Top News:
Politico:
Sources: IBT Media lays off at least 30 journalists, affecting copy desk and tech, media, business, international, and culture news desks — IBT Media unexpectedly laid off at least 20 journalists on Thursday, POLITICO has learned. — The tech and media desks were hit the hardest.
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Newswire:
IBT Media announces restructuring, spinning Newsweek off into separate operating entity and clustering other IBT brands including International Business Times — Restructuring Designed To Support Future Plans — New York, June 30, 2016 (Newswire.com) - IBT Media, a privately held publishing firm …
Discussion:
Recode, @moorehn, FishbowlNY, Ad Age and @nkulw
Justin Fenton / Baltimore Sun:
Judge grants new trial for Adnan Syed of popular “Serial” podcast; murder conviction vacated — A Baltimore judge has vacated the murder conviction of Adnan Syed, the subject of the popular “Serial” podcast that explored his case, and granted his request for a new trial.
Discussion:
@cjbrownlaw, New York Times, The New York Observer, @serial, Forbes, ABC News, Engadget, Variety, The Wrap, Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone, Mediaite, @rabiasquared, The Verge, KTLA, The Daily Beast, @loganmbooker, @unclechaps, Business Insider, Mashable, The Week, Digital Trends, Recode and New York's PIX11
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Apple in exploratory talks to acquire Tidal, Jay Z's streaming music service; Tidal held similar talks with Rhapsody last year — Sources say talks are ongoing and may not result in a deal — Apple Inc. is in exploratory talks to acquire Tidal, a streaming-music service run by rap mogul Jay Z …
Discussion:
MacRumors, TechCrunch, VentureBeat, Forbes, The Wrap, @pkafka, Recode, @sisario, @clarknova1, Pocket-lint, AppleInsider, @tomgara, @nateog, @mikeisaac, The Next Web, @thetrudz, Complex, @tristanwalker, @brianstelter, @pkafka, The Verge, Fortune, The FADER, SiliconBeat, Engadget and Hip-Hop Wired
Ben Sisario / New York Times:
Justice Department declines changes to music royalty rules, denying requests for more publisher control over digital licensing — The Justice Department dealt a blow to the music industry this week when it declined to change the longstanding regulatory agreements that govern Ascap and BMI …
Discussion:
Billboard, Fortune, @nytimesbits, RAIN News, Complete Music Update and Newsmax
Casey Newton / The Verge:
Facebook is shutting down its Paper newsreading app on July 29th — Facebook is shutting down Paper, a bold reimagining of the company's flagship app for iOS that impressed critics but failed to attract a large audience, the company said today. The app transformed the core Facebook experience …
Discussion:
MediaPost, TechCrunch, Ubergizmo, MacRumors, @jarrardcole, Digital Trends, Business Insider, @jguynn, The Next Web, @caseynewton, Facebook, 9to5Mac, @stevekovach, MacStories, Pocket-lint, Engadget and AppAdvice.com Latest
Amol Sharma / Wall Street Journal:
Nielsen releases ratings from Netflix, Hulu, Amazon to studio partners interested in receiving streaming metrics about shows/episodes for specific time frames — Measurement specialist provides media partners with data on select shows, according to client presentation
Peter Kafka / Recode:
In letter to Apple's general counsel, Spotify says Apple won't approve app update in move to “diminish competitiveness” of Spotify on iOS — “We cannot stand by as Apple uses the App Store approval process as a weapon.” — Spotify says Apple is making it harder …
Discussion:
Fortune, MacRumors, @smeezi, Ubergizmo, PCMag UK, New York Magazine, 9to5Mac, ValueWalk, SiliconBeat, TechCrunch, Engadget, Business Insider, AppAdvice.com Latest, Thurrott.com, @joshuatopolsky, AppleInsider, RAIN News, Mashable, Variety, hypebot, Ars Technica UK, Complete Music Update, Music Ally, Digital Trends, Tech Trader Daily and Daring Fireball
David Ranii / Raleigh News & Observer:
Associated Press announces it is using automated writing for games of 142 minor-league baseball teams, with Automated Insights tech and MLB Advanced Media data — Durham company has created earnings reports for AP since 2014 — Automated Insights, the Durham-based producer …
Discussion:
Poynter, WRAL Tech Wire, @ourand_sbj, @ourand_sbj, @dannypage, Engadget, @rtburg, Medium and @ourand_sbj
Bloomberg:
Source: Disney to buy 1/3 stake in video unit of MLB Advanced Media in deal valued at $3.5B — Walt Disney Co. agreed to acquire a one-third stake in the video-streaming unit of MLB Advanced Media, in a deal valued at about $3.5 billion, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Discussion:
Deadline, @jeffpassan, Variety, Variety, @lucas_shaw, Awful Announcing, @ourand_sbj, @pkafka, Los Angeles Business … and Recode
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Olympics in VR: NBC to Present 85 Hours of Virtual-Reality Content on Samsung Devices — NBC is leaning into virtual reality — the hot tech flavor of the moment — with plans to pump out some 85 hours of VR programming for the Rio 2016 Summer Olympic Games.
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Laura Hazard Owen / Nieman Lab:
Reuters report: consumers prefer text over video for hard news but big breaking stories increase video interest — On November 13, 2015, terrorists coordinated multiple attacks in Paris, killing 130 people and injuring hundreds. On the day of the attacks, the BBC experienced …
Discussion:
Digital News Report, Journalism.co.uk, European Journalism … and FishbowlNY
Bloomberg:
Lions Gate Buys Starz for $4.4 Billion for Premium Cable Outlet — Independent film, TV studio will pay cash and stock for Starz — Acquisition makes Lions Gate a player on the pay-TV dial — Lions Gate Entertainment Corp., the studio that produced “The Hunger Games” and “Mad Men,” …
Discussion:
The Wrap, Broadcasting & Cable, Deadline, Radio & Television …, Los Angeles Times, Globe and Mail, Bloomberg, NetNewsCheck Latest, The Wrap, Bloomberg, Financial Times, Yahoo Finance, Reuters, Variety, 89.3 KPCC, New York Times, The Verge, The Wrap, Yahoo, Forbes, CNNMoney, Hollywood Reporter, TheStreet.com, Stocks to Watch, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Hollywood Reporter, CNBC and Business Insider