Mediagazer: Economist Group turns to marketing services after third successive year of declining ad sales (Henry Mance/Financial Times)

6:05 AM ET, June 25, 2015

Top News:

Matt Galligan / Medium:

Circa is shutting down indefinitely after failure to monetize and close funding deals; CEO Matt Galligan says firm is working on deal involving underlying tech — Farewell to Circa News — It's with great disappointment that we let you know that Circa News has been put on indefinite hiatus.

David Cohn / Digidave:

Circa: early and influential in mobile news in 2012, missed key things, and now overshadowed by plans of Apple, Twitter, and Facebook — Quick thoughts as Circa shuts down — The news has broken - Circa is essentially shutting down. — While I haven't been with Circa for the last 10 months …

Discussion: @djbentley, @digidave, @corybe, @corybe, @digidave, @abrahamhyatt, @ylichterman, @kensands, App Advice, @jswatz, Poynter and @eliajf

Casey Newton / The Verge:

Circa offered an emotionless bundle of bullet points, which made for lousy social sharing and didn't work for newspapers either — Why Circa failed — A front page led by the day's biggest news. A selection of stories, chosen by editors, arranged more or less by importance.

Discussion: Fortune, @zkahn94, @tscurrie, @caseynewton, @jdfielder, @antderosa, @digidave, @jyarow, @joshconstine, @sheanineseven and @nickbilton

Ed Christman / Billboard:

Apple may pay 0.247 cents per song streamed during Apple Music three-month free trial period, 0.2 cents to labels and 0.047 cents to publishers — With Music Launch Looming, Apple Still Looking to Sew Up Indie Publishing Deals — Apple Inc. sign displayed at the Yerba Buena Center …

Discussion: MacRumors, The Quietus and RAPPLER

Josh Constine / TechCrunch:

Apple Music Will Shell Out For Exclusives, Starting With Pharrell's “Freedom” — Apple is finally throwing its money around to help Apple Music win. Singer Pharrell today announced that his new single “Freedom” will be available exclusively on Apple Music the day of its launch, June 30th.

Discussion: The Verge, The Drum, Guardian, Fortune, 9to5Mac, Music Business Worldwide, MacRumors and BGR

Billboard:
Apple Music strikes deals with rights group Merlin and independent label Beggars Group after changing royalty structure during trial period

Wall Street Journal:

Facebook Instant articles to begin appearing in feeds this week; New York Times expects to post 30 stories/day, NBC to post 30-40/day — Publishers Prepare to Ramp Up News Distribution on Facebook's Instant Articles in Coming Days … Publishers are ready to ramp up content distribution …

Discussion: Business Insider, The Next Web, @lalpert1, @justinjm1, @perlberg and @mikeisaac

Ravi Somaiya / New York Times:

Charleston newspaper shows the value of local journalists when reporting on national tragedy — At Charleston Newspaper, Covering the News, and Choking Back Tears — CHARLESTON, S.C. — Glenn Smith, the projects editor for The Post and Courier here, was with friends last Wednesday night when a colleague called.

Discussion: Mother Jones, The Buttry Diary, @mboughtonpc and Mother Jones

Dylan Byers / Politico:

Reporters Without Borders hails Obama administration's new hostage policy — The international nonprofit group Reporters Without Borders is hailing the Obama administration's new policy on hostage negotiations, which comes after the recent killing of at least four American hostages at the hands …

Lawrence Wright / New Yorker:
Atlantic Media owner David Bradley worked with families in effort to rescue ISIS hostages who felt they were abandoned by the US government

Discussion: @weareyourfek, Bloomberg View, Business Insider, Poynter, @dylanbyers, @danieleraineri, @emilystanitz, @nickschmidle, @zseward, @gregorydjohnsen, @lawrence_wright, @ebnert, Politico and @oswaldrachel

Henry Mance / Financial Times:

Economist Group turns to marketing services after third successive year of declining ad sales — Economist Group looks beyond advertising for return to growth — The head of the Economist Group has promised a return to revenue growth in the next twelve months, after falling print advertising caused …

Lynn Elber / Associated Press:

PBS: ‘Finding Your Roots’ Affleck episode violated standards — 2 photos — LOS ANGELES (AP) — PBS put its “Finding Your Roots” series on hold Wednesday after determining an episode that omitted references to Ben Affleck's ancestor as a slave owner violated its standards.

Discussion: Variety, PBS, Broadcasting & Cable, Gawker, Mediaite, Mashable, The Wrap, Deadline and Variety

Eriq Gardner / Billboard:

Sony's stake in Spotify and the holdings of other labels come under fire in lawsuit saying musicians' royalties are being shorted — Sony's Equity Stake in Spotify Challenged in Lawsuit Claiming Artists Are Robbed — Having equity in Spotify might be smart, but if the money doesn't trickle …

Discussion: Tennessean.com, Fortune and hypebot

Saba Hamedy / Los Angeles Times:

NBCUniversal, Chernin Entertainment announce two-year TV deal — Chernin Entertainment and NBCUniversal announced a television deal on Wednesday, marking the end to Chairman Peter Chernin's lucrative five-year deal with Fox. — The new two-year deal with NBCUniversal will give Chernin Television access …

Discussion: Hollywood Reporter

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Amazon Prime Instant Video Adds Limited Support For HDR — Amazon announced today that it has rolled out, in limited fashion, support for HDR (high dynamic range) on Amazon Instant Video. It will initially only offer HDR videos to Amazon Prime members in the U.S., and only for one full series …