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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 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


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


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


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


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


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 »


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 »


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


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 »


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.


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 »