Top News:
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, Mediaite, The Hill, The Wrap, @noahshachtman, @oneunderscore__, @brandyzadrozny, @shaneharris, @emmacarew, @benjysarlin, @samstein, @samstein, @djrothkopf and @mlcalderone
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:
Insider, The Streamable, Reuters, New York Post, Hollywood Reporter, The Wrap, The Information, Collider, Financial Times, MediaPost, @doomassistme, @davidwildgoose, @chrismlacy, @thomastkalinske, @faris, @imranzomg, @benjisales, @stephentotilo, @paultassi, @ballmatthew, @chrismlacy, @lucas_shaw, @s_m_i, @tomwarren, @gavinpurcell, IGN, PC Gamer, Protocol, 9to5Mac, ScreenRant, AppleInsider, CNBC, Front Office Sports and The Verge, more at Techmeme »
Associated Press:
Renowned Dutch crime reporter Peter R De Vries, who was shot last week in Amsterdam, has died — THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Peter R. de Vries, the renowned Dutch crime reporter shot last week in a brazen attack in Amsterdam, has died, Dutch media reported Thursday citing a statement from his family.
Discussion:
The Hill, Associated Press, Committee to Protect …, Forbes, The Sun, The Independent and @mayajrodriguez
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 …
New York Times:
VC interest in companies that provide digital tools for creators is up; The Information estimates VCs have invested $2B in 50 creator-focused startups this year — The online influencer culture is starting to draw serious interest from big venture capital firms.
Discussion:
Insider, @vincechag, @taylorlorenz and Terms of Service w …
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 and TVNewser
Erik Wemple / Washington Post:
NYT has posted its second recent editor's note about a conflict of interest: Karen Crouse wrote a story about Michael Phelps, with whom she is writing a book — In the run-up to the Tokyo Olympics, New York Times sports reporter Karen Crouse last month wrote a story on the enduring influence …
Discussion:
New York Times, @erikwemple, @andrewmarchand, @erikwemple, Awful Announcing and bookforum.com
Meduza.io:
Russian authorities have banned the investigative outlet Proekt as an “undesirable organization” and labeled its journalists, among others, as foreign agents — The Russian authorities have banned the investigative outlet Proekt as an “undesirable organization” and blacklisted its journalists as “foreign agents.”
Discussion:
The Moscow Times
Manish Singh / TechCrunch:
India-based Inshorts, an aggregator app that summarizes news articles in 60 words, raises $60M, sources say at a $550M valuation — Indian startup Inshorts, which operates an eponymous news aggregator service, has raised $60 million in a new financing round as its two-year-old bet …
Dade Hayes / Deadline:
NBCU says it closed a record-setting upfront with $500M for Peacock; sources say ad commitments were over $7B and Peacock CPMs are 50% higher than Hulu's — NBCUniversal has closed a record-setting upfront, improving over 2019 levels with an overall advertising haul described by insiders as comfortably north of $7 billion.
Discussion:
Ad Age and nexttv.com
Taylor Lorenz / New York Times:
Mark Zuckerberg says Facebook will pay $1B to creators by the end of 2022; creators can earn money using Instagram or Facebook tools or by hitting milestones — Facebook is setting up a program to pay $1 billion to creators through the end of 2022, Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook's chief executive …
Discussion:
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Alex Weprin / Hollywood Reporter:
In an internal memo, ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro addresses the controversy involving Maria Taylor and Rachel Nichols, calling it a “complicated personnel” matter — Jimmy Pitaro also addressed a controversy involving reporters Maria Taylor and Rachel Nichols and noted that he's planning …
Discussion:
New York Post, Front Office Sports, Awful Announcing, @seungminkim, @alexweprin, Fox News and Variety