Mediagazer: Given the sea of Netflix content, show cancellations due to low ratings may reflect a failure of the algorithm to surface shows, rather than a lack of interest (Julia Alexander/Medium)

5:40 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:

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

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, @niemanlab, @niemanlab, New Scientist, Full Fact, RAPPLER, Reuters, The Guardian, Press Association and MIT Technology Review, more at Techmeme »

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

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

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.

Julia Alexander / Medium:

Given the sea of Netflix content, show cancellations due to low ratings may reflect a failure of the algorithm to surface shows, rather than a lack of interest — [A quick note!! Hi! I used to write a newsletter, but I stopped because life got busy. Lately, I haven't been able to sleep very much.

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

Javier C. Hernández / New York Times:

Profile of Hu Xijin, the influential and hawkish EIC of China's Global Times, a Fox News-like tabloid, with 2M print readers and 30M monthly online visitors — BEIJING — Inside a bustling, 700-person newsroom in downtown Beijing, Hu Xijin leads a 24-hour propaganda machine that some media scholars call China's Fox News.

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

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 »

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More News:

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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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

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: @davegershgorn, Slate, 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

Earlier Picks:

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

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

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 and Press Gazette

From Techmeme:

Andy Greenberg / Wired:
Cisco details a hacking campaign that penetrated multiple governments' networks using two zero-day flaws in its VPN and firewall Adaptive Security Appliances

Ben Glickman / Wall Street Journal:
IBM agrees to buy HashiCorp, which helps companies manage cloud infrastructure, in a deal valuing HashiCorp at $6.4B and expected to close by the end of 2024

David Pierce / The Verge:
Hands-on with the Rabbit R1: a fun and funky AI device that feels pretty nice and does a solid job with basic AI questions, but the Rabbithole app is unfinished

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