Mediagazer: Head of BBC tells MPs they “could decide BBC is a subscription service” once the compulsory license fee system expires in 2027, but says it's the “wrong model” (Matthew Moore/The Times & The Sunday Times)

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 …

Matthew Moore / The Times & The Sunday Times:

Head of BBC tells MPs they “could decide BBC is a subscription service” once the compulsory license fee system expires in 2027, but says it's the “wrong model” — The BBC could switch away from the licence fee to a Netflix-style voluntary subscription model, the director-general acknowledged yesterday.

Discussion: @emilybell and @jayrosen_nyu

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: @waxpancake, @alicetiara and Tubefilter

Madeline Peltz / Newsweek:

A researcher who watched Tucker Carlson each weeknight for two years says society should not ignore his vitriol against Ilhan Omar just because it is routine — Tucker Carlson raced to the defense of President Donald Trump and his racist tweets against “the Squad” this week …

Discussion: @danmartintalks, @peltzmadeline, @ryp__ and @mattgertz

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

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

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.

Discussion: @thesmithminute, @jsilverinpgh and @charliedee71

Jim Waterson / The Guardian:

BBC and ITV's streaming service Britbox to launch in UK in the fall for £5.99/month with archive shows initially; ITV plans to invest £65M in first two years — Joint venture considered unlikely to challenge UK market dominance of Netflix — BBC and ITV's new streaming service …

Discussion: Telegraph, BBC, Reuters and @uk_domain_names

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, @bradheath, @pbump, @pbump, @pbump, USA Today, The Daily Beast, Boing Boing, emptywheel and Fortune

YouTube Blog:

YouTube adds one click switch between audio and video for YouTube Premium and YouTube Music Premium subscribers, has time-matched over 5M songs — Imagine listening to a new track by your favorite artist in the YouTube Music app and having the ability to seamlessly switch over to watch …

Discussion: Tubefilter, BGR, 9to5Google, CNET, Adweek, Engadget, The Verge, RAIN News, 9to5Google, TechCrunch, VentureBeat and MSPoweruser, more at Techmeme »