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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.


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.


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, @sulliview, @cliomiso, @parkermolloy, @charlesapple, @jeffdomingues, @stevejanoski and @romenesko


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:
Snopes.com, CNBC, @tmclaughlin3, Mashable, @tarletong, @bendwalsh, Snopes.com and @dpfunke, more at Techmeme »


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


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 …


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
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Twitter says it removed thousands of malicious accounts that originated in Iran, Russia, and Venezuela for spreading disinformation about the 2018 midterms
Discussion:
New York Times, Twitter, @wiczipedia, @justinhendrix, @josh_emerson, @yoyoel, @policy, Blog Network, @wiczipedia, @dcherring, NBC News, Twitter, PCMag India, Adweek, Recode, Ad Age, Reuters and The Week, more at Techmeme »

Facebook says it removed 262 Pages, 356 accounts, three groups, and 162 Instagram accounts tied to Iran for engaging in coordinated inauthentic behavior
Discussion:
Adweek, CNN, @donara_barojan, @donie, Al Jazeera, @jank0, @martyswant, @martyswant, SiliconANGLE, Mashable, Gizmodo, Fortune, Ad Age, DFRLab, The Guardian, VentureBeat, Engadget, The Verge, The Wrap, CyberScoop, The Hill, TechCrunch and Business Insider


What to expect as oral arguments begin Friday in Mozilla's lawsuit to stop FCC's repeal of net neutrality rules — The FCC will make its case against the rules — Oral arguments will begin tomorrow for one of the most important cases in internet law history.
Discussion:
Ars Technica, Free Press, Gizmodo, NPR, 9to5Mac and Washington Post, more at Techmeme »


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:
@darrendcarroll, @timhanlon and @newsbyschmidt


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


A ranking of music streaming services by royalty payouts: Napster leads the way with $.019/stream, and YouTube trails with $.00069/stream — Late last month, Digital Music News updated its list of what streaming music services pay. — Thanks to information from third-party websites and actual artists …
Discussion:
@euforcreators


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”.


A coalition of 28 media organizations has filed a court brief supporting a lawsuit that challenges fees for court records accessed via PACER — The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and 27 media organizations support the rights of the public and the press to have affordable access to court records.
Discussion:
New Republic, @marshamcleod_ny, @brendannyhan, @brynstole, @davidgura, @miekeeoyang, @dmhj, @egavactip, @waldojaquith, @mjs_dc, @dataeditor, @srl, @rcfp, @rcfp, @edfischman, @missryley, @deepakguptalaw, @archivieren, @ponyphaeton, @eoinhiggins_, @bradfordpearson, @cristianafarias and @digiphile