Mediagazer: Global Indie Sector Unites To Launch ‘Fair Digital Deals Declaration’ (Richard Smirke/Billboard)

1:00 PM ET, July 16, 2014

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Time Warner rejected $80B takeover bid by Murdoch's 21st Century Fox last month, no longer in discussions — Rupert Murdoch Said to Have Made Offer for Time Warner — Twenty-First Century Fox, the media empire run by Rupert Murdoch, made an $80 billion takeover bid in recent weeks …

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Richard Smirke / Billboard:

Global Indie Sector Unites To Launch ‘Fair Digital Deals Declaration’ — Over 700 indie labels have given their backing to a major new initiative promoting fair and transparent accounting to artists and music companies in respect of digital revenues. Representatives of Domino, Cooking Vinyl …

Laura Hazard Owen / Gigaom:

Amazon is testing “Kindle Unlimited,” an ebook subscription service for $9.99/month — Amazon is testing an ebook and audiobook subscription service called “Kindle Unlimited” that offers “unlimited access to over 600,000 titles and thousands of audiobooks on any device for just $9.99 a month.”

Alan D. Mutter / Reflections of a Newsosaur:

The newspaper crisis, by the numbers — Roughly a decade after the commercial debut of the Internet, America's newspapers posted record high advertising sales of $49.4 billion in 2005, leading many publishers to think their businesses would not be seriously affected by the digital revolution.

Discussion: @grovesprof, @billadairduke, @jayrosen_nyu, @niemanlab, @kevglobal and @ssuttell

Michelle Castillo / Adweek:

Univision reports 73M World Cup livestreams, WatchESPN cites 43M hours of live viewing — Univision, ESPN Score Digital Victories During 2014 World Cup Both networks report record increases in traffic, livestreaming By Michelle Castillo — Germany may have won the World Cup …

Discussion: Hollywood Reporter and Hollywood Reporter

Chris Jasper / Bloomberg:
World Cup Final Watched Live by Record 40,000 Airline Passengers

Discussion: @panasonic_mea

Richard Lawler / Engadget:

Netflix already stopped mailing DVDs on Saturdays, but you probably didn't notice — The USPS may not have gone forward with its plans to kill Saturday mail delivery, but Netflix isn't waiting. A few customers have noticed it's no longer processing shipments on Saturdays, opting for a five day schedule instead.

Discussion: Re/code, Business Insider, The Huffington Post, fox59.com, Cinema Blend, Betabeat and Gizmodo

Vivian Yee / New York Times:

Corner Media Expands Its Network of Brooklyn Blogs — By now, the neighbors know exactly where an associate publisher of one of Brooklyn's biggest media conglomerates works (about three feet from his bed, most days) and what he looks like. That is the way he likes it.

Discussion: @juliemmoos, @raju, @tommy_robb, @grdodgemedia and @michaelroston

Tim Peterson / AdAge:

Tumblr, Blogger, and WordPress have larger audiences on mobile than desktop, only WordPress has seen overall traffic growth — Why Online Audiences' Mobile Migration Isn't All Bad News for Blogs — Mobile Hasn't Made Up for Desktop Declines, but It Is Growing — Online audiences are migrating to mobile.

Ian S. Port / SF Weekly:

Alt-Weekly Awards Snub Music Writing of the Nation's Largest Alt-Weeklies — This week, the Association of Alternative Newsmedia, the professional group representing papers like SF Weekly, the San Francisco Bay Guardian, LA Weekly, and Village Voice, announced the winners of its annual awards.

Cosmopolitan:

Jill Abramson: “I'm Not Ashamed of Getting Fired” — When Jill Abramson was appointed the first female executive editor of The New York Times, it was a big deal. When she was fired only two and a half years into the gig for her “brusque management style,” it was an even bigger deal, making headlines across the globe.

Discussion: FishbowlNY, FishbowlDC, @kimseverson, @mslaurachalmers, @janestreet, @primroseriordan, @alexweprin, @e_dythe, @fmanjoo, @meslackman, @krystlekopacz, @damiencave, @sulliview, @aliciaadamczyk, @pamelacolloff and Capital New York

Andy / TorrentFreak:

RIAA Copyright Pressure Silences Historical Radio Archive — When sites like The Pirate Bay come under copyright holder pressure, there is often a big backlash from users who see such action as unfair. That being said, it's generally accepted by both sides that The Pirate Bay courts trouble by …

Discussion: Techdirt, @dangillmor, AllAccess.com and Airchecks:Radio:REELRADIO …

Andrianes Pinantoan / Pocketbook:

