Mediagazer: The evolution of propaganda: how ISIS uses Twitter, Instagram, WhatsApp, SoundCloud, and more (New York Times)

5:55 PM ET, August 31, 2014

Top News:

The evolution of propaganda: how ISIS uses Twitter, Instagram, WhatsApp, SoundCloud, and more — ISIS Displaying a Deft Command of Varied Media — The extremists who have seized large parts of Syria and Iraq have riveted the world's attention with their military prowess and unrestrained brutality.

Discussion: @andrewparker, @abumuqawama, @corbettreport, @morningmoneyben and @philipmcclellan

Brooks Barnes / New York Times:

Hollywood has worst summer since 1997 as US summer ticket sales decline 15% from 2013 — Movies Have Worst Summer Since 1997 — LOS ANGELES — American moviegoers sent a clear message to Hollywood over the summer: We are tired of more of the same. — But don't entirely blame the sequels and superheroes.

Discussion: @mattriviera, @rjurikdavidson, @dangillmor, Vox, blogs.indiewire.com, USA Today, BREITBART.COM, International Business Times and Telegraph

Paul Bond / Hollywood Reporter:

A&E Networks agrees to pay $250M for a 10% share of Vice Media, valuing it at $2.5B — A&E Networks Buying Minority Stake in Vice Media — The deal for 10 percent of the digital media company would value it at $2.5 billion — A&E Networks has agreed to pay $250 million …

Discussion: TVNewser, @tomgara, @pkafka, @evelynrusli, @mlcalderone, @jboorstin, Financial Times, Variety, Bloomberg, AdAge, Mashable, Guardian, Multichannel News, Broadcasting & Cable, Poynter and New York Times

Peter Kafka / Re/code:

Vice set to raise another $250M from TCV for 10% stake; will end up with one of A&E's channels — Big Moves for Shane Smith: Vice Media Is Set to Raise $500 Million and Get Its Own Cable Channel — Cable TV viewers have had a chance to watch Shane Smith and his Vice Media reporters …

Discussion: Beet.TV, @pkafka, @pkafka, @joshsternberg, Gigaom and Mashable

Nate Hoffelder / The Digital Reader:

Some Japanese publishers call Amazon's linking book promotion to commission fees “blackmail” — Amazon is Facing Boycotts, Cries of Blackmail from Japanese Publishers — Never one to fight a single battle at a time, Amazon is in conflict with publishers in multiple countries …

Discussion: Agence France-Presse

Miranda Prynne / Telegraph:

Businesswoman Rona Fairhead the preferred choice for next BBC Trust chairman — Former Financial Times Group chief executive Rona Fairhead is named as the government's favoured candidate to take over as BBC Trust chairman — A leading British businesswoman has been named …

Discussion: Guardian, BBC, The Drum, Deadline, Daily Mail, Reuters, The Sunday Times, BBC, Hollywood Reporter, The Hindu and The Times

Global Voices:

In Serbia, press oppression takes the form of cyber attacks on news sites — Two Months After Flooding, Digital Freedoms in Serbia Are Still in Trouble — There's a worrying trend in Serbia's digital world. Media websites are increasingly the target of mysterious technical attacks …

Anthony Ha / TechCrunch:

Yep, BuzzFeed Is Building A Games Team — If you like BuzzFeed's quizzes and interactive projects like its Game Of Thrones name generator, congratulations, you're probably going to be seeing more of them. If you think they're all annoying gimmicks, well, uh, you're going to be seeing more of them anyway.

Discussion: Kotaku Australia and VentureBeat

Natalie Jarvey / Hollywood Reporter:

OWN's YouTube Partnership Pays Off With Digital Series (Exclusive) — Celebrity guests will ask the question “Who am I?” — The Oprah Winfrey Network has been working out of YouTube Space LA for more than six months to experiment with digital formats and online talent.

Discussion: @owntv, @amirawaldesai, Variety and Multichannel News

Roy Greenslade / Guardian:

Pakistani journalists shot dead in attack on news agency office — Three staff working in a Pakistani news agency were shot dead when two gunmen burst into their office in Quetta, south-west Pakistan. — One of the murdered trio was Irshad Mastoi (aka Arshad Mustoi), 34, secretary general of Balochistan Union of Journalists (BUJ).

Discussion: Committee to Protect …, The Express Tribune, The News International, Pakistan Daily Times, DAWN.COM, The Nation, Wall Street Journal and The Express Tribune

Leo Kelion / BBC:

Flickr gaining 14M historic images extracted from 2M public domain books in Internet Archive — 2.6m historic pictures posted online — The project has resulted in even more pictures of cats being put on to the internet — An American academic is creating a searchable database of 12 million historic copyright-free images.

Discussion: Flickr Blog, Internet Archive Blogs, @thecleversheep, @eurohumph, Gigaom, @digiphile, PetaPixel, @carlmalamud, Techdirt, Boing Boing, Ars Technica and GalleyCat

Anya Schiffrin / Mother Jones:

Why We're In A Golden Age of Global Investigative Journalism — Around the world, muckrakers are taking corrupt governments and businesses to task. — In our world, the news about the news is often grim. Newspapers are shrinking, folding up, or being cut loose by their parent companies.