Mediagazer: The AMI-Bezos conflict is a case study of legal exposure that can stem from flouting journalistic norms and of how norms relate to constitutional protections (Bob Bauer/The Atlantic)

5:10 PM ET, February 15, 2019

Top News:

Sources: Great Hill Partners is in exclusive talks with Univision to buy Gizmodo Media Group for an undisclosed sum — Deal would include websites such as Gizmodo, Deadspin, Lifehacker and Jezebel — Great Hill Partners is in exclusive talks with Spanish-language broadcaster Univision Communications Inc …

Discussion: @onionincunion, @jeremymbarr and @jayrosen_nyu

Hollywood Reporter:
Univision reports Q4 revenue of $688.5M, down 8.9% YoY and a loss of $40.2M amid ongoing carriage dispute with Dish

Discussion: @jeremymbarr, @benmullin, Variety, Wall Street Journal and Hollywood Reporter

Bob Bauer / The Atlantic:

The AMI-Bezos conflict is a case study of legal exposure that can stem from flouting journalistic norms and of how norms relate to constitutional protections — The National Enquirer pushed the limits of journalistic norms—and in the process called into question the legal protections enjoyed by the media.

Discussion: CNBC, Vanity Fair, @theatlideas, Business Insider and Vox, more at Techmeme »

Sarah Frier / Bloomberg:

Facebook says it is exploring ways to address anti-vaccine misinformation including reducing or removing it from recommendations and demotion in search results — Facebook Inc., under pressure to reduce harmful, misleading and fake content, said it is exploring removing anti-vaccine information …

Discussion: @rmac18, The Daily Beast, schiff.house.gov, @jayrosen_nyu, Gizmodo, Engadget, CNN, The Week, Fast Company, Fortune, The Hill, Business Insider and The Verge

James Vincent / The Verge:

OpenAI says it won't release the dataset behind GPT-2, its new text generator algorithm that can write, translate, and summarize text, due to fears of misuse — OpenAI's researchers knew they were on to something when their language modeling program wrote a convincing essay on a topic they disagreed with.

Discussion: The Guardian, MIT Technology Review, Business Insider, @enkiv2, Fast Company, Gizmodo, @techreview, @jimwaterson, OpenAI Blog and The Next Web, more at Techmeme »

Kim Lyons / Columbia Journalism Review:

Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh files complaint with National Labor Review Board, claiming Post-Gazette's publisher threatened to fire staff for union activity — On Saturday night, February 9, John Robinson Block—publisher of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, one of more than a dozen news outlets owned …

Discussion: New York Times, @cjr, @cjr, CNN, @michaelafuoco, @jsilverpg, @jamieson, @pgnewsguild and @byrosenberg

Todd Spangler / Variety:

SEC filing: Spotify paid €300M to buy Gimlet Media and Anchor; Spotify told investors it expects to spend $400M-$500M in total on podcast acquisitions in 2019 — - After Machinima Shutdown, Rooster Teeth Revives ‘Inside Gaming’ and Rescues Other Machinima Shows

Discussion: TechCrunch, more at Techmeme »

Vindu Goel / New York Times:

Critics say India's proposed internet rules, which could let Indian officials compel companies to remove posts, violate constitutional free speech protections — NEW DELHI — India's government has proposed giving itself vast new powers to suppress internet content, igniting a heated battle …

Discussion: @sflcin and @histoftech

Gwilym Mumford / The Guardian:

BBC says This Week, its late night politics show hosted by Andrew Neil, will conclude this summer after 16 years on the air — Lighthearted late-night politics show will conclude in the summer when its current series ends — The BBC's long-running late-night politics show This Week …

Discussion: The Times & The Sunday Times, BBC, @mrharrycole, @mattkmoore, @hackneyabbott, @iaindale, @afneil and Guido Fawkes

Mark Di Stefano / BuzzFeed:
Sources detail the “generational shift” occurring at the BBC, as it loses four high-profile male presenters in recent months, including David Dimbleby

Discussion: @markdistef, @markdistef, @aljwhite, @tomwhx and @alexgspence

Adam Jacobson / Radio & Television Business Report:

Apollo Global Management acquires majority stake in Cox Media Group's TV arm; earlier report placed the value at $3B — DAYTON, OHIO — On January 26, RBR+TVBR overheard a conversation involving a Cox Media Group Ohio employee who noted “we should know in a couple of weeks” what their fate would be …

Discussion: Broadcasting & Cable, Bloomberg, CNBC, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, @adamrjacobson1 and @b_fung

Christine Schmidt / Nieman Lab:

Inside.com, which has raised $2.6M from SeedInvest and others, hit $1.1M in revenue in 2018 with 750K subscribers and a newsletter open rate of around 40% — Surprise: Subscribers to a nerdy bitcoin newsletter are just about as engaged as subscribers to a nerdy local newsletter.

