Mediagazer: In day one of arguments, the FCC faced tough questions from a three-judge panel on its definition of broadband and potential issues for public safety agencies (Brian Fung/Washington Post)

8:10 PM ET, February 1, 2019

Top News:

Vice to lay off 10% of staff, or ~250 people, across the company as part of restructuring effort; weekly “Vice” show on HBO also ending — The cuts, which will impact around 250 people, are part of new CEO Nancy Dubuc's strategic plan to tighten spending and achieve profitability.

Daniel Funke / Poynter:

Snopes pulls out of Facebook partnership, says Facebook's closed, manual fact-checking entry system is too labor intensive and fails to benefit the whole web — Snopes is no longer debunking misinformation in partnership with Facebook. In a statement published Friday …

Discussion: Adweek, Bloomberg, @rmac18, @samtlevin, @samtlevin, The Guardian, CNBC, The Verge, @dpfunke, Mashable, @shortformernie, @bendwalsh, @tarletong, @tmclaughlin3, Boing Boing, @sarahfrier and Engadget, more at Techmeme »

Devin Coldewey / TechCrunch:

AP says it is “not currently doing fact-checking work for Facebook”, after Snopes said it also stopped; both leave possiblity for future collaboration open — Two of Facebook's four fact-checking partners in the U.S. are no longer working for the program: Snopes …

Discussion: Snopes.com, Mediaite, @shiraovide, Fortune and Snopes.com, more at Techmeme »

Peter Kafka / Recode:

Source: Spotify in advanced talks to acquire popular podcast producer Gimlet for $200M+; Gimlet would be Spotify's first purchase of an original content maker — Spotify wants to break out of the music streaming business. Gimlet, the company behind shows like Crimetown and Reply All, can help.

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Variety, The Wrap, Hollywood Reporter, The Verge, @evoterra and Music Business Worldwide, more at Techmeme »

Michael M. Grynbaum / New York Times:

In interview with Trump, NYT journalists and publisher try explaining the global effect of “fake news” claims but his focus shifted to his personal grievances — President Trump takes credit for popularizing the term “fake news.” — But the consequences? Not his concern.

Discussion: New York Times, New York Times, Washington Post, @riegerreport, CNBC, @craigunger, @jimrutenberg, @frankbruni, @scottbix, @marybschneider, @brianstelter, @maxboot, Contemptor, @jdawsey1, The Daily Beast and Mediaite

Chuck Strouse / Miami New Times:

Memo: McClatchy is offering a voluntary early retirement program to about 450 employees, says it will be a one-time opportunity — This morning, Craig Forman, CEO of McClatchy Company, emailed all staff to say about 10 percent of the newspaper chain's employees would be offered voluntary buyouts.

Discussion: @lindseywasson, @cliomiso, @hannahallam, @parkermolloy, @sulliview, @stevejanoski, @jeffdomingues, @romenesko and @charlesapple

Taylor Soper / GeekWire:

Amazon's “other” revenue, which is mostly composed of its advertising services, hit $3.4B in Q4, up 95% YoY and reaching $10.1B for all of 2018 — Amazon's advertising business is showing no signs of letting up. — Amazon reports record profits of $3B, crushes Wall Street expectations for holiday quarter

Discussion: Amazon.com, Inc. - IR, On my Om, Marketing Land, RAIN News, Light Reading, @xpangler, San Francisco Chronicle and Business Insider, more at Techmeme »

Brian Fung / Washington Post:

In day one of arguments, the FCC faced tough questions from a three-judge panel on its definition of broadband and potential issues for public safety agencies — The Federal Communications Commission faced sharp questioning from a trio of appellate court judges Friday as the agency sought …

Discussion: Free Press, Ars Technica, The Verge, Common Dreams, Gizmodo, 9to5Mac and The Verge, more at Techmeme »

Ken Doctor / Nieman Lab:

For M&A possibilities among legacy newspaper companies and even digital startups, the next recession looms large and everything is on the table — In an industry where expense reduction is the prime strategy, much more consolidation is likely on the way. Little regulation prevents it, and the financials all favor it.

