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Of the 65 journalists laid off at New Orleans' Times-Picayune, 19 plan to remain as journalists in the city; The Advocate hired 10, 3 with grant-funded salaries — Less than a third of the former Times-Picayune staffers are staying in New Orleans journalism
Discussion:
@skooks, Poynter, Miami New Times, @yatpundit, @lhcbmatt, @lamarwhitejr, @jameskarst, @tmorris504, @jbenton, @poynter, @bpwarsh, @jbenton and @poynter
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Survey of layoffs and closures in media between Jan and June 2019: thousands were laid off or offered a buyout; industry is on course for worst year since 2009 — Between January and May this year, approximately 3,000 people working in the news industry were laid off or offered a buyout.
Discussion:
Bloomberg, The Texas Tribune, American Press Institute and Politico


Big Machine Label Group, Taylor Swift's old label, was sold to a company owned by the manager of Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande; source: deal valued at $300M+ — The country-pop record company Big Machine Label Group, one of the most successful independent labels in the country …


NBC News Now hires former Fox and WSJ reporter Alison Morris as its first full-time anchor, after launching the free streaming service in May — NBC News Now, five weeks after the free streaming service's launch, has a full-time anchor: Alison Morris, who most recently was with Fox Corp.'s Fox 5 in New York.
Discussion:
TVWeek.com, Deadline, Talking Biz News and TVNewser


Progressive news site ThinkProgress, launched 14 years ago, is put up for sale by the Center for American Progress as it faces falling ad revenue and donations — News site launched during the Bush years is running millions of dollars short. Its parent think tank says it will consider the editorial leanings of prospective owners.
Discussion:
@elienyc, @cd_hooks, @kileykroh, @zackford, @mattyglesias, @willmenaker, @jbenton, @igorvolsky, @thedailybeast, @joesudbay, @asymmetricinfo, @waywardwinifred, @celisa_mia, @jamessurowiecki, @fshakir, @chrisbangsdc, @lhfang, @rebleber, @rebekahentralgo, @annaholmes, @ddayen, @daniellebmclean, @davidsirota, @shortformernie, @josephsreed, @alyssarosenberg, @lauraolin, CNN and Mediaite


Loss of ebooks bought in Microsoft's book section is a reminder that digital rights management is defective by design as goods don't really belong to the buyer — YOUR ITUNES MOVIES, your Kindle books—they're not really yours. You don't own them. You've just bought a license that allows …
Discussion:
@michellemanafy, BGR, @williambibbiani, VICE, Gizmodo and CNET


Simon and Schuster to publish a book by CNN's Brian Stelter on the relationship between Trump and Fox News, in 2020 — The ‘Reliable Sources’ anchor will pen an untitled book looking at the network's relationship with the president, set to publish in 2020.
Discussion:
The Hill


Spotify ends its direct music upload beta program for artists after debuting it last year, saying it would rather focus on features unique to the platform — Spotify is shutting down a program that allowed indie artists to upload their own music to the streaming service, the company announced today.
Discussion:
artists.spotify.com, Music Business Worldwide, @lucas_shaw, @lucas_shaw, Bloomberg, RAIN News, Engadget and Variety, more at Techmeme »


Epidemic Sound, a search engine for video producers looking to license music for soundtracks, raises $20M at a reported $370M valuation — The rise of streamed video has seen the market for licensing streamed music boom in the last few years, with not only consumers using video as a medium …
Discussion:
hypebot, more at Techmeme »


Oscars Academy invites 842 new members, of which 50% are women and 29% are minorities; if all accept, composition will be 32% female and remain 16% POC — LOS ANGELES — Racing to make good on a 2016 pledge to double female and minority membership by the end of next year …
Discussion:
CNN, Vanity Fair and The Guardian


Bain Capital is in exclusive talks to buy a majority stake in ad giant WPP's Kantar unit in a deal valuing Kantar at about $4B, including debt — - Negotiations value Kantar research unit at about $4 billion — Advertising giant confirms talks reported by Bloomberg earlier
Discussion:
Reuters, MediaPost, Marketing Dive, Wall Street Journal and Ad Age


Sony's PlayStation Vue raises prices by $5/month for all tiers, bringing the cheapest plan to $50/month, following YouTube TV, which raised prices in April — Sony's PlayStation Vue live TV streaming service is joining its rivals with the roll out another price increase.
Discussion:
Multichannel News, Engadget, The Verge, The Streamable and The Streamable, more at Techmeme »