Mediagazer: Former music and comedy executives launch Spoken Giants, a royalty administration agency that claims to be the first for spoken-word works including podcasters (Jem Aswad/Variety)

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Spotify comes under criticism after Joe Rogan interviewed Alex Jones in a three-hour episode of his podcast on Tuesday; Jones was banned from Spotify in 2018 — Jones was banned from Spotify, as well as Facebook, Apple and YouTube, in 2018 — Spotify is under fire after Joe Rogan invited …

Jane Lytvynenko / BuzzFeed News:

Internal email: Spotify defends Joe Rogan interviewing Alex Jones, saying it won't “ban specific individuals from being guests on other people's shows” — In public, Spotify is staying quiet about an appearance by conspiracy theorist Alex Jones yesterday on its flagship podcast …

Discussion: Variety, The Wrap, @janelytv, TechCrunch, The Hill, @schoofsfeed, Media Matters for America, JRE Library, Forbes, @thedailybeast, @nathantbernard, @slpng_giants, @awallenstein, @buzzfeednews, @internetryan and @markdistef, more at Techmeme »

Michael D. Shear / New York Times:

CNN contributor and former DHS COS Miles Taylor reveals he is Anonymous, the senior Trump admin official who wrote a NYT column in 2018 and book in 2019 — Mr. Taylor, whose criticisms of President Trump in a New York Times Op-Ed article and subsequent book, roiled Washington and infuriated Mr. Trump …

Discussion: @benyt, Medium, @milestaylorusa, @rosiegray, Mediaite, The Wrap, WHDH-TV, @broderick, @jacobsoboroff, Raw Story, @jaketapper, @peterhamby, @brianstelter, @perlberg, @benyt and @brianstelter

Reuters:

Italy's antitrust authority to investigate Google for alleged abuse of its dominant position in the online display ad market, following a complaint by IAB Italy — ROME/MILAN (Reuters) - Italy's antitrust authority is investigating Alphabet's Google GOOGL.O for alleged abuse of its dominant position …

Discussion: Associated Press and TechCrunch, more at Techmeme »

Ashley Carman / The Verge:

Audible adds 100K free podcasts to its catalog, available through the app for all listeners with or without a subscription — It's adding 100,000 podcasts to its catalog — Audible is turning into more of a podcast app. The company announced today that its catalog now contains 100,000 free podcasts …

Discussion: RAIN News, Variety, TechCrunch, @ashleyrcarman, @mattnavarra, @davewiner and @nwquah, more at Techmeme »

Jem Aswad / Variety:

Former music and comedy executives launch Spoken Giants, a royalty administration agency that claims to be the first for spoken-word works including podcasters — Spoken Giants is a new royalty administration agency that claims to be the first of its kind for copyright holders …

Discussion: Deadline

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

TikTok says it is working with AP to provide access to an interactive map showing live results for both US federal and state elections in its election guide — TikTok announced this morning it will expand the set of resources provided in its in-app election guide in the U.S. to include direct access …

Discussion: The Hill, CNET and blog.youtube, more at Techmeme »

Keith J. Kelly / New York Post:

Group Nine's NowThis says it has unionized with the Writers Guild of America East for its 90-person editorial staff — NowThis, a leading producer of video news for mobile use, said Tuesday it has unionized with the Writers Guild of America East. — The parent company, Ben Lerer's Group Nine …

William D. Cohan / Vanity Fair:

Since 2003, the conservative Bradley Foundation has awarded $1M to current and former members of WSJ's editorial board or to writers on the paper's Opinion side — The Rhode Island senator's “dark money” riff at a SCOTUS hearing drew fire from the Journal's opinion side …

Todd Spangler / Variety:

RTL Group sells its stake in Canada-based digital media and tech company BroadbandTV for $120M, as BBTV launches an IPO on the Toronto Stock Exchange — European media conglomerate RTL Group has sold its entire stake in BroadbandTV, the digital media and tech company, for $120 million.

Discussion: @xpangler

Alex Weprin / Hollywood Reporter:

ViacomCBS names Bryon Rubin COO of the CBS Entertainment Group; Rubin will also continue as CFO of the division — Rubin, who is currently CFO of the division, will continue in that role as well, overseeing all financial and business operations for the unit.

Discussion: The Wrap, Variety and Deadline

Dade Hayes / Deadline:

Sports streaming service DAZN is expanding to 200 countries and territories on December 1 — EXCLUSIVE: Sports streaming service DAZN is expanding to 200 countries and territories on December 1, with initial monthly pricing of £1.99 or less. — Launched in 2016 and backed …

Discussion: The Streamable