Mediagazer: A look at Apple's video content strategy: slow and deliberate approach led by experienced ex-TV execs who pass on most scripts and bid on high profile shows (Lacey Rose/Hollywood Reporter)

12:55 AM ET, October 1, 2017

Top News:

Founders of The Athletic, a network of ad-free paywalled sports sites with $48/year subscriptions, say they need 10,000-12,000 subs per city to be profitable — - The Athletic Detroit launched in June — Co-founder says site could be profitable within a year — Paywall site is hiring major journalists

Tim Wu / Knight First Amendment Institute:

The First Amendment fails to protect speech from new tactics like information flooding and online harassment, especially when government aligns with trolls — The First Amendment was a dead letter for much of American history. Unfortunately, there is reason to fear it is entering a new period of political irrelevance.

Jacqueline Williams / New York Times:

Australian Parliament expected to pass legislation eliminating separation of print and broadcast companies, critics cite consolidation and political favors — SYDNEY, Australia — Most of Australia's newspapers, radio stations and television broadcasters are controlled by only a handful of owners …

Lacey Rose / Hollywood Reporter:

A look at Apple's video content strategy: slow and deliberate approach led by experienced ex-TV execs who pass on most scripts and bid on high profile shows — The world's biggest company is officially taking meetings as everyone from Jennifer Aniston to Steven Spielberg salivates over selling the first big show.

Tony Romm / Recode:

Sources: Facebook is sharing its data with Google as the search giant reviews potential Russian meddling in the 2016 election — Google is also set to meet with congressional investigators in the coming weeks. — Facebook has shared some details about the Russian-operated profiles …

Discussion: New York Times, Wall Street Journal, The Hill, SiliconBeat and Peter O'Kelly's Reality Check, more at Techmeme »

CNNMoney:
Sources: Russian Internet Research Agency linked to one fake Twitter account and one fake Facebook account using “blacktivist” name; FB account had 360K likes

Discussion: Politico, The Guardian, The Daily Caller, AOL, EL PAÍS, The Hill, The Week, CityLab, The New York Observer, Twitter, Recode, Recode, @jdakwar and Talking New Media

Cyrus Farivar / Ars Technica:

DC firm FactSquared removes 15 hours of audio of Howard Stern interviews with Trump from YouTube, SoundCloud after DMCA notice, keeps transcripts on Factba.se — “This is the only public version of a massive quarter century trove of interviews.” — A Washington, DC startup that recently posted …

Discussion: Techdirt and @johnmcquaid

Charlotte Gao / The Diplomat:

China's Weibo announces it is hiring 1000 “supervisors” to censor content on the service — Weibo asks that each supervisor censor no less than 200 pieces of content per month — As Chinese authorities are fiercely cracking down on the internet, China's top social media platform Weibo doing its best to stay in line.

Discussion: 9to5Mac, Quartz, The Standard and Reuters, more at Techmeme »

Inés San Martín / Crux:

Pope Francis plans to release a statement to help promote professional journalism and highlight the dangers of disinformation on January 24 — ROME - “Fake news” and journalism as a force for peace are the themes chosen by Pope Francis for the Church-sponsored World Day of Social Communications 2018.

Discussion: @sulliview, @inesanma, Reuters, Variety and The Daily Caller

Hadas Gold / CNNMoney:

Reporters face damaged infrastructure, spotty electricity and phone service, and difficulty finding gas, food, and water while covering Puerto Rico — Reporting from Puerto Rico in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria has been one of the toughest assignments for journalists …

Discussion: The Root, Fast Company, The Week, TVNewser, Columbia Journalism Review, @atompkins, @espiegler, @joshuachavers, @michelletoh235 and @amandadickson

Dhrumil Mehta / FiveThirtyEight:
Compared to other US natural disasters in the past few weeks, Hurricane Maria has had less coverage online and on TV

Discussion: Consequence of Sound, @corticoai, @redheadkxc, @emilybell, @paulkrugman, @mrdanzak, @elizabarclay, @crispinburke, @rjsevans, @_vanessa_diaz, @johnupton and @bencasselman

Julie Reynolds / The Nation:

How private equity bears blame for newspapers' decline, buying up 679 properties since 2004 then squeezing for profit, selling assets, and laying off staff — As many as destroying America's hometown newspapers can buy him. — In 2013, a reclusive New York tycoon and his wife began buying …

Discussion: @taylorwanderson, @dangillmor, @bruvs and @atompkins

Michael Zhang / PetaPixel:

Getty Images bans images retouched to change body shape or weight as of October 1 in response to French law requiring labels on retouched photos — Getty Images has banned photos that contain subjects whose body shapes have been retouched to make them look thinner or larger.

Discussion: Engadget, HuffPost UK, USA Today, thisisinsider.com, The Independent, I-d, Pacific Standard, The Verge, Mashable, AOL, Digital Trends and TODAY.com

Bloomberg:

AT&T, CenturyLink, industry associations ask US Supreme Court to overturn Obama-era net neutrality rules barring ISPs from slowing or blocking rivals' content — Appeal adds to pressure on rule that FCC might weaken — Rule bars service providers from slowing some web traffic