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, Ad Age, Variety, Deadline, Fast Company, Ad Age, Los Angeles Times, Variety, The Verge, CNN, Variety, Variety, The Streamable, Deadline, Business Insider, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, @stevekovach, Associated Press, @benmullin, Fortune, CNN, Reuters, Wall Street Journal, ViacomCBS Inc., @benmullin, @benmullin, @backlon, @keithboykin, @tvmojoe, @pkafka, @jbflint, @trekfan4747, @edmundlee, Awful Announcing, @benmullin, @matthewkeyslive, @jbflint, @umairh, @wsj, The Wrap, @techjournalist, AdExchanger, The Streamable, Reuters, The A.V. Club, Washington Post, Engadget, 9to5Mac and The Guardian
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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, The Wrap, Fortune and Broadcasting & Cable
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
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:
@profcarroll, CBS News, 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, @b52malmet, @tefomohapi, @dabeard, @emilybell, @mathewi, The Verge, VICE, Fox News and @hshaban
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:
@marcatracy, Vanity Fair, @_waleedshahid, @farhip, @_waleedshahid, @karenkho, @maxwelltani, @janrobinjackson, @oliverdarcy, Jezebel, @pareene, @mottel, @blackamazon, @gothamgirlblue, @thedailybeast, @drphilgoff, @andrewperezdc, @craigsilverman, @tracybeanz, New York Times, The Wrap, The Hill, Politico, @mlcalderone, The Daily Beast, Washington Examiner 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, @xpangler, Deadspin, Rolling Stone, Business Insider and Fox News
RELATED:
Tom Ley / Deadspin:
The editorial staff of The Ringer announces it has formed a union with WGA East and seeks voluntary recognition from management
Discussion:
@howardbeck, @ringerunion, @oneunderscore__, The Wrap, @kevinmdraper, @ringerunion, @rodger, @jasonschreier, @yourmandevine, @jbenton, @latguild, bookforum.com, @onlxn, @haleymlotek and Nieman Lab
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 …
Tim Peterson / Digiday:
Document shows YouTube is testing a members-only video feature, which will allow publishers to upload SVOD videos to YouTube without cannibalizing subscriptions — This article is part of the Digiday Video Briefing, which features must-reads, confessionals and key market stats.
Axios:
A look at the sports streaming landscape, which is growing more competitive even though the rights to major sports are tied up in long-term linear TV contracts — The battle to become the next big sports streamer is underway, but unlike the entertainment streaming wars …
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
Casey Newton / The Verge:
Twitter to soon let users follow interests, starting with sports, and create separate timelines for different topics; topics will be curated by Twitter using AI — A new way to explore interests on Twitter — Twitter will begin letting users follow interests, the company said today …
Discussion:
Variety, @dtunkelang, Engadget, @caseynewton, @living_marble, 9to5Mac, TechCrunch, CNET and MacRumors, 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
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