Top News:
Gawker:
75% of Gawker Media editorial staff voted yes to unionize and be represented by Writers Guild of America, East — Gawker Media Votes To Unionize — Yesterday, more than 100 Gawker Media editorial employees voted on the question of whether to be represented by the Writers Guild of America …
Discussion:
Capital New York, Writers Guild of America East, The Huffington Post, FishbowlNY, Guardian, The New York Observer, TechCrunch, The Awl, Politico, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, USA Today, PandoDaily, The Wrap, Talking Points Memo, bizjournals, New York Magazine, International Business Times, New York Post, Variety, CNNMoney, @justinjm1, @jacobinmag, @nicknotned, @samfbiddle, @hamiltonnolan, @jim_newell, Poynter, @jledbetter, @adamclarkestes, Mediaite, @rustyk5, BuzzFeed, @zackseward, @johngapper, Mother Jones, Talking New Media and Wired
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Joel Johnson / Gawker:
Former Gawker editorial director discusses details of business model, explains Kinja's failure, and says several sites have been shopped around — Congratulations, Edit! — Congratulations, Edit! I think unionizing was a smart, brave decision, and one that gives you a chance at security in a turbulent environment.
Discussion:
Gawker, Poynter, Business Insider, @rafat, @tcarmody, @nicknotned, @ryantate, PandoDaily, @b_fung, @conordougherty, @scottlucas86, @saschasegan, @jimwaterson, @sgardner, @kyle_luke, @ukuleledan, @silviakillings, @allisonchopin, @spragued and @mikeisaac
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
Alibaba Invests $194M Into China Business News To Build A Financial Data Platform — Alibaba, the Chinese internet giant, is currently focused on investing internationally to grow its business, but is also continuing to build out operations at home. In the latest move, it has invested $193.6 million …
Discussion:
Business Wire and Quartz
RELATED:
Patrick Frater / Variety:
China's Alibaba Pictures Raising $1.6 Billion in Share Sale
China's Alibaba Pictures Raising $1.6 Billion in Share Sale
Discussion:
Deadline, Financial Times, Reuters, Hollywood Reporter, Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg Business
CNNMoney:
Leaked Arianna Huffington memo shows focus on continued global expansion, investment in video, acquisitions, and a global newsroom — Read Arianna Huffington's plan to ‘dominate the industry’ — CNNMoney has obtained a copy of the Huffington Post's strategy for growth …
Discussion:
@lisahopeking and @gjbarb
Lucia Moses / Digiday:
Politico's VandeHei on aiming for influencers, cheapening content in search of scale, and keeping editorial and business separate — Politico's Jim VandeHei: Scale is a ‘deal with the devil’ — At a time when publishers are grappling to diversify their revenue beyond advertising, Politico has an enviable business model.
Discussion:
@gaberivera, @jasonclampet and @digiday
Ryan Knutson / Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Dish in early stage merger talks with T-Mobile US; combined company likely to have Charlie Ergen as chairman, John Legere as CEO — Dish Network in Merger Talks With T-Mobile US — Dish, T-Mobile Have Agreed Charlie Ergen Would Be Chairman, John Legere CEO
Stuart Dredge / Guardian:
SoundCloud signs deal with licensing agency Merlin to pay 20K independent labels for music streams, deal covers yet-to-launch subscription service — SoundCloud signs licensing deal to pay independent labels for music streams — Partnership with licensing agency Merlin also covers …
Discussion:
New York Times, Music Ally, hypebot and Consequence of Sound
J.K. Trotter / Gawker:
Twitter revokes API access for Sunlight Foundation's Politwhoops site, which showed politicians' deleted tweets, cites violation of developer agreement — Twitter Just Killed Politwoops — A Twitter spokesperson just provided the following statement to Gawker regarding the apparent suspension …
Discussion:
Nieman Lab, Gawker, Mashable, Sunlight Foundation Blog, VentureBeat, Politico, Washington Post, Bloomberg Business, The Hill, Talking Points Memo, BREITBART.COM, Sky News, Reuters, Guardian, Washington Times, @kinggary, softpedia, Engadget, MediaNama, PandoDaily, @onyxfish, @politaoke, The Hill, VentureBeat, @steeph, The Next Web, @mcandrew, @mattcutts, @digiphile, @fmanjoo, @elaheizadi, @jeffyoung, @jktrotter, @pbump and Sunlight Foundation Blog
Suzanne Vranica / Wall Street Journal:
Comcast Has Agreed To Acquire Ad Tech Firm Visible World — Cable giant Comcast Corp. has agreed to acquire the TV ad-targeting firm Visible World, according to a person familiar with the matter. — The deal, if completed, could put the cable giant into a stronger position …
Ryan Lawler / Medium:
TechCrunch writer Ryan Lawler to join 500 Startups as venture partner — Breaking: TechCrunch Writer Becomes An Investor — Let's not bury the lede: I'm leaving TechCrunch next week and, after taking a bit of a vacation, I will be joining 500 Startups as its newest Venture Partner come August.
Discussion:
@ashleymayer, @dmac1, @samfbiddle, @thestalwart, @ryanlawler and @eringriffith
Ethan Smith / Wall Street Journal:
Songs must be played five to seven times on Spotify's free service to generate the same royalties as one play on Premium — How the Cash Flows in Spotify Streams — Songs on the free version pay a lot less in royalties, and that's just one of the quirks
Discussion:
TIME
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
Yandex Launches Yandex.Radio, A Curated Free Music Service For Russian Users — Amid reports that Russia will be one of the first countries to get access to the new music service that Apple is reportedly launching next week, Russian search giant Yandex is enhancing its own.
Discussion:
StreetInsider.com, The Next Web and AllAccess.com
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Virtual-Cable Startup Layer3 TV Lands $51 Million Funding, Plans 2015 Launch — Layer3 TV, the secretive startup that calls itself a “next-gen cable company,” announced that it has closed $51 million in second-round funding, led by previous investors Evolution Media Partners and North Bridge Venture Partners.
Discussion:
Denver Post, Hollywood Reporter, Light Reading and New York Post
Emily Shackleton / Press Gazette:
Map of UK's local newspapers and websites reveals London news gap — London is one of the least covered region in the UK by local newspapers according to new research by Press Gazette. — Data detailing all the current active local newspapers in the UK reveals that London …
Mike Shields / Wall Street Journal:
DailyMail.com Invests $3 Million in Web Content Marketing Firm Taboola — DailyMail.com is investing $3 million in the content recommendation firm Taboola as the companies plan to develop advertising products together, including several that are geared toward improving the performance of sponsor-produced content.
Discussion:
Adweek, Globes Online, Marketing Dive, @mathewi, @digitalshields, @rafat, Benzinga and Jewish Business News