Mediagazer: Interview with WWE co-president George Barrios about the WWE Network, on integrating free content with paid, and its plans for a premium subscription (Chris Welch/The Verge)

4:15 PM ET, September 11, 2019

Top News:

Express, The Washington Post's free weekday paper for commuters, will close after 16 years on Thursday due to its financial condition; 20 journalists laid off — Express, the free newspaper published weekdays by The Washington Post for Metro riders and other commuters, will shut down on Thursday …

Sara Guaglione / MediaPost:

Executives from seven newspaper companies lobbied Congress on Tuesday for support of a bill that would let newspapers jointly negotiate with tech platforms — Executives from seven newspaper companies lobbied Capitol Hill yesterday to urge Congress to pass the “Journalism Competition and Preservation Act …

Discussion: Axios, News Media Alliance, New Jersey Globe and Fox Business

Wendy Lee / Los Angeles Times:

Profile of Dawn Ostroff, Spotify's chief content officer, as the company invests heavily in podcasts to gain an edge over rivals — When Dawn Ostroff began working the graveyard shift at a Miami radio station, her parents assumed her career in radio would be short-lived.

Discussion: Digiday, Nieman Lab, @rfaughnder, @eclaireoh, @rowanc and Hot Pod News

Ira Boudway / Bloomberg:

The Athletic will make its first foray into ad-supported content with a daily in-depth sports podcast called “The Lead”, launching later this month — - The sports subscription site is launching a free daily podcast — New show is a joint production with podcast publisher Wondery

Discussion: @hernanlopez, @iboudway and @rafat

The Information:

Internal Facebook memo: editors for an upcoming news tab will exercise significant control over top stories, including judging the use of anonymous sources — Facebook has said repeatedly that it isn't in the journalism business, but a team of human editors responsible for an upcoming news initiative …

Discussion: Nieman Lab, Engadget, @alexeheath, Mashable, @jason_kint, @aggiejournalist, @aatilley, @mattnavarra, @jessicalessin and @amir

Le Monde.fr:

460+ journalists at Le Monde sign a letter demanding a guarantee of editorial independence by granting them a right of approval for new controlling shareholders — Publié hier à 12h22, mis à jour à 09h31 … TRIBUNEMore than 460 journalists at « Le Monde » …

Discussion: The Guardian, @mcaruanagalizia, @lawsofrule, @achrisafis, @umarcheema1, @icijorg, @cecileprieur, @rasmus_kleis and @wjeffreybrown

P R Sanjai / Bloomberg:

Apple says its TV+ streaming service will cost ~$1.40/month in India when it launches on November 1, undercutting both Netflix and Amazon — - Price undercuts Netflix, Amazon as OTT competition intensifies — Apple TV includes original content, ‘thousands’ of films

Discussion: Wccftech, The Verge, The Streamable, Adweek and Fortune, more at Techmeme »

Kyle Wiggers / VentureBeat:
Apple TV+ will launch on November 1 for $4.99/month in 100 countries; customers get one year free with the purchase of an Apple device

Discussion: Adweek, The Verge, The Streamable, The Register, Fortune, Apple, The Wrap, Decider, VICE, CNET, Deadline, Deadline, MediaPost, Broadcasting & Cable, @lucas_shaw, @bzamayo, CNBC, @laurengoode, @laurengoode, @neilcybart, @pkafka, Ad Age, Vox, Fast Company, /Film, The Streamable and The Verge

Chris Welch / The Verge:

Interview with WWE co-president George Barrios about the WWE Network, on integrating free content with paid, and its plans for a premium subscription — The moment Disney bet its streaming future on BAMTech was when WWE executives knew they'd have to make big changes to WWE Network, the company's subscription video service.

Discussion: Awful Announcing, @jlichman, @macdara, @chriswelch, @zackjewell, @ryansatin, @joegagne, @lthomasnews, @chriswelch and Cageside Seats

Lesley Stahl / CBS News:

Interview with Steve Kroft, who retired as 60 Minutes correspondent in May, on leaving a 30-year career with the news magazine and his most memorable stories — 30 years and 500 stories later, retiring correspondent Steve Kroft talks with Lesley Stahl about his “60 Minutes” career

Natalie Beach / The Cut:

The story of a ghostwriter for Instagram influencer Caroline Calloway, writing captions as real-time memoir, polishing book chapters, and imagining another life — The author (right) with Caroline Calloway Photo: Courtesy of Natalie Beach — When I was a sophomore in college …

The Atlantic:

The Atlantic acquires the strategic design firm Faire Design and will integrate it into its creative and consulting division Atlantic 57 — The Atlantic has acquired Faire Design, a start-up strategy and design firm, and is integrating Faire's team, work, and book of business into its creative and consulting division Atlantic 57.

Discussion: Adweek and MediaPost

Eric Hananoki / Media Matters for America:

For the third time this year, David Urban discussed the USMCA trade deal on CNN without it being disclosed that he's being paid to lobby for the measure — For the third time this year, CNN allowed political commentator David Urban to push for the passage of a trade agreement without disclosing …

Nicholas Diakopoulos / Columbia Journalism Review:

Apple News Top Stories and Trending Stories audit: 20% of sources account for ~80% of articles; only 8.3% of articles in Top Stories were by local/regional pubs — On April 23, a federal judge in Oregon blocked the enforcement of a new rule banning abortion referrals at taxpayer-funded women's health clinics.

Discussion: American Press Institute, @emilythorson, @danielpetty, @seandkennedy, @frankwords, @frankwords, @frankwords, @frankwords and @frankwords

Meduza.io:

A look at Moscow's local government media environment and the contracts between the city and content suppliers used to drown out news and spread disinformation — Shortly before Sunday's elections to the Moscow City Duma, a mass of Russian-language news sites and social media accounts began posting …

Discussion: @thegrugq, @meduza_en, @noupside and @janelytv