Top News:
Peter Kafka / Recode:
Univision acquires Gawker Media for $135M; Denton says employees will continue work under new ownership “disentangled from the legal campaign” — Sold! — Univision has won the auction for Gawker Media. — The TV network and digital publisher has agreed to pay $135 million …
Discussion:
New York Times, @dylanbyers, Forbes, CNNMoney, @mattdrange, Newser, VentureBeat, Nieman Lab, Fast Company, The Wrap, Ad Age, Mediaite, TechCrunch, Politico, Talking Points Memo, Wired, Deadline, Wall Street Journal, Broadcasting & Cable, NBC News, LawNewz, Adweek, @gaberivera, @samfbiddle, @coreypein, New York Magazine, Business Insider, @stgeorgedj, @patrickklepek, The Daily Caller, @pkafka, @mattyglesias, @felixsalmon, @pkafka, @juliakmarsh, Fortune, Boing Boing, Mashable and iMediaEthics
RELATED:
Alex Sherman / Bloomberg:
Source: Gawker attracted only two formal takeover bids, from Ziff Davis and Univision; if outbid by Univision, Ziff Davis is entitled to a $2.47M breakup fee — Gawker Media, driven into bankruptcy in June after losing an invasion-of-privacy lawsuit to Hulk Hogan, has attracted formal takeover offers …
Discussion:
Broadcasting & Cable, Adweek, FishbowlNY, @gerryfsmith, New York Post, Recode, Los Angeles Times, Digiday, Vanity Fair, The Hill, Fast Company, Ad Age, FishbowlNY, Media Wire Daily, Variety, Mediaite, @edmundlee, @zoegalland, @ahess247, Fast Company, The Drum, Forbes and @pkafka
New York Times:
Sources: ex-Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes, recently ousted over charges of sexual harassment, is advising on preparation for upcoming presidential debates — Roger Ailes, the former Fox News chairman ousted last month over charges of sexual harassment, is advising Donald J. Trump as he begins …
Discussion:
Politico, @braddjaffy, @ashleyrparker, Mediaite, Reuters, NewsMax.com, @gabrielsherman, Talking Points Memo, Washington Post, Fortune, @karaswisher, New York Magazine, CNNMoney, Jezebel, Gothamist, @dylanbyers, The Huffington Post, The Wrap, Vanity Fair, @richlowry, @annkillion, @daveweigel, @philipsturner, The New Civil Rights Movement, Variety, Media Matters for America, @juddlegum, @ddale8, @sopandeb, @maggienyt, The Week, @gabrielsherman, Ad Age, Newser, Business Insider, TVNewser and Mother Jones
RELATED:
Ryan Parker / Hollywood Reporter:
Trump campaign denies NYT report on Ailes, says he has no formal or informal role with them — The first presidential debate will be Sept. 26 on Long Island. — Donald Trump's campaign vehemently denies that Roger Ailes, the former head of Fox News who recently resigned amid sexual harassment allegations …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Mediaite, @mlcalderone, @theryanparker, @theryanparker and Mother Jones
Wall Street Journal:
Barnes & Noble says CEO Ronald Boire not a good fit, will step down; executive chairman Leonard Riggio to delay September retirement, will step in as acting CEO — Ex-CEO Riggio, who has served as executive chairman, will postpone his retirement — Leonard Riggio is back—for now.
