Mediagazer: Sony Asserts Right to Structure Deal With Spotify Even If Result Disfavors Artists (Eriq Gardner/Hollywood Reporter)

12:15 PM ET, July 10, 2015

Top News:

Dylan Byers / Politico:

Bloomberg fires top digital editor Josh Topolsky — Joshua Topolsky, the top digital editor at Bloomberg, has been fired from the company due to Michael Bloomberg's frustration with the website, sources with knowledge of his departure told the On Media blog on Friday.

Discussion: Capital New York, New York Times, @ravisomaiya, Mashable, FishbowlNY, TVNewser, @joepompeo, @dylanbyers, @benthompson, @ryanchittum, @elongreen, @benthompson and Talking Biz News

Robert Feder:

Ira Glass takes ownership of This American Life from Chicago Public Media in exchange for ongoing profits from the show and spinoff Serial — Ira Glass owns all of ‘This American Life’ — Twenty years after Ira Glass launched “This American Life” at WBEZ FM 91.5, the host and executive producer …

Discussion: Poynter, Current.org, @jank0, @annewootton and AllAccess.com

Joe Pompeo / Capital New York:

Staff changes in the video department at The New York Times signal ambitions of higher digital ad revenue — Long road ahead for the Times' video ambitions — The New York Times has come a long way since it created a video department 10 years ago, but it still has a long …

New York Times:

Sources: Facebook seeking licensing deals to insert music videos in users' feeds, said to offer better revenue sharing than YouTube — Facebook Said to Seek Music Video Licensing Deals — Over the last few years, Facebook has slowly encroached on YouTube's territory as a go-to outlet for online video …

Discussion: TIME, @buzzfeedben, Fortune, @mikeisaac, Billboard, The Verge, Business Insider, Billboard, The Verge, hypebot and Music Ally

Bloomberg Business:

At Sun Valley, New York Times CEO Mark Thompson talks about Facebook's Instant Articles, apps, and journalism careers — How New York Times Survives in a Social Media World — New York Times Company CEO Mark Thompson discusses the newspaper's digital strategy for the future with Olivia Sterns …

Discussion: FishbowlNY and KMVT-TV

Eriq Gardner / Hollywood Reporter:

The Turtles Aim to Halt the RIAA's $210 Million Settlement With SiriusXM — A deal over pre-1972 recordings is characterized as a “brazen attempt to disrupt and interfere with the class action process.” — The $210 million settlement that record giants made with SiriusXM over the use …

Discussion: Alison Frankel, AllAccess.com and RAIN News

Eriq Gardner / Hollywood Reporter:

Sony Asserts Right to Structure Deal With Spotify Even If Result Disfavors Artists — Taking equity in Spotify, keeping advertising income and not sharing the spoils of piracy lawsuits is all proper, according to new court papers by the record giant. — Sony Music has a noteworthy response …

Discussion: hypebot, Plagiarism Today and Techdirt

Nate Hoffelder / The Digital Reader:

Nook Store will only be available in US and UK as Barnes & Noble shutters international store — The Beginning of the End: B&N Shutters the International Nook Store — Over the past month B&N has been making us wonder whether it was committed to ebooks.

Discussion: Engadget and TechCrunch

Joe Flint / Wall Street Journal:

ESPN takes hard line in talent negotiations as it tightens spending, focuses on safeguarding its lucrative pay TV business instead — ESPN Tightens Its Belt as Pressure on It Mounts — Competition in the pay-TV industry is rising and subscribers are trimming cable bills

Discussion: The Atlantic, Business Insider, Fortune and @jyarow

Omar Mohammed / Quartz:

Ethiopia releases five journalists from prison and drops all charges, but leaves 12 incarcerated ahead of Obama visit — Ethiopia frees more imprisoned journalists on the eve of Obama's historic visit — Ethiopian journalists jailed for more than a year after being accused of attempting to destabilize the state have been released.

Discussion: Guardian, Global Voices, Voice of America and Reuters

Brian Stelter / CNNMoney:

ESPN reporter tweets player's medical charts, and ethical questions erupt — New York Giants player Jason Pierre-Paul apparently had a finger amputated on Wednesday. The reason we know that — the publication of a private medical record — is now the subject of a robust debate.

Discussion: abc7.com, Deadline, TVNewser, CNNMoney, Mediaite, Washington Post, Bloomberg View, Hollywood Life and ProFootballTalk

Guardian:

BBC cuts: government forced to publish licence fee deal letter — Publication of letter from George Osborne and John Whittingdale to director general fuels fears that corporation faces further reductions in funding — The government was forced to publish the letter outlining details …

Jeremy Barr / Capital New York:

Fusion launches in-house ‘news lab,’ plans NoHo office space — Fusion's New York-based digital team, having added to its ranks, moved out of the ABC News building earlier this year and has been working in a temporary office space. But, this fall, Fusion will be moving into a new …

David Friend / Toronto Star:

Canada's Postmedia reports loss of $140.8M for Q3 as print ad revenue fell 20.2% to $19.1M; loss includes impairment charge after Sun Media acquisition — Postmedia losses mount as revenue declines speed up — The owner of the National Post and numerous major city dailies reported a loss of $140.8 million.

Matthew Keys / The Desk:

Ex-Reuters deputy social media editor Matthew Keys joins Grasswire, a news startup that uses crowdsourcing with upvoting, as managing editor for North America — Here's to the next big thing... A screen capture of Grasswire.com. — I am incredibly excited to announce that earlier today …

Discussion: @austenallred and @thekenyeung

Associated Press:

Nicaraguan police beat protesters and harass journalists — MANAGUA, Nicaragua (AP) — Police beat and detained government opponents and harassed journalists Wednesday at a protest outside Nicaragua's top electoral council. — The protesters were attending a weekly demonstration in the capital …