Mediagazer: Reese Witherspoon's Hello Sunshine has been sold to a company led by ex-Disney execs and backed by PE giant Blackstone, sources say at a ~$900M valuation (Wall Street Journal)

5:35 PM ET, August 2, 2021

Top News:

Reese Witherspoon's Hello Sunshine has been sold to a company led by ex-Disney execs and backed by PE giant Blackstone, sources say at a ~$900M valuation — Firm led by former Disney executives Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs plans to acquire other content companies

Olivia Solon / NBC News:

Female journalists and activists share how they were targeted and harassed by authoritarian regimes through hack-and-leak attacks using the Pegasus spyware — Ghada Oueiss, a Lebanese broadcast journalist at Al-Jazeera, was eating dinner at home with her husband last June when she received …

Discussion: @oliviasolon, Beyond Search, @drewharwell, @oliviasolon, @iyad_elbaghdadi, @evacide, @kimzetter, @evan_greer and @oliviasolon, more at Techmeme »

Kim Willsher / The Guardian:

French intelligence agency confirms Pegasus spyware was found on the phones of three journalists, at TV station France 24 and investigative outlet Mediapart — Announcement is first time an independent and official authority has corroborated Pegasus project findings

Discussion: @kevincollier, @adam_k_levin and @drewharwell, more at Techmeme »

New York Times:

While social media companies attract attention for vaccine misinformation, researchers say local media has been a powerful conduit for anti-vaccine messaging — Facebook and other social media have been under scrutiny for vaccine misinformation, but local outlets have also sometimes been active.

Discussion: @staceynycdc, @drsherrypagoto, Free Press, Common Dreams, @jkelly3rd, @picardonhealth, @jeremarketer, @stphnfwlr, @brettkelman, @jkelly3rd, @daniel_kraft, @brianstelter and @trishathadani

Taylor Lorenz / New York Times:
The White House and some states are teaming up with influencers on TikTok and Instagram to encourage vaccine uptake in young people and counter misinformation

Discussion: Chicago Sun-Times, Breitbart, @berthahidalgo, @taylorlorenz, @nickcho, @brandonrichards and @taylorlorenz

Robert Silverman / The Daily Beast:

A deep dive into Tim Pool's career, from livestreaming Occupy to jobs at Vice before spotlighting extremists and white nationalists on YouTube and his website — OFF THE DEEP END … A former darling of Occupy Wall Street, Tim Pool has racked up more than a billion views and millions …

Discussion: @bobsaietta, @jaredlholt, @jaredlholt, Today in Tabs, @silvermanjacob, @blackamazon, @jasonintrator, @thedailybeast, @nandoodles, @anthonylfisher, @thetomzone, @mobute, @beccalew, @lukeobrien and @mlcalderone, Thanks:@ants000

Nicole Sperling / New York Times:

Profile of Alex Kurtzman, who has a $160M, five-and-a-half-year deal to develop the Star Trek franchise at Paramount+, a key project to boost the small service — “He's our future,” one CBS Studios executive said of Alex Kurtzman, who has a lucrative contract to expand the “Star Trek” …

Discussion: ScreenRant, @viacomcbs, Variety, @variety, @startrek and The Wrap

Todd Spangler / Variety:

News Corp says it will pay $1.15B in cash to buy the Oil Price Information Service (OPIS) from S&P Global and IHS Markit — News Corp, the news and media conglomerate headed by Rupert Murdoch, will pay $1.15 billion in cash for the Oil Price Information Service (OPIS) …

Discussion: Business Wire, MediaPost, @rafat and @sarafischer

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Twitter partners with Reuters and the AP, who will provide context and highlight links from trusted sources for Trends, Moments, Search, and more — Twitter announced today it's partnering with news organizations The Associated Press (AP) and Reuters to expand its efforts focused …

Discussion: Twitter, Editor and Publisher and Reuters News Agency

Jon Porter / The Verge:

YouTube trials Premium Lite subscription for €6.99/month, offering ad-free viewing across all major platforms, currently available in Europe — Currently being piloted in parts of Europe — Google is piloting a more affordable premium subscription tier for YouTube …

Discussion: ResetEra, MediaPost, Tubefilter, UPI, XDA Developers, @tomwarren, MacRumors, @danishkh4n, Cord Cutters News, The Streamable and 9to5Google, more at Techmeme »

Amanda Meade / The Guardian:

YouTube issues strike, suspends Sky News Australia for a week over its videos denying COVID-19 existence, promoting the use of hydroxychloroquine or ivermectin — Digital giant issues strike after channel posted videos denying the existence of disease and encouraging people to use discredited medication

Nieman Lab:

Interviews with 200 news professionals in the US and EU shed light on crime reporting, as US newsrooms embrace empathy toward wrongdoers like some EU newsrooms — When suspects' names appear in crime stories, their lives may be broken and never put back together.

