Mediagazer: Profile of DeShuna Spencer, who founded the streaming service kweliTV in 2015 to focus on Black stories; kweliTV now has 43,000 users despite lack of VC funding (John General/CNN)

Behind the online battle between notable tech figures including a16z partners and Balaji Srinivasan, and the journalists who tweet and report on the industry — Late last fall, the New York Times was preparing a bombshell article about Coinbase, a financial exchange that had become …

Discussion: @nickconfessore, @rmac18, @paulbradleycarr, @harrymccracken, @jeffjarvis, @josheidelson, @micsolana, @nbj914, @markskrikorian, @yudhanjaya, @mgsiegler, @matthaber, @intelligencer, @riceid, @dskok and @tomgara, more at Techmeme »

TikTok:

TikTok launches #FactCheckYourFeed, a media literacy campaign with creators and public figures discussing recognizing fake news, balanced news diets, and more — TikTok has always been a place that inspires creativity and brings joy. Every day we are blown away by the inspirational …

Discussion: @pressgazette

Jill Goldsmith / Deadline:

Amazon signs multi-year deal with the WNBA giving Prime Video exclusive global streaming rights to 16 regular season games and the Commissioner's Cup game — Amazon and the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) announced a multi-year agreement giving Prime Video exclusive global streaming rights …

Discussion: WNBA.com, @caiti326, @ramonashelburne, The Verge, Engadget, The Streamable and Cord Cutters News

John General / CNN:

Profile of DeShuna Spencer, who founded the streaming service kweliTV in 2015 to focus on Black stories; kweliTV now has 43,000 users despite lack of VC funding — New York (CNN Business)When DeShuna Spencer sat in front of her TV to scroll through her options, she noticed a glaring problem …

Discussion: @deshuna

Reuters:

A reporter covering protests against Myanmar coup has been jailed for three years for “incitement”, among the first guilty verdicts against media by the junta — (Reuters) - A journalist who reported on protests against this year's coup in Myanmar has been jailed for three years for incitement …

Discussion: Committee to Protect … and Associated Press

Taylor Hatmaker / TechCrunch:

Discord announces Stage Discovery, a tool to help people find communities through live audio events, and says it will soon test paid, ticketed audio events — If you're new to Discord, you might be thrown off by the lack of an endless feed peppered with ads.

Discussion: @tayhatmaker, @chrismessina, @blitzrick, @dhof, @caseynewton and @mattnavarra, more at Techmeme »

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Pinterest says it will test livestreaming events this month through a three-day virtual event featuring sessions with around 21 top creators — Pinterest is expanding into live events. The company is planning to host a three-day virtual event that will feature live-streamed sessions from top creators …

Hamish McKenzie / Substack Blog:

Substack acquires People & Company, which focuses on community building, to expand its support infrastructure for writers, including workshops and legal support — In 2014, journalist Anna Codrea-Rado, publisher of Lance, pitched a story to editors at a major news outlet …

Discussion: @ewhitmore, @blackamazon, @substackinc, @hamishmckenzie, @hamishmckenzie, @zebriez, @hamishmckenzie and Writers' Library

CNBC:

Disney misses on subscriber estimates for Disney+, reaching 103.6M subscribers, below the expected 109M; revenue was $15.61B vs. $15.87B expected, down 13% YoY — - Disney reported second quarter results Thursday, posting lower-than-expected revenue and subscriber counts for its streaming service.

Discussion: Variety, The Streamable, @techjournalist, @cnbcnow, @xpangler, The Walt Disney Company and Cord Cutters News

Lanre Bakare / The Guardian:

UK's Channel 4, commercially funded but owned by the government, could be privatized in the next three years, the British culture secretary says — Culture secretary repeats view that Tory sell-off of public broadcaster before next election is not ‘ruled out’

Ashley Carman / The Verge:

Slate launches an audiobook store, partnering with Penguin-Random House, Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins, and Hachette, with titles accessible via podcast apps — Including from Penguin-Random House, Simon & Schuster, and HarperCollins — Slate is getting into the audiobooks business.

Discussion: Hot Pod News, Podcast Movement and Slate

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Roku will debut Roku Originals on the Roku Channel on May 20, starting with 30 Quibi shows — Quibi is coming back from the dead next week... sort of. — On May 20, Roku will debut the first batch of Roku Originals — a collection of 30 shows originally produced for Quibi …

Discussion: Gizmodo, TechCrunch, The Streamable, Light Reading, The Verge, Advanced Television, The Wrap, Cord Cutters News and Hollywood Reporter, more at Techmeme »