Top News:
The Lenfest Institute for Journalism:
Knight-Lenfest Local News Transformation Fund makes first grants: $5.25M to three Philadelphia recipients to support new models for local journalism — Fund's first grants to support new local journalism models, advanced technology for newsrooms — The Knight-Lenfest Local News Transformation Fund …
Discussion:
@lenfestinst, @pilhofer, Inquirer.com, Talking Biz News, @tylrfishr, @kimfox, @tylrfishr, @tylrfishr, @shanbow, @tylrfishr, @billy_penn, @lenfestinst and @jroxann
Patricia Nilsson / Financial Times:
Google is investing “several million dollars” in Project Neon, a three-year partnership with UK news publisher Archant, which will launch three local news sites — Google is investing “several million dollars” into a joint venture with a British local news publisher …
Discussion:
Press Gazette, Nieman Lab, The Keyword, Talking Biz News, @mattlcapon and @updatesneon
Omar Sanchez / The Wrap:
Acorn TV, AMC's British film and TV show streaming service, has passed 1M subscribers in Canada and the US — Acorn TV, AMC's streaming service featuring British film and television programs, has passed one million subscribers in the U.S. and Canada, the network has announced, calling it a …
Discussion:
The Streamable, Broadcasting & Cable and Deadline
Marcela Kunova / Journalism.co.uk:
BBC tests a browser extension that blurs out text, images, and headlines of articles based on personalized trigger words that can prompt anxiety in readers — As one third of audience switches off from news, the public broadcaster is testing a tool that would allow readers to blur out stories that may impact their mental health
Discussion:
Ad Age
David Cohen / Adweek:
Nielsen Social Content Ratings, which measure talent's promotion of TV shows on social media, now include Instagram in addition to Twitter and Facebook — Facebook and Twitter were already being tracked — The Nielsen Social Content Ratings now measure talent's promotion …
Discussion:
Variety, The Wrap, Tubefilter and Broadcasting & Cable
Chris Welch / The Verge:
Roku OS 9.2 will feature Roku Zones, which aggregate content from particular genres, sorting it according to whether it's free, available for rental or purchase — The Ultra's remote can open whatever app you want with a single button press — Roku is unveiling its fall 2019 lineup …
Discussion:
Roku Online Newsroom, Variety, TechCrunch, Multichannel News and The Streamable, more at Techmeme »
Christine Schmidt / Nieman Lab:
Survey of nonprofit outlets: foundations supplied under 50% of funding for the first time on record in 2018, as earned income and individual giving increases — “Nonprofit news organizations have much in common even if their scope or mission differs. Their journalistic missions …
Discussion:
American Press Institute, Talking Biz News, @jcstearns, @wburbizlab and @spj_tweets
Timothy Libert / New York Times:
Study: news sites typically rely more on outside companies for advertising than non-news sites, promoting web tracking, more so in the US than in the EU — The same news organizations that do a great job of reporting on privacy problems — have privacy problems.
Jon Lafayette / Broadcasting & Cable:
Hearst Television says its stations will sell ads based on audience impressions instead of ratings, a method NBCU/Telemundo local stations are using as well — Hearst Television said its stations will begin selling TV ads based on audience impressions, a shift away from traditional ratings.
Discussion:
Radio & Television …
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: AT&T is considering parting ways with its DirecTV unit, including spinning it off into a separate public company or combining assets with Dish — Telecom giant considers fate of DirecTV satellite unit — AT&T Inc. is exploring parting with its DirecTV satellite unit …
Discussion:
CNBC, NBC News, The Daily Beast, Light Reading, Talking New Media, Ad Age, @brianstelter, @the___spy, Ars Technica, Los Angeles Times, Multichannel News, The Wrap, CNN, Engadget, The Streamable, CNBC and CNET, more at Techmeme »
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
YouTube to tighten creator verification in October, focusing on channels with a need for proof of authenticity and clarifying verification isn't an endorsement — YouTube's verification program is getting a massive overhaul, the company announced today, which will likely result in a number …
Discussion:
Variety, YouTube Creator Blog, 9to5Google, Engadget, @caseyhall_, @sarahintampa and The Verge, more at Techmeme »
Hilary Russ / Reuters:
DAZN reaches distribution deal with Comcast, its first in North America; Xfinity Flex box users will have access to DAZN starting today — NEW YORK (Reuters) - Media and communications giant Comcast Corp has struck a distribution deal with digital global sports provider DAZN Group …
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Paul Sawers / VentureBeat:
Tumblr and WordPress.com parent company Automattic raises $300M Series D from Salesforce Ventures at a post-money valuation of $3B — Automattic, the company best known for WordPress.com and its contributions to the open source, non-hosted WordPress alternative, has raised $300 million …
Discussion:
TechCrunch, Matt Mullenweg and Axios, more at Techmeme »
Katie Deighton / The Drum:
GroupM forms New Majority Ready Coalition with media and tech companies, excluding Facebook, to help brands adapt to US's changing demographics in advertising — The biggest players in US media - Facebook excluded - have formed a cross-industry coalition to better understand multicultural audiences …
Discussion:
Adweek, MediaPost and Multichannel News