Top News:


NBC News says it will add over 200 jobs to strengthen its streaming services and websites, including doubling its digital staff for Today — NBCU News Group is adding hundreds of jobs to its digital organization, led by a major investment in streaming as well as in its “TODAY” show brand, executives tell Axios.


Vox Media has sold 50 projects, including films and TV series, in the last 15 months to TV networks and to streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon, and Apple — “Land of the Giants” is a podcast series from Vox Media's Recode covering the history of tech companies including Amazon and Netflix.


A look at the emerging trend of local investors, especially in smaller US towns, buying news outlets from large chains to reverse decades of disinvestment — As chain consolidation brings new uncertainty to an already fluid news landscape, another trend is emerging in which local investors buy news outlets …
Discussion:
Poynter, American Press Institute, @robcurley, @lenny_mendonca, The Rural Blog, @localnewsini, @timafranklin, @timafranklin and @jayrosen_nyu


Barstool Sports becomes the sponsor and exclusive broadcast partner of the Arizona Bowl, set for Dec. 31; the game had aired on CBS for several years — Barstool Sports is expanding into college football bowl games as both the exclusive title sponsor and broadcast partner of the Arizona Bowl.
Discussion:
The Streamable, Awful Announcing, @alexweprin, @3x5, @barstoolbigcat, @mattclarerivals, @sportico, Barstool Sports, @petethamel, @_emcaron, @slmandel and @jasonschwartz


Snopes says it has raised over $1.7M from ~44K supporters to fund its legal battle against Proper Media, which has filed four lawsuits against it since 2017 — Snopes, one of the oldest fact-checking websites in the country, has raised over $1.7 million from over 44,400 supporters to help …
Discussion:
@tanyamcastaneda, @vinnysgreen and @filip_struharik


UK's Reach says it will employ more journalists than at any point in the last decade by the end of 2021 and commits an extra ~$27M to tech and data projects — Reach now employs more journalists than it did in 2019, despite hundreds of jobs lost in a restructuring programme last year.

US media coverage of the failed January 6 committee shows how political analysis and reporting is still largely trapped in “both sides” framings — In late May, over the Memorial Day weekend, the top story on NBC's Meet the Press was a recent vote by Republican senators to kill …
Discussion:
Vanity Fair, Mediaite, USA Today, The Wrap, Sputnik News, The Nation, The Hill, @mickimaynard, PRESS RUN, @jon_allsop, @jon_allsop, @theplumlinegs, @cjr, ABC7 and New York Times


Facebook's restricting interest-based and web activity ad targeting for users under 18 on its platforms, only allowing segmentation by age, gender, and location — (Reuters) - Facebook Inc will stop allowing advertisers to target people under 18 on its platforms based on their interests …


Media unions, including at the Daily Beast, are leading the charge against NDAs by adding provisions in contracts that ban them as a matter of workplace safety — Workers in the industry argue that nondisclosure agreements are a matter of workplace safety, making them “mandatory subjects of bargaining.”
Discussion:
@rkgwork, @jamieson, @thenation, @josheidelson, @thenation, @wgaeast, @benjamindictor, @lainnafader, @indigoolivier, @indigoolivier, @thenation, @lainnafader, @kbriquelet and bookforum.com


Daniel Hale, a defense contractor who leaked documents on drone warfare to Intercept's Jeremy Scahill, gets 45 months in prison for violating the Espionage Act — In 2013, Daniel Hale was at a peace conference in D.C. when a man recounted how two family members had been killed in a U.S. drone strike.
Discussion:
@aclu, Sputnik News, @snowden, @rachelweinerwp, @nickatnews, @wifeoftoast, @mvhaydencenter, @bubbaprog, @snowden, @robertgreenwald and @freedomofpress


Facebook partners with Meedan, a non-profit tech company, to give training on vaccine and health misinformation to its 80+ fact-checking partners — Facebook is partnering with a global tech non-profit called Meedan to give its 80+ fact-checking partner organizations access to training …
Discussion:
Reclaim The Net and Valent Newsletter


Survey of 20,699 Americans: those who rely on Facebook for COVID-related news are less likely to get vaccinated than average and less likely than Fox viewers — Biden said social media companies are ‘killing people’ by spreading vaccine misinformation — The White House has been sharply critical …