Top News:
Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
Sources: ByteDance, owner of TikTok, is developing a paid music service via a new app it expects to debut as early as this fall, mostly in emerging markets — - ByteDance plans to target listeners in emerging markets — Company has already secured rights from Indian record labels
Discussion:
Digiday, RAIN News, Variety, Gizmodo, Engadget, TechCrunch, The Next Web, @singareddynm, @lucas_shaw, Mashable, @venkatananth, @luluyilun, Fast Company, Digiday and Music Business Worldwide, more at Techmeme »
Natasha Lomas / TechCrunch:
Study: despite News Feed changes, “junk news” from known sources of disinformation in EU get 1.2x-4x the engagement of professional news sources on Facebook — A study carried out by academics at Oxford University to investigate how junk news is being shared on social media …
Discussion:
Nieman Lab, The Computational …, @polbots, @peterjukes, CNBC, @fabiochiusi, @peterjukes, @thegrugq and @benimmo
Josh Constine / TechCrunch:
Instagram quietly overhauls the design of IGTV to have just one central feed, much like TikTok, as it tries to ramp up the app's growth a year after launch — Instagram conquered Stories, but it's losing the battle for the next video formats. TikTok is blowing up with an algorithmically suggested vertical …
Discussion:
@joshconstine, @joshconstine, 9to5Mac and Digiday, more at Techmeme »
Sara Fischer / Axios:
Al Jazeera is planning to launch a cross-platform business vertical called AJ Impact with 10 full-time staffers to start — Al Jazeera is planning to launch a cross-platform business vertical called AJ Impact, executives tell Axios. It will feature original reporting from Al Jazeera journalists worldwide …
James Walker / Press Gazette:
Channel 4 News blocked from Brexit Party events following the outlet's investigation into the funding of party leader Nigel Farage — Channel 4 News is understood to be in talks with the Brexit Party after it was blacklisted from party events following an investigation into the funding of leader Nigel Farage.
Discussion:
@marinahyde, paulwiltshireblog, Channel 4 News, @bendepear, @andywigmore, @daaronovitch, @davidlammy and indy100
Columbia Journalism Review:
Secretly recorded video of Austria's vice chancellor expressing desire to limit media freedoms underscores months-long threat to Austrian media — On Friday, May 17, the German newspaper, Süddeutsche Zeitung, published a secretly recorded video. In it, Austria's vice chancellor …
Discussion:
New York Times, Vox, BBC, @willfitzgibbon, @makanaeyre, The Week and The Guardian
openDemocracy:
Insiders say Facebook and Google pressured EU's expert group on disinformation to soften fake news regulations and avoid discussing their abuse of market power — On the eve of European elections, the tech giants stand accused of sabotaging the European Union's fight against disinformation.
Discussion:
@taylor_owen, @mantzarlis, @mantzarlis, @mantzarlis, @rowlsmanthorpe, @emmalbriant, @taylor_owen, @johnobrennan2, @mantzarlis and The Guardian
New York Times:
Analysis: in 2019, Trump has far outspent individual Democratic candidates on Facebook ads, with a total spend of $4.9M, as he returns to his 2016 strategy — President Trump's re-election campaign has spent heavily on Facebook ads, reprising a strategy that was central to his 2016 victory.
Discussion:
@antoniogm, @mikeisaac, The Stranger, @blmohr, @davidgura, @bpimedia, @profcarroll, @juancpedreira, @kelseymsutton and Contemptor
Abbey Crain / al.com:
Alabama Public Television refuses to air an episode of children's animated series “Arthur” that featured a gay wedding; APT has no plans to air it in the future — Alabama Public Television chose not to air PBS's Arthur episode that included a same-sex marriage.
Discussion:
MTV, The Wrap, Newser, Current, Talking Points Memo, NBC News, @cmclymer, Decider, @nycsouthpaw, @dabeard, @aldotcom, @saladinahmed, @thedweck, Slate, The Week, Fox News, New York Post, Complex, ScreenRant, The Hill, The A.V. Club, Mediaite and TVLine
Dan Kennedy / Nieman Lab:
The 016, a small social network with no algorithmic feed, seeks to connect local media, organizations, and businesses with the citizens of Worcester, MA — Mark Henderson was getting ready to throw in the towel on his dreams of becoming a successful media entrepreneur.
Discussion:
American Press Institute, @henderson_mark, @jbenton, @niemanlab and Dan Kennedy
The Daily Beast:
Sources: Fox News host Pete Hegseth had multiple private conversations with Trump since January, asking him to pardon US servicemen convicted of war crimes — The president isn't just watching the network, he's taking policy advice from its morning hosts. — If the president pardons U.S …
Discussion:
@willsommer, Observer, CNN, Talking Points Memo, New Republic, @shaneharris, @kenklippenstein, @chillmage, @existentialfish, NBC 10 Philadelphia, @thedailybeast, @heerjeet, Mediaite, Hmm Daily and Slate
Electronic Frontier Foundation:
EFF launches TOSsed Out, a project to highlight how content moderation by platforms, whether automated or by human intervention, unfairly bans people — San Francisco—The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) today launched TOSsed Out, a project to highlight the vast spectrum of people silenced …
Discussion:
@rasmus_kleis, @eff, @jilliancyork, Gizmodo and Boing Boing