Top News:
Alyson Shontell / Business Insider:
Sources: Comcast is partnering with digital publishers like Vox, BuzzFeed, Mic, Vice, NBC Sports, and others to launch digital video platform called Watchable — Comcast is about to launch a major video platform called Watchable to rival Facebook and Google
RELATED:
Janko Roettgers / Variety:
Sources: Watchable to be available on the web for Comcast subscribers and and non-subscribers, in addition to set-top-boxes, Android and iOS — Comcast Gets Ready to Launch Online Video Service On Its Set-Tops And the Web — Comcast is inching closer towards the launch of its own online video service …
Cora Lewis / BuzzFeed:
BuzzFeed Founder Jonah Peretti: “I Don't Think A Union Is Right” For Staff — At a company meeting on Thursday, BuzzFeed's CEO told staff that unionization “isn't something I think would be great for the company.” — BuzzFeed's founder and CEO Jonah Peretti has told staff …
Discussion:
Politico, Gawker, Guardian, @perlberg, Wall Street Journal and @mattbuchanan
RELATED:
Andrew Beaujon / Washingtonian:
Group that includes Politico reporter Mike Elk releases a statement enumerating labor rights ahead of planned October convention — Group Calls for Rights for Journalists in Digital Newsrooms — Politico reporter Mike Elk is among the organizers of a planned conference on journo rights.
Discussion:
Media Workers Unite, The Daily Caller, @mikeelk and @dmaguz
William Branigin / Washington Post:
U.N. human rights experts call for ‘immediate release’ of Post's Jason Rezaian — U.N. human rights experts expressed grave concern Friday about Iran's continued detention of Washington Post correspondent Jason Rezaian and called on authorities in Tehran to release him immediately.
Discussion:
@postbaron, Poynter and @katz
Miranda Ward / mUmBRELLA:
News Corp CEO lashes Google for piracy, zealotry and kleptocracy at Lowy Institute event — News Corp CEO Robert Thomson has accused Google of “piracy, zealotry and kleptocracy”, labelled LinkedIn a “pretender” and described the redistribution of content created by journalists as “unnatural”.
Jessamyn West / Medium:
A look at why comment sections fail as sites like The Verge and Daily Dot give up on them — Bad comments are a system failure — So why can't you fix them like any other bug? — Internet comments are awful. Recently sites [like Popular Science, Bloomberg Business, Reuters, Mic …
Discussion:
@coralproject and @jayrosen_nyu
Mark Berman / Washington Post:
Justice Department releases report on its subpoenas, search warrants, and questioning of journalists in 2014 — The Justice Department says it approved subpoenas or search warrants for three journalists last year — The Justice Department said Friday that former Attorney General Eric H …
Discussion:
Guardian, The Hill, NBC News and Associated Press
Peter Kafka / Re/code:
Maker Studios' integration with Disney hits a few snags over missed performance targets; CEO Ynon Kreiz other other top execs may leave Disney at end of year — Disney and Maker Studios' Big Deal May Be Smaller Than They Thought — It looks like the honeymoon is over for Disney and Maker Studios.
Discussion:
@cityofthetown, @shaliniwsj, Tubefilter, @pkafka, @hunterwalk, @lucas_shaw and @pkafka
James Bradshaw / Globe and Mail:
Woodbridge, private holding company of Thomson family, takes full ownership of Globe and Mail, buying BCE's remaining 15% stake — Woodbridge acquires full ownership of The Globe and Mail in deal with BCE — Woodbridge Co. Ltd. has taken full ownership of The Globe and Mail …
Discussion:
@craigsilverman and @curryb
Committee to Protect Journalists:
Saudi Arabia to require online media to have commercial registration and office space, while editors-in-chief need college degrees and Saudi citizenship — Saudi Arabia announces more restrictions on online media — The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns new restrictions …
Julie Makinen / Los Angeles Times:
Mongolia has 3M inhabitants, 138 TV stations, 111 newspapers, 90 magazines, and 72 radio stations — Mongolia is awash in media choices with even a remote yurt hooked up to 60 channels — Deep in a desolate, rocky canyon, about 10 miles from the nearest paved road and even farther from any power line …
Discussion:
@juliemaklat, @latimes and @gbaterdene