Top News:
Wall Street Journal:
Scarlett Johansson sues Disney for breach of contract over concurrent release of Black Widow to Disney+ and theaters; source: release could cost Johansson $50M+ — Star alleges simultaneous release of the latest Marvel movie in theaters and on Disney+ service was a breach of contract
Discussion:
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Kelly McBride / NPR:
New NPR ethics policy ends a blanket ban on journalists participating in marches or rallies, but in practice requires them to discuss specific cases with bosses — NPR rolled out a substantial update to its ethics policy earlier this month, expressly stating that journalists may participate …
Discussion:
@kellymcb, @adamserwer, @hannahcov, Fox News, @mazmhussain, @imillhiser, @conor64, @anettenovak, @rebekahentralgo, @nelliebowles, @lesliemac, @benshapiro, @dylanmatt, @rubensteinadam, @wesleylowery, @aaronsibarium, @wesleylowery, @laneyruckstuhl, @institute_trust, @yair_rosenberg, @abgutman, @davidharsanyi, @neontaster, @mehdirhasan, @mayachhabra, @nausheenhusain, @jannwolfe, @hafsaquraishi_, @wesleylowery, @becketadams, @rebekahentralgo, @awstar11, @chsommers, @nprpubliceditor, @jonathanchait, @sopandeb, @jbenton, @kellymcb, @wesleylowery, @sree, @oliverashkleine and @jayrosen_nyu
The Wrap:
NBCU's Peacock has 54M total signups, up from 42M at the end of March, 20M monthly active users, and is planning a European expansion via Sky — Peacock has reached 54 million signups to-date, NBCUniversal's parent company Comcast revealed Thursday morning in its Q2 2021 earnings release.
Discussion:
Variety, Hollywood Reporter, MediaPost, @eriqgardner, The Streamable, @sharonwaxman and The Wrap, more at Techmeme »
RELATED:
Marc Tracy / New York Times:
The Bowie Blade-News, a 41-year-old weekly paper near Washington, DC, closed Thursday, 2 months after Alden Global Capital bought its parent, Tribune Publishing — Since Alden Global Capital bought the Tribune Publishing newspaper chain, newsrooms have shrunk and a Maryland weekly has shut down.
Discussion:
capitalgazette.com, @dangainor, @chesapeakeguild, @elaheizadi, @heidistevens13, @marcatracy and @penamerica
Max Willens / Digiday:
Substack buys Letter, a startup that allows people to send public notes to one another, to help Substack authors collaborate — Digiday has learned that the publishing platform has acquired Letter, a kind of public correspondence startup founded by Dayne and Clyde Rathbone.
Discussion:
Flashes & Flames, Substack, @abnormalreturns, @maxwillens, @hamishmckenzie and @maxwillens
The New York Times Company:
NYT names Paula Szuchman to its newly created role of director of audio, which spans news and Opinion, as the outlet's audio teams near 100 people — Paula, a compassionate manager and creative and exacting editor who makes every story she works on better, will become the director of Audio, a new role that spans news and Opinion.
Discussion:
@patrickhealynyt, @photo_alice and Talking Biz News
Michael King / The Streamable:
Dish and WarnerMedia end a two-and-a-half-year TV carriage dispute, bringing HBO and Cinemax back to Dish TV; Dish customers can also get a discount for HBO Max — It looks like at long last, HBO and Cinemax are coming back to Dish. — A tweet from the Dish Answers account …
Discussion:
Variety, The Wrap, nexttv.com, FierceVideo, Light Reading, Cord Cutters News, Hollywood Reporter and Media Play News
Dan Kennedy / wgbh.org:
By giving tax credits to support local news outlets, the Local Journalism Sustainability Act avoids direct federal aid that could hurt journalistic independence — Can government help solve the local news crisis? The notion sounds absurd, even dangerous.
Discussion:
@dankennedy_nu, @jmhaigh, @dankennedy_nu and @vwpickard
Jason Gurwin / The Streamable:
Hulu + Live TV is rolling out the NFL Network on its $64.99/month plan starting today; NFL RedZone is available as part of a new $9.99/month sports addition — Good news for football fans just before the start of the NFL Preseason. — Hulu Live TV will roll-out NFL Network to their channel line …
Discussion:
Awful Announcing, Hulu, nexttv.com, The Verge and Cord Cutters News
Jacob Borg / Times of Malta:
Public inquiry into the murder of Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia finds the state should be held responsible as it fostered a culture of impunity — This led to a situation where a need was felt to push back at the negative impact the journalist's writing had on the government …
Jill Goldsmith / Deadline:
Amazon reports Q2 “other” category revenue, which mostly covers its ad business, of $7.9B, up 83% YoY, and subscription services revenue of $7.9B, up 28% YoY — Amazon saw second quarter net sales of $113 billion, up 27% but below expectations, dinging the shares, which fell more than 5% in late trading.
Discussion:
Variety, Amazon.com and Hollywood Reporter, more at Techmeme »
Lauren Johnson / Insider:
Sources: Vizio to cut off 6+ companies to which it sold retargeting data, including The Trade Desk, as it plans to share data exclusively with Verizon Media — - TV seller Vizio is cutting off some adtech companies from ad targeting data as it tries to build a TV ad business.
Discussion:
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