Top News:
Janko Roettgers / Variety:
Spotify says Facebook's Libra cryptocurrency, launching in 2020, will help subscription services by reducing payment friction and opening new markets — When Facebook officially announced its plans for a new cryptocurrency called Libra Tuesday, it also revealed that Spotify was part …
Discussion:
TechCrunch, Nieman Lab, Facebook, New York Magazine, Variety, The Guardian, New York Times, @eringriffith, @lyman_brian, @reckless, Cybercultural, @super_crypto, @happicamp, @b_fung, Digital Trends, @scribandotcom, @matthewkeyslive, @max_read, @joshconstine and Spotify, more at Techmeme »
BuzzFeed News:
Marcus Epstein, a former contributor to VDare with other white nationalist ties, has been writing opinion pieces for WSJ, National Review, The Hill, and others — A former Republican operative notorious for his connections to white nationalists has established himself as an opinion contributor …
Discussion:
@tomgara, @rmac18, @bgrueskin, @katestarbird, @charliemagne, @craigsilverman, @brendannyhan, @bernstein, Boing Boing and @mrbrianhughes
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: CBS is preparing an offer for Viacom in the coming weeks, following last week's CBS board meeting; Viacom's Bob Bakish likely to lead combined company — Offer could come in coming weeks; hurdles include determining price of stock transaction and picking new leadership team
Discussion:
Multichannel News, @benmullin, @taralach and Adweek, more at Techmeme »
Christine Schmidt / Nieman Lab:
How The Washington Post, NBC News, and The Dallas Morning News are using TikTok to share news stories, or at least start participating in memes — “When I was a beat reporter, I used to look at national news and say: How can I localize this? I feel like this is the other way around …
Amy Zimmerman / The Daily Beast:
Eight women accuse Max Landis, the “Bright” screenwriter and son of director John Landis, of emotional, physical, and sexual abuse — Eight accusers have come forward against the ‘Bright’ screenwriter and Hollywood scion alleging a pattern of emotional, physical, and sexual abuse that spans a decade.
Max Blau / Columbia Journalism Review:
After an Atlanta radio host spoke of gender discrimination, she was laid off; she filed a charge with the US EEOC, and now her old boss is out of the newsroom — One afternoon in June 2018, as Alison Tyler listened to the radio on her drive home from work, she realized a familiar voice had disappeared from Atlanta's airwaves.
Patrick Coffee / Adweek:
Advertisers, agencies, and social platforms form the Global Alliance for Responsible Media, a coalition to develop methods for protecting brands and consumers — Google, Facebook team up with agencies and advertisers for the Global Alliance for Responsible Media
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, Ad Age, GroupM, @wsjcmo, @jeffjarvis, The Hill, TechCrunch, Reuters and AdExchanger
Bloomberg:
In mainland China, the Hong Kong protests are scrubbed from search engine results and social networks, while state media blames the movement on US interference — - Information about mass marches removed from Chinese internet — State media narrative blames protests on U.S. interference
Discussion:
Slate
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
Amazon's Twitch has acquired social networking platform Bebo, source says for $25M, to bolster its esports business — While Facebook makes a bold move into cryptocurrency to capitalise on its multi-billion user base, a social network that was once a credible competitor to it has quietly been snapped up by a subsidiary of Amazon.
Discussion:
The Drum, @sirslaw_, @mathewi, GeekWire, The Guardian and Fortune, more at Techmeme »
Tatiana Cirisano / Billboard:
Wixen sues Pandora for alleged copyright infringement, claims it displayed lyrics without authorization; Spotify settled a $1.6B suit brought by Wixen last year — Music publisher Wixen says Pandora is “willful and deliberate” in using unlicensed song lyrics on the platform.
Discussion:
The Verge and Techdirt, more at Techmeme »
Lillian Rizzo / Wall Street Journal:
TV station owners CBS, Cox, Scripps, Fox, and Tegna settle Justice Department antitrust charges that they illegally coordinated on sales of local ad spots — CBS, Cox and others agree to stop sharing competitively sensitive information for seven years — A group of five television station owners …
Discussion:
Reuters, U.S. Department of Justice and Broadcasting & Cable
Chris Welch / The Verge:
Comcast adds eye control as an accessibility feature to its web-based remote control, says it supports all popular eye gaze hardware and software — Comcast is introducing eye control to its X1 cable platform, a new effort that the company says will improve the experience of watching TV …
Discussion:
Fast Company, VentureBeat, @fastcompany, @fastcompany, Comcast, TechCrunch, Multichannel News, Media Star, UPI and Light Reading