Discussion: @jimmacmillan, @jeffcanoy and @kimbui

Maya Wolfe-Robinson / The Guardian:

Report: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok failed to act on 84% of posts spreading anti-Semitism reported via their own complaint systems — Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube and TikTok failing to act on most reported anti-Jewish posts, says study

Discussion: Common Dreams, @blackamazon, @madisonkittay, The Times of Israel, @ccdhate, @gerrarrdus, @ld_birdywatcher, @rlux and @dethveggie

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More News:

Alex Weprin / Hollywood Reporter:
AT&T officially completes its DirecTV spinoff, of which it still owns 70%; DirecTV will focus on satellite TV and streaming, which it will brand DirecTV Stream

Discussion: The Streamable, Los Angeles Times, ResetEra, Deadline and Business Wire

Dave Jamieson / HuffPost:
Sources: Washingtonian Media CEO has called staffers, held meetings, and otherwise pressured employees to vote no on the upcoming NLRB election

Discussion: @kalinanewman and @jayshams

Business Wire:
Filing: BuzzFeed Q1 revenue grew 14% YoY; ad revenue grew by $7.3M, up 23% YoY; commerce and other revenue grew $6.3M, up 78% YoY; content revenue fell 20% YoY

Discussion: @reckless

Garett Sloane / Ad Age:
Brands and media buyers say they prefer Roku and The Trade Desk to YouTube's CTV ecosystem, which lacks tools to manage ad frequency and traditional metrics

Discussion: @adage

K.J. Yossman / Variety:
Discovery's deal to buy European rights for 2018-2024 Olympics, worth $1.5B, has led to severely limited free-to-air coverage in the UK, Italy, and elsewhere

Discussion: The Guardian

Sam Shead / CNBC:
Blackstone and Hudson Pacific, which own Hollywood's Sunset Studios, are planning a £700M movie studio in Hertfordshire, England, to tempt Netflix and Amazon

Discussion: Bloomberg, Ad Age, Hollywood Reporter, The Guardian, Deadline, BBC, The Times and Reuters

Earlier Picks:

Stitch / The Verge:
Some K-pop stars are bypassing Twitter and Facebook to create platforms for fans, like Universe, which features AI-generated voice calls with the idols

Discussion: Social18 and @stitchmediamix

Cath Clarke / The Guardian:
A new documentary follows three journalists from Khabar Lahariya, India's only all-women news outlet, as they report on rural issues through a feminist lens

Discussion: American Press Institute, @shantanub, @niemanlab, @raju, @sameerhashmi and @chriselliott57

Delia Cai / Vanity Fair:
Profile of Blackbird Spyplane newsletter, created in 2020 by 2 pop culture writers, which has landed interviews with celebrities including Lorde and André 3000

Discussion: @donetodeath, @vanityfair, @chaykak, @delia_cai and @blkbrd_spyplane

Brent Lang / Variety:
Profile of Netflix's head of movies Scott Stuber, who has grown original film output from 21 in 2016 to 70+ in 2021, as it makes deals with Spielberg and others

Discussion: @dfriend, @yassammez, @adequateemily, @ljwr_, @cavillclarke, @richardlnewby, @erikdavis, @getfandom, @variety, @robertliefeld and @raminsetoodeh, more at Techmeme »

Jim Milliot / Publishers Weekly:
US Department of Labor survey shows reading among people 15 years old and up increased by 21% in the May-December period in 2020 over the same period in 2019

Discussion: @kishizuka and @mattgrossmann

From Techmeme:

Sherry Qin / Wall Street Journal:
ByteDance says it has no plans to sell TikTok, responding to a report suggesting that the Chinese company is considering selling a majority stake in TikTok US

Andrew J. Hawkins / The Verge:
The NHTSA finds that Tesla's driver-assist features insufficiently keep drivers engaged in the task of driving, and links them to 100+ crashes and 10+ deaths

Emanuel Maiberg / 404 Media:
Apple removes three AI image generation apps from the App Store after a 404 Media probe found the apps advertised being able to create nonconsensual nude images

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