Top News:


Facebook's new policy will label as political any promoted content by US news outlets with direct ties to political groups and ban them from the News tab — Facebook is rolling out a new policy that will prevent U.S. news publishers with “direct, meaningful ties” to political groups …
Discussion:
@emilybell, @dellcam, @arawnsley, @persily, @robpegoraro, @newslitproject, @nickpacilio, @cjr, @mathewi and @kellykborn


SimilarWeb: ~59% of traffic to Trump's campaign website from May to July came from The Gateway Pundit and Citizen Free Press, a fringe-right news aggregator — Traffic to President Trump's presidential website is more than 4x greater than traffic to Joe Biden's presidential website …
Discussion:
@mikemadden and @bencjacobs


A case study of a story about Bible burning in Portland, covered by RT and its Ruptly video service, then amplified by US right-wing media and politicians — WASHINGTON — For some of President Trump's loudest cheerleaders, it was a story too good to check out: Black Lives Matters protesters in Portland …
Discussion:
@bymikebaker, @olganyc1211, @mollyjongfast, Oregonian, @karoli, @jason_kint, @jimrutenberg, @clairecmc, The Independent, The Hill, The Slot and @jessedamiani


Researchers find network of 178 hyperpartisan low-quality news sites whose underlying purpose is to collect and sell email addresses and other personal info — The reality curated by “The Bearded Patriot” and “The Wolf of Washington” is dismal. — The websites tell of nonstop riots and “crazed leftists.”
Discussion:
@isaacstanbecker, @drslayton, @washpostbiz, @davidclinchnews, @josh_braun, @brianstelter, @anneapplebaum, @seth_hettena, @craigsilverman and @dfrlab


In a new filing, Microsoft adds Netflix, Hulu, and Tencent to its list of competitors, saying its gaming services compete with other entertainment providers — Microsoft may be toying with the idea of buying Tik-Tok, but more than ever, its bread-and-butter is basic cloud services and server software for businesses.
Discussion:
@pkafka, @toddbishop, @dylanbyers and @jbflint


California public radio station KQED announces layoffs of 20 staff to help address a projected $7.1M budget gap, blaming a sharp corporate sponsorship decline — KQED announced Monday it is laying off 20 staff members, representing 5.5% of its workforce, while a handful of other employees had their hours reduced.
Discussion:
@sciencequiche, @lilyjamali, @sonipaul, @ezraromero, @chroniclesofazu, @okcouncil, @nickmiller510, @kqed, @mcgowankat, @s_m_i, @science_ari and @peterhartlaub


CuriosityStream, a streaming service for documentaries on science and history, has agreed to go public through a ~$330M merger with Software Acquisition Group — CuriosityStream, a streaming platform for documentaries on science, history and other topics, has agreed to go public through …


The anti-Trump episode of Black-ish that was canned by ABC in 2018 and led its creator Kenya Barris to sign with Netflix finally debuts on Hulu — The canned episode of “Black-ish” that led to a dispute between Disney and creator Kenya Barris, and Barris eventually decamping for a new deal at Netflix …
Discussion:
Variety, Hollywood Reporter, Fast Company, Vanity Fair, Los Angeles Times, NME, /Film, @laceyvrose, Paradox Newsletter, Hollywood Reporter, The Verge, Variety, Vanity Fair and Decider


Fox News to launch live-streaming outlet Fox News International in August for $6.99/month, starting in Mexico and expanding to 20 countries by the end of 2020 — Fox Corp. is joining the parade of big U.S. media companies seeking to stream their best-known content abroad.


As part of WarnerMedia's layoffs, most of the staff of the streaming service DC Universe have been laid off, as well as top execs and editors of DC Comics — The majority of staff of the streaming service DC Universe has been laid off, as has editor-in-chief Bob Harras and multiple other executives on the publishing side.


US judge sides with Google in a lawsuit brought by Genius, which alleged that Google scraped lyrics in violation of copyright law — Google may have been caught “redhanded,” but a federal judge rules that Genius hasn't alleged any viable claims not be preempted by copyright law.
Discussion:
TechCrunch, @eringriffith, @eriqgardner and The Verge, more at Techmeme »

Seattle Times publisher endorses initiatives to help local news and local ownership in WA, where 84% of the top 50 regional metro papers aren't locally owned — Dear Reader, This week is The Seattle Times' 124th birthday. To my knowledge, we are now the second-oldest regional newspaper in the country with local stewardship.
Discussion:
@kirsten0brien, @ifjglobal, @spj_tweets, @nickcharles61 and @hbernton