Top News:
Tony Romm / Washington Post:
FTC announces a $5B fine against Facebook for repeated privacy violations as part of a settlement that requires federal oversight of its business practices — The settlement between the Federal Trade Commission and Facebook ends a 16-month probe that began after revelations of the tech giant's entanglement with Cambridge Analytica
Discussion:
@ashk4n, Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, Federal Trade Commission, TechCrunch, Variety, Bloomberg, @alexstamos, Fast Company, @chopraftc, NBC News, Slate, Bloomberg, @chopraftc, New York Times, Facebook, Wired, Reuters, @pkafka, @pkafka, @pkafka, @chopraftc, @sarahfrier, Boing Boing, @markseibel, Vox, @privacymatters, @kottke, @ashk4n, @reckless, @mikeisaac, @joesimonsftc, @daviduberti, @nickconfessore and @leakissner, more at Techmeme »
Todd Spangler / Variety:
AT&T Q2: 778K net loss in DirecTV, U-verse customers; 168K net DirecTV Now subscriber loss; WarnerMedia revenue up 5.5% YoY to $8.35B, operating income up 10.3% — WarnerMedia was AT&T's fastest-growing division in the second quarter of 2019. But the telco showed ongoing signs of trouble …
Discussion:
The Wrap, Multichannel News, AdExchanger, MediaPost, Fast Company, @whatthebit, Deadline, Broadcasting & Cable, The Streamable, @xpangler, CNET and Reuters
RELATED:
Alex Kantrowitz / BuzzFeed News:
Interviews, including with the dev who led the team behind the retweet button, discuss the power of retweets to drive extreme content and spread misinformation — Developer Chris Wetherell built Twitter's retweet button. And he regrets what he did to this day.
Discussion:
@kantrowitz, @katiebakes, @eli_schiff, 9to5Mac, @ericajoy, @noupside, Gizmodo and The Hill, more at Techmeme »
Clare Duffy / CNN:
Snap adds 13M DAUs in Q2, attributes growth to exclusive Discover content with 35% YoY increase in daily Discover users and total daily time spent on it up 60% — New York (CNN Business)Snapchat has the makings of a comeback story. — Snapchat (SNAP) added 13 million daily users …
Discussion:
Business Wire, The Verge, Observer, Axios and Marketing Land, more at Techmeme »
Washington Post:
The Washington Post establishes a computational political journalism R&D lab to augment its campaign 2020 coverage — The Washington Post's newly launched elections engineering team will establish a computational political journalism R&D lab in the newsroom this fall.
Discussion:
@megdunk, @tylrfishr, @jeremybowers and @jeremybowers
Kyle Bessey / Journalism.co.uk:
Journalists' unique use of social media exacerbates all its negative psychological effects, which can lead to mental health problems — Social presence is no longer a hobby, it is a journalism skill. So if cancelling all your accounts is not an option, what else can you do to stay safe and sane online?
Om Malik:
Media companies keep playing a blame game, pointing to tech companies for their failures, but sales execs focused on short-term thinking should take the blame — Earlier this week, the New York Post reported that the cover of the July 29th issue of Time magazine, which celebrates …
Discussion:
@om, TechCrunch, @joshelman, @corybe, @mcoatney, @sapnasf, @mariarodale, @corybe, @millie, @nickhagar, @dqandrade, @glecharles, @lauraelizdavis, @chaddickerson, @arctictony and @mathewi
Janko Rottgers / Variety:
Amazon launches a dedicated Prime Video VR app, available for Oculus Go, Quest, and Samsung Gear VR headsets in the US and UK — Oculus VR headset users just got one more video service to watch in their virtual living rooms: Amazon's Prime Video service went live on Oculus Go …
Discussion:
Oculus and VentureBeat, more at Techmeme »
Barry Levine / Marketing Dive:
Staples launches a quarterly print and digital magazine, Staples Worklife, as part of a brand refresh and lifestyle marketing push — - Staples launched a quarterly magazine for sparking conversation and provide resources for professionals who see their work “as more than just a job,” according to a press release.
Discussion:
Talking Biz News, @nwquah, Dealerscope, @staples, Chain Store Age and MediaPost
Manish Singh / TechCrunch:
Netflix launches a $2.80 per month mobile-only subscription plan in India, restricted to one mobile device at 480p standard definition — Netflix has a new plan to win users in India: make its service incredibly cheap. The streaming giant today introduced a lower-priced mobile tier in the country that costs Rs 199 ($2.8) per month.
Discussion:
Variety, Netflix Media Center, Gizmodo, Fast Company and XDA Developers, more at Techmeme »
Kali Hays / WWD:
Ad spend in print magazines in US fell 18% YoY in 2018, but spend in magazines' digital verticals rose 3.3%; magazine advertisers spent $13.64B total, down 12% — A few editors had success last year online and on YouTube, but digital ad dollars are very, very slow to appear.
Discussion:
@ricmac and @elizabethangell
Bijan Stephen / The Verge:
As streaming offerings get more expensive and convoluted, people are setting up their own platforms via Plex servers to share media, including pirated content — Have you heard about the best new streaming platform on the internet? It's totally customizable, works on any device, and, best of all, is basically free.
Discussion:
@mgsiegler, @jason_a_w, @ryanlcooper, @carnage4life, @videograndpa and @withinrafael, more at Techmeme »