Live Footage of Shootings Forces Facebook to Confront New Role

After the death of Philando Castile and sniper fire in Dallas were streamed on Facebook, the company faces questions about how to handle graphic content.

Pew: 72% of U.S. Adults Access News on Mobile Devices

Pew Research Center released the results of its two-part study, which analyzed the news consumption habits of U.S. adults. The findings showed TV remains the dominate source of news information for U.S. adults, as 57 percent of respondents said they 'often' get TV-based news. In addition, 38 percent of respondents said they 'often' get news from online sources, including social media, websites and apps.

The study found mobile news consumption has increased, as 72 percent of U.S. adults said they 'ever' get news on mobile devices, up from 54 percent in 2013. Two-thirds (66 percent) of respondents said they get news from both mobile devices and desktops/laptops, and of those users, 56 percent said they preferred mobile.

In terms of the trustworthiness of news sources, 22 percent of U.S. adults said they had 'a lot' of trust in the information they receive from local news organizations, while 60 percent said they had 'some' trust in the information they receive from those sources. For national news organizations, 18 percent of respondents said they had 'a lot' of trust in the information they receive from those sources, while 59 percent had 'some' trust.

When it comes to social media, the report showed only four percent of web-using U.S. adults said they had 'a lot' of trust in the information they receive from social media, while 30 percent said they had 'some' trust in that information.

Elsewhere, 26 percent of social media news consumers said they 'often' click on links to news stories on social media, while 54 percent said they 'sometimes' do. In addition, the report showed 11 percent of social media news consumers 'often' share or repost news stories on social media, while 38 percent said they 'sometimes' do. Finally, only five percent of social media news consumers said they 'often' discuss issues in the news on social media, while 26 percent said they 'sometimes' do.

Pew's complete report is available here.

Dallas shooting witness: I heard about 20 gunshots

Shots were reported fired in downtown Dallas on during a protest over shootings by police of black men in Louisiana and Minnesota, CNN affiliate KTVT said. A witness describes the scene to Don Lemon.

NASA probe to enter Jupiter's orbit, explore planet

NASA's Juno spacecraft is expected to help answer longstanding questions about the solar system's largest planet. CNN's Paul Vercammen reports.

Former Google Fiber GM Kevin Lo Joins Facebook

Former Google Fiber general manager Kevin Lo joined Facebook as director of infrastructure connectivity and investments.

Kurt Wagner and Mark Bergen of Re/code reported that Lo ran Google Fiber for five years, leading its operations in its initial three cities, adding that he will not work on Internet.org Free Basics.

Lo announced the move in a Facebook post (embedded below):

I'm excited to let you know that I'm joining Facebook this month as director of infrastructure connectivity and investments. I'll help shape our strategy and investments with partners to build wireless technologies and ecosystems that improve global connectivity.

Facebook has worked hard over the past decade to make the world more open and connected–from partner oriented initiatives like OCP (Open Compute Project) and TIP (Telecom Infra Project) to new wireless connectivity technologies and long-haul fiber optic cables. I'm thrilled about the opportunity to work with like-minded colleagues in leveraging Facebook's open and collaborative approach to innovation.

Facebook said Lo will report to vice president of infrastructure Jason Taylor, and it provided the following statement to Re/code:

We're excited to have Kevin join Facebook. Kevin will help shape our strategy and broader framework for Facebook's infrastructure connectivity investments with partners. He will work alongside Facebook's infrastructure and connectivity teams to help build an active partner ecosystem and accelerate the adoption of new technologies that can drastically change the economics of deploying internet infrastructure.

Readers: What do you think of Facebook's newest hire?

C-Span Delivers on Sit-In, Even With Cameras Off

With the help of Periscope, a live video streaming app, and Facebook Live, the cable network that covers Congress got its story.

Brilliant Writers Describe The Dangers Of Donald Trump As Only They Can

Several writers better known for their literary contributions have ventured into the political arena recently to denounce presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump. With their words, they've issued evocative warnings.

J.K. Rowling declared Trump "fascist in all but name" in an essay titled "On Monsters, Villains and the EU Referendum," which was posted on her website this week.

"Look towards the Republican Party in America and shudder. 'Make America Great Again!' cries a man who is fascist in all but name," she wrote. "His stubby fingers are currently within horrifyingly close reach of America's nuclear codes. He achieved this pre-eminence by proposing crude, unworkable solutions to complex threats. Terrorism? 'Ban all Muslims!' Immigration? 'Build a wall!' He has the temperament of an unstable nightclub bouncer, jeers at violence when it breaks out at his rallies and wears his disdain for women and minorities with pride. God help America. God help us all."

Rowling had already made her opinion of Trump clear back in December with a devastating comparison to Harry Potter's great foe. "Voldemort was nowhere near as bad" as Trump, she tweeted.

Last month, hundreds of other writers -- including Diana Abu-Jaber, Michael Chabon, Junot Díaz, Rita Dove, Jennifer Egan, Stephen King and Maxine Hong Kingston -- signed an "An Open Letter to the American People" opposing Trump.

As writers, they said, "we are particularly aware of the many ways that language can be abused in the name of power."

Dave Eggers, who also signed that letter, attended one of Trump's rallies earlier this month, seeking to better understand the people who support him.

"Believing that Trump's supporters are all fascists or racists is a grave mistake," Eggers wrote in The Guardian last week. "This day in Sacramento presented a different picture, of a thousand or so regular people who thought it was pretty cool how Trump showed up in a plane with his name on it. How naughty it was when he called the president 'stupid.'"

"Americans who have voted for Trump in the primaries have done so not because they agree with all, or any, of his statements or promises, but because he is an entertainment," Eggers continued. "He is a loud, captivating distraction and a very good comedian ... The moment he ceases to entertain – to say crazy shit – he will evaporate."

Garrison Keillor described Trump in a widely syndicated essay last week as "the C-minus guy who sat behind you in history and poked you with his pencil and smirked when you asked him to stop." The "Prairie Home Companion" creator said Trump doesn't have any kind of philosophy, "just an attitude."

Pointing to Trump's self-congratulatory tweets after a gunman killed 49 people at a gay nightclub, Keillor doubted that Republicans could teach Trump any humility.

"The dreamers in the Republican Party imagine that success will steady him and he will come into the gravitational field of reality but it isn't happening. The Orlando tweets show it: the man does not have a heart," Keillor wrote.

And if Trump wins the presidential election?

"If the man is not defeated, then we are not the country we imagine we are. All of the trillions spent on education was a waste. The churches should close up shop. The nation that elects this man president is not a civilized society," wrote Keillor.

"The gentleman is not airing out his fingernail polish, he is not showing off his wedding ring; he is making an obscene gesture. Ignore it at your peril."

Editor's note: Donald Trump regularly incites political violence and is a serial liar, rampant xenophobe, racist, misogynist and birther who has repeatedly pledged to ban all Muslims - 1.6 billion members of an entire religion - from entering the U.S. 

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