Top News:
Lukas I. Alpert / Wall Street Journal:
Politico co-founder Jim VandeHei raises $10M round led by Lerer Hippeau for a subscription-based news venture aimed at professionals, launching early 2017 — Service will sell subscriptions, aim at specialists in industries like tech, health care — Politico co-founder Jim VandeHei …
Discussion:
Bloomberg, FishbowlDC, The Wrap, @erichippeau, Fortune, FishbowlNY, Jim VandeHei, @jimvandehei, TVNewser, @kenvogel, @rafat, @clarajeffery, @margarita, @mathewi, @gaberivera, @timothynoah1, @jyarow, @taylorgreene, @dylanbyers, @jayrosen_nyu and CNNMoney
Brian Stelter / CNNMoney:
Trump ends his media ‘blacklist’, effective from Thursday, approving requests for press credentials to media outlets including WaPo, Politico, and BuzzFeed — Donald Trump is ending a practice most journalists think he never should have started: his “blacklisting” of news outlets.
William D. Cohan / Vanity Fair:
Two HuffPo employees were suspended after Huffington complained about a story on friend Fareed Zakaria, one of a series of missteps that alienated staff — The Huffington Post's namesake founder, who stepped down as editor in chief last month, built an iconic media company in record time.
Discussion:
FishbowlNY, @e_alexjung and @slone
Jessica Davies / Digiday:
The Guardian's social editor, product manager on what they've learnt from its Sous-chef bot: natural language increases engagement, bots can't be too human-like — For the past two months, the Guardian has been testing a Facebook Messenger bot, “Sous-chef,” that provides recipe suggestions …
Bloomberg:
Snapchat ends its Local Stories section as it shifts to live events, fires about 15 curators — Snapchat Inc. is ending its daily local stories for cities feature, which pulled together video of everyday activities — concerts, cute puppies in the park — shot by users in locales such as New York.
Discussion:
Nieman Lab, Engadget, @sarahfrier, @myurow, New York Magazine, Mashable, Global, Business Insider and The Verge
Harrison Weber / VentureBeat:
Apple Music passes 17M subscribers, up from 15M in June — Apple CEO Tim Cook revealed today that the company's flagship music service, Apple Music, now has 17 million paying subscribers — up from 15 million in June. — This new stat arrives as Apple seeks to correct the mistakes …
Discussion:
Fortune
Jasper Jackson / Guardian:
Maldives government threatens to sue anyone involved in producing or broadcasting al-Jazeera documentary, claims it includes false allegations of corruption — Majority party threatens anyone involved in assisting with, producing or broadcasting what it says are false claims featured in film
Discussion:
@williamsjon, @jaspjackson, @andreaskyriacou and @shafeeu
Mike Fishbein / Zero Infinity:
Alt-right writers like Milo Yiannopoulos and Mike Cernovich join Gab.ai, a social network that emphasizes free speech, is in beta and has 10K users — Freedom of speech—as protected by The First Amendment of the United States Constitution—has been central to America's philosophy since it's founding.
Discussion:
@tillywrites
Mark Mulligan / Music Industry Blog:
Analysis: streaming drives music labels' digital revenue growth, but advanced payments that are separate from royalties are padding the numbers — All of the three major record labels announced strong streaming music revenue growth in the 2nd quarter of 2016.
Discussion:
hypebot and @glensears
The New York Times Company:
The New York Times launches California Today, a daily newsletter posted at 6 am PT, also available on site and via mobile apps — Today The New York Times introduced California Today, a morning update for readers in California (and anyone else interested in the state).
Discussion:
LA Observed, New York Times, @lateefahsimon, @dcseifert and NetNewsCheck Latest
Jordan Crook / TechCrunch:
IAC-owned About.com launches standalone vertical, personal finance site The Balance, targeted at millennials — In a quest to dismantle itself and become more relevant in the 21st Century, IAC-owned [About.com]() is launching another standalone vertical in the form of The Balance …
Discussion:
FishbowlNY, AdExchanger, Digiday, @rafat and The Drum
Agence France-Presse:
AFP opens bureau in North Korea, becomes fourth news agency in country after AP, Japan's Kyodo, and China's Xinhua, will primarily file videos and photos — Global news agency AFP has opened a bureau in North Korea, becoming one of only a handful of foreign media organisations …