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YouTube reverses course, says channels with verification badges will keep them without appeal and channels that reach 100k subs can still apply for verification — A day after announcing significant changes to its verification program, YouTube announced Friday afternoon that it won't be de-verifying existing creators after all.
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YouTube CEO apologizes to creators and users over the company's decision to revoke verification statuses and says it is working to address creator concerns — Updates are expected to come — YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki has just apologized to the creator community over the company's decision …
Discussion:
@susanwojcicki, Business Insider, Fast Company, Mashable, @mattnavarra, @martinsfp and Boing Boing, more at Techmeme »


Disney and AT&T reach a deal that will keep ABC, ESPN, The Disney Channel, and more on DirecTV, U-verse, and AT&T TV Now — The Walt Disney Co. reached an agreement in principle on a new retransmission consent and carriage deal with AT&T that would keep networks including ABC …
Discussion:
PR Newswire, Awful Announcing, Deadline and Cord Cutters News


Twitter suspends account of a former Saudi royal court adviser suspected of involvement in Khashoggi murder and six accounts linked to Saudi state media — London (CNN Business)Twitter has suspended or removed thousands of accounts linked to governments in the Middle East …
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Twitter, NPR, @securedemocracy, ABC News, @brian_whit, Boing Boing, BleepingComputer, @jrug and @samuelwoolley


NBCU announces it is shutting down its gaming division, formed in 2017, and laying off 5% of staff in its cable division, which includes E!, Oxygen, Bravo — Universal Games and Digital Platforms, formed in 2017, will no longer publish mobile titles as part of a restructuring plan at the company …
Discussion:
Fox Business, Variety, MediaPost, @pshanley88, Polygon, TVWeek.com and The Wrap


Chinese state media reporters will have to pass an exam testing knowledge of President Xi's philosophy to get press cards; ~10K to take pilot exams in October — About 10,000 reporters and editors in Beijing are expected to take ‘pilot tests’ next month using Xuexi Qiangguo mobile app Nationwide exams …
Discussion:
@suilee, @zhengwei75, @annafifield and The Guardian


Reuters hires Joyce Adeluwoye-Adams as its first newsroom diversity editor — Reuters today announced that Joyce Adeluwoye-Adams has been appointed Editor, Newsroom Diversity. — Reporting to Simon Robinson, Global Managing Editor, Newsroom, Adeluwoye-Adams will lead Reuters efforts …
Discussion:
Press Gazette, @iron_emu and Poynter


At TV conference, Reed Hastings says Netflix has spent £400M in the UK in 2019 and plans a “big increase” next year — Netflix CEO Reed Hastings has said the streamer will spend £400m ($500m) on UK programming this year and added that there would be a “big increase” …
Discussion:
Forbes, Variety, Multichannel News, MacRumors, @alexgiess, Barron's Online, @ivan_brussels, Reuters and The Guardian
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A former chief creative officer of The Martin Agency is suing Adweek, a former editor, and the anonymous Instagram account Diet Madison Avenue for defamation — Suit seeks $25 million; attorney says plaintiff plans to also take legal action against his former employer and parent Interpublic Group
Discussion:
@moorehn


Roku study: 2M people in the US moved from traditional pay TV to streaming in 2019; up to 60M US households will exclusively use streaming in the next 5 years — Television viewing has gradually expanded into streaming, and a new study from Roku makes a dramatic prediction about how people will consume video in the years to come.
Discussion:
MediaPost, @roku, @whatthebit, @raju, Roku and Cord Cutters News


Kavanaugh book authors say the reason they couldn't agree to terms to interview Kavanaugh was because he wanted them to lie and say he hadn't been interviewed — Robin Pogrebin and Kate Kelly, the New York Times reporters behind the book “The Education of Brett Kavanaugh: An Investigation …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo and @erikwemple


Interview with Google News VP Richard Gingras on the algorithm change to spotlight original reporting, the difficulty of defining the term, raters, and more — Google's VP of News explains the wider implications of the new search algorithm. — Last week, Google said it had made changes …
Discussion:
@mhbergen, ZDNet, @chrismoranuk, @mattrosoff, @mathewi, @spj_tweets and @mattrosoff, more at Techmeme »