Top News:
Will Oremus / Slate:
The push for an antitrust exemption highlights the contradiction between the civic purpose and for-profit motive of newspapers — But it could help them resolve their existential crisis. — Newspapers' business models have been taking on water for years thanks to the rise of Google …
Scott Moritz / Bloomberg:
Sources: ahead of Time Warner buy, AT&T plans to create telecom and media arms with separate CEOs, overseen by Randall Stephenson, who will become exec chairman — Co-chiefs to run separate communications and media businesses — Stephenson sheds CEO title, will oversee company as chairman
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, Variety, The Hill, Android Police, CNNMoney, Light Reading, Deadline, ZDNet, TVWeek.com, @taralach, @stevekopack, @lucas_shaw, @crayton_h, @edmundlee and Fortune
BuzzFeed:
In a familiar pattern, right-wing personalities and media spread false claims about a Russian lawyer who met with Trump Jr., with one claim amplified by Trump — Pro-Trump media figures have gone as far as to falsely suggest that the Russian attorney may have planted a listening device for the Obama administration.
Tim Keck / The Stranger:
Seattle alt weekly The Stranger announces plans to print every two weeks starting in the fall, says it's profitable and not cutting staff — Starting this fall, The Stranger—the smart, funny, irreverent, Pulitzer Prize-winning guide to Seattle—will publish on a biweekly schedule …
Discussion:
@dominicholden and Portland Mercury, Thanks:@gitagovinda
Daniel Funke / Poynter:
Q&A with Malcolm Gladwell about how his podcast, Revisionist History, came to be, how curiosity of the medium made him transition to audio, more — Each episode of Malcolm Gladwell's podcast begins with a simple inquiry — it could be about an event, a person, an idea or even a song.
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Facebook adds Explore Feed under More menu in app, as it keeps testing a second customized feed from sources people haven't followed yet — Earlier this year, Facebook was spotted testing a new type of News Feed - one that designed to help you discover content across the social network …
Discussion:
Adweek and Digital Commerce 360, more at Techmeme »
Nathan Ingraham / Engadget:
Google Play Music's New Release Radio, previously an exclusive for Samsung users, now available to all; station is based on users' listening history — Google has officially announced New Release Radio, a station on Google Play Music that provides users with a daily selection of new songs …
Discussion:
Google, Fortune, BetaNews, Variety, RAIN News, MediaPost, TechCrunch, The Verge and 9to5Google, more at Techmeme »
Jon Brodkin / Ars Technica UK:
Net neutrality Day of Action resulted in 3.4M emails to congress, 1.6M+ comments to FCC, but Comcast, Verizon, CenturyLink continue to seek less strict rules — Comcast, Verizon, and CenturyLink counter pro-net neutrality “Day of Action.” — Broadband providers made it clear this week …
Discussion:
DSLreports, Recode, BGR, Grist, New York Magazine and Consumerist
Lucia Moses / Digiday:
Publishers like Hearst, Bustle, TechCrunch, BBC News, and Mic are shifting their enthusiasm from Snapchat to Instagram — Hearst's Kate Lewis can easily rattle off the company's Instagram stats. Half the company's brands have more than 1 million followers. Harper's Bazaar has 3 million.
Discussion:
@jason_kint, @kerrymflynn, @niemanlab and @digiday
Peter Beinart / The Atlantic:
Nastiness notwithstanding, Tucker Carlson's show offers a look at how Fox might become an intellectually interesting network — Over the last two nights, something fascinating has broken out on the Tucker Carlson show: A genuine, and exceedingly bitter, debate between conservatives on foreign policy.
Discussion:
RealClearPolitics and TVNewser
Marc Schneider / Billboard:
Warner Music Group acquires core assets of concert discovery platform Songkick, including website and app, but not ticketing functions — Warner Music Group has acquired many of the core assets of concert discovery platform Songkick, including its website and app, along with the trademark.
Discussion:
TechCrunch, Warner Music Group, @jonty, New York Times, IQ Magazine and Variety, more at Techmeme »
Keith J. Kelly / New York Post:
New owner of Chicago Sun-Times plans no layoffs, will move the newsroom into the offices of Answers Media, which it has now acquired too — MORE FROM: … The Chicago investors who in just over a month raised the funds to buy the Sun-Times, the Chicago Reader and the other properties …
Discussion:
Poynter and Curbed Chicago