Discussion: @jason and @niemanlab

Garett Sloane / Ad Age:

Sources: Facebook is working with some media partners to test connecting third-party ad tech, like Google Ad Manager, to Watch — Media partners could use Google and other ad tech to control advertising on the video service — Facebook wants to be friendlier to TV networks …

Melynda Fuller / MediaPost:

Hearst Magazines names its first chief data officer, Mike Smith, in charge of ad products, digital ad operations, and data capabilities — In its latest move as a data-driven content company, Hearst Magazines has appointed Mike Smith its first Chief Data Officer. — Smith will report to Hearst Magazines President Troy Young.

Discussion: Folio

Nobel Women's Initiative:

The Nobel Women's Initiative launches InterviewHer, a global database to connect media to women experts on conflict, peace, and security — Ottawa—February 13, 2019. — The Nobel Women's Initiative today launched InterviewHer, a global database that helps connect media to a wide range …

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More News:

Hillel Italie / Associated Press:
NPD BookScan: Jill Abramson's Merchants of Truth sold just over 2,800 print copies in its first week of publication, following plagiarism controversy

Discussion: @tomgara and @maxwelltani

Lucinda Southern / Digiday:
GQ UK launched GQ Hype, a free weekly digital publication which gets its revenue from display ads and content partnerships, in December, as a gateway to GQ

DW.COM:
Council of Europe report: attacks on journalists almost doubled YoY in 2018, and new threats like verbal abuse and public stigmatization increased

Jeremy Barr / Hollywood Reporter:
Sources: Fox rejected a 30-second ad called “It Can Happen Here,” set to air on Hannity for an Oscar-nominated documentary which recounts 1939 Nazi rally in NYC

Discussion: New York Magazine, Washington Post, Gothamist and Gizmodo

Eriq Gardner / Hollywood Reporter:
US Copyright Office has refused a copyright claim for the “Carlton Dance”, a potential blow to performers seeking rights to dance emotes in games like Fortnite

Discussion: Boing Boing, Variety, The Verge, The A.V. Club, Engadget, @abaesq, Mashable, @eriqgardner, PCGamesN, Waypoint and Fortune, more at Techmeme »

Joe Pompeo / Vanity Fair:
Sources: Col Allan, former longtime controversial editor-in-chief of New York Post, has been working as a consultant for News Corp. for the past three weeks

Discussion: @joepompeo, @joepompeo and New York Daily News

Earlier Picks:

Todd Spangler / Variety:
Cord-cutting accelerates as the five biggest U.S. pay-TV providers collectively lost around 3.2 million customers in 2018, a 4.2% decrease

Discussion: @tortured_verse and BGR

Tim Peterson / Digiday:
Sources: Snap is offering $40K to $50K per episode for original series that premiere on Snapchat, wants 10-12 episodes per series, each up to seven minutes long

Discussion: @petersontee and @digiday

Dade Hayes / Deadline:
CBS reports Q4 revenues of $4B, up 3% YoY, missing estimates, adjusted operating income of $837M, up 10% YoY, and says it has 8M direct-to-consumer subscribers

Discussion: MediaPost, Variety, CNBC, Multichannel News, Variety, Bloomberg, The Wrap, @lucas_shaw, @lucas_shaw, @jbflint, @lucas_shaw, Broadcasting & Cable, Business Insider, Variety and CBS Corporation SEC Filings

Alexander Russo / kappanonline.org:
Since Columbine, media coverage of school shootings has improved, but issues of accuracy, follow-up, and narrow focus on gun control advocacy remain

Discussion: Columbia Journalism Review, WBUR, Poynter, Poynter, @poynter, @kristenhare, @rpetty and @samsanders

Al Jazeera:
Maria Ressa has been released after spending one night in NBI custody and posting bail of 100K Philippine pesos, or about $1,900

Discussion: @mariaressa, Washington Post, The Guardian, CNN, @iamsuperbianca, RAPPLER, CNN, @brianstelter, @issamahmed, Global Voices Advocacy, @kathleencarrll, The Guardian, Associated Press, Reuters and philstar.com

Peter Kafka / Recode:
Apple has signed many publishers to its upcoming news service with a 50% revenue split, sources say, but that split likely won't satisfy major newspapers

Discussion: Slate, Stratechery, @rsg, Gizmodo, @slate, @siobhannyc, @jessicalessin, @dhh, @tariqkrim, American Press Institute, @joshuatopolsky, @jmcduling, @pkafka, The Loop, 9to5Mac, @stratechery, @mathewi, @donie and VentureBeat

From Techmeme:

Raffaele Huang / Wall Street Journal:
Apple removes WhatsApp, Threads, Signal, and Telegram from its App Store in China, after orders from the country's regulators citing national security concerns

Ryan Morrison / Tom's Guide:
Microsoft researchers introduce VASA-1, an AI model that can create a realistic talking face video from a portrait photo and an audio file, in research preview

Foo Yun Chee / Reuters:
Sources: EU may accept Apple's proposal to open its NFC payments tech to rivals, and may close its antitrust probe in May, letting Apple avoid hefty fines

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