Axios

Nick Clegg has a herculean job ahead of him at Facebook as the incoming head of PR and global affairs. It's almost impossible to keep up with the sheer breadth of negative headlines about the company.

The big picture: Most urgently, Clegg has to grapple with a lawsuit close to many journalists' hearts. Facebook, by inflating the number of video views on its platform, precipitated innumerable "pivots to video" wherein people-who-write-things were laid off and video producers were hired (and then fired when the video views never materialized). Expect people-who-write-things (a superset of newsletter writers) to stay on this story like glue.

Free ain't what it used to be. Back in 2009, it was a radical idea, extolled in books by the likes of Wired editor Chris Anderson. Today, it's inherently suspect, on the grounds that if you're not paying, you're the product being sold.

What's happening: Robinhood made its name by offering free stock trades; now, the backlash has arrived.

While speaking at my alma mater, the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, I was asked by several students how to restore faith and trust in media.

The big picture: Here are four fairly provocative ideas to tackle that issue — one each for politicians, social media, reporters and individuals.

This week will be busy on the corporate earnings front, with more than 30% of the S&P 500 reporting.

What to watch: Tech will consume most of the conversation surrounding earnings with reports from two "FANG" companies — Google parent Alphabet and Amazon — plus Microsoft, Twitter and Snap.

New advances are taking automation to the highest end of human endeavors, offering scientists a shot at some of the most intractable problems that have confounded them — and along the way tipping a global balance to give upstarts like China a more level playing field in the lab.

What’s going on: A combination of artificial intelligence and nimble robots are allowing scientists to do more, and be faster, than they ever could with mere human hands and brains.

Several new studies have been published that explore how fake news has actually decreased on Facebook users’ feeds since the 2016 presidential election.

Why it matters: Axios’ Sara Fischer explains that Facebook is making sure everyone knows that academics are finding that the company's fake news fight is working. But these studies address the main Facebook app, not Instagram and its messaging platforms, where the problem is also prevalent and deepening. 

This week was another PR nightmare for Facebook, riddled with political ad bans, a new lawsuit from advertisers, its retracted statement about Portal-related ads and election security reassurance. But here are some other tech headlines you may have missed this week.

Catch up quick: Google plans to start charging for Android apps in Europe; How northern Virginia checks the most boxes for Amazon HQ2; eBay sues Amazon, alleging it illegally poached sellers; Lyft now has a subscription plan for $299 a month; JD.com to launch online store on Google shopping for Americans.

If Seattle is an example, Amazon's planned second headquarters could bring a housing crisis to the as-yet-unannounced city where it is built, pushing up home prices by as much as 30%, according to a new analysis.

Driving the news: Per the study, prices in Newark, which is predicted to see the greatest potential impact, could climb 33.5%. D.C., a leading HQ2 contender, could see a rise of 3.9%, and Boston, at the low end of projected impacts, could get a 0.4% bump.