Empty Amazon gift cards ruin family’s Christmas; CNN sued for libel; Who’s Watching YOU Online; and more! – Whispers and Warnings – 01/02/2019

Empty Amazon Gift Cards Ruin Family’s Christmas
Gift card fraud leaves Lakeland family without Christmas presents
“I went through the proper channels, but got nowhere,” Cox said. “Amazon says they can’t do anything because I got them at a retailer. And the retailer says they can’t do anything because they are Amazon cards and they give no refund on them.”

Uh-Oh! Alexa Crashes!
‘Alexa, are you OK?’ Amazon’s smart assistant crashes on Christmas
“During the outage, the best Alexa could do in response to people’s voice commands was: ‘Sorry, I’m having trouble understanding right now.'”

“Blogger” doesn’t immunize a writer from libel and defamation laws.
Yonkers blogger hit with $7 million defamation lawsuit
“Mueller asked the court to order Aris and the Yonkers Tribune to pay him $7 million in damages for the alleged loss of reputation, public ridicule and threats.”

Lawsuit against CNN by Florida hospital moves ahead.
Appeals court rules libel suit against CNN by hospital CEO can move forward
“The story in question — ‘Secret deaths: CNN finds high surgical death rate for children at a Florida hospital’ — ran in June 2015. The news report said mortality rates for pediatric procedures at St. Mary’s Hospital in West Palm Beach, Fla., were triple the national average.”

Vendome Media is shutting down.
B2B Publisher Vendome Media Group Is Shutting Its Doors
“The 14-year-old company sold three business units to new owners in 2018, including Healthcare Informatics, which was sold to Endeavor Business Media in November; ENT Journal, which Sage Publishing took over in October; and the Institute for the Advancement of Behavioral Healthcare, which was sold to HMP in July.”

Interesting article on Internet privacy – who’s watching YOU??
Tech’s invasion of our privacy made us more paranoid in 2018
“We think it’s a good thing that people are more interested in using privacy controls and managing their information online,” a Facebook spokesperson said in a statement. “In 2019, we want to keep making sure people know about the controls they have available and how to use them.”

Here’s what happens when you blog against the government in Russia
Russian blogger critical of authorities jailed for six years
“We knew that we wouldn’t get an honest and fair verdict,” Popkov said. “There was a very profound political subtext throughout the case.”

Another publisher shuts its doors
Lighthouse media group, publisher of Cape Cod lifestyle magazines, shuts down
“The company published 15 luxury lifestyle magazines or guides covering the Cape, South Shore and New England, according to its website. Among its publications were Cape Cod Magazine, Southern New England Home and New England Boating.”

Newpaper publisher drags his private life into his paper
Arizona newspaper publisher uses his publication to accuse wife of poisoning attempt
“It almost makes you feel like you want to leave town. He made me look like this horrible person.”

Big publishers abandon print versions of their work
All the Magazine Brands That Moved Away From Print This Year
“…perhaps came as no surprise when a number of brands across three leading magazine publishers announced they would be more or less eliminating their print products.”

CBS/Showtime get sued for “Billions”
Wall Street Performance Coach Sues ‘Billions’ Creator Andrew Ross Sorkin, Showtime For Copyright Infringement
“After the first episode, people in New York who knew me said, ‘Oh, my god, it’s you,’” Shull said in an interview. A journalist from The New York Observer called, asking to write a profile of the “real-life Wendy.”