27% of Australians using TV and movie subscription services use Netflix despite geo-blocking — How Netflix Is Doing In Australia: 2 Stats That Should Scare Foxtel and Quickflix … Andrianes Pinantoan — Andre is heads up marketing at Pocketbook. He's an accounting graduate …

Discussion: @getpocketbook, CHOICE and Mashable

Craig Silverman / Poynter:

Study: Political journalists opt for stenography over fact checking during presidential debates — During the 2012 U.S. presidential debates, political journalists on Twitter primarily repeated candidate claims without providing fact checks or other contest, according to new research published …

Discussion: TVNewser, @jayrosen_nyu, @craigsilverman, @jaredbkeller, @markcoddington and The Huffington Post

Dave Lee / Medium:

Technology journalists are facing extinction — Very soon I won't be needed. — One of the first ever online journalists for the BBC is a close colleague of mine. These days, you'd say he was the most experienced member of the team. — But back in the 90s, when the BBC …

Discussion: @jayrosen_nyu, @martinstabe, @adders, @nathanjurgenson, @fmanjoo, @annfriedman, @kvetchup, @mattlynley, @lukeplunkett, @megangarber, @jamesrbuk, @davelee, @sfiegerman and @digiphile

Samuel Gibbs / Guardian:

The return of the YouTube troll: Google ends its ‘real name’ commenter policy — The search company has apologised for complicating the commenting process, and reversed its ‘anti-troll’ real name policy on Google+ — Google has reversed a policy that forced users of Google+ to use their real names …

Discussion: plus.google.com, Mashable, htxt.africa, Online Social Media, Silicon Republic, Gizmodo, GMANetwork.com, PC & Tech Authority, Tech2, PC World and Marketing Land

Angela Haggerty / The Drum:

Metro MD Steve Auckland quits to become CEO of Independent, Evening Standard and London Live brands — Metro managing director (MD) Steve Auckland is leaving the company to become chief executive of ESI Media companies ESL, IPL and ESTV. — Auckland will take up the role in October …

Discussion: Guardian, HoldTheFrontPage and MediaTel

BBC:

BBC journalists are to go on strike on the first day of the Commonwealth Games next Wednesday. — BBC journalists are to go on strike on the first day of the Commonwealth Games next Wednesday. — The walkout will start at midday on 23 July and last for 12 hours.

Discussion: Scotsman, BECTU, Daily Mail, allmediascotland, BelfastTelegraph.co.uk, dailyrecord, @bbcgaryr, @andrewjkeir, The Drum and The Independent

Stuart Dredge / Guardian:

Paul McCartney re-releases five of his classic albums as iPad apps — Band on the Run, McCartney, McCartney II, RAM and Wings over America get reworked for the modern-day App Store — Paul McCartney is the latest musician to experiment with the idea of albums as apps …

Discussion: Macgasm, The Next Web, MacRumors, App Advice, 9to5Mac and NME

Harrison Weber / VentureBeat:

Pond5 raises $61M to unseat Shutterstock as the stock media king — Stock video and photo site Pond5 just raised its first institutional funding round: a hefty $61 million led by Accel and Stripes Group. — In a vague statement, the company shares that its new capital will be used to drive …

Discussion: Forbes, vbprofiles.com and Motor E magazine

David McLaughlin / Bloomberg:

Sony, Universal Said Facing Probe Over Songwriter Fees — The music-publishing arms of Sony Corp. (6758) and Universal Music Group are being investigated by the U.S. Justice Department for alleged price coordination, according to two people familiar with the matter.

Discussion: Billboard, Wall Street Journal, CNBC, WallStreet Scope, Complete Music Update, Radio Ink Magazine, SeekingAlpha, AllAccess.com, RTTNews and Quartz

Matei Rosca / PandoDaily:

Monetizing Murder: Dailymotion allows major brands to advertise on terror videos — Some of the West's most popular brands are advertising on, or next to, macabre extremist videos, some involving beheadings, executions, savage beatings and terrorist propaganda.

Discussion: Mediaite

Alex Wilhelm / TechCrunch:

Yahoo Q2 earnings: $1.04B in revenue vs. estimated $1.08B, $0.37 EPS, $436M in display revenue — Yahoo Misses In Q2 With Revenue Of $1.04B, EPS Of $0.37 — Today after the bell, Yahoo reported its second-quarter financial performance, including revenue (excluding traffic acquisition costs …

Discussion: Forbes, Business Wire, MediaNama, Softpedia News, Beyond Search and VentureBeat