Top News:
Dave Gershgorn / The Verge:
The maker of a new documentary about Anthony Bourdain says he used AI to re-create Bourdain's voice and synthesized the audio of three quotes from the TV host — ‘We can have a documentary-ethics panel about it later’ — In a new documentary, Roadrunner, about the life and tragic death …
Discussion:
@daveweigel, New Yorker, @markberman, @seanmburns, Variety, @hels, @actnormalorelse, @variety, New York Post, @blackamazon, TechCrunch, @reckless, @mathewi, @dfriend, Input, @hels, IGN, @daveweigel, @dashingcripple, @lollardfish, @taylorjoyanyas, @dadvansss, @doubleemmartin, @coldbrewedtool, @harrymccracken, @richardlnewby, @iwriteallday_, @sonnybunch, @greg_jenner, @xor, @mattdpearce, @imranzomg, @austin_walker, @ayeshaasiddiqi, @jbenton, @variety, @walshfreedom, @boringstein, @threepointone, @scottwamplerbmd, @craig_rangoon, @gregobr, @caseyjohnston, @variety, @dancow, @john__sadler, @briankoppelman, @fansince09, @cd_hooks, @furioursus, @somebadideas, @jasondashbailey, @mathewi, @poniewozik, @jsidman, @ashleylynch, @jennyyangtv, @lucyeverleigh, @ldbahr, @craigsilverman, Insider, @dmschulman, @guylodge, @apark2453, @risingaction, @variety, Hollywood Reporter and IndieWire, more at Techmeme »
Ted Johnson / Deadline:
US surgeon general issues his first advisory, reserved for urgent public health threats, seeking action from journalists and others against vaccine misinfo — As the rate of Covid-19 vaccination slows and cases rise again, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy called on tech platforms …
Discussion:
NPR, CNN, CNN, HHS.gov, Free Press, Vox, Reuters, Insider, @ideagov, @christineromans, CNBC, @peterhotez, Forbes, @mediawise, @weese_scott, @bruceaheyman, @masclab, @peterhotez, Al Jazeera, New York Post, @datadrivenmd, Surgeon General of the United States, @kevinroose, @peterhotez, @scotttaylorva, @cnn, The Western Journal and Mediaite, more at Techmeme »
Marc Tracy / New York Times:
Daily Beast EIC Noah Shachtman named EIC of Rolling Stone, starting in August; Daily Beast executive editor Tracy Connor will serve as interim EIC — Noah Shachtman, an experienced online journalist with a newsy sensibility, will lead the pop music bible founded in 1967.
Discussion:
@marcatracy, @noahshachtman, The Hill, @jamilsmith, @sollenbergerrc, @noahshachtman, @jose_pagliery, @nxthompson, @shaneharris, @weinbergersa, @nathanwurtzel, @johnavlon, @claireeshaffer, @marlownyc, @tiffkhsu, @markmazzettinyt, @emmacarew, @davidkenner, @benjysarlin, @mlcalderone, @jimhansondc, @samstein, @clarajeffery, Mediaite, @seamushughes, @jimlaporta, @oneunderscore__, @samstein, @thedewline, @erinbanco, @hunterw, @danlamothe, @ridt, @kpfallon, @markszaidesq, @djrothkopf, @harrysiegel, @selectedwisdom, @taylorlorenz, @choire, @dgisserious, @draperrobert, @juliadavisnews, @mollyjongfast, @jerryportwood, @willsommer, @brandyzadrozny and The Wrap
Kim Masters / Hollywood Reporter:
Sources: Netflix fired three senior film marketing executives who worked for VP Jonathan Helfgot after they were found secretly grumbling about bosses on Slack — Three senior staffers were let go after the streamer discovered they were secretly griping about management, including chief marketing officer Bozoma Saint John.
Brian Steinberg / Variety:
ESPN has long fed content to other parts of Disney's empire, but as Disney made more rights deals and streaming's impact has grown, more sharing is on the way — An increasing amount of what ESPN does isn't going to be seen on good ol' ESPN. — “Sunday Night Baseball” …
Discussion:
@bhofheimer_espn, Front Office Sports, @tsoh_investing, @espnpr, @richlightshed, @richarddeitsch, Too Much TV Newsletter and @espnpr
Sam Levin / The Guardian:
Citizen Lab says government hackers using spyware from an Israeli company created sites impersonating news outlets, with names including Euro News and CNN 24-7 — Researchers say web domains masquerading as activist, health and media groups are used by governments to hack targets
Discussion:
Washington Post, @seattletimes, Bloomberg, @ericgarland, CNBC, Financial Times, @jsrailton, @jsrailton, @skirchy and @amaramarasingam, more at Techmeme »
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Genvid raises $113M to build out interactive live gaming events, hires Cindy Holland, ex-Netflix VP for original content, to advise on strategy and acquisitions — Genvid wants to bootstrap a new category of large-scale interactive games that unfold in real-time — based on well-known movie, comic book or gaming franchises.
Discussion:
Fast Company, YouTube, @ballmatthew, @lux_capital, @zoescaman and Protocol, more at Techmeme »
Sharon Pruitt-Young / NPR:
Jury rejects a mental illness plea from the Capital Gazette shooter, who killed 5 employees; he will be sentenced to prison, not a psychiatric hospital — The gunman who admitted to a shooting attack on the newsroom of Maryland's Capital Gazette three years ago has been found criminally responsible for the massacre of five people.
Bloomberg:
Netflix hires ex-Facebook and EA exec Mike Verdu as VP of game development; source: Netflix plans to offer games as a new programming genre within the next year — Netflix Inc., marking its first big move beyond TV shows and films, is planning an expansion into video games and has hired …
Discussion:
New York Times, Reuters, Hollywood Reporter, The Information, The Wrap, UPROXX, The Streamable, Protocol, @doomassistme, Collider, ComingSoon.net, @imranzomg, Tubefilter, @paultassi, New York Post, Financial Times, MediaPost, @ballmatthew, @thomastkalinske, @chrismlacy, @davidwildgoose, @benjisales, @stephentotilo, @faris, @chrismlacy, @lucas_shaw, @s_m_i, @tomwarren, @gavinpurcell, Front Office Sports, IGN, PC Gamer, 9to5Mac, ScreenRant, AppleInsider, CNBC and The Verge, more at Techmeme »
Brian Steinberg / Variety:
MSNBC renames its streaming channel on Peacock to The Choice and will add programming, including a show featuring debriefs with WaPo journalists — Mika Brzezinski, Nicolle Wallace and Jonathan Capehart are among the MSNBC anchors taking on new programming duties — but not on MSNBC.
Discussion:
The Streamable, @bristei and TVNewser
Dade Hayes / Deadline:
Charter signs a carriage deal under which it will distribute ViacomCBS's Paramount+, Pluto TV, BET+, and Noggin as well as its linear channels — ViacomCBS and Charter Communications, the No. 2 U.S. cable operator, have struck a new multi-year carriage deal that includes distribution for streaming services.
Discussion:
The Streamable, Variety and Radio & Television …
Mark Savage / BBC:
UK parliament's DCMS committee calls for 50/50 music streaming royalties split between labels and artists, instead of the 16% artists receive now — The music industry is weighted against artists, with even successful pop stars seeing “pitiful returns” from streaming, a committee of MPs has said.
Discussion:
@petekmusician, @dreamsuitesfm, @bbc3cr, Music Business Worldwide, @jbonamassa, @bbcnewsents, @sliceobri, @derrymick, @jetfury, AppleInsider and The Cadence