Mediagazer: Facebook's ad library is so plagued by bugs and technical constraints that researchers say it is effectively useless to adequately track political advertising (Matthew Rosenberg/New York Times)

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Cynthia Littleton / Variety:

NBCUniversal to launch its ad-supported streaming platform in April 2020 with the same infrastructure as Sky's, will develop originals tied to its content — Comcast units are double down on the content and streaming wars as NBCUniversal plans to launch its advertising-supported streaming platform …

Discussion: Hollywood Reporter, TechCrunch, MediaPost, Engadget, IndieWire, @thr, @thr, The Streamable, CNET, Vanity Fair, @lucas_shaw and The A.V. Club

Cynthia Littleton / Variety:

Comcast Q2 earnings beat estimates with Sky accounting for a 23.6% YoY revenue spike; NBCU revenue fell 0.8% to $8.2B, but earnings grew 8.1% YoY to $2.3B — Comcast's second quarter earnings beat analysts estimates but total revenue came in just shy of expectations.

Discussion: MediaPost, VentureBeat, CNBC, AdExchanger, Reuters, Broadcasting & Cable, Multichannel News and The Wrap, more at Techmeme »

Matthew Rosenberg / New York Times:

Facebook's ad library is so plagued by bugs and technical constraints that researchers say it is effectively useless to adequately track political advertising — The social network's new ad library is so flawed, researchers say, that it is effectively useless as a way to track political messaging.

Discussion: @firefox, @freepress, Gizmodo, @gizmodo, @edbott and @jason_kint, more at Techmeme »

James Walker / Press Gazette:

Paul Dacre says he “bears a heavy responsibility” for the belief that journalism costs nothing because of his role in launching the free Metro and Mail Online — Former Daily Mail editor Paul Dacre has said he blames himself for helping create a culture in which news content is given away for free.

Discussion: Spectator

Michael Barthel / Pew Research Center:

Study: in 2018, US newspaper circulation reached its lowest level since 1940; digital ad revenue, which grew 23% YoY, has nearly tripled since 2011 — Every year since 2004, Pew Research Center has issued an assessment of the state of the news media, tracking key audience and economic indicators …

Discussion: The Wrap, @pewjournalism, @dkiesow and @julien51

Douglas A. McIntyre / 24/7 Wall St.:

About 2,100 newspapers have closed in the USA since 2004, almost all of which are weeklies, leaving ~7,000 still in publication, many with declining revenues — The newspaper industry has continued its relentless downward spiral, which started with the advent of the internet and accelerated during the Great Recession.

Max Read / New York Magazine:

Amazon's now-deleted tweet of a Quillette article signaled approval of its thesis: critical coverage of labor conditions will push the company to automate jobs — Like a lot of predictable liberals, I've long imagined Amazon to be a terrible place to work.

Discussion: @amazonnews, @rmac18, @jwherrman and Mashable

Kevin Draper / New York Times:

Twitter signs an agreement with NBC for 2020 Olympics, to show limited live event coverage, highlights, and a daily 20-minute show — Twitter will show some live coverage, highlights and a daily studio show from the Tokyo Olympics in 2020. — If you cannot find a television …

Discussion: Variety, The Big Lead and Engadget, more at Techmeme »

The Daily Beast:

House Republicans' questions to Robert Mueller overlapped with 18 of those proposed by Sean Hannity on his show the previous night — Hannity used his Tuesday night show to suggest questions for Republicans to ask Mueller. More than a dozen GOP queries overlapped with the pro-Trump Fox News star's requests.

Discussion: Washington Post, Media Matters for America, Mediaite, The Guardian, CNN and Contemptor

Terricha Phillips / Columbia Journalism Review:

After Mississippi candidate for governor denied access to a reporter because she is a woman, other journalists say this is common on the political beat — Mississippi's Republican gubernatorial primary, just two weeks away, has been marked by a scandal over the ways female reporters are treated.

Robert Channick / Chicago Tribune:

Ebony's photo archives are sold for $30M to a group of foundations led by J. Paul Getty Trust; photos will go to Smithsonian, Getty Research Institute, others — A consortium of foundations led by the J. Paul Getty Trust is buying the historic Ebony photo archives for $30 million …

Discussion: MediaPost, Folio, WBEZ, New York Times, @juliebosman, @juliebosman, @juliebosman, @juliebosman and @sdkstl

Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:

Parliament members weigh extending UK's Freedom of Information Act to cover private contractors performing public services — A Lib Dem peer has pledged to introduce a Private Member's Bill designed to “update and improve” the Freedom of Information Act 2000 if Boris Johnson's government fails …