Mediagazer: The Apple TV app is now available on Vizio's SmartCast-enabled TV sets in the US and Canada, with three free months of Apple TV+ for users in the US (Todd Spangler/Variety)

2:30 PM ET, September 8, 2020

Top News:

Sean Burch / The Wrap:

Disney faces criticism for thanking a Chinese bureau tied to Uyghur concentration camps and four other Chinese propaganda departments in the credits for Mulan — Disney's “Mulan” remake is facing scrutiny after its credits thanked the Turpan Municipal Bureau of Public Security …

Discussion: Hollywood Reporter, New York Times, @suzannenossel, Erick Erickson's Confessions …, Time To Say Goodbye, The Daily Beast, Washington Post, @sevenflamingos, @mattyglesias, The Week, @aghamilton29, @isaacstonefish, @michaelschuman, Raw Story, @arthur_affect, Breitbart and The Guardian

Daniel Roberts / Yahoo News:

Sensor Tower: Disney+ downloads from Sept. 4 to Sept. 6 rose 68% compared to the week before and in-app spending rose 193% as customers paid the $30 Mulan fee — Disney made a controversial decision when, after — twice delaying the theatrical release of its live-action “Mulan,” it

Discussion: Observer, TechCrunch, The Streamable, CNET, Cord Cutters News and Decider

Dawn Chmielewski / Forbes:

Profile of Reed Hastings as Netflix thrives during the pandemic, adding ~1M subscribers/month in the US and Canada and another 2M/month globally since March — The man responsible for keeping the world entertained does so, at least this day, alone in front of a computer screen, in his son's largely unadorned childhood bedroom.

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Variety, The Streamable, @austen, @forbes, @forbes, @sherman4949 and @jbflint, more at Techmeme »

Maureen Dowd / New York Times:
Interview with Reed Hastings, on the future of Hollywood, the US election and social media, his new book about Netflix's aggressive company culture, and more

Discussion: PCMag Australia, Business Insider, @firstadopter, @nytimes, @mwanikih, @mjasay, @wsj, The Verge, @yashar, @firstadopter, @claudferraz, @jbflint, @maureendowd and The Wrap

Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg / Wall Street Journal:

Gannett names Mayur Gupta to the newly created position of chief marketing and strategy officer as the newspaper chain focuses on attracting digital subscribers — Covid-19 crisis hurts advertising revenue, as challenges grow for company's local markets — Gannett Co. has named Mayur Gupta …

Discussion: @media_evan, @kerrymflynn and The Media Nut

Tom Jackman / Washington Post:

Tribune Publishing, which announced the closure of Capital Gazette newsroom in Annapolis last month, barred staff from holding a farewell event at the building — In Annapolis, the roots of the Annapolis Capital and Maryland Gazette newspapers date to the Gazette's founding in 1727.

Discussion: American Press Institute, @chesapeakeguild, The Rural Blog, @dankennedy_nu, @pkcapitol, @djlavoie, @amlwhere, @jim_brunner, @meredithshiner, @nikkiusher, @pwoodreporter, @seamushughes and @bethreinhard

Todd Spangler / Variety:

The Apple TV app is now available on Vizio's SmartCast-enabled TV sets in the US and Canada, with three free months of Apple TV+ for users in the US — The Apple TV app — including access to Apple TV Plus — is now available on Vizio's SmartCast-enabled TV sets to users in the U.S. and Canada.

Discussion: The Streamable, TechCrunch, AppleInsider, Light Reading, MacRumors, Cord Cutters News and Media Play News, more at Techmeme »

Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:

UK's JPI Media is creating ~24 new jobs for its new central digital content team and cutting 20-30 editorial jobs as its focus shifts to online readership — JPI Media has told staff it is reopening itself to bidders after coming through lockdown in a “strong place” on the same day it revealed plans to cut up to 30 jobs.

Discussion: @bbcdouglasf

Andrew Webster / The Verge:

Epic unveils a three week concert series on Fortnite, starting Sept. 12, which will broadcast from a new LA studio specially outfitted for live performances — It starts with Dominic Fike performing on Saturday — Music is about to become a much bigger part of Fortnite.

Discussion: Variety, The AirPod Generation, Engadget, Billboard, Epic Games' Fortnite, @maybebullish, @esportslaw, Hollywood Reporter, @ballmatthew and @ballmatthew

Matthew Doran / ABC:

Two correspondents for Australia's ABC and Australian Financial Review rushed out of China on Monday after diplomatic standoff and police demands for interviews — The ABC and Australian Financial Review have rushed their China correspondents out of the country after police demanded interviews …

Joshua Yaffa / New Yorker:

Compared to the likes of Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity, and Donald Trump, the perceived menace of disinfo from Russian trolls far surpasses its actual reach — The spectre of foreign manipulation looms over the coming election. But in focussing on the tactics of the aggressors we overlook our weaknesses as victims.

Discussion: @angelsdiaz_, @arictoler, @wiczipedia, @peterpomeranzev, @akinunver, @jason_kint and @yaffaesque

Tom Pritchard / Gizmodo UK:

Gizmodo UK's editor says it will cease operations on September 9 after Future Publishing decided to stop licensing the brand from G/O Media — Gizmodo UK began life towards the end of September in 2011, almost nine years ago now. That was a time when smartphones were still novelties …

Discussion: Digiday, GameRevolution, @pressgazette, Comic Book, Kotaku Australia, DualShockers, GamesIndustry.biz, @jwhitbrook, @mikebutcher, @toadsanime, @tepritchard, @tepritchard and Kotaku UK, Thanks:@matthewkeyslive

Kit Rees / Bloomberg:
Shares in Future are up 15% this year after 2019's 200% jump; Future says visitors to its sites, including Tom's Guide, in Aug. rose 25% YoY in UK and 40% in US

Discussion: interactive investor

David Sharman / HoldtheFrontPage:

UK regional publisher Archant launches Archant Ventures to offer companies marketing and advertising support in exchange for small equity stakes — A regional publisher has unveiled plans to start investing in local businesses in what is thought to be an industry first.