Discussion: New York Post, Bloomberg, @darrendcarroll, @newsbyschmidt and @timhanlon

Paul Farhi / Washington Post:

The Pentagon hasn't done an on-camera press briefing since May; formerly daily State Department briefings averaged six per month in last three months of 2018 — With President Trump sending more troops to the southern border, pulling some out of Syria and causing uncertainty among allies in NATO …

Bloomberg:

Sources: Sinclair and the MLB, among others, bid for Fox's regional sports networks minus the YES network, with offers much lower than the anticipated $20B — - Bids value assets at well below the $22 billion estimated — Latest round attracts offers from Sinclair, Apollo and MLB

Discussion: Awful Announcing

Hannah Murphy / Financial Times:

Facebook says it was able to uncover the Iranian network thanks to information from Twitter and that the two have been sharing notes sooner than previously — Facebook and Twitter have removed thousands of fake accounts originating from Iran, some dating back as far as 2010, after collaborating to combat disinformation.

Discussion: Engadget

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: Slate, Adweek, New York Times, @donara_barojan, @donie, @wiczipedia, Al Jazeera, Twitter, Blog Network, @justinhendrix, @josh_emerson, @yoyoel, @policy, CNN, @wiczipedia, @dcherring, Twitter, Recode, Reuters, The Week and Business Insider, more at Techmeme »

Amy Gesenhues / Marketing Land:

MediaRadar: YouTube 2018 ad revenue rose 11% YoY, as media and entertainment companies brought in 30%+ of ad revenue and Geico and Samsung accounted for 11.5% — YouTube ad revenues increased 11 percent year-over-year in 2018, according to MediaRadar. — YouTube saw a 51 percent ad renewal …

Mark Di Stefano / BuzzFeed:

Nina Burleigh, author of the Melania Trump article for which The Telegraph apologized, is demanding the newspaper retract its apology, claiming defamation — US journalist Nina Burleigh claims The Daily Telegraph's apology has turned her into an “international poster girl for fake news”.

Archived Page Info:

This is a snapshot of Mediagazer at 8:10 PM ET, February 1, 2019.

View the current page or another snapshot:

Who's Hiring in Media?

Energy & Commodities Editor, Tokyo — Bloomberg

Politics Reporter, TX — Texas Tribune

Consumer Brands Reporter, GA — AJC

Deputy Editor - Health Care, VA — Politico

Product Editor, CA — CalMatters

Indigenous Affairs Editor, Sydney — Guardian US

China Markets Correspondent, Shanghai — Reuters

Bangor Reporter, ME — Bangor Daily News

Commerce Editor - Health, Remote US — Yahoo

Sports Editor, MI — Detroit News

Managing Editor, Remote US — Velo

Lex Writer, London — FT

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:

Daniel Sanchez / Digital Music News:
A ranking of music streaming services by royalty payouts: Napster leads the way with $.019/stream, and YouTube trails with $.00069/stream

Discussion: @euforcreators

Anna Gutierrez / The Reporters Committee …:
A coalition of 28 media organizations has filed a court brief supporting a lawsuit that challenges fees for court records accessed via PACER

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

Discussion: @edmundlee, Best Apple TV, @ronlieber, @mathewi, Fast Company, The Verge and Broadcasting & Cable

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

Discussion: Press Gazette, @williams_paige, @abarnardnyt, @rorypecktrust, Press Gazette, @thewarjournal, @tinabrownlm, @robinlustig, @nickkristof, @naderalihashemi, @hayley_barlow, New York Times, Committee to Protect …, Women in the World, Financial Times and Press Association

Earlier Picks:

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

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

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

Discussion: Realscreen, Hollywood Reporter, CNN, Decider and Los Angeles Times

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

Discussion: Nieman Lab, @niemanlab and @markdistef

From Techmeme:

Bloomberg:
The Trump administration exempts smartphones, laptops, hard drives, processors, memory chips, and machines used to make semiconductors from reciprocal tariffs

Washington Post:
Arguments start Monday in the FTC's antitrust suit targeting Meta's acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp, amid reports Zuckerberg asked Trump to intervene

James O'Donnell / MIT Technology Review:
How the Pentagon uses AI tools from Vannevar Labs, which got a DoD deal worth up to $99M, to scan open-source intelligence, write intelligence reports, and more

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