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YouTube says it will invest $25M in grants to news organizations looking to expand video operations as part of Google's larger $300M Google News Initiative — FOLLOWING A YEAR in which YouTube has repeatedly promoted conspiracy theory videos during breaking news events like the shootings in Parkland …
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YouTube overhauls how it handles breaking news, adding previews of articles from credible sources, showing info from third parties, testing local news in TV app — The work of trusted journalistic organizations is as critical as ever, especially when it comes to seeking information about current events online.
Discussion:
MediaPost, The Daily Caller, TechCrunch, MediaNama, The Next Web, Relay FM Master Feed, VideoInk, Variety, Business Insider, Engadget, The Verge and Boing Boing, more at Techmeme »


A look at how the loss of local newspapers, combined with dwindling regional coverage, is affecting American cities like Boulder and Denver — In the past decade, hundreds of local US newspapers have closed or merged. What happens to the communities they leave behind?
Discussion:
The Rural Blog


Excerpts from AT&T executive John Stankey's talk with HBO staff: “I want to see more investment in product and platform” — John Stankey had a lot to tell Richard Plepler and his team last month. You can read (almost) all of it here. — Did the AT&T executive in charge …
Discussion:
The Wrap, Gizmodo, Techdirt, Fortune, Los Angeles Times, @gavinpurcell, @sherman4949, Slate and @pkafka, more at Techmeme »
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Google expands use of machine learning for advertisers by launching Responsive search ads, Maximize lift for YouTube, and more — The ways people get things done are constantly changing, from finding the closest coffee shop to organizing family photos. Earlier this year …
Discussion:
VentureBeat, more at Techmeme »


NYT's Dean Baquet acknowledges that four stories in six days on Alan Dershowitz being “shunned” was too much: “We should have coordinated better and done fewer” — Even publicity-savvy, Alan Dershowitz is astonished at the flood-the-zone coverage that The New York Times …


Billboard's latest record-breaking chart numbers reveal the challenges it faces in figuring out a streaming equivalent to an album purchase or a song download — Drake and Kanye West — two reigning kings of pop music — both flooded the American consciousness with music this summer in strikingly different manners.
Discussion:
@micahsingleton, New York Times and The Verge


Netflix's content spend is not reckless, its strategy to accrete paid users' leisure time gives it an edge over free content platforms like Facebook, YouTube — Even when underestimated, Netflix's ever-escalating, industry-leading content spend remains a point of fear and fascination in the media industry.


A reporter hired to cover local politics, as part of BBC's “Local Democracy” partnership with regional papers, was fired after complaint from local politician — A Local Democracy Reporter has been dismissed one month after being given the role in North Yorkshire following …


Philo, a low-cost live-streaming TV service, has raised $40M Series C led by existing investors AMC Networks, Discovery, and Viacom — Internet TV provider launches service on Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV — Philo has nabbed more dough: The low-cost live-streaming TV “skinny bundle” …
Discussion:
MediaPost


Newsletter startup Substack now has 11K paying subscribers, with revenue split between 10 medium-sized publications — On average, they're paying just under $80 per year. About 40 or so indie publishers with paid offerings are making what Substack calls “meaningful money.”
Thanks:@nicolasmagand


WhatsApp is using newspapers to fight fake news in India, taking out full-page ads offering news literacy tips in leading English-language and Hindi titles — Here's why quitting Facebook is so hard — WhatsApp is using old media to tackle its misinformation problem in India.
Discussion:
@aroondeep and Techdirt