Discussion: InPublishing, archant_corporate and Talking Biz News

Jon Allsop / Columbia Journalism Review:

Stars and Stripes ombudsman says he reckons three years of Trump's anti-press messaging emboldened Pentagon members to cut funding for the independent outlet — For more than six months now, the future of Stars and Stripes—a military newspaper that is owned by, yet editorially independent from …

Discussion: Politico, San Francisco Chronicle and @jon_allsop

Archived Page Info:

This is a snapshot of Mediagazer at 2:30 PM ET, September 8, 2020.

View the current page or another snapshot:

Who's Hiring in Media?

Deputy Ed. - Gen. Assignment Desk, DC — WaPo

EU Technology Reporter, Brussels — Bloomberg

Breaking News Reporter, NY — Guardian US

Harrisburg Reporter, PA — PCBC

Senior Editor - Styles, NY — NYT

Part-time Editor, Remote — Techmeme

Home & Travel Reporter, Ireland — Newsweek

Assistant Digital Editor, MA — Boston Globe

Senior Editor - Visuals (Temporary), DC — NPR

Copy Editor, Remote US — ProPublica

Markets Reporter, NY/CA — Sherwood Media

Staff Writer, MI — Watershed Voice

Food Reporter, CA — SF Standard

Staff Writer, NV — Las Vegas Weekly

Pharma Editor, Remote — Endpoints

Higher Ed. Reporter, Remote CA — EdSource

Politics Reporter, Brussels — Politico

Investigations & Enterprise Ed., WI — Cap Times

Social Strategy Editor, NY — WSJ

Senior Narrative Editor, CA — Cloud Chamber

Editor-in-Chief, NY (flexible) — The 74

Housing Reporter, OK — The Frontier

Writer/AI Content Reviewer, CA — Outlier

Writer/Editor, Remote — Mediaite

Multi Media Reporter, NC — Cardinal & Pine

Afternoon/Night Editor, NH — Keene Sentinel

Education Lab Editor, WA — Seattle Times

Senior Editor, Remote US — PCWorld

State Worker Reporter, CA — Sacramento Bee

Executive Editor, NM — Searchlight

News Assistant, NY — Quanta Magazine

Local Editor, NJ (Remote) — Patch

News Writer, CA — Hollywood Reporter

News Editor/Reporter, KS — Blade-Empire

Add your company here

See Also:

Mediagazer: site main

Mediagazer River: reverse chronological Mediagazer

Mediagazer Mobile: for phones

Mediagazer Leaderboard: Mediagazer's top sources

Subscribe:

Mediagazer RSS feed

Mediagazer on X

Mediagazer on Mastodon

More News:

Damien Spry / The Conversation:
ACCC's proposal that Google and Facebook pay for news won't work because it misunderstands digital advertising, where content is secondary to audience targeting

Discussion: The Guardian, MediaNama and Digiday

Georg Szalai / Hollywood Reporter:
Discovery to acquire the free-to-air TV business of New Zealand's largest independent commercial broadcaster MediaWorks and its streaming service ThreeNow

Discussion: @thr, WORLD SCREEN and Digital TV Europe

Ernesto Van der Sar / TorrentFreak:
A historic drop in releases of pirated content has followed a US-led bust targeting SPARKS and other piracy communities, with dozens of topsites taken down

Discussion: Plagiarism Today and @whatthebit

Hollywood Reporter:
Warner Bros. TV exec Susan Rovner to head entertainment programming at NBCUniversal, overseeing NBC, Peacock, and cable networks USA, Syfy, Bravo, Oxygen, E!

Discussion: MediaPost, Los Angeles Times, Variety, @snoodit and The Wrap

Earlier Picks:

Brooks Barnes / New York Times:
In a widely-watched North American opening weekend, Nolan's Tenet collected an estimated $20.2M; global tickets sales after two weeks have reached $129M

Vanessa Thorpe / The Guardian:
BBC broadcasters say they are furious over new rules restricting “partisan” use of Twitter, as freelancers wonder whether the rules apply to them

Discussion: Press Gazette, Breitbart, @martinsfp, @erancicurel, @martinshovel and @jayrosen_nyu

Margaret Sullivan / Washington Post:
Media must start preparing the public for the possible election-night uncertainty now and resist answering the question “who won?” until it is settled

Discussion: The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Rural Blog, Washington Post, @dangillmor, Raw Story, @texasinafrica, @pomeranian99, @yair_rosenberg, @waltmossberg, @waltmossberg, @ashleyrparker, @owillis, @jayrosen_nyu, @sulliview and @waltmossberg

From Techmeme:

Gaby Del Valle / The Verge:
The US Senate reauthorizes FISA's Section 702; some communication service providers had threatened to stop cooperating with the US government in case of a lapse

Daniel Wiessner / Reuters:
Google scraps a 2019 policy requiring US suppliers and staffing firms to pay their employees $15 an hour and provide health insurance and other benefits

Isabelle Bousquette / Wall Street Journal:
PCs that can run large AI models may drive an enterprise PC replacement cycle, but some CIOs say they'll wait for the category to mature and prices to come down

Sister Sites:

Techmeme
Top news and commentary for technology's leaders, from all around the web

memeorandum
What US political commentators are discussing online right now

WeSmirch
The top celebrity news from all around the web on a single page