Top News:
Annie Palmer / CNBC:
Interview with ViacomCBS CEO Bob Bakish, who says the combined company's “unmatched scale” in content will give it an advantage against streaming rivals — KEY POINTS — ViacomCBS chief Bob Bakish says the newly formed company's vast content library should help it fight off rivals in the TV streaming wars.
Discussion:
Hollywood Reporter, Light Reading, TVWeek.com and Variety
RELATED:
Nellie Andreeva / Deadline:
Sources: CBS's and Viacom's TV production entities to remain separate for now, with CBS TV under Joe Ianniello, and Paramount TV under Jim Gianopulos — Because they were once part of one media company that was split into two, the newly reunited CBS and Viacom's assets fit together with little overlap.
Discussion:
Variety, Multichannel News, @matthewkeyslive, Wall Street Journal and TVWeek.com
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
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
Discussion:
Multichannel News, Fast Company, @kennethturan, @matthewstoller, Multichannel News, @bloombergtv, Deadline, Variety, The Verge, @jbflint, Bloomberg, Radio Times, New York Times, Business Insider, @stevekovach, @wsj, IndieWire, @jbflint, @jbflint, @benmullin, Ad Age, Talking Biz News, CNBC, @backlon, @benmullin, @pkafka, @umairh, Ad Age, @trekfan4747, @keithboykin, @benmullin, ViacomCBS Inc., @tvmojoe, @edmundlee, @techjournalist, @benmullin, Variety, Deadline, Variety, Deadline, Variety, Los Angeles Times, The Verge, The Streamable, Wall Street Journal, Business Insider, Bloomberg, Awful Announcing, Reuters, Fortune, The A.V. Club, Variety, Washington Post, Engadget, 9to5Mac, The Guardian and Reuters
The Information:
Ben Kaufman is stepping down as BuzzFeed CMO at the end of 2019; sources: company expects to break even this year, partly due to revenue from commerce business — BuzzFeed Chief Marketing Officer and commerce leader Ben Kaufman is stepping down from his position at the end of the year …
Discussion:
@amir, @benkaufman and @jtoonkel
Nilay Patel / The Verge:
Interview with Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg on how the Tumblr acquisition came about, what's next for Tumblr, adult content in apps, and more — Blogging is back, hopefully — It's been a long and winding road for Tumblr, the blogging site that launched a thousand writing careers.
Discussion:
Digiday, New York Times, @mathewi, @binarybits, @brizzyc, @automattic, @reckless, @prettyarbitrary, @jayrosen_nyu, @reckless and @reckless, more at Techmeme »
Mike Snider / USA Today:
Gannett and GateHouse parent New Media Investment Group have filed more information with the SEC in a move to address concerns of investors — Gannett and GateHouse Media parent New Media Investment Group on Tuesday released more details of its proposed merger, announced Aug. 5 …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Forbes, @apantazi, @apantazi, @report4america, @apantazi, @apantazi, @apantazi, @apantazi, @rsgaddy18, @amuhs, Rochester Beacon, MediaPost, New York Post and The Rural Blog
RELATED:
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
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
Discussion:
Worcester Business Journal, @bosbizdon, Talking Biz News, @apantazi, @henderson_mark, New York Post, @dankennedy_nu and New York Post
The New York Times Company:
Atlantic reporter Taylor Lorenz to join the New York Times Styles desk on the tech culture beat — Taylor Lorenz, who has written extensively on how humans create art, enact society and concoct businesses on digital surfaces and platforms, is joining the Culture of Tech reporting team.
Discussion:
Longform, @jakelahut, @btaylor, @jwegener, @jbenton, @nycsouthpaw, @caseynewton, @choire, @taylorlorenz and @taylorlorenz
Pew Research Center:
Older Americans, black adults, and Americans with less education are more interested in local news than their counterparts; older adults prefer TV as a source — These groups also prefer to get local news on TV — Nearly a third of U.S. adults (31%) follow local news very closely …
Discussion:
Nieman Lab, @johngramlich, @pewresearch, @tamerzmorsy, @niemanlab, @danaeking, @pewresearch, @danmcgowan, @randyludlow, @pewresearch, @samesfandiari and @galenstocking
Middle East Eye:
UK admits that This Is Woke, a “media/news company” that engages in “critical discussions around Muslim identity” is in fact a covert counterterrorism programme — This glitzy, youthful ‘news company’ warns of the dangers of fake news. In fact, it's part of the Home Office's Prevent strategy
Discussion:
@rasmus_kleis
Patrick Strudwick / BuzzFeed:
A transgender employee of The Guardian resigned last month accusing it of being “an incredibly transphobic organisation”; a second employee quit weeks later — “It suddenly became real,” one trans staff member told BuzzFeed News. “I'm entering this building with people who are denying my humanity.”
Rosie Gray / BuzzFeed News:
Sources: when their book deal blew up after sexual misconduct allegations against Glenn Thrush, Thrush kept his advance but Maggie Haberman had to return hers — The first two years of the Trump presidency were a boom time for political books, and one of the boomiest was the deal announced …
Discussion:
@juliaioffe, @dylanbyers, @moorehn, @hshaban, @neontaster, @adamweinstein, @rosiegray, The Daily Caller, Mediaite and Jezebel
Rachel Glickhouse / ProPublica:
ProPublica releases a guide on how newsrooms can collaborate around large datasets, announces it is open-sourcing its software and making it available this fall — ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up for ProPublica's Big Story newsletter …
Discussion:
The Keyword
Alex Sherman / CNBC:
Charter and Disney reach a multiyear carriage deal; Charter plans to offer Disney streaming services via set-top boxes and will carry the ESPN-owned ACC Network — KEY POINTS — Charter and Disney reach multiyear carriage deal, avoiding a blackout of networks including ESPN and ABC.
Discussion:
Awful Announcing, Variety, Radio & Television … and Seeking Alpha