Top News:
Brent Lang / Variety:
NBCU vice chairman Ron Meyer steps down after disclosing that he was being extorted over his affair with a woman who threatened to also “falsely implicate” NBCU — Ron Meyer is stepping down as vice chairman of NBCUniversal after disclosing that he reached a private settlement …
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Variety:
Sources: NBCU's Ron Meyer had reached a settlement with actress Charlotte Kirk, who was linked to the resignation of Warner Bros. CEO Kevin Tsujihara in 2019 — NBCUniversal Vice Chairman Ron Meyer was involved in an affair with actress Charlotte Kirk that ultimately led to his ouster …
Discussion:
Hollywood Reporter, Hollywood Reporter, @mattbelloni, Hollywood Reporter, @thedreaclark, The Wrap, @jaxxonhoward, Mediaite, Deadline, Page Six, The Wrap and New York Post
Alexandra Bruell / Wall Street Journal:
WPP has hired AT&T's Kirk McDonald as chief executive of North America for its GroupM ad-buying unit; McDonald had been interim head of Xandr — Executive move is the latest exit from Warner Media's advertising-technology unit Xandr — WPP PLC has hired AT&T Inc.'s Kirk McDonald …
Discussion:
Variety, Ad Age, Adweek, @beet_tv, @aripap, @tkawaja, AdExchanger, MediaPost and Business Insider
Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
Belarusian Association of Journalists: at least 69 journalists were detained since 9 August, the day of the election, with 36 of those beaten and injured — Almost 70 journalists were detained in Belarus and half were beaten and injured after pro-democracy protests began against the contested re-election …
Discussion:
Committee to Protect … and The Times
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Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Netflix says it's testing Shuffle Play, which will randomly play a show you're watching, something you've put on a list, or a title similar to stuff you watched — Don't know what you're in the mood to watch? Netflix's new “Shuffle” feature could help. The company confirms it's currently testing …
Discussion:
Variety, Engadget, The Independent, @baekdal, The Verge, @deliacabe, Deadline and The Streamable, more at Techmeme »
Sara Fischer / Axios:
Group Nine's NowThis is launching NowThis Kids aimed at children aged 6 to 11, starting with a YouTube channel, podcast, and newsletter — NowThis, the millennial-focused video brand from Group Nine Media, is launching a new brand aimed at children of millennials called “NowThis Kids,” executives tell Axios.
Discussion:
The Wrap, @thewrap, @naomiwadler, @niemanlab, @naomiwadler, @mralexalba, @sarafischer and MediaPost
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: ViacomCBS is in talks to sell CNET for ~$500M to Red Ventures, which runs consumer sites Bankrate and Reviews.com, as it looks to shed noncore assets — Discussions value CNET at about $500 million; media company has been looking to shed noncore assets after last year's merger
Aaron Gordon / The Mail:
Motherboard launches an email newsletter about the US Postal Service and a printed zine on the subject delivered monthly by mail, to run through end of November — For years, Motherboard has cared deeply about election security. We were the first to talk to Guccifer 2.0 …
Discussion:
@lainnafader, @sahilkapur, @timmarchman, @_danielsinclair, @plitter, @a_w_gordon, @ylichterman, @nixops, @dlberes, @derektmead, @richarddeitsch, @timmarchman, @a_w_gordon and @josephfcox
Nicholas Quah / Nieman Lab:
Vice's VP of audio discusses Vice's audio expansion with 11 hires and the upcoming launch of four podcasts, including the flagship Vice News Reports — Welcome to Hot Pod, a newsletter about podcasts. This is issue 270, dated August 18, 2020. — Hmm... Spotify appears to be hiring …
Discussion:
@shaunagh and @vicecomms
Laura Wagner / VICE:
A proposed Vox Media settlement of three lawsuits would split $2.5M among 450+ bloggers who managed or wrote for SB Nation; $1.5M would go to legal fees — Hundreds of unpaid and lowly paid bloggers who worked for SB Nation will split $2.5 million. — Laura Wagner
Discussion:
@alexwatl, @timmarchman, @davidleoni, @seth_rosenthal, @jackie_peanuts and Awful Announcing
Charlie Warzel / New York Times:
The White House flood of EOs and pronouncements is meant to be exhausting for media and consumers, requiring careful news coverage and mindful readers — Trump is “flooding the zone.” It's a form of modern censorship. — Opinion writer at large. — In the Trump era, news doesn't break, it invades.
Discussion:
@cwarzel, @jayrosen_nyu, @sashalyutse, @edzitron, @staceynycdc, The Distancer, @edzitron, @emilycrockett, @grahamwjenkins, @joesudbay, @ethanz, @slickrockweb, @jayrosen_nyu, @edzitron, @brianstelter and @cwarzel
RELATED:
Alex Shephard / New Republic:
By embracing conservative talking points about government agencies, media missed the story about the decimation of USPS long before Trump was elected
Discussion:
The A.V. Club, Real Clear Politics, @newrepublic, @newrepublic, @newrepublic, @coracurrier, New York Times and Written Up
Variety:
As the flow of new content dries up, studios are capitalizing on demand from streamers by licensing films for shorter, one to three month runs — When HBO Max debuted in late May, it made a surprise announcement: The eight original “Harry Potter” films — among the biggest-ever movie franchises …
Peter Weber / The Week:
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez criticizes NBC News for its “totally false and divisive” tweet saying she did not endorse Joe Biden in her DNC speech — The Democratic National Convention formally nominated Joe Biden as its presidential candidate on Tuesday night …
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