Mediagazer: Spotify says Facebook's Libra cryptocurrency, launching in 2020, will help subscription services by reducing payment friction and opening new markets (Janko Roettgers/Variety)

3:10 PM ET, June 18, 2019

Top News:

Janko Roettgers / Variety:

Spotify says Facebook's Libra cryptocurrency, launching in 2020, will help subscription services by reducing payment friction and opening new markets — When Facebook officially announced its plans for a new cryptocurrency called Libra Tuesday, it also revealed that Spotify was part …

Discussion: TechCrunch, Variety, Nieman Lab, Facebook, The Guardian, New York Times, Gizmodo, Spotify, @lyman_brian, @happicamp, @scribandotcom, @matthewkeyslive, GeekWire and @joshconstine, more at Techmeme »

Patrick Coffee / Adweek:

Advertisers, agencies, and social platforms form the Global Alliance for Responsible Media, a coalition to develop methods for protecting brands and consumers — Google, Facebook team up with agencies and advertisers for the Global Alliance for Responsible Media

Discussion: Ad Age, Wall Street Journal, GroupM, TechCrunch, The Hill, @wsjcmo, Reuters, @jeffjarvis and AdExchanger

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:

Amazon's Twitch has acquired social networking platform Bebo, source says for $25M, to bolster its esports business — While Facebook makes a bold move into cryptocurrency to capitalise on its multi-billion user base, a social network that was once a credible competitor to it has quietly been snapped up by a subsidiary of Amazon.

Discussion: The Drum, The Guardian, GeekWire, @sirslaw_ and @mathewi, more at Techmeme »

Joshua Benton / Nieman Lab:

Reuters report: 32% of global respondents, including 41% in US, actively avoid news mainly as it negatively affects their mood, not because they don't trust it — The modern digitally connected human (Homo smartphonicus, identifiable by its trademark slumped shoulders and bleary eyes) …

Discussion: @shansquared, Parse.ly, @madbair, @b_fung, @jbenton, @rozmurph, @nikkiusher, @spj_tweets, @jayrosen_nyu, @dankennedy_nu, @alanmillernlp, @newsmary, @niemanlab, @michaelkruse, @niemanlab, @chanders, @amyoleary and @iroughol

Lillian Rizzo / Wall Street Journal:

TV station owners CBS, Cox, Scripps, Fox, and Tegna settle Justice Department antitrust charges that they illegally coordinated on sales of local ad spots — CBS, Cox and others agree to stop sharing competitively sensitive information for seven years — A group of five television station owners …

Discussion: Reuters, U.S. Department of Justice and Broadcasting & Cable

Gene Maddaus / Variety:

Federal jury orders VidAngel, a streaming service that filters out offensive material, to pay $62.4M to Disney, Fox, and Warner Bros. for copyright infringement — A jury on Monday ordered VidAngel to pay $62.4 million to Disney, Fox, and Warner Bros. for streaming hundreds of movies on its service without permission.

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, TechCrunch, Multichannel News, Yahoo, Plagiarism Today, MediaPost, @latimes, Hollywood Reporter, KSL-TV, Law360, Deseret News, Deadline and New York Post

Chris Welch / The Verge:

Comcast adds eye control as an accessibility feature to its web-based remote control, says it supports all popular eye gaze hardware and software — Comcast is introducing eye control to its X1 cable platform, a new effort that the company says will improve the experience of watching TV …

Discussion: Fast Company, VentureBeat, Comcast, @fastcompany, @fastcompany, TechCrunch, Multichannel News, Media Star, Light Reading, UPI and Quartz

Orlando Sentinel:

Orlando Sentinel announces 17 months before the presidential election that it will not endorse Trump, citing his “successful assault on truth” — Donald Trump is in Orlando to announce the kickoff of his re-election campaign. — We're here to announce our endorsement for president in 2020 …

Discussion: Newser, Fast Company, The Independent, @connieschultz, Mediaite, Talking Points Memo, Fox News, @jaketapper, UPI, @kylegriffin1, @ironstache, @drdenagrayson, Politico and Slate

