Top News:
Sarah Jeong / OneZero:
Q&A with Casey Newton on stepping away from his longtime role as the Silicon Valley editor at The Verge to start a newsletter on Substack called Platformer — Sarah Jeong talks to Newton about the details of his deal, subscription journalism, and the magic of email
Variety:
Variety parent company Penske Media reaches a deal with MRC to operate Billboard, Vibe, and the Hollywood Reporter under a newly formed joint venture — MRC brings to the venture its production infrastructure. The MRC banner is home to the Netflix drama “Ozark” and has produced such feature films as …
Discussion:
Hollywood Reporter, WWD, The Wrap, Deadline, @jbflint, @jeremymbarr, @dfriend, @media_evan, @unclegrambo, @yronlyhope, Rolling Stone and Music Business Worldwide
Ted Johnson / Deadline:
In a rally, Trump again mocks Ali Velshi for being hit with a rubber bullet amid protests and adds a vague story to mock another reporter thrown aside by police — Donald Trump again mocked MSNBC anchor Ali Velshi for the moment when he was struck by a rubber bullet while covering protests in June …
Discussion:
@atrupar, @atrupar, @ddale8, @ddale8, @maggienyt, @clennertz, @oliverdarcy, @ericholthaus, @nickkristof, @brianstelter, @astroehlein, Forbes, The Daily Beast, Mediaite and The Hill
David Ignatius / Washington Post:
Political journalists at Fox News, ABC, CBS, CNN, and NBC say they are preparing for an election night without an immediate decision in the presidential contest — “And Wisconsin goes for . . . nobody, yet.” That's the kind of inconclusive message you may hear often on election night …
Discussion:
@brianstelter, @brianstelter, @blackamazon, @sarah_boxer, @bgrueskin and @rickklein
Steve Lohr / New York Times:
A look at Google's acquisition of DoubleClick and the approval of the deal by the FTC, which was pivotal in it becoming a dominant digital advertising player — The $3.1 billion acquisition of DoubleClick in 2007 was a “game changer.” A growing number of antitrust experts say it's the sort of deal that should no longer be possible.
Discussion:
@psb_dc, @mhbergen, @rjwile, The Information, @jason_kint, @dinasrinivasan, @rasmus_kleis, @larakiara and @carissaveliz
Paul Farhi / Washington Post:
NPR should have consistently disclosed Nina Totenberg's long-standing friendship with Ruth Bader Ginsburg, which at least appeared to be a conflict of interest — When Ruth Bader Ginsburg died on Friday, NPR reporter Nina Totenberg was among the first to break the news.
Discussion:
@dangainor, @dangillmor, @davidfolkenflik, @kainazamaria, @justinskatz, @_erikaleigh, @ajzionts, @joncampbellgan, @_cingraham, Breitbart, Forbes, FactCheck.org, VentureBeat, The Hill, STAT, Vanity Fair, Miami New Times and Poynter
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Roku can't buy sponsored product ads on Amazon for its own products and products sold by Roku often don't appear atop search results for them — Some makers of smart speakers, video doorbells and other hardware hit roadblocks buying key ads in search results; gadgets made by e-commerce giant get edge
Discussion:
@mollywood, @amywebb, @danamattioli, @garettsloane, @garettsloane, @nickstatt and CNBC, more at Techmeme »
Peter Slattery / OneZero:
How Spotify's UX decisions have encouraged the growth of adjective-laden generic artist names, enabling a kind of SEO spam for music — The platform is filled with search-optimized spammers, and there's no end in sight — Welcome to The Cheater's Guide to Spotify, a series about the schemes …
Discussion:
@acfreedmanlaw, @ozm, @dlberes, @cobrayoufools, @zoecello, @zoecello, @scottemovienerd, @taylorannberg, @peterslattery3, @lenardmonkman1, @gamblelee, @danamrich and @wydnr_, more at Techmeme »
Sara Fischer / Axios:
Ad Council has generated nearly $370M of donated media support for coronavirus PSAs in six months, nearly triple the amount it typically manages in a year — The Ad Council, a 75-year-old non-profit, has nearly tripled the amount of media support for public service announcements (PSAs) …
Discussion:
Forbes
Financial Times:
Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter reach a deal with big advertisers for common standards on harmful content and to let external auditing of the system from H2 2021 — External audits and common standards satisfy companies who were boycotting social media — Facebook, YouTube and Twitter …
Discussion:
@marietjeschaake, @jason_kint and @financialtimes, more at Techmeme »
Lucinda Southern / Digiday:
Norway's Schibsted built podcast tools into its own platform so its outlets can publish podcasts behind paywalls before releasing them on third-party platforms — The podcast landscape in Norway is still nascent, but news group Schibsted is gearing up an attempt to turbocharge that growth.
Julia Alexander / The Verge:
YouTube says it will use AI-powered moderation to automatically age-restrict certain content — AI moderation measures will be used to automatically age-restrict certain content — YouTube is rolling out more artificial intelligence-powered technology to catch more videos …
Discussion:
Axios, @sarafischer, @damakant, @baltmatrix, Social Media Today, @neil_neilzone, Music Ally and Adweek, more at Techmeme »