Mediagazer: A look at FairTube, an 18,000-strong union-like organization by YouTube creators seeking greater transparency and a bigger voice in the platform's policies (Kaitlyn Tiffany/Vox)

3:10 AM ET, August 1, 2019

Top News:

Tom Jones / Poynter:

Internal memo says LA Times is nowhere close to meeting its goal of doubling digital subs from 150K in 2018 to 300K in 2019, having only netted 13K this year — Troubling news at one of the nation's top newspapers. — Digital subscriptions at the Los Angeles Times are way below expectations …

Margaret Sullivan / Washington Post:

CNN's first debate, featuring divisive questions, frustratingly short response times, and outsize attention to fringe candidates, was a lost opportunity — About 40 minutes after the start of Tuesday night's Democratic primary debate, I got an email from a Washington Post reader with this subject line: “I don't care for this.”

Laura Hazard Owen / Nieman Lab:

After six months fact-checking for Facebook, Full Fact makes 10 recommendations, including expanding the program to Instagram, enlisting help on public health — In December 2016, Facebook enlisted a handful of U.S.-based news organizations (ABC News, Snopes, PolitiFact, FactCheck.org …

Discussion: Poynter, Press Gazette, Full Fact Blog, Mashable, @fullfact, @fullfact, New Scientist, @niemanlab, @niemanlab, Full Fact, RAPPLER, Reuters, The Guardian, Press Association and MIT Technology Review, more at Techmeme »

Alex Heath / The Information:

Sources: Facebook is working on a new TV device that can stream video and make video calls using its Portal tech, and has approached Netflix, Disney, and others — Facebook has approached Netflix, Disney and other media companies about putting their streaming services on a new Facebook device …

Discussion: @brandonleblanc, Variety, The Streamable, Multichannel News, FierceVideo, The Verge and Engadget, more at Techmeme »

Wall Street Journal:

Four major broadcast networks sue Locast, which is funded by AT&T, to try to stop it from freely retransmitting the signals of their local TV stations — CBS, ABC, NBCU and Fox say AT&T-funded Locast is retransmitting their signals without permission and in violation of copyright law

Discussion: New York Times, MediaPost, Variety, @publicknowledge, @jbflint, Engadget, The Streamable, TVWeek.com, Light Reading, FierceVideo, The Wrap, The Verge, Associated Press, Cord Cutters News, Hollywood Reporter and Radio & Television …, more at Techmeme »

Tim Ingham / Music Business Worldwide:

Spotify reports 108M paying subscribers in Q2, up 31% YoY, and an operating loss of €3M on revenue of €1.67B, up 31% YoY; stock drops 5%+ — Spotify closed its second calendar quarter this year with 108m subscribers and 232m total Monthly Active Users (MAUs).

Discussion: The Verge, Variety, Spotify, VentureBeat, Financial Times, @richattbd, @pkafka, RAIN News, Memeburn, Billboard and Engadget, more at Techmeme »

The Guardian:

Facebook says it was “not our role” to remove fake news during Australian election; it only demotes fake news, removes content that violates community standards — Exclusive: Facebook executive Simon Milner says company ‘only removes content that violates our community standards’

Discussion: @vanbadham, @firstdraftnews and CNET

Laura Hazard Owen / Nieman Lab:

Study: news organizations in wealthy countries cover climate change very differently from those in poorer countries, framing it as a domestic political issue — News organizations in wealthy countries cover climate change very differently from news organizations in poorer countries …

Discussion: @niemanlab, ScienceDirect.com and Editor & Publisher

University of Birmingham:

Researchers find WhatsApp was used both to spread fake news and to strengthen accountability and promote inclusion around Nigeria's 2019 elections — At the Shehu Musa Yar'Adua Centre in Abuja, Nigeria, on Monday 29 July, researchers from the Centre for Democracy and Development (Nigeria) …

Discussion: CDD

Cynthia Littleton / Variety:

Profile of Warner Bros.' incoming CEO Ann Sarnoff, the first woman to lead the studio, who brings diverse experience from Viacom, WNBA, Dow Jones, and the BBC — Ann Sarnoff has yet to begin her new job as chairman-CEO of Warner Bros., but she already has deep family ties to the entertainment company.

Discussion: @batmancanseeyou, @dancampos, @variety and @womensforumny

Denise-Marie Ordway / Journalist's Resource:

Journalist's Resource 2019 survey: 53% of respondents not sure they can spot flawed research, 64% say they use academic research in reporting at least monthly — Each year, we survey journalists, journalism faculty and others in our audience for feedback on how they use our free materials …

Discussion: @crampell, @janebsinger, @tamarhaspel and @journoresource

Kaitlyn Tiffany / Vox:

A look at FairTube, an 18,000-strong union-like organization by YouTube creators seeking greater transparency and a bigger voice in the platform's policies — Yes, and no. They at least have the support of a really big one. — YouTubers are unionizing — kind of.

Archived Page Info:

This is a snapshot of Mediagazer at 3:10 AM ET, August 1, 2019.

View the current page or another snapshot:

Who's Hiring in Media?

