Top News:
Benjamin Mullin / Wall Street Journal:
Private equity firm Great Hill Partners has agreed to acquire Gizmodo Media Group from Univision, forming a new company led by digital media exec Jim Spanfeller — Private-equity firm Great Hill Partners has agreed to acquire Gizmodo Media Group from Univision Communications Inc. …
Discussion:
Nieman Lab, Business Wire, Variety, The Wrap, TechCrunch, Radio & Television …, Hollywood Reporter, Awful Announcing, @jbenton, New York Magazine, MediaPost, KABE-LP, @wsj, @benmullin, Crain's New York Business, Adweek, @gmgunion, @mlcalderone, @danreilly11, NBC News, Mediaite, Broadcasting & Cable, @jeremymbarr, @asharma, @joshsternberg, @mlcalderone, @bruce_arthur, @gracegthomas, @bobbybigwheel, @ryanmer, @markdistef, @ryanfmandelbaum, @jwhitbrook, @nash076, @fawfulfan, @benmullin, @jimwaterson, @jeremymbarr, @edgeofsports, @rafat, @brendengallager, @mostlyinane and @benmullin, Thanks:@steverubel
BBC:
UK whitepaper proposes “code of best practice” for how internet platforms should deal with harmful content, suggests expanding liability to tech company execs — Internet sites could be fined or blocked if they fail to tackle “online harms” such as terrorist propaganda and child abuse, under government plans.
Discussion:
GOV.UK, CNN, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Breitbart, @vranicawsj, Forbes, @margot_james_mp, Hit & Run, @tomlinsoncj, @tonyromm, @jason_kint, @jason_kint, @javedkhanceo, @mathver, Index on Censorship, @parmy, @notjessewalker, The Next Web, The Guardian, @mungowitz, @paul_shetler, @digiphile, @cjsnowdon, @auerfeld, @jmechner, @kazweida, Bloomberg and The Guardian, more at Techmeme »
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Mark Murray / NBC News:
Poll: 69% of Americans use social media at least once a day, 82% believe it wastes their time, 55% think it spreads lies and falsehoods, 57% say “it divides us” — A sizable majority say social media does more to divide the country than unite it, according to the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.
Lloyd Grove / The Daily Beast:
Sources: Megyn Kelly is planning a comeback following her departure from NBC News and is currently considering her options, including podcasts — Megyn Kelly's antipathy towards Donald Trump may torpedo a return to right wing media—while the NBC ‘blackface’ controversy may prevent her from rejoining the media mainstream.
Discussion:
@stevendupler, @tvietor08, @thedailybeast, @monaheart1229, @johnnydollar01 and Mediaite
Brian Stelter / CNN:
Joseph Azam, who resigned from News Corp in late 2017, says other employees were also troubled by Fox News' rhetoric — New York (CNN Business)Joseph Azam joined Rupert Murdoch's News Corp in 2015. He says he loved working there. But after the presidential election, he noticed a disturbing “change in tone.”
Discussion:
Newsweek and @brianstelter
Stephen Fowler / Columbia Journalism Review:
Georgia's proposed Ethics in Journalism Act would compel reporters to hand over audio and video recordings and photos free of charge to interviewees when asked — In the waning hours of Georgia's legislative session, between votes on sex trafficking and organ procurement …
Discussion:
@jclassrooms, @senator_davis, @cjr, @stphnfwlr, @stphnfwlr and @knightlat
Emily Bell / The Guardian:
Facebook and Google have placed op-eds and dozens of paid “native ad” articles across major publications, amid other media efforts, to steer future regulations — Three years on from the US election, tech firms are seeking rules that won't hit their profits
Discussion:
New York Times, Fortune, Beyond Search, @stedavies, @janebsinger and @mediaguardian, more at Techmeme »
Nico Lang / Columbia Journalism Review:
Interview with Andy Towle, founder and EIC of LGBTQ news site Towleroad, on its origins before social media, how it has survived, and its evolving news approach — Towleroad began as a hobby. An LGBTQ news site, it was started in 2003 after its founder and editor-in-chief, Andy Towle, left Genre, a gay lifestyle magazine.
Discussion:
@sarphanuzunoglu, @nbj914, @cjr, @hemantmehta and @msignorile
Laura McGann / Vox:
Mark Halperin apologized for his conduct towards women in an interview Thursday yet his punditry on political candidates remained sexist — His first interview post-#MeToo included a pretty sexist assessment of the 2020 field. — Mark Halperin swears he's changed his personal conduct since …
Discussion:
@lkmcgann and @nishachittal
Christine Schmidt / Nieman Lab:
A look at Facebook's “Today In” feature that only ~1.1M users have opted into so far and which is mostly surfacing crime and courts news — Our analysis of the links 10 cities saw in Facebook's local news section found funeral home obituaries, years-old stories, and yes, some meaningful local journalism.
Discussion:
@dkiesow, @ewerickson and @jbenton
NPR:
Q&A with Lawrence Bartley, the ex-prisoner and Marshall Project staffer behind News Inside, a print publication which has been distributed to 30 prisons so far — NPR's Ari Shapiro speaks with Lawrence Bartley, who spent 27 years in state prison, about why he's creating …
Discussion:
@toddwhitley, @josephcneff, @marshallproj, @nikki_lew, @tommy_robb, @andeps and @lawbartley
Jon Levine / The Wrap:
Former Fox News host Greta Van Susteren is to host a nightly show, airing on local news company Gray Television's 93 television stations from September — Former Fox News host Greta Van Susteren will return to television with a new syndicated show on local news giant Gray Television, the company announced on Monday.
Discussion:
Variety, TVNewser, Broadcasting & Cable, TVSpy and Los Angeles Times