Top News:
Wall Street Journal:
CBS and Viacom to merge in a ~$30B all-stock deal, creating ViacomCBS Inc.; Shari Redstone will be chair and Bob Bakish will be president and CEO — Companies seek greater scale to survive in a media landscape dominated by major tech companies and bulked-up rivals.
Discussion:
New York Times, CNBC, Variety, Deadline, Fast Company, Ad Age, Variety, Los Angeles Times, The Verge, CNN, Variety, Variety, The Streamable, Deadline, Business Insider, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, CNN, @stevekovach, ViacomCBS Inc., Associated Press, @benmullin, Wall Street Journal, Reuters, Fortune, AdExchanger, MediaPost, Light Reading, The A.V. Club, @benmullin, @benmullin, @backlon, @keithboykin, @tvmojoe, The Wrap, @pkafka, @jbflint, @trekfan4747, @edmundlee, Awful Announcing, @benmullin, @matthewkeyslive, @jbflint, @umairh, Reuters, @techjournalist, Washington Post, Engadget, 9to5Mac and The Guardian
RELATED:
Cynthia Littleton / Variety:
Interview with Joe Ianniello, president and acting CEO of CBS, who will be named chairman-CEO of CBS after the Viacom-CBS transaction is complete — Joe Ianniello was seen as the odd man out once members of the CBS and Viacom boards got serious about merger discussions this past spring.
Discussion:
Multichannel News, Fortune and The Wrap
Jane Lytvynenko / BuzzFeed News:
Detailed post about Epstein's death was on 4chan 38 minutes before officials announced it; NYC Fire Department investigating if a first responder is responsible — The New York City Fire Department is investigating whether a first responder posted about Jeffrey Epstein's death …
Discussion:
CBS News, @profcarroll, The Daily Dot, Breitbart, Rolling Stone, CNET, Mediaite, Gizmodo, The Hill, Business Insider, Boing Boing and New York Post
RELATED:
Margaret Sullivan / Washington Post:
The Twitter-fed misinformation disaster following Epstein's death makes a case for slow news consumption, where readers disengage from breaking news
Discussion:
Vox, @janecat60, @dabeard, @tefomohapi, @b52malmet, @emilybell, @mathewi, The Verge, VICE, Fox News and @hshaban
Tom Jones / Poynter:
Layoffs hit GateHouse newsrooms: five at the Oklahoman, two at the Palm Beach Post, two at the Cape Cod Times; many non-newsroom staff have also been laid off — Last week, GateHouse and Gannett announced their intent to merge and form the largest newspaper chain in the country, a consolidation designed to save money.
Discussion:
New York Post, Boston Business Journal, @apantazi, @dankennedy_nu and @henderson_mark
Oliver Darcy / CNN:
NYT says deputy Washington editor Jonathan Weisman has been demoted and will no longer oversee the team covering Congress or be active on social media — New York (CNN Business)Jonathan Weisman, the deputy Washington editor for The New York Times (NYT), has been demoted after a pair …
Discussion:
Vanity Fair, @marcatracy, @_waleedshahid, @farhip, @_waleedshahid, @karenkho, @maxwelltani, @oliverdarcy, Jezebel, @pareene, @mottel, @blackamazon, @gothamgirlblue, New York Times, @drphilgoff, Politico, @andrewperezdc, The Hill, @craigsilverman, @tracybeanz, The Daily Beast, @mlcalderone, Washington Examiner, The Wrap and Mediaite
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy openly threatens to fire employees engaged in union organizing, which would violate federal labor laws — Dave “El Presidente” Portnoy, founder of media company Barstool Sports, really, really hates unions. Now he's made explicit threats to fire employees …
Discussion:
Bloomberg, @aoc, @nyslabor, @nyslabor, Breitbart, @annamerlan, Deadspin, @xpangler, Rolling Stone, Business Insider and Fox News
RELATED:
Hollywood Reporter:
Netflix is quickly expanding its global property portfolio, which includes 30+ offices and studios, as it ramps up its global content production — From sizable investments in studio facilities to high-end office spaces in some of the world's priciest neighborhoods, the company is quickly building …
CNN:
Washington Post executive editor responds to Bernie Sanders' suggestion that Bezos influences coverage, calling it a “conspiracy theory” — (CNN)The executive editor of The Washington Post hit back at Sen. Bernie Sanders' suggestion that the paper's coverage of the presidential candidate …
Discussion:
@trinitymustache, @rmc031, @b_fung, Reason, @sulliview, The Daily Beast, Fox News, The Wrap, NPR, Politico, Politico, The Hill, Poynter and Washington Post
Darren Samuelsohn / Politico:
While Mueller's inquiry has concluded, the universe of podcasts, pundits, journalists and others focused on the Russia probe has continued to expand — In mid-July, four months after Robert Mueller delivered his investigative findings to the attorney general, a podcast called “The Report” aired its very first episode.
Discussion:
@lawfareblog, @politico, @ddiamond and @benjaminwittes
Ashley Carman / The Verge:
Spotify for Podcasters comes out of beta, giving podcasters valuable listener data like age, gender, location, music taste, and episode listening duration — Spotify for Podcasters comes out of beta today — Spotify is going to give podcasters listener data they can't get anywhere else.
Discussion:
Spotify, @marcoarment, @swindledpodcast, @mims and @ashleyrcarman, more at Techmeme »
Dave McNary / Variety:
Under pressure from transgender individuals and LGBTQ groups, IMDb revises its birth name policy to allow industry professionals to remove their birth names — IMDb has revised its birth name policy and will allow industry professionals to remove their birth names in response to feedback …
Discussion:
Fast Company, Breitbart, The Daily Caller, Gizmodo, The A.V. Club, New York Times, The Wrap, Engadget, IndieWire and The Guardian
Sara Fischer / Axios:
Memo: Facebook is funding two new BuzzFeed shows, including a daily news roundup, as a part of its effort to bolster news video on Watch — Facebook is funding 2 new BuzzFeed shows as a part of its effort to bolster news video on Watch, according to an internal memo by BuzzFeed editor …
Discussion:
Journalism.co.uk
Consumer Tech Reporter, CA — 
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Executive Ed. - Tech & Electronics, AZ — 
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Education & Family Reporter, OR — 
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Investigative Reporter, NC — 
Writer - Women's Soccer, Remote US — 
Senior IP Correspondent, London — 
Computational Journalist, NY — 