Deputy Ed. - Gen. Assignment Desk, DC — WaPo

EU Technology Reporter, Brussels — Bloomberg

Breaking News Reporter, NY — Guardian US

Harrisburg Reporter, PA — PCBC

Senior Editor - Styles, NY — NYT

Part-time Editor, Remote — Techmeme

Home & Travel Reporter, Ireland — Newsweek

Assistant Digital Editor, MA — Boston Globe

Senior Editor - Visuals (Temporary), DC — NPR

Copy Editor, Remote US — ProPublica

Markets Reporter, NY/CA — Sherwood Media

Staff Writer, MI — Watershed Voice

Food Reporter, CA — SF Standard

Staff Writer, NV — Las Vegas Weekly

Pharma Editor, Remote — Endpoints

Higher Ed. Reporter, Remote CA — EdSource

Politics Reporter, Brussels — Politico

Investigations & Enterprise Ed., WI — Cap Times

Social Strategy Editor, NY — WSJ

Senior Narrative Editor, CA — Cloud Chamber

Editor-in-Chief, NY (flexible) — The 74

Housing Reporter, OK — The Frontier

Writer/AI Content Reviewer, CA — Outlier

Writer/Editor, Remote — Mediaite

Multi Media Reporter, NC — Cardinal & Pine

Afternoon/Night Editor, NH — Keene Sentinel

Education Lab Editor, WA — Seattle Times

Senior Editor, Remote US — PCWorld

State Worker Reporter, CA — Sacramento Bee

Executive Editor, NM — Searchlight

News Assistant, NY — Quanta Magazine

Local Editor, NJ (Remote) — Patch

News Writer, CA — Hollywood Reporter

News Editor/Reporter, KS — Blade-Empire

Add your company here

See Also:

Mediagazer: site main

Mediagazer River: reverse chronological Mediagazer

Mediagazer Mobile: for phones

Mediagazer Leaderboard: Mediagazer's top sources

Subscribe:

Mediagazer RSS feed

Mediagazer on X

Mediagazer on Mastodon

More News:

Dwight Garner / New York Times:
In the book Our Women on the Ground, 19 female journalists from the Arab world write about reporting in war zones and repressive areas, overlooked stories, more

Discussion: @zahrahankir and America Magazine

Sara Jerde / Adweek:
Bloomberg says subscribers are spending between four and five hours a day watching BloombergTV+, now available in HD and 4K, on Bloomberg.com

Discussion: @swanniontv

Claire Atkinson / NBC News:
Sources: if CBS and Viacom merge, Shari Redstone will consider even more acquisitions to help the company compete with other sizable media operations

Discussion: @claireatki

Napier Lopez / The Next Web:
Chrome's version 76 update makes it easier to bypass paywalls by closing a loophole that let publishers detect browsers in incognito mode

Discussion: Slate, @davegershgorn, The Verge, Google Developers, BleepingComputer, BetaNews, Memeburn, Medium, CNET, Google Chrome Releases, VentureBeat, Engadget and Gizmodo, more at Techmeme »

The Daily Beast:
Twitter suspended an account peddling QAnon memes and other conspiracies after Trump retweeted it; source says the account was banned for platform manipulation

Discussion: @kylegriffin1, @viacristiano, The Hill, The Wrap and The Verge

Josh Kosman / New York Post:
Sources: Nielsen open to selling itself in pieces after failing to find a buyer for the whole firm; Blackstone and Goldman Sachs dropped out earlier this year

Discussion: @andreamv and Ad Age

Reis Thebault / Washington Post:
Less than a year after Khashoggi's murder, Saudi Arabia says it will host a Saudi Media Forum in 2019 to “cement Riyadh's name as the Arab Media Capital”

Discussion: @angelafritz

Earlier Picks:

Georg Szalai / Hollywood Reporter:
AMC Networks beats Q2 earnings expectations with $129M profit on $772M in revenue, up 1.4% YoY; US ad revenue fell 11.1% YoY

Discussion: The Wrap, @thr, The Wrap and MediaPost

Natalie Jarvey / Billboard:
Apple's services business, a division that includes revenue from subscriptions like Apple Music, iTunes, Apple Pay and iCloud, brought in sales of $11.46B in Q3

Discussion: The Streamable, Ad Age, MediaPost, The Streamable, AdExchanger and Fortune, more at Techmeme »

Variety:
How WarnerMedia CEO John Stankey, a long-time AT&T executive and no-nonsense manager, is remaking WarnerMedia, trying to bridge the culture gap with Time Warner

Discussion: Forbes and Observer

Kristina Monllos / Digiday:
In a new era of political polarization, ad agencies like Ogilvy, which remains committed to its CBP contract, face internal turmoil over controversial clients

Discussion: @patrickcoffee

Erik Wemple / Washington Post:
Deadspin, owned by G/O Media, is planning a story on company CEO Jim Spanfeller; Spanfeller reacts publicly with plans for an outside editor to review the story

Discussion: @benmullin, New York Times, New York Post, @benmullin, Adweek, @megreenwell, @pblest, @albertburneko, @nbj914, @libbycwatson, @joannelipman, @kevinmdraper, @ourand_sbj, @erikwemple, @erikwemple and @erikwemple

Greg Dool / Folio:
London-based Future acquires online publisher and B2B newsletter specialist SmartBrief for $45M and up to $20M in deferred payments

Discussion: CityAM, @gregdool, Press Gazette, Business Times and Radio World

Todd Spangler / Variety:
AT&T will rebrand DirecTV Now as AT&T TV Now, as it plans to test AT&T TV, a new and separate streaming TV service, in select markets

Discussion: Ars Technica, @joan_e, Adweek, AT&T, Engadget, The Streamable and MediaPost

From Techmeme:

Alex Heath / The Verge:
Meta details Llama 3: 8B- and 70B-parameter models, a focus on reducing false refusals, and an upcoming model trained on 15T+ tokens that has 400B+ parameters

Raffaele Huang / Wall Street Journal:
Apple removes WhatsApp and Threads from its App Store in China, saying it was ordered to do so by China's cyberspace officials citing national security concerns

Ryan Morrison / Tom's Guide:
Microsoft researchers introduce VASA-1, an AI model that creates a realistic talking face video from a portrait photo and an audio file, in research preview

Sister Sites:

Techmeme
Top news and commentary for technology's leaders, from all around the web

memeorandum
What US political commentators are discussing online right now

WeSmirch
The top celebrity news from all around the web on a single page