Top News:


Plaintiffs in Sandy Hook defamation suits claim Alex Jones illegally deleted content considered evidence; staff deleted material after Twitter policy violation — WASHINGTON — Lawyers for the families of two Sandy Hook shooting victims are accusing the conspiracy theorist Alex Jones …
Discussion:
Rolling Stone, The Hill, sandiegouniontribune.com, The Wrap, The Splice Newsroom Archive, Motherboard, New York Post and Blog Network


Source: Amazon is working on a DVR that will record live TV, wirelessly connect to Fire TV boxes, and stream the video to smartphones — - Box would record live TV and stream that video to smartphones — Device competes with offerings from TiVo, Dish's Slingbox


The US Senate passes a resolution by unanimous voice vote affirming the media “is not the enemy of the people” and condemning attacks on the free press — The US Senate on Thursday passed a resolution by unanimous consent affirming that the media “is not the enemy of the people.”
Discussion:
European Federation …, Global Investigative …, CBS News, Poynter, CBS Los Angeles, TucsonSentinel.com and Fortune
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Malaysia has repealed its “fake news” law; deputy minister says police will instead be empowered to deal with the phenomenon — Critics say legislation was deployed during Najib Razak's time in office to silence criticism — Malaysia has repealed its “fake news” law …


Ocasio-Cortez campaign says she was “mobbed” by reporters at a Bronx community meeting, leading to a press ban for two listening tour stops — Media was barred after reporters ‘mobbed’ her at an earlier event — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted on Monday that stops on her …
Discussion:
Washington Post, @ocasio2018, @seungminkim, @seungminkim, Fox News, Hit & Run, The Week, New York Post, The Hill, ABC News, The Daily Caller, Mediaite and Heavy.com


How The Sun climbed above the Mail Online's digital reach, registering 29.7M UK users in June vs. Mail Online's 28.3M, despite earlier paywall missteps — It is exactly five years since Rupert Murdoch's British newspaper stable made its audacious - and we can now say almost calamitous - move to put The Sun behind a digital paywall.


Viacom lays off more than 30 Awesomeness employees following last month's acquisition; Awesomeness CEO Jordan Levin has left the company — As expected, Viacom has made a round of layoffs at Awesomeness, pink-slipping more than 30 employees of the digital-media company it acquired last month from NBCUniversal, Verizon and Hearst.
Discussion:
VideoInk, The Wrap, Hollywood Reporter, Tubefilter and Deadline


comScore: pure play streaming services like Sling TV and DirecTV Now reach 5% of US Wi-Fi households, up 58% since last year — The number of U.S. households watching streaming TV services - those that deliver cable TV-like programming over the internet - has grown a remarkable 58% over last year, according to new data from comScore.
Discussion:
The Verge, more at Techmeme »


The Seattle Times has attracted 36K digital subscribers since starting a metered paywall in 2013, uses its 183K newsletter readers to drive subscriptions — While The New York Times and The Washington Post crow about attracting big digital subscriber numbers, the sledding is tougher for local newspapers.
Discussion:
@jbenton and What's New in Publishing


PEOPLE, a free to listeners, non-commercial audio publishing platform focused on musician collaboration and works-in-progress, to launch on August 18 — PEOPLE, their new streaming platform that prioritizes collaboration and de-emphasizes the algorithm, launches this weekend.
Discussion:
Billboard, Music Business Worldwide and RAIN News


Globe & Mail to launch C$999/year subscription newsletter on cannabis, hire at least five journalists for the beat, invest in major live events to demystify it — When life gives you nationwide legalization of recreational cannabis, you make high-priced subscription products covering the industry.
Discussion:
Talking Biz News and @someday_deane


Amazon plans an ad campaign in the US, UK, and Germany to boost its music streaming service — - Music has become one of the most popular requests for Alexa — Amazon is turning up the volume in the music business. — The world's largest online retailer will mount the first national TV campaign …
Discussion:
VentureBeat and @lucas_shaw