Top News:
Robyn Dixon / Washington Post:
Belarus revoked accreditation of 17 journalists working for international media, including BBC and Reuters, and blocked several local independent news sites — MOSCOW — Belarusian authorities Saturday launched a crackdown on international and local media, stripping accreditation from journalists …
Discussion:
@nat_vasilyeva, @brianmitchellmp, @tadeuszgiczan, The Hill, East Bay Times, Associated Press, The Independent, @nycsouthpaw, Al Jazeera, Politico and The Guardian
Dave McNary / Variety:
California sets rules for slowly opening indoor movie theaters with limited capacity based on coronavirus prevalence and positive test rates in counties — Gov. Gavin Newsom has announced strict guidelines for indoor movie theaters in California to reopen in the coming months.
Discussion:
@gavinnewsom, @billfoxla, @robertgarcialb, @thewrap, New York Post, Deadline, /Film, The Wrap and Orange County Register
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Brooks Barnes / New York Times:
As movie theaters slowly reopen across the US, studio research suggests most Americans aren't ready to return to cinemas despite new safety procedures — Big-budget films are being released for the first time since March, but the willingness of people to sit inside a closed room with strangers for several hours is still uncertain.
Discussion:
@bridgetkbennett and Variety
Julia Angwin / The Markup:
Facebook has quietly removed “multicultural affinity” ad targeting option that allowed targeting by race, after years of charges of illegal discrimination — Earlier this month, Facebook quietly removed the ability of advertisers to target users by race.
Discussion:
@themarkup, @juliaangwin and @asankin, more at Techmeme »
Elissa Nadworny / NPR:
Student journalists have been covering college reopenings with unique insight and strong editorials as they wrestle with the personal toll of the pandemic — Toggle more options — On the morning of Friday, Aug. 14, The Daily Tar Heel newsroom got a tip: The University of North Carolina …
Discussion:
The Verge, @carolinabolado, @annkirschner, @allilindy, @maevefilbin, @elissanadworny and @npr
Brian Stelter / CNN:
Nielsen: ~23.8M viewers watched Trump's speech for the Republican National Convention across 13 networks, versus 24.6M who watched Biden's speech on 12 networks — New York (CNN Business)President Trump's Thursday night convention speech making the case for his reelection was lower-rated …
Discussion:
Morning Consult, @brianstelter, The Wrap, Wall Street Journal, Wall Street Journal, @realdonaldtrump, @realdonaldtrump, Mediaite, The Jackal, New York Times, The Hill, ABC News, Los Angeles Times, @rebeccaballhaus, @neverdotard, @ajkatztv, @benmullin, @alexcsinger16, @scottjenningsky, @twitterdata, @twitterdata, @twitterdata, @twitterdata, @grynbaum, New York Times, Associated Press, Forbes, MediaPost, Washington Post, Hollywood Reporter, The Daily Beast, The Wrap and Insights - Nielsen
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: AT&T is again exploring a DirecTV sale and is in talks with PE firms for a deal that could value it below $20B; AT&T bought DirecTV for $49B in 2015 — Telephone giant in discussions with private-equity bidders for satellite-TV business wounded by shift to streaming services
Committee to Protect Journalists:
CPJ and 397 journalists, press freedom advocates, and civil society members call for release of Kashmiri journalist Aasif Sultan, imprisoned in India since 2018 — The Committee to Protect Journalists has joined together with 397 writers, journalists, academics, press freedom advocates …
Discussion:
@rsf_en, @pressfreedom, @pressfreedom, @kathykiely and The Citizen
Jim Waterson / The Guardian:
Ofcom awarded a broadcast license to GB News, which is planning a Fox News-style TV station in UK; there is a similar effort being planned by the Murdochs — Groups pitching to perceived desire for alternative output as trust in BBC falls — Rival efforts are under way to launch …
Discussion:
@iandunt, @bbcnickrobinson, @sashworthhayes, @jimwaterson, @jamin2g, @jonathanwatts, @davidlammy, @docrussjackson and @jimwaterson
Louise Matsakis / Wired:
Citizen Lab: between January and May 2020, China censored over 2,000 terms related to coronavirus on WeChat to control the narrative about China and the disease — In China, the messaging platform blocked thousands of keywords related to the virus, a new report reveals.
Discussion:
@lmatsakis, @abramowitz and @lmatsakis
Janko Roettgers / Protocol:
Sources: Comcast is pitching X1 software powering its set-top boxes and Flex streaming hardware as a potential operating system to smart TV manufacturers — Comcast wants to turn the software running on its set-top boxes into an operating system for smart TVs, Protocol has learned …
Discussion:
Cord Cutters News, @richlightshed, @markgray, @robpegoraro, Gizmodo, TheStreet and FierceVideo
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Bernard Keane / Crikey:
The Australian government's proposal for Google and Facebook, at the behest of News Corp, is a rejection of law and a classic example of “sovereign risk” — Everyone hates Google and Facebook, right? But the government's proposal to force them to hand a colossal sum of money …
Discussion:
@cejse, @orpheuseurydice, @mrdenmore, @quentindempster and @bernardkeane
Eriq Gardner / Hollywood Reporter:
A federal judge allows Sarah Palin's defamation lawsuit against NYT and former Opinion Editor James Bennet to go forward; the suit stems from a 2017 editorial — A federal judge rejects the paper's summary judgment motion and sets a trial for February. — Sarah Palin will proceed to trial …
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