Top News:
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:
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 »
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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 …
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.
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 »
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