Mediagazer: Disney confirms it is testing GroupWatch, a watch party feature for Disney+, with some users in Canada and expects to roll it out to other markets this fall (Julia Alexander/The Verge)

Profile of Ben Smith, NYT's Media Equation columnist, who is deeply devoted to scoops, intrigued by raw power, and is unafraid of making people uncomfortable — Puckish chaos agent" is how Charlie Warzel describes his former BuzzFeed News boss and current New York Times colleague Ben Smith. "

Joe Otterson / Variety:

The NFL season kickoff game Thursday averaged 19.3M viewers, about a 13% drop from 2019's kickoff — The NFL season kicked off on Thursday night, dominating the television ratings for the evening while still seeing a decline from the opening game in 2019. — Defending Super Bowl champions …

Discussion: Ad Age, NBC Sports Pressbox, Los Angeles Times, Awful Announcing and CNBC

Louise Matsakis / Wired:

A month after the launch of TikTok's $200M fund, some creators are complaining about the low payouts and lack of transparency in how payouts are calculated — Users say the platform's new Creator Fund is opaque and riddled with problems. The company says it's listening.

Discussion: New York Times, @lmatsakis, @cecianasta, @lmatsakis, @wired and @taylorlorenz, more at Techmeme »

Megan Graham / CNBC:

Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri says the company needs to “make our case as strongly as we can” against Apple's planned changes to IDFA tracking in iOS 14 — - Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri said the company will push back on a planned change to Apple's iPhone operating system that would impact …

Discussion: Search Engine Land, @bmorrissey, @its_kminna, 9to5Mac, AppleInsider and @nithin, more at Techmeme »

Blake Montgomery / The Daily Beast:

Trump campaign kicked out a NYT freelancer from a rally in Michigan; NYT says campaign refused to credential her, so she was attending as a member of the public — A Times correspondent wrote, “First for me: Trump campaign tracked me down from pics I tweeted and escorted me out.”

Discussion: @michpoligal, Deadline, @michpoligal, @ruthbenghiat, The Hill, @espiers, @pressfreedom, Raw Story, @adamparkhomenko, The Wrap and WDIV-TV

Julia Alexander / The Verge:

Disney confirms it is testing GroupWatch, a watch party feature for Disney+, with some users in Canada and expects to roll it out to other markets this fall — In Canada now, with more locations coming this fall — Disney is currently testing a new feature that will allow Disney Plus subscribers …

Discussion: @andrewbucholtz, Engadget and 9to5Mac

Lucinda Southern / Digiday:

Politico Europe became profitable in 2019 with net income of €0.7M on revenue of €18.2M, says 60%+ of its revenue comes from subscriptions, which are up 20% YoY — Politico Europe hit its first year of profitability before going into 2020. Now, it plans to grow revenue between 9% …

Discussion: @gbrotman, @jimvandehei, @bennettrich, @cbudoffbrown, @sherazadesemsar and @stephen_g_brown

Max Willens / Digiday:

How TechCrunch moved Disrupt online, expanding to five days and cutting ticket prices while increasing sponsorship revenue via more expensive sponsor packages — Help us make your experience with Digiday even better by taking a quick survey. Respondents will be entered to win a $25 Amazon gift card.

Discussion: @anthonyha, @travisbernard and @mikebutcher

Esther Kezia Thorpe / What's New in Publishing:

The Correspondent launches apps in English and Dutch for its audio stories with plans to integrate live Q&As between journalists and members — The Correspondent, famous for their 2018 ‘unbreak the news’ crowdfunding campaign, are branching out into audio to bring their journalism to members in new ways.

Discussion: @estherkeziat

Lloyd Grove / The Daily Beast:

An SC man has filed a $10M lawsuit against longtime Fox News personality Andrew Napolitano, claiming Napolitano forcibly sodomized and assaulted him in 1987 — The lawsuit alleges that in 1987 Napolitano sexually assaulted the defendant of a case he oversaw as a New Jersey judge at the time.

Discussion: New York Daily News and New York Post

Hija Kamran / Digital Rights Monitor:

UN expresses concern as more than 150 female journalists in Pakistan demand an end to violence directed at them online by people associated with the government — The United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner (OHCHR), expressed concerns over the prevailing situation …

Discussion: OHCHR and @niemanlab

Rob Williams / MediaPost:

Apple to enable offer codes that publishers can create to unlock offers for use by readers using iPhone or iPad apps to read newspapers and magazines — Apple soon will give publishers another way to offer subscriptions to readers who use apps to read newspapers and magazines on their iPhones and iPads.