online news

Breitbart News is preparing a lawsuit against a “major media company” over claims that it is a white nationalist website, it said today in an exclusive statement to The Hill. It said it objects to a “baseless and defamatory claim that Breitbart News is a ‘white nationalist website.’ ”

If the wild, unpredictable 2016 presidential campaign is a reality show starring Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, think of election night as the series finale. Based on the record-shattering ratings for the debates and all-time audience highs for the cable news networks during the past year, it’s likely that Tuesday will be the most-watched night of election coverage ever.

Newsy, the E.W. Scripps-owned video news service, is launching a series leading up to the election to explore issues it believes need more attention.

Sunday is a big day for Vice Media, as its new HBO half-hour news show drops, as does a redesign of its news site and the debut of Vice Money, its business news channel. EIC Matt Phillips, a veteran of Quartz and The Wall Street Journal,  says the site will feature requisite servings of “youth-splaining.” Phillips will be the primary writer on the video-centric channel, one of a number of new verticals Vice has in the offing.

The news service from Scripps has launched on a channel on Cincinnati Bell Fioptics system.

Irving Washington, the Online News Association’s current deputy director, will succeed Jane McDonnell as the organization’s executive director on Jan. 1, 2017, ONA said today. Washington currently manages logistics for the group’s annual meeting and runs its $1 Million Challenge Fund in Journalism Education, among other initiatives.

Facebook is paying more than $50 million to 140 video creators, including legacy publishers, digital media companies and celebrities. BuzzFeed leads the pack with a $3.05 million deal over one year, with the New York Times and CNN not far behind, according to a document obtained by The Wall Street Journal.

Some see a news hole left behind by the shrinking newsrooms of traditional city newspapers and alt-weeklies. Others want to woo smartphone-addicted millennial readers. They’re using newsletters and social media like Instagram to build an audience for their sites.

ABC/Disney-owned KGO is the juggernaut among local media on social in San Francisco according to Shareablee data. It holds a comfortable lead in both total actions and fans/followers with Fox’s KTVU as its most viable competitor.

In newsrooms across the country, Facebook’s instant video option might be changing the way we consume social media. Reporters need only a smartphone camera and Facebook account to capture live, unedited video that can be viewed on their personal or station’s pages and websites. Consider it the visual equivalent of listening to the police scanner. Above, Kristine Sorensen, host of KDKA’s Pittsburgh Today Live, points out items for the upcoming show as she does a Facebook Live intro before broadcasting starts. (Darrell Sapp photo)

Ah, readers — give ’em something good for free and they’ll never want to pay again. So finds a new poll from Reuters in April that saw 81% of readers agreeing that a news brand was synonymous with quality, but two-thirds of them unwilling to pay for it in a digital format no matter how good it is. The study of more than 1,200 readers also found these readers are also curious about VR, and they still haven’t abandoned the news homepage.

NBC O&O WNBC New York (DMA 1) today appointed Ben Berkowitz vice president, digital. His first day will be Monday, June 6. At WNBC, Berkowitz will manage the editorial and business […]

Newsroom morale may have sunk with cutbacks and leadership departures at Digital First’s flagship Denver Post, but Reid Wicoff, its digital chief, says its struggles are inspiring innovation. Video — via its nascent DPTV effort — has been a boon, he tells NetNewsCheck Editor Michael Depp, and so has its pot vertical, The Cannabist. In an exclusive interview, he says digital now accounts for almost a third of the paper’s overall revenue.

CNN is planning to pour $20 million into its digital products as it looks to expand its reach while also fending off the growth of a new crop of online media companies. The new investment will be focused on three key areas: Web video, mobile and global expansion.

Newscasts produced by Augusta, Ga., NBC affiliate WAGT came to an end three weeks ago when the station was bought by Gray TV. But some WAGT staffers seem to have gone rogue, and continue producing NBC26 news online, via Facebook and website NBC26.tv. That site has a copyright to Media General, which sold the station to Gray last month.

Yahoo’s announced the loss of around 1,700 jobs and a cataclysmic refocusing of its website. But Katie Couric, the glitzy Global News Anchor for the embattled Web portal, still plans to wait and see what happens to the company, a source close to the journalist says.

The Chicago-based multiplatform digital programming service abruptly ceased operations after two years on Thursday.

E.W. Scripps’ millennial-focused over-the-top news service Newsy has earned a spot on Apple’s list of the top apps of 2015 for its Apple TV platform.

As Yahoo considers selling its core Internet business, its $10 million investment in Katie Couric is coming under scrutiny as a lackluster move. There’s uncertainty over how many video views Couric has garnered, but the math suggests that the revenue from ads tied to them isn’t close to making up for her salary. Couric was initially a major coup for CEO Marissa Mayer as part of a move to expand original content.

Maybe not for traffic, but publishers are using them to glean insights. Analytics company Parse.ly found that sites are expanding their use of article tags to track sponsored content and control paywall access.

The E.W. Scripps-owned WCPO.com is moving in on Cincinnati.com’s turf, though both outlets ultimately see the competition as driving richer, deeper journalism for the city and the greater Cincinnati region.