Top News:
Tamar Auber / Mediaite:
Vice News correspondent says former NYT executive editor Jill Abramson included plagiarized passages in chapters about Vice in her book, Merchants of Truth — Vice News Tonight correspondent Michael Moynihan is calling out former executive editor of The New York Times Jill Abramson out for what he says are …
Discussion:
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Washington Post:
Jill Abramson responds to plagiarism allegations, says some citations don't match with the right pages and some language is too close to sources, promises fixes — Former New York Times executive editor Jill Abramson responded Thursday to allegations that she plagiarized portions of her new book …
Manish Singh / VentureBeat:
News aggregator Nuzzel sold to Scroll, which is building a news subscription service; Nuzzel founder Jonathan Abrams and COO Kent Lindstrom to leave the company — News aggregator Nuzzel has found a new home and leadership and is undergoing some product changes.
Discussion:
Nieman Lab, @arctictony, Scroll Blog, TechCrunch, @mattmcgee and 9to5Mac, more at Techmeme »
Brendan Nyhan / Medium:
Research comparing 2016 and 2018 suggests Facebook's efforts to limit the reach of fake news are working, but the platform's scale remains an alluring target — After the shock of the 2016 presidential election, many Americans found psychological refuge in a simple explanation for why Donald Trump won: “fake news.”
Ashley Carman / The Verge:
For Spotify to succeed as a podcast app, it needs to clearly separate podcasts from music, help users discover podcasts better, and allow creators to monetize — Some suggestions for improvement — Spotify announced today that the company plans to spend up to $500 million on podcast-related acquisitions.
Discussion:
TechCrunch, @awrd, Talking Biz News, Fortune, Engadget, RAIN News, Associated Press and The Wrap, more at Techmeme »
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Peter Kafka / Recode:
Spotify buys podcast producer Gimlet Media, sources say for ~$230M, and Anchor, a startup which makes it easier for users to record and distribute podcasts
Spotify buys podcast producer Gimlet Media, sources say for ~$230M, and Anchor, a startup which makes it easier for users to record and distribute podcasts
Discussion:
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Sahil Patel / Digiday:
Insider Inc says it achieved profitability in 2018 with revenue up 20% YoY and exceeded $100M in revenue for the first time — Times may be tough in digital publishing right now, but Business Insider parent company Insider Inc. says it just had its best revenue year ever.
Discussion:
@seangriffey, @bmorrissey, @gaberivera and @rafat
Gene Maddaus / Variety:
Woody Allen sues Amazon for $68M, claiming Amazon breached a four-picture deal and refused to release A Rainy Day in New York — Woody Allen filed a $68 million suit against Amazon Studios Thursday, alleging that the streamer has backed out of a multi-picture film deal due to “a 25-year old, baseless allegation.”
Discussion:
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Max Willens / Digiday:
IAC's Dotdash, which owns Investopedia and the remnants of About.com, posts $131M in revenue in 2018, up 44% YoY, and expects 21% revenue growth YoY for 2019 — In a year where publishers scrambled to diversify their revenues and their business models, Dotdash posted breakout growth stemming from a course it charted a long time ago.
Discussion:
@pkafka
Foreign Policy:
Former Fox News reporter and US Navy veteran Lea Gabrielle is named to lead the State Department agency that counters foreign propaganda and disinformation — Former Fox News correspondent and Navy veteran Lea Gabrielle to head long-troubled Global Engagement Center.
Discussion:
CNN, Mediaite, @dancohen3000 and @statedept
Kent Walker / The Keyword:
Google experiment finds 45% traffic decline to news sites with search results without snippets, in a moderate version of what is proposed in EU's Article 11 — In the next few days, European legislators meet to decide on a final text of the European Copyright Directive.
Discussion:
Julia Reda, The Next Web, ZDNet, Search Engine Land and 9to5Google, more at Techmeme »
New York Times Company:
In Q4, The New York Times added 265K digital subscriptions, bringing total number of digital subs to 3.4M but profit decreased to $74.7M from $90.5M a year ago — NEW YORK—(BUSINESS WIRE)— The New York Times Company (NYSE: NYT) announced today fourth-quarter 2018 diluted earnings per share …
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Cara Lombardo / Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Digital First Media, which owns ~7.5% of Gannett's stock and was rejected in a takeover attempt, has launched a proxy fight to remake Gannett's board — Digital First Media, the hedge-fund-backed newspaper chain whose takeover bid for Gannett was rejected, is preparing for a proxy fight to remake Gannett's board.
Discussion:
@cararlombardo
Joe Pompeo / Vanity Fair:
Sources: NYT reporters Sheera Frenkel and Cecilia Kang strike seven-figure deal with HarperCollins to write a book about Facebook — The book, acquired by HarperCollins, suggests the extent to which the publishing industry is willing to bet on politically adjacent reportorial blockbusters.
Discussion:
Poynter
Jim Waterson / The Guardian:
In Q4 2018, BBC Radio 4 had 10.5M listeners, down 750K listeners YoY, BBC 5 Live's audience fell 10% YoY; the BBC's total radio listening share fell to 50.9% — Flagship news and current affairs station's Rajar figures hit hard by commercial rivals — BBC Radio 4 has lost three-quarters …