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US prosecutors charge Julian Assange with violating the Espionage Act in an indictment that says he “repeatedly encouraged” sources to steal government secrets — Federal prosecutors on Thursday accused WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange of violating the Espionage Act …
Discussion:
New York Times, The Daily Beast, @adamserwer, Mediaite, Bloomberg, Politico, @kampeas, @edvanews, @benrileysmith, @will_bunch, @adamserwer, @aodespair, @adamserwer, @petersterne, @mlcalderone, @ggreeneva, @petersterne, @bradmossesq, @adamserwer, @snowden, @sivavaid, @skinnerpm, @glennkesslerwp, @john_hudson, @ryanjreilly, HuffPost, @eriqgardner, @rollingstone, @wikileaks, @natashabertrand, @eriqgardner, The Week, @yashar, Law & Crime, Boing Boing and Mashable


Ireland's Data Protection Commission, the lead EU supervisory authority for Google, announces investigation into Google's online advertising data collection — KEY POINTS — Ireland's Data Protection Commission says its probe will examine whether Google's processing of data in advertising transactions breaches EU privacy rules.
Discussion:
Reuters, Marketing Land, Data Protection Commission, MediaNama, Beyond Search, XDA Developers and The Verge, more at Techmeme »
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Companies that have taken a strict approach to GDPR feel punished by falling ad revenues while rivals flourished, and are now loosening their terms — Complacency is a dangerous mistress. But it's a trap many companies are in danger of falling into when it comes to the General Data Protection Regulation …
Discussion:
Politico, MediaPost, @digiday, @karaswisher, @kimmaicutler and TechCrunch, more at Techmeme »


Jay Fielden is out as Esquire editor in chief after three years as part of a reshuffling under Hearst Magazine President Troy Young — Jay Fielden is leaving his position as Esquire's editor in chief, a job he held three years, he and Hearst Magazines announced Thursday.
Discussion:
WWD, @tomgara, Adweek, Mediaite, The Wrap, New York Magazine, @elainaplott, @coreypein, @kateaurthur, Fashionista, @mccanner, New York Post, @tomgara, @coreypein and @jimrutenberg


As Twitter tests an increased ad load, users report a higher number of spammy or malicious promoted tweets — Twitter is running a test that has increased the number of promoted tweets showing up in people's timelines — and it has resulted in a range of user complaints about their new prevalence …
Discussion:
Bloomberg, @craigsilverman and AdExchanger, more at Techmeme »


Distorted videos of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, slowed to about 75% of original speed to make her speech appear slurred, circulate on Twitter, YouTube, Facebook — Distorted videos of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), altered to make her sound as if she's drunkenly slurring her words …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo and Mother Jones


Rotten Tomatoes says it will now calculate the Audience Score using only ratings or reviews from users whose ticket purchase has been verified through Fandango — Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes is taking additional steps to confirm that audience members actually see a movie before leaving a rating or review.
Discussion:
Variety, The Wrap, /Film, Fast Company, Business Insider, Associated Press, @ptibz, @edzitron, Engadget, @danamrich and The A.V. Club, more at Techmeme »


A newly released report on DOJ's subpoena of AP phone records in 2013 shows that DOJ also considered subpoenaing phone records of WaPo, NYT, and ABC — With its latest leak indictment last week, the Department of Justice under Donald Trump is now on pace to break the previous record …
Discussion:
@trevortimm, @nickochsnerwbtv and @jameeljaffer


YouTube announces that it will round down real-time subscriber counts starting August, and exact subscriber counts will no longer be displayed — Sites like Social Blade may be impacted — YouTube is introducing a major change to the way real-time subscriber counts are displayed …
Discussion:
YouTube Help, @holmesinfive, MediaPost, @bakabakaonichan, @brodyanimates, @blakeir, @chrisdancy, @loudmouthjulia, @lowspec_gamer, @loudmouthjulia, @taylorlorenz and Variety


Canadian government names eight media organizations to sit on an advisory panel to recommend news operations for CAD$600M media support fund over five years — The federal government has named the eight Canadian organizations that will sit on a special advisory panel tasked …
Discussion:
Canada.ca, @awudrick, HuffPost Canada, iPolitics, Telegraph and Canadian Press


Instagram says IGTV will now support landscape video, following feedback from creators and users, as the service struggles to gain traction — The vertical video experiment is over — Instagram is no longer all-in on vertical video. The company announced today that its longform video offshoot …
Discussion:
Digiday, TechCrunch, Variety, Instagram, Engadget and CNET, more at Techmeme »


NYT management raises concerns in internal memo as requests for book leave grow, leaving managers worried about exclusive reporting and newsroom needs — Baker, Abrams, Stewart, Schmidt, Kantor, Twohey, Rutenberg, Nagourney, and lots more: who doesn't have a deal?
Discussion:
@martinsfp, @daisandconfused, Politico and CNN


PBS NewsHour announces it will expand its broadcast and digital arts reporting initiative, CANVAS, with a $1.7M investment from the Knight Foundation — The television program has created a website for its arts reporting initiative, Canvas. Read More — The post Knight Foundation Gives $1.7 M …
Discussion:
Knight Foundation, @judywoodruff and @tylergreenbooks