Top News:


NBCU invests $200M in Vox Media, pre-money valuation of $850M; will invest $200M in BuzzFeed — NBCUniversal Buys Big Chunks of Vox Media and BuzzFeed — Last week Re/code reported that NBCUniversal was investing in BuzzFeed and Vox Media. — Now those deals are done, and NBCU and Vox Media are announcing their deal today.
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Vox Media Marketing, CNNMoney, @rafat, @bankoff, @mmasnick, @film_girl, FishbowlNY, @mlcalderone, @reckless, The Awl, @dylan20, @rosslevinsohn, The Hill, @alexweprin, The Wrap, The Next Web, @brianstelter, Fortune, Hollywood Reporter, Variety, @dangillmor, Broadcasting & Cable, @fulldradio, @lock, @mlcalderone, Deadline, Media & Entertainment, TechCrunch, Business Insider and NetNewsCheck Latest
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Internal documents: BuzzFeed had $46M revenue, $2.7M net profit, and spent $5.8M to boost traffic in the first half of 2014 — Internal Documents Show BuzzFeed's Skyrocketing Investment in Editorial — Late last month, Recode reported that NBCUniversal is preparing to invest $250 million in BuzzFeed …
Discussion:
@fmanjoo, @fmanjoo, @fmanjoo, @benjilanyado, @thestalwart, @michaelroston, @pkafka, @mathewi, @jledbetter, @edmundlee, @gawker, The Wrap, Business Insider, FishbowlNY, @adamweinstein, AdExchanger, @jyarow, @mims, @gaberivera, @abeaujon and @chrismsutcliffe


While newsrooms shrink, journalists continue to parrot each others' coverage when they should focus on unique value to communities — Amid Constant Layoffs, Journalists Should Stop Parroting Each Other — Ever dwindling numbers of journalism professionals must provide unique value, not the 101st take
Discussion:
@abrams, @nbj914, @picardonhealth, @alexburnsnyt, @jesuisraphk, @lukenozicka, @davezatz and @steveouting


Inside the New York Times effort to rethink its recommendation system for articles, using topics and collaborative modeling — Building the Next New York Times Recommendation Engine — The New York Times publishes over 300 articles, blog posts and interactive stories a day.
Discussion:
@margarita, Thanks:@steverubel


Facebook plans to open Mentions, which houses Periscope competitor Live, to all verified profiles, many of which belong to journalists — Facebook Confirms Live Broadcasting Will Soon Open To Journalists And Verified Profiles — Facebook plans to open up its Periscope livestreaming competitor to more than just celebrities.
Discussion:
Engadget, The Next Web and The Drum

CALmatters, a nonprofit covering California state government, gets $250K in matching funds from Knight Foundation — New journalism venture CALmatters will expand California political coverage with Knight Foundation support — CALmatters, a new public-interest journalism venture …
Discussion:
@franklomonte, USA Today and @knightfdn


How CNN prepares push notifications for breaking news to promote its various platform — Push it: CNN's mobile notifications unify its various platforms, from television to telephones — Editor's note: This is the third in a series of stories on how news organizations manage their mobile news alerts.
Discussion:
@ylichterman


News Corp beats Q4 expectations with earnings of $0.07/share, misses on revenue with $2.14B — News Corp earnings: 7 cents per share, vs expected EPS of 5 cents — This is breaking news. Please check back for updates. — News Corp. delivered quarterly earnings that topped analysts' expectations …
Discussion:
News Corp, @joepompeo, Politico, @amir, The Wrap, Bloomberg Business and Talking Biz News


Periscope says more than 10M accounts created since launch, users watch an average of 40 years of live streams daily on iOS and Android — Periscope Has 10 Million Accounts With 40 Years Of Watch Time Daily — Twitter's live-streaming app hit the user milestone August 2 …
Discussion:
Medium, Re/code, The Verge, Quartz, Fast Company, Fortune, The Drum, TechCrunch, Variety and The Next Web


Russia bans Reddit because a thread gave advice on how to grow psilocybe mushrooms — Russia bans Reddit over shrooms — The Russian government has officially banned Reddit, one of the most popular sites on the internet. — Unless Russian users take advantage of VPN to bypass the website blocks …
Discussion:
Engadget, @savagenation, TechCrunch, The Tech Portal, The Drum, International Business Times and Techdirt


Amid sinking stock price, analysts question Viacom's earlier stock buybacks and lack of digital and tech investment — Viacom CEO Dauman Loses $3.4 Billion Betting on His Own Company — Philippe Dauman, president and chief executive officer Viacom Inc. Photographer: Scott Eells/Bloomberg
Discussion:
@brooksbarnesnyt and Deadline

FCC's proposal could help cable companies in disputes with broadcasters by freeing them to carry out-of-town TV stations — Cable May Gain Edge in Fee Disputes With Local Broadcasters — A regulator's proposal could help cable companies during fee disputes with local broadcasters by freeing …
Discussion:
FCC.gov, Variety, Deadline, Broadcasting & Cable, Multichannel News and Multichannel News

Fairfax Media posts full-year net profit of $83.2M, 62.9% decline YoY; revenue from digital real estate advertising up 45% in same period — Fairfax profit down, digital income soars — Related Content — Fairfax's full year profit has slumped by more than 60 per cent …
Discussion:
ABC, National Business Review, Guardian and Sydney Morning Herald