Discussion:
TechCrunch, New York Times, Business Wire, Publishers Weekly, Deadline, Bloomberg, Fortune and GeekWire
Brian Feldman / New York Magazine:
Peter Thiel's NYT op-ed is full of contradictions and distortions; writer of the original Gawker story says the site did not out him as gay at all — On the eve of Gawker Media's sale to ... somebody, the author of its bankruptcy, Facebook billionaire Peter Thiel, was graciously given op-ed space …
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, BBC, @perrych, @colvinius, @pennyred, @bafeldman, @pattymo, Guardian, The Hill, Fortune and USA Today
RELATED:
Peter Thiel / New York Times:
Peter Thiel says he will support Hogan “until his final victory”, advocates a “Gawker bill” that would criminalize profiting from explicit private images
Peter Thiel says he will support Hogan “until his final victory”, advocates a “Gawker bill” that would criminalize profiting from explicit private images
Discussion:
The Hill, Guardian, Reuters, CNBC, Recode, Elizabeth Spiers, TechCrunch, Fortune, @mattyglesias, Techdirt, BuzzFeed, Hit & Run, @sdkstl, @espiers, @profcarroll, Forbes, @nytimes, Mediaite, LawNewz, Globe and Mail, CNNMoney, The Huffington Post, @dangillmor, @doree, @johnpaczkowski, @glennf, @jonathanshainin, @ashleyfeinberg, @jonlovett, @joshtpm, @nytimes, @mccannsportslaw, @greghoward88, @edmundlee, @jonathanmahler, @mattdpearce, @toure, @nytopinion, Politico, Fast Company, Talking Points Memo, Business Insider, The Wrap, @hamiltonnolan, @max_read, @shani_o, @anildash, @max_read, @jamesrbuk, @mathewi, @samfbiddle, @annadubenko, @mathewi, @annamerlan, @justinjm1 and @tomkrazit, Thanks:@taylorbuley
Shan Wang / Nieman Lab:
The Wall Street Journal is making its paywall more flexible, with 24-hour guest passes for non-subscribers and expanded social sharing — The Wall Street Journal's proposition has, for many years, been clear: Pay for our journalism, including online. — Many do: The Journal recently hit …
Discussion:
@joelcifer, @joyabella, @jdawsey1, FishbowlNY and Techdirt
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
In bid to sign up new Prime subscribers, Amazon distributes pilot episodes from Amazon Video's original series on social media sites including Facebook, YouTube — Amazon this morning announced that, for the first time ever, it will begin distributing its Original Series from Amazon Video …
Discussion:
Broadcasting & Cable, Variety, Engadget and Home Media Magazine
Jon Brodkin / Ars Technica:
Leichtman Research Group: 11 biggest pay-TV subscribers in the US lost 665K net video subscribers in Q2, almost doubling the losses of two years ago — Top pay-TV operators lost 665,000 subscribers in Q2 2016. — The second quarter of each year is generally bad for pay-TV companies …
Discussion:
Digital Trends and @taylorbuley
Tim Ingham / Music Business Worldwide:
Apple Music makes deal with Cash Money Records, whose artists include Drake, Lil Wayne, Nicki Minaj, Young Money, and more — We're used to seeing Apple Music pick off artists one-by-one for exclusive deals. — Now it's signed an agreement with an entire label - a big one.
Discussion:
AppleInsider, 9to5Mac, MacRumors and Billboard
Bill Adair / Poynter:
More than 100 news outlets are now routinely fact-checking politicians' statements , up more than 50% in the past year — Political reporters are showing that fact-checking isn't just for fact-checkers. — After Donald Trump declared repeatedly last week that President Obama and Hillary Clinton …
Discussion:
@poynter, FishbowlDC, @gravesmatter, @porter_anderson and WCDC-TV
Benjamin Mullin / Poynter:
Matt DeRienzo of Local Independent Online News Publishers, growing about 10% annually, describes how small news orgs are making money and filling news gaps — Two years ago, when Matt DeRienzo was editor of the New Haven Register, he remembers being frustrated by a scrappy little site that dug up scoop after scoop at his expense.
Discussion:
@jcstearns
Meg James / Los Angeles Times:
Sources: Viacom and Redstone near deal, with Dauman to exit with about $85M, replaced by COO Tom Dooley; sale of a Paramount stake remains a sticking point — Talks have accelerated to end the bitter boardroom dispute between Sumner and Shari Redstone and Viacom's top executives …
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal