganizing and charting a path to a sustainable business, according to sources and a memo CEO Jonah Peretti sent to employees Tuesday night — The next version of BuzzFeed is being whittled into focus. — Over the past week, the venture-backed publisher has been gripped by a very public multi-day round of layoffs.

Discussion: New York Times, Detroit Free Press, @mattdpearce, @freeblackgirl, @parkermolloy, @dansinker, @leighgiangreco, @caulfieldcm, @jackmirkinson, @mathewi, @digiday, @bgrueskin, Observer and @mattdpearce

Discussion: New York Times, @skiscontent, @mlcalderone, @jasonshevrin and @libbycwatson