Mediagazer: Under pressure from transgender individuals and LGBTQ groups, IMDb revises its birth name policy to allow industry professionals to remove their birth names (Dave McNary/Variety)

6:10 PM ET, August 13, 2019

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CBS and Viacom to merge in an all-stock deal creating a company valued at ~$30B; Shari Redstone to be chair, Bob Bakish CEO, Joe Ianniello chairman/CEO of CBS — Companies seek greater scale to survive in a media landscape dominated by major tech companies and bulked-up rivals

Peter Kafka / Vox:

A combined CBS and Viacom will still not be big enough to compete with Netflix, Apple, and Disney, and will have to become a buyer of smaller companies — Shari Redstone controls both Viacom and CBS, and has wanted to merge them for years. Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Viacom

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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 …

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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 — If, by some crazy chance, you wanted to be well-informed these past few days about the sudden death of Jeffrey Epstein, there was a way.

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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 …

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Discussion: Spotify, @ashleyrcarman and @mims, more at Techmeme »

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Report: UK to give Ofcom new legal powers to penalize video-sharing platforms that fail to establish robust age verification checks and parental controls — European politicians have been tightening the screws on U.S. tech platforms on multiple fronts. Now, a European-wide directive …

Discussion: Press Gazette, @hadas_gold, @joshajhall, Telegraph, The Independent, BBC and CNET

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.

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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 …

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The editorial staff of The Ringer announces it has formed a union with WGA East and seeks voluntary recognition from management

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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 …

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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

Joshua Benton / Nieman Lab:

In Australia, after recent raids on media organizations, new government directive adds some protections for journalists, but not for sources and whistleblowers — Back in June, Australian Federal Police (AFP) raided the headquarters of the country's main public broadcaster, the ABC …

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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

Discussion: Fast Company, Gizmodo, The Daily Caller, New York Times, The A.V. Club, The Wrap, Engadget, IndieWire and The Guardian

Sara Fischer / Axios:
The Spectator, which has been published in the UK since 1828, is launching a US monthly print version in October, after starting a US digital presence last year

Discussion: @jason_pontin

Matt Lopez / The Wrap:
FuboTV launches its ad-supported Fubo Sports Network on Roku's streaming service, The Roku Channel, and plans its first foray into original content soon

Discussion: The Streamable and Multichannel News

Sara Fischer / Axios:
This fall, Group Nine Media will begin to launch podcasts across its four brands (NowThis, The Dodo, Seeker, and Thrillist) in an exclusive iHeartMedia deal

Discussion: @groupninemedia and Yahoo Finance

Lily Kuo / The Guardian:
Chinese state media outlets went from near silence and blanket censorship on the protests in Hong Kong to actively pushing propaganda, over the past two months

Discussion: Politico and PEN America

Jessica Davies / Digiday:
Content compensation company Sourcepoint releases a consent-authentication tool that eliminates the need for pubs to use third-party cookies

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Emine Saner / The Guardian:
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Discussion: @marconav, The Verge and Business Insider

Maryam Saleh / The Intercept:
Arab “sahafiyat”, women reporters in the Middle East and North Africa, reflect on producing journalism in and for their home countries and for Western audiences

New York Times:
How some of Kashmir's journalists keep publishing despite India's lockdown of online communications and imposition of travel restrictions

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Axios:
WordPress.com owner Automattic says it will buy Tumblr from Verizon, take on ~200 staffers, and keep the porn ban; source says Automattic paid less than $10M

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New York Times:
How YouTube radicalized Brazil, diverting users to conspiracy and far-right channels, elevating Bolsonaro's party, and possibly creating a public health crisis

Discussion: @max_fisher, @kenroth, @dcurtis, @derekwillis, @katestarbird, @lutherlowe, @youtubeinsider, @youtubeinsider, @max_fisher, @max_fisher, @max_fisher, New York Times, @ggreenwald and Ars Technica, more at Techmeme »

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Reuters:
Albania bans TikTok for a year from January 2025, part of a broader plan to make schools safer following the killing of a 14-year-old near a school in November

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