Top News:


CNN hiring Sarah Isgur is puzzling given her reported loyalty pledge to Trump's anti-press agenda and numerous critical tweets of CNN, reporters, and Democrats — Sarah Isgur has spent her young career in the public square. She did communications work for the Republican National Committee …
RELATED:

By hiring Sarah Isgur, CNN is aiming for a both-sides-are-equal type of coverage in a bid to boost its ratings, positioning it between MSNBC and Fox News
Discussion:
Poynter, @samstein, @sulliview, @tripgabriel, @matthewwolfff, @ericschultz, @irin, @simonmaloy, @nytimes, @matthewwolfff, Jacobin, @blackamazon, @mikiebarb, @jeffjarvis, @atrupar, Vox, @simonmaloy, @dabeard, bookforum.com, Vanity Fair, @ericschultz, @kortizart, @dangillmor, @bgrueskin, @universalshow, @msignorile, emptywheel, @sewellchan, @eugene_scott, @lpolgreen, @jsilverpg, @roigfranzia, @aaschapiro, @davidmackau, @stevekrak, @kimmasters, @aoc, @fawfulfan, @ericschultz, @joshschwerin, @patrickruffini, @green_footballs, @mattdpearce, New York Times and The Daily Caller


Roku reports Q4 revenue of $275.7M, up 46% YoY and vs. $262.11M est., says it has 27.1M active accounts, up 40% YoY; revenue for 2018 grew 45% to $742.5M — Roku wants to become a billion-dollar company in 2019. The streaming device maker told investors Thursday that it projects …
Discussion:
Digiday, MediaPost, Roku Investor Relations, AdExchanger, @jank0, @digiday and @jank0, more at Techmeme »


Pinterest has stopped returning results for searches on vaccinations, differentiating between freedom of speech and freedom of reach — Programming note: The Interface will be off Thursday as I finish up a project that I will share with you next week. — Since the reckoning …
RELATED:


AT&T says it is pulling all advertising from YouTube, after reports of pedophiles openly using the platform; Nestle and Epic Games have also pulled ads — - AT&T is pulling its ads from YouTube following reports that pedophiles have latched onto videos of young children and lurk in the comments section.
Discussion:
Ad Age, CNBC, MediaPost, Reuters, WIRED UK, The Wrap, Tubefilter, Boing Boing, The A.V. Club, @winnersusedrugs, @cnbc, The Verge, Engadget, The Verge, @danielmadison78, @mattbinder, @bmorrissey, The Verge, Adweek, Gizmodo, 9to5Google, Fortune, Tubefilter, TechCrunch, Engadget and Variety, more at Techmeme »
RELATED:


YouTube says it has terminated 400+ channels and deleted tens of millions of comments in response to concerns about its videos being used to exploit children
Discussion:
Washington Post, @yoda, Mashable and Engadget, more at Techmeme »

Investigation: YouTube is monetizing sexualized videos of minors, many with comments from predators; Epic Games pauses all pre-roll ads following inquiry
Discussion:
AdExchanger, New York Times, Gizmodo, @profcarroll, Variety, The Daily Caller, Business Insider, BBC, The Guardian, Talking Biz News, @kgorphanides, @gregwilliams718, @andyvan, @mattburgess1, Adweek and Tubefilter


Investigation finds Facebook still lets users target ads based around interest in neo-Nazis; Facebook says it will remove the seldom-used audience groupings — Facebook makes money by charging advertisers to reach just the right audience for their message — even when that audience …
Discussion:
MediaNama, @katzish, @cshalby, @jmbooyah, Gizmodo, @russellbrandom, @jmbooyah, @juliaturner, @jmbooyah, Adweek, @juliacarriew and Engadget, more at Techmeme »


Women's Media Center report: female representation in newsrooms and bylines continues to disappoint; ~69% of AP and Reuters bylines go to men — The dismal factoids in a new report released Thursday by the Women's Media Center go on and on. And on. — While women outnumber men …
Discussion:
@laurahazardowen, Women's Media Center, @emilyrauhala, @nprinskeep, @andreagonram and @juliaioffe


Vanity Fair says its Oscars events, which culminate in the Oscars party, bring in $10M in revenue, but sponsorships make the party less exclusive and appealing — Vanity Fair has ruled the roost, but its guest list is bloated by corporate sponsorships. And now there's competition from Jay-Z.
Discussion:
@nytstyles, @ennisnyt, @katierosman and @katierosman


Dutch historian leaks un-aired video of Fox News host Tucker Carlson cursing and calling him names after accusations of hypocrisy and critique of Fox's agenda — In a heated exchange that was not aired, Rutger Bregman accused Carlson of being a pawn for the Murdochs and Kochs
Discussion:
@nowthisnews, @rcbregman, Contemptor, TVNewser, Newser, Boing Boing, @emilycrockett, @roguenasa, The Daily Beast, @jeffmiers, @felixsalmon, @kylegriffin1, Washington Post, Slate, The Hill, Vox, Esquire and The Daily Beast


Sources: Pinterest has confidentially filed for an IPO, seeking a valuation of at least $12B — Online-image search company is expected to seek a valuation of at least $12 billion — Pinterest Inc. has confidentially filed paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission …
Discussion:
CNBC, New York Times, Fast Company, Reuters, Bloomberg, Fortune, Business Insider, TechCrunch and AOL, more at Techmeme »


Michael Jackson's estate sues HBO for violating a 1992 non-disparagement clause by agreeing to air “Leaving Neverland”, which accuses Jackson of sexual abuse — The estate of Michael Jackson sued HBO on Thursday, accusing the cable channel of violating a non-disparagement clause …
Discussion:
Billboard, Metro.co.uk, Esquire, Daily Mail, CNBC, CNN, The A.V. Club, ScreenRant, Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone, Fortune, The Guardian, USA Today, Deadline, The Daily Caller and Just Jared


Winter Podcast Upfronts show that ad buyers are struggling to identify podcasts to advertise against, podcast episodes have a long lifespan, and more — Seven media companies, including ESPN and iHeartMedia, took turns on Feb. 20 pitching their podcasts to a screening room of advertisers and agency execs.


Q&A with Nikole Hannah-Jones, a NYT Magazine investigative reporter who covers racial injustice and segregation on diversifying newsrooms and reporting on race — “What's important is to say how and why does it happen, and that then helps us explain America to itself because the experience …
Discussion:
@brizzyc


iQiyi, Baidu's video streaming service, beats with Q4 revenue of $1B+, up 55% YoY, reports 87.4M subscribers at year's end — Stronger revenue driven by search-engine business and artificial-intelligence initiatives — Baidu Inc. BIDU .37% reported stronger-than-expected revenue …
Discussion:
TechCrunch, Baidu, MarketWatch and Stock Market News …, more at Techmeme »