Top News:
Peter Kafka / Vox:
HBO Max to launch in May and cost $15 a month, same as the existing HBO; AT&T plans to bundle free subscriptions for some customers of its other services — HBOMax, WarnerMedia's new streaming service, will feature all of HBO's shows, like Game of Thrones, plus new programing. HBO
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Financial Times, Fast Company, Variety, The Wrap, MediaPost, @hbomax, CNBC, Variety, The Streamable, Light Reading, Crain's New York Business, Financial Times, Variety, Wall Street Journal, @reckless, Broadcasting & Cable, @xpangler, @pkafka, @marvelology, @reckless, @id_aa_carmack, @richlightshed, @xpangler, The Streamable, @mgsiegler, @xpangler, @reckless, @xpangler, The Wrap, The Verge, /Film, Multichannel News and Hollywood Reporter, more at Techmeme »
Ryan Glasspiegel / The Big Lead:
Deadspin's interim editor-in-chief, Barry Petchesky, who has worked for the publication for 10 years, says he has been fired for “not sticking to sports” — It was a solid bet when The Daily Beast reported that G/O Media management issued an edict to Deadspin to stick to sports …
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@barry, Wall Street Journal, @kerrymflynn, @gmgunion, Poynter, The Outline, @dansolomon, @bubbaprog, The Guardian, @gmgunion, Breitbart, New York Post, @megreenwell, @sarahspain, @stephentotilo, @outline, @dansolomon, @jemelehill, @maxkennerly, @byjoelanderson, @jonbernhardt, @ashleyfeinberg, @goldietaylor, @robneyer, @libbycwatson, @bruce_arthur, @dceiver, @brianpshea, @taylorcocke, @catmsilverman, @sdkstl, @jonbolds, @natalieweiner, @maxwelltani, @weareyourfek, @sportsrapport, @ryanlcooper, @kentremendous, @mlcalderone, Washington Post and Awful Announcing
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Maxwell Tani / The Daily Beast:
G/O Media Editorial Director Paul Maidment calls Deadspin's focus an “incredibly broad mandate”: “We are sorry that some on the Deadspin staff don't agree”
Discussion:
Sports Media Guy, @sgtjanedoe, @kantrowitz, @andrewkirell, @shortformernie, Deadline, bookforum.com, @yc, Mother Jones, The Wrap and Business Insider
Kelsey Mckinney / @mckinneykelsey:
Deadspin writer says G/O Media management removed a letter to the readers from Deadspin staff that criticised the recent addition of autoplay videos to the site
Discussion:
CNN, @gmgunion, @chronotope, @sueonthetown, VICE, @barry, @williamfleitch, @katiedrumm, @mckinneykelsey, @ashleyfeinberg, Awful Announcing, Deadspin and The Daily Beast
BBC:
Facebook agrees to pay a £500K fine to the UK for its role in the Cambridge Analytica scandal but makes no admission of liability — Facebook has agreed to pay a £500,000 fine imposed by the UK's data protection watchdog for its role in the Cambridge Analytica scandal.
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Data & Society, Press Gazette, VentureBeat, Reuters and CNBC, more at Techmeme »
Will Cathcart / Washington Post:
WhatsApp sues NSO Group after investigating an attack that sent malware to 1,400 devices, targeting 100+ journalists and human rights defenders — Will Cathcart is head of WhatsApp, which is owned by Facebook. — In May, WhatsApp announced that we had detected and blocked a new kind …
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Financial Times, @wcathcart, Beyond Search, MediaNama, @jifa, @rasmus_kleis, @citizenlab, @botherder, The Next Web, The Verge, @alexstamos, @scarybeasts, Engadget, @karenattiah, @pierasselin, @marietjeschaake, @zeynep, @ericgeller, Adweek, @financialtimes, Gizmodo, The Citizen Lab, Inquirer, Fortune, The Register, The Hill, MIT Technology Review, CNET, New York Times and TechCrunch, more at Techmeme »
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Avi Asher-Schapiro / Committee to Protect Journalists:
Q&A with Maati Monjib, co-founder of the Moroccan Association for Investigative Journalism and a target of NSO Group's spyware, on the impact of surveillance — Pegasus, the cellphone spyware tool sold by the Israeli firm NSO Group, is one of the most powerful surveillance systems governments can buy, experts say.
Discussion:
@aaschapiro and The Verge
Jason Gurwin / The Streamable:
Sony says it will shut down its PlayStation Vue live TV subscription service on January 30 — The Streamable is reader-supported and may earn an affiliate commission when you sign up with our links. — This is breaking news, the story will be updated. — After much speculation …
Discussion:
PlayStation.Blog, USA Today, Variety, Variety, @pkafka, @pkafka, MediaPost, /Film and Awful Announcing, more at Techmeme »
Ben Terris / Washington Post:
James Bennet may be a candidate for NYT EIC; he has wrestled with family allegiances, like to brother Michael, but has recused himself from coverage in the past — Michael Bennet is running for president. His sibling James is a big shot at the New York Times.
Discussion:
@drvox, @drewharwell, @lam_barrett, @justinjm1, @shanegoldmacher, @mlcalderone, @mlcalderone and @ashleyfeinberg
Financial Times:
Sources: the Barclays are considering selling the Telegraph Media Group, bought in 2004 for £665M, but have rebuffed an approach by the owner of the Daily Mail — The billionaire Barclay brothers, who own The Ritz hotel in London and Britain's Telegraph newspaper …
Discussion:
The Times & The Sunday Times, Bloomberg and HoldtheFrontPage
Committee to Protect Journalists:
Somalia tops CPJ's 2019 Global Impunity Index for the fifth year in a row; since 2008, 318 journalists have been murdered with no prosecution in 86% of cases — CPJ's 2019 Global Impunity Index spotlights countries where journalists are slain and their killers go free
Discussion:
@pressfreedom, @bagehots, @usagmgov, @joshua__frank, @pressfreedom, @dillidurast, @pressfreedom, @nujp, @spj_tweets and RAPPLER
John Sands / Knight Foundation:
Local news survey: 45% of Americans trust it “quite a lot” or more; 53% of Americans view it as balanced though 50% of Democrats trust it vs. 27% of Republicans — When it comes to trust, local news media continue to outperform their national counterparts.
Discussion:
Nieman Lab, Knight Foundation, @brizzyc, @dangillmor, @newsalliance, @maryellenklas, @newsbyschmidt, @niemanlab, The Rural Blog and Fast Company
Hadas Gold / CNN:
A look at how Murdoch's Sun reflects and shapes readers' opinions with Scottish, Irish, and English editions taking different stances on issues like Brexit — London (CNN)On September 5, as the UK's Prime Minister Boris Johnson and opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn brawled in Parliament …
Manish Singh / TechCrunch:
MX Player, a streaming and offline video app popular in India, raises ~$111M Series A led by Tencent; source: MX Player has a post-money valuation of $500M — MX Player, a popular video app that offers both local playback and streaming services, said on Wednesday that it has raised $110.8 million …
Discussion:
@akm1410, @tsuvik, @jonrussell, The Economic Times, @dinsmore_steele, Inc42 Media, @satyan and @satyan, more at Techmeme »
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