Jason Lynch / Adweek:

After WarnerMedia's exit from the TV audience targeting platform, OpenAP partners with NCC Media, letting advertisers use OpenAP to buy across NCC's inventory — Advertisers can use the audience targeting platform's segment definitions across NCC's 85 million households

Discussion: Ad Age, Broadcasting & Cable, MediaPost, FierceVideo and PR Newswire

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Apple adds support for Picture in Picture to tvOS 13 beta 2, letting Apple TV users watch two shows at once for content provided by Apple in the Apple TV app — Apple TV is getting a Picture-in-Picture mode that will allow users to stream two shows at the same time, TechCrunch has confirmed.

Discussion: 9to5Mac, @shiraovide, Digital TV Europe, Digital Trends, Engadget and The Verge, more at Techmeme »

Mike Masnick / Techdirt:

Internet companies that call themselves “platforms” instead of publishers have no special legal protections or obligations under the Communications Decency Act — Alexis Madrigal, over at the Atlantic has a mostly interesting piece recounting the history of how the big internet …

Discussion: @j00bar, @tarletong, @enbrown, @techdirt and The Atlantic

Jeanine Poggi / Ad Age:

Comcast joins Cox and Charter in urging the TV industry to expand addressable advertising, the ability for marketers to deliver ads at the household level — Comcast is working with Cox and Charter to open up more addressable inventory — Over 1,000 Cannes attendees woke up Tuesday morning …

Discussion: Multichannel News and MediaPost

Archived Page Info:

This is a snapshot of Mediagazer at 3:10 PM ET, June 18, 2019.

View the current page or another snapshot:

Who's Hiring in Media?

Deputy Ed. - Gen. Assignment Desk, DC — WaPo

EU Technology Reporter, Brussels — Bloomberg

Breaking News Reporter, NY — Guardian US

Harrisburg Reporter, PA — PCBC

Senior Editor - Styles, NY — NYT

Part-time Editor, Remote — Techmeme

Home & Travel Reporter, Ireland — Newsweek

Assistant Digital Editor, MA — Boston Globe

Senior Editor - Visuals (Temporary), DC — NPR

Copy Editor, Remote US — ProPublica

Markets Reporter, NY/CA — Sherwood Media

Staff Writer, MI — Watershed Voice

Food Reporter, CA — SF Standard

Staff Writer, NV — Las Vegas Weekly

Pharma Editor, Remote — Endpoints

Higher Ed. Reporter, Remote CA — EdSource

Politics Reporter, Brussels — Politico

Investigations & Enterprise Ed., WI — Cap Times

Social Strategy Editor, NY — WSJ

Senior Narrative Editor, CA — Cloud Chamber

Editor-in-Chief, NY (flexible) — The 74

Housing Reporter, OK — The Frontier

Writer/AI Content Reviewer, CA — Outlier

Writer/Editor, Remote — Mediaite

Multi Media Reporter, NC — Cardinal & Pine

Afternoon/Night Editor, NH — Keene Sentinel

Education Lab Editor, WA — Seattle Times

Senior Editor, Remote US — PCWorld

State Worker Reporter, CA — Sacramento Bee

Executive Editor, NM — Searchlight

News Assistant, NY — Quanta Magazine

Local Editor, NJ (Remote) — Patch

News Writer, CA — Hollywood Reporter

News Editor/Reporter, KS — Blade-Empire

Add your company here

See Also:

Mediagazer: site main

Mediagazer River: reverse chronological Mediagazer

Mediagazer Mobile: for phones

Mediagazer Leaderboard: Mediagazer's top sources

Subscribe:

Mediagazer RSS feed

Mediagazer on X

Mediagazer on Mastodon

More News:

Pat Eaton-Robb / Associated Press:
Father of a child killed at Sandy Hook wins defamation lawsuit against the authors of a book that claimed the shooting never happened; publisher pulls book

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, CNBC, @emilygorcenski, Media Law Prof Blog, The Week, The Inquisitr and New York Post

