Mediagazer: Facebook says it removed 262 Pages, 356 accounts, three groups, and 162 Instagram accounts tied to Iran for engaging in coordinated inauthentic behavior (Facebook)

7:00 PM ET, January 31, 2019

Top News:

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: Adweek, Ad Age, VentureBeat, TechCrunch, The Wrap, Fortune, The Guardian, Mashable, CNN, @jank0, @martyswant, @martyswant, The Hill, Engadget, CyberScoop, The Verge 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

Discussion: Ad Age, Twitter, Recode, Twitter, NBC News, @wiczipedia, Reuters, @dcherring, The Week and Mashable, more at Techmeme »

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, AdExchanger, Hulu, /Film, The Verge, Mashable, Adweek, Gizmodo, Fast Company 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 …

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, @ronlieber, The Verge, Broadcasting & Cable 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, @nxthompson, @marklittlenews, @lauraelizdavis, @benwhitelaw, @mayerjoy, @tomrosenstiel, @ash_detroit, @wired, @jeremylittau and @lenfestinst

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, @michaelpmdavis, @adambienkov and @professorshaw

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

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, Committee to Protect …, Financial Times, Women in the World, Press Association, @hayley_barlow, @robinlustig, @nickkristof and @naderalihashemi

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

The Bulwark:

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 — For more than a decade, RedState was a solid voice in the world of online conservative commentary.

Discussion: @benhowe, @benhowe, @benhowe, @benhowe, @bradmossesq, @southernkeeks, @jayrosen_nyu, The Daily Beast, @oliverdarcy, @eugene_scott, @bkerogers, @bulwarkonline, Contemptor, @bkerogers, @jerryiannelli, @radiofreetom and @sarahmquinlan

Todd Spangler / Variety:

The Criterion Collection says it will launch Criterion Channel, a new streaming service, on April 8 in US and Canada for $10.99/month or $99.99/year — Movie buffs left out in the cold by FilmStruck's demise will soon get a new streaming service stocked with over 1,000 classic …

Discussion: MacRumors, Android Police, The Wrap, Engadget and Vanity Fair, more at Techmeme »

Archived Page Info:

This is a snapshot of Mediagazer at 7:00 PM ET, January 31, 2019.

View the current page or another snapshot:

Who's Hiring in Media?

Output Producer, CA — AP

China Markets Correspondent, Shanghai — Reuters

Senior Assignment Editor, DC — WaPo

Breaking News Editor, Tokyo — Bloomberg

Senior Correspondent - Wealth, NY — WSJ

Reporter - Ottawa Bureau — Globe & Mail

Local Government Reporter, IA — The Gazette

Research Director, CA — OCBJ

Immigration Enforcement Reporter — Documented

Presque Island Reporter, ME — Bangor Daily News

Contributing Parks Ed. - SW, CA — SFGATE

AI Content Editor, WA — Outlier

Legislative Reporter, TN — Daily Memphian

Editorial Assistant, Remote US — Launch Potato

Elon Musk Reporter, NY or CA — The Information

Government & Politics Editor, WA — Seattle Times

Business & GA Reporter. VT — VTDigger

Sports Reporter, WA — Everett Herald

Energy Reporter, TX — Houston Chronicle

Senior Reporter, SC — Island Packet

Trade & Climate Correspondent, DC — FT

Reporter, WI — Racine County Eye

Political Newsletter Writer, CO — The Lever

Jackson Reporter, MS — Verite

Music Editor, AZ — Phoenix New Times

Breaking News Reporter, NV — Las Vegas Sun

Fearless Reporter/Producer, IA — BPC

Reporter II - Technology, Remote — NPR

Editor, Remote US — Daily Kos

City Reporter, WA — Tacoma News Tribune

Executive Editor, OR — Lookout Local

Education & Budget Reporter, CA — Politico

Senior Writer/Editor, FL — Gulfshore Business

Media Editor, Remote — Axios

Add your company here

See Also:

Mediagazer: site main

Mediagazer River: reverse chronological Mediagazer

Mediagazer Mobile: for phones

Mediagazer Leaderboard: Mediagazer's top sources

Subscribe:

Mediagazer RSS feed

Mediagazer on X

Mediagazer on Mastodon

More News:

Saeima Press Service:
Bellingcat has been nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in a joint letter from the foreign affairs committees of the parliaments of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia

Jim Waterson / The Guardian:
Online women's magazine The Pool, which launched in 2015, is set to enter administration Friday, leaving 24 journalists facing redundancy and freelancers unpaid

Discussion: @louiseridley, @catesevilla, @saramayspary, @stuheritage, @luce29, @eugenecostello, @claremackint0sh, @iamtobioredein, @scfgallagher, @thestephmerritt, @greg_jenner, @nikeshshukla, @orbyn and @orbyn

Khaoula Ghanem / Vogue Arabia:
Wired Middle East, licensed to Vogue Arabia-publisher Nervora, to launch as a dual-language site in the spring, with print special issues starting in fall 2019

Camille Fassett / Freedom of the Press Foundation:
Trump's government shutdown ground transparency to a halt by slowing or stopping the processing of FOIA requests at federal agencies

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

Discussion: @nyguild and @nymagunion

Earlier Picks:

Janko Roettgers / Variety:
Ultraviolet, the cloud movie locker that launched in 2011 with support from major Hollywood studios, is shutting down on July 31

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

Athena Jones / CNN:
New York AG finds selling fake followers and likes or using stolen IDs on social media is illegal in case against Devumi, which served actors, musicians, others

Discussion: MediaPost, New York Times, @columbiajourn, The Hill, @_kathleenmcgee, @karolcummins, @newyorkstateag, NY State Attorney General, Engadget, Mashable, TechCrunch and Gizmodo, more at Techmeme »

David Cohen / Adweek:
Reddit launches cost-per-click ads following a months-long beta with 50+ advertisers, saying it's Reddit's first foray into performance-driven ad bidding

Discussion: Ad Age, MediaPost, Marketing Land, The Drum and AdExchanger

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

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

Todd Spangler / Variety:
AT&T Q4: WarnerMedia revenue was up 5.9% YoY to $9.2B, but Entertainment Group revenue was down 4.8% YoY to $12B amid subscriber losses for DirecTV, DirecTV Now

Discussion: CNN, Motherboard, @hotlinejosh, TechCrunch, MediaPost, Stop the Cap!, AdExchanger, Hollywood Reporter, Wall Street Journal, Deadline, Fast Company, Reuters, Broadcasting & Cable, TheStreet, Deadline, Business Wire and TechCrunch

From Techmeme:

Lee-Anne Mulholland / The Keyword:
Google files its proposed remedies in the DOJ's search antitrust lawsuit, including letting browser companies have multiple default agreements across platforms

Reuters:
Albania bans TikTok for a year from January 2025, part of a broader plan to make schools safer following the killing of a 14-year-old near a school in November

Andrew J. Hawkins / The Verge:
The US NHTSA suggests easing rules allowing for fully driverless cars and urges companies operating driverless cars to share more data for greater transparency

Sister Sites:

Techmeme
Top news and commentary for technology's leaders, from all around the web

memeorandum
What US political commentators are discussing online right now

WeSmirch
The top celebrity news from all around the web on a single page