Mediagazer: Twitter added just 2M MAUs in Q2, excluding “SMS Fast Followers” (Kurt Wagner/Re/code)

7:10 AM ET, July 29, 2015

Top News:

Kurt Wagner / Re/code:

Twitter added just 2M MAUs in Q2, excluding “SMS Fast Followers” — Twitter Asks for More Time to Fix Things — And Freaks Out Wall Street — Twitter added just two million new core users last quarter, and while it also beat Wall Street revenue estimates, investors still aren't buying the Twitter story.

Discussion: NetNewsCheck Latest, VentureBeat, Adweek, Mashable, Wall Street Journal, @twitterir, Forbes, @benthompson, @jguynn, Fortune, @jguynn, @pkafka, Ad Age, Hollywood Reporter, BuzzFeed, Multichannel News, The Verge, SocialTimes, Reuters, Engadget, Forbes, Variety, ZDNet, VentureBeat and Tech Insider

Alex Wilhelm / TechCrunch:
Twitter reports better-than-expected Q2 revenue of $502M with just 316M MAUs, a number that includes “SMS Fast Followers”

Discussion: TechCrunch, The Wrap and Fortune

Justin Fox / Bloomberg View:

The Midsize Newspaper Is Toast — Everybody who's been paying attention knows that it's been a tough decade for American newspapers. But every once in a while it's worth checking in on just how bad it's been. The release of the American Society of Newspaper Editors' annual newsroom census …

Discussion: @jontalton and @herbgreenberg

Ken Doctor / Nieman Lab:

ASNE newspaper census 2014: 10.4% drop in jobs YoY, 21.58% drop for papers with 100K-250K circulation, minority journalists make up 12.76% of newsrooms — Newsonomics: The halving of America's daily newsrooms — Cigar maker. Elevator operator. Pinsetter. Iceman. Lamplighter.

Discussion: @niemanlab, @yinkawrites, @mccarthyryanj and ASNE

New York Times:

Behind the Iranian trial of Washington Post reporter, Jason Rezaian, and how his ability to cultivate sources may have aroused suspicion and led to detention — Iran's Trial of Jason Rezaian Illustrates Perils Faced by Reporters — TEHRAN — For Jason Rezaian, the Washington Post reporter …

Discussion: @ahmed, @nytimesworld, @ellenbarrynyt, Washington Post and Wall Street Journal

Jonathan Soble / New York Times:

Japan's Nikkei vies for global clout with the $1.3B purchase of The Financial Times — Nikkei Vies for Global Clout With Splurge on The Financial Times — TOKYO — Not long after he took over as president of Japan's dominant business newspaper in April, Naotoshi Okada delivered a message to his 1,300 reporters and editors.

Discussion: Talking Biz News

Tara George / MediaShift:

Operating with fewer resources, news startups are blurring the lines between business and editorial — Should a Local News Startup Have Reporters Write Press Releases? — At a conference of local news entrepreneurs in Philadelphia recently, speakers were sharing tips on innovative ways …

Chad Bray / New York Times:

McGraw Hill Financial Buys SNL Financial for $2.2 Billion — McGraw Hill Financial, the owner of Standard & Poor's Ratings Services and S&P Capital IQ, said on Monday that it had agreed to buy the financial data and information provider SNL Financial for $2.2 billion in cash.

Discussion: Folio, Bloomberg Business and Reuters

Washington Post:

The most famous television journalist in Pakistan lives like a fugitive — The most famous television journalist in Pakistan lives like a fugitive. Hamid Mir tells no one where he is going, how he will get there or where he will spend the night. — At Mir's office, his curtains are always drawn.

The New York Times Company:

New York Times executive editor Dean Baquet and Metro editors write to the NYRB, rebutting its story on paper's nail salon investigation — Rebuttal to The NYRB's Article on NYT Nail Salon Series — Below is a letter sent to The New York Review of Books by Times editors in response to …

Discussion: bookforum.com, CNNMoney, @micahuetricht, Poynter, Jezebel, Vox, FishbowlNY, iMediaEthics, @angryasianman, @sarahw, @abbyabrams, @lpolgreen, @jodikantor, @greenhousenyt, @bencasselman and @felixsalmon

Felix Salmon / Fusion:
Unlike science, journalism lacks a system of peer review to verify articles and research

Discussion: @suzykhimm, @bradplumer, @lenagroeger, @bobbierman, @mattdpearce and @susanmacmillan

Hollywood Reporter:

Major Layoffs to Hit Ryan Kavanaugh's Relativity This Week as Bankruptcy Looms — Some 350 people currently work at Beverly Hills-based Relativity. — Ryan Kavanaugh's Relativity Media is set to lay off as many as 50 employees this week (and possibly more) as the financially-embattled studio …

Discussion: The Wrap, Los Angeles Times and Variety

John Plunkett / Guardian:

Sky profits rise as it passes 12 million UK and Ireland customers — Satellite broadcaster's annual revenues hit nearly £11.3bn in the first full year since it completed the takeover of Sky businesses in Germany and Italy — Sky has passed the 12 million customer mark in the UK …

Discussion: Sky News, BBC, Financial Times, International Business Times, Reuters, Bloomberg Business, RTÉ, City A.M., Variety and The Wrap

Eriq Gardner / Hollywood Reporter:

Newly uncovered evidence may show that there is no copyright to the Happy Birthday song lyrics — “Happy Birthday” Lawsuit: “Smoking Gun” Emerges in Bid to Free World's Most Popular Song — Attorneys for suing filmmakers uncover a blurry version of an 88-year-old book in the files of Warner/Chappell.

Discussion: Ars Technica, New York Times, VICE, @eriqgardner, Techdirt, Fortune, Plagiarism Today and Boing Boing

Los Angeles Times:

Netflix seeks to double office space by moving to a 150K square foot place in Hollywood — Netflix, on a roll, seeks to double its L.A.-area office space — Netflix, as it continues to bulk up its muscle within Hollywood, is now seeking to take up residence there.