Top News:
New York Post:
Sources: GateHouse Media, owned by Fortress Investment Group, is nearing a deal to buy Gannett, which would create the biggest newspaper chain in the US — GateHouse Media and its publicly traded publisher New Media Investment Group is deep in talks to buy USA Today owner Gannett …
Discussion:
Nieman Lab, Wall Street Journal, Poynter, American Press Institute, The Wrap, USA Today, @jpelzer, @jbenton, @johnnewsomnr, @johnnewsomnr, @austinbureau, @kmtorralva, @_davidelman, @jbenton, @jsodonoghue, @dbarkin, @dkiesow, @dbarkin, @jbenton, @charlesornstein, @byrickbrown, @aethefranchise, @brynstole, @johnnewsomnr, @ethanmayj, @dbarkin, @cararlombardo, @wblau, @chriscincibiz, @dkiesow, @jbenton and @dylan_segelbaum
Todd Spangler / Variety:
BuzzFeed to stage its first live event, a free, invite-only, unsponsored show with musicians and influencers on July 25 in NYC, plans ticketed events later — BuzzFeed is going IRL by staging its first live event — a variety-style show in New York it's billing as an in-real-life version of scrolling through your social feed.
Discussion:
Tubefilter
Jennifer Miller / New York Times:
As podcast service Blubrry says there are now over 700,000 podcasts, with 2,000 to 3,000 launching every month, a look at whether we have reached “peak podcast” — If past experience (cough, blogs) is any indication, a shakeout is nigh. — In 2016, Morgan Mandriota and Lester Lee …
Discussion:
@samsanders, The Verge, Ad Age, @locatora_radio, @blondenerd, @notbencannon, @rungomez, @eatpraythot, @tqbf, @henereyg, @seanmcarroll, @tauriqmoosa, @lindaholmes, @zblay, @mvzelenks, @fionasturges, @ricsanchez, @ohonestly, @matthewrmoore, @ricsanchez, @biblioracle, @mediageek, @andrewwrites, @penzeymoog, @roseveleth and bookforum.com, more at Techmeme »
Philip Bump / Washington Post:
Documents show phone calls among Michael Cohen, Hope Hicks, and AMI's David Pecker and Dylan Howard as Stormy Daniels' claims emerged; Trump was on some calls — President Trump's former personal attorney Michael Cohen is in jail today, having pleaded guilty last year to violating a number of federal laws.
Discussion:
The Daily Beast, @pbump, @bradheath, @pbump, @pbump, Boing Boing, USA Today, The Daily Beast, emptywheel and Fortune
Christine Schmidt / Nieman Lab:
McClatchy-grown, Google-funded Compass Experiment, a project to build new local news sites, selects Youngstown, OH as its first site with four local journalists — Youngstown, Ohio has become kind the beat-up poster child for industrial decline, the opioid crisis, the Trump phenomenon, and, most recently, the loss of local journalism.
Discussion:
CNBC, Medium, Yahoo Finance, @reptimryan, @valerieroyzman, Poynter, The Keyword, @newsbyschmidt, @compasslocal, @mjenkins, @ckrewson, @sulliview, Engadget, 9to5Google and Business Journal Daily
Keith J. Kelly / New York Post:
Time Magazine to run a sponsored cover for its July 29 issue, the third time since 2014 — Time magazine is running a sponsored cover on the issue dated July 29 celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission to the moon, marking a rare commercial intrusion onto a cover of the venerable magazine.
Linh Ta / Des Moines Register:
Meredith partners with NYT for six NYT-branded special edition magazines highlighting significant historical and culture events, with the first issue on July 26 — Meredith Corp. and The New York Times Co. are collaborating to produce a series of special edition magazines, according to a news release from Meredith.
Discussion:
PR Newswire and MediaPost
Matthew Moore / The Times & The Sunday Times:
BBC director-general says BBC may switch to an opt-in voluntary subscription model once the compulsory license fee system expires in 2027 — The BBC could switch away from the licence fee to a Netflix-style voluntary subscription model, the director-general acknowledged yesterday.
Discussion:
@jayrosen_nyu
Joseph Bernstein / BuzzFeed News:
On Andy Ngo, whose antifa assault exemplifies a career seeking out violence and victimization, a response to corporate media demand for outrage-stoking content — Late last month, the conservative media personality Andy Ngo sent me a video made by Popular Mobilization …
Discussion:
@davidgross_man, @bernstein and @markdistef
Freddy Mayhew / Press Gazette:
Huffpost UK to open Huffpost Centre for Journalism at Birmingham City University, offering tutorials, events, and experience for journalism students — Huffpost UK is partnering with Birmingham City University to set up a centre for journalism within the university's media department …
Discussion:
Journalism.co.uk, HuffPost UK, @helloiammariam, @lpolgreen and @louiseridley
Megan Cassidy / San Francisco Chronicle:
A San Francisco judge quashes warrant used by SFPD to conduct surveillance on journalist Bryan Carmody's phone, essentially barring the use of evidence obtained — A judge on Thursday quashed a search warrant used by San Francisco police to conduct surveillance on a journalist's phone …
Charlie Deitch / Pittsburgh Current:
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette to phase out print operations and become digital only; from September 30, the print version will only run Thursday, Friday, Sunday — The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette will eliminate its entire print product in a move to become an all-digital publication, according to a letter obtained by the Current.