Amy Zimmerman / The Daily Beast:
Eight women accuse Max Landis, the “Bright” screenwriter and son of director John Landis, of emotional, physical, and sexual abuse

Discussion: IndieWire, The Week, Vanity Fair, @ahzimm, @feliciaday, @remembrancermx, The Playlist and The A.V. Club

Wendy Lee / Los Angeles Times:
Sources: Amazon is pulling back from producing new original animated kids programming, opting instead for family-friendly shows and young adult content

Discussion: Decider

Meaghan Winter / Columbia Journalism Review:
Even with the rise of state restrictions on abortion after 2010, reporting on the politics of reproductive health was too often siloed in women's publications

Discussion: @jessicagolds, @underoak, @nataliedaher7 and @robinmarty

Lesley Goldberg / Hollywood Reporter:
Sources: AT&T's WarnerMedia nears a deal with production company Bad Robot, run by J.J. Abrams and Katie McGrath, estimated to be valued at $500M

Discussion: New York Times, CNN, The Wrap, @edmundlee, Observer, Digital TV Europe, @mattgarrahan, @loudmouthjulia, @reckless, @pkafka, Engadget, The Verge, The Streamable, CNET, Los Angeles Times and Collider

Rebecca Worby / Pacific Standard:
In a case that may affect social media, SCOTUS says First Amendment rules against “state actors” controlling speech don't apply to public access TV operators

Discussion: @evelyndouek, The Verge, @evelyndouek, @danielnazer, SCOTUSblog, @mmasnick, @evelyndouek, @dandotlewis, @evelyndouek, SCOTUSblog and Washington Free Beacon

Earlier Picks:

Bloomberg:
YouTube Kids, intended as a haven from the dangers of the main YouTube site, is used by just 20M+ people a week, compared to the main site's 2B+ monthly users

Discussion: @gerryfsmith, Fortune, The Next Web, @kuziemsky, @mcewanincomm, @annemariebridy, @zeynep, @mollymckew and CNN, more at Techmeme »

Sahil Patel / Digiday:
With 40% of its audience outside the US and distribution deals with iFlix and Canada's Corus, Complex plans to expand its offices to Asia and Europe

Keith J. Kelly / New York Post:
Authentic Brands licenses SI's digital and print rights to The Maven, which prepaid $45M for royalties over 10 years; Ross Levinsohn to be CEO of SI media line

Gerry Smith / Bloomberg:
BuzzFeed News staffers walked out of all four US bureaus Monday, citing mismanagement, pay disparities and job cuts as they push for recognition of their union

Discussion: Columbia Journalism Review, @oliverdarcy, @maxwelltani, @mollyhc, The NewsGuild - CWA, @frittaker, @bfnewsunion, @newsynick, @broderick, @vox_union, @chrisgeidner, @dominicholden, @oliverdarcy, @annehelen, @oliverdarcy, MediaPost and CNN

Todd Spangler / Variety:
Amazon's IMDb renames its ad-supported streaming service Freedive to IMDb TV, says it plans to launch in Europe later this year

Discussion: TechCrunch, @mgsiegler, MediaPost, Ad Age, GeekWire, The Streamable, Fast Company and Deadline

Andrew Blustein / The Drum:
Spotify rolls out podcast listener targeting in some countries, segmenting users based on podcasts they stream

Discussion: Nieman Lab, RAIN News, TechCrunch, Hot Pod News, The Verge and @ashleyrcarman

From Techmeme:

Wall Street Journal:
Apple removes WhatsApp, Threads, Signal, and Telegram from its App Store in China, after orders from the country's regulators citing national security concerns

Foo Yun Chee / Reuters:
Sources: EU may accept Apple's proposal to open its NFC payments tech to rivals, and may close its antitrust probe in May, letting Apple avoid hefty fines

Ryan Browne / CNBC:
Telegram partners with Tether to let the messaging app's ~900M users send USDT to each other through The Open Network blockchain

Sister Sites:

Techmeme
Top news and commentary for technology's leaders, from all around the web

memeorandum
What US political commentators are discussing online right now

WeSmirch
The top celebrity news from all around the web on a single page