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
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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
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 …