Top News:
Andrew Marchand / New York Post:
Sources: MLB and Barstool Sports are in talks about a deal to create a new type of broadcast of national midweek games with a focus on in-game gambling — Major League Baseball and Barstool Sports have had significant negotiations about having national midweek games on the site's platforms, The Post has learned.
Discussion:
Mediaite, Awful Announcing, The Comeback, @andybcampbell, @normcharlatan, @cwilliamson44, @jtfoz, @barstoolwsd, @michaelgr1011, @craigcalcaterra, @jonbernhardt, @prof_gabriele, @femme_thoughts, @amandasmithsays, @markjburns88, @karate_bad, @andrewmarchand, @lizhebert, @valleyshook, @jay_jaffe, @icehockeystick, @natalieweiner, @lgontv, @themaxburns and Sports Illustrated
Lizzie Widdicombe / Vogue:
Profile of Jen Psaki, who some White House reporters credit with “lower[ing] the temperature” even as her briefings are not “exceptionally informative” — It's a summer Friday. President Biden is at his Delaware beach house, where he delivered a brief speech about that morning's encouraging jobs numbers.
Discussion:
Breitbart, @lanceulanoff, @sabrinasingh46, @jacoblongstl, @brianstelter, @emilylgoodin, @noahshachtman and @kmunoz46
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Roku adds 23 more Quibi shows to The Roku Channel and says Nielsen estimates it ranked as the No. 6 streaming channel by household reach in the US in June — On Aug. 13, the company will premiere 23 new Roku Originals (each of them from Quibi's library) exclusively on the Roku Channel to stream for free with ads.
Discussion:
Ad Age, Adweek, @xpangler, Awful Announcing, Gizmodo, The Streamable, @gerryfsmith, @claireatki, The Wrap, Light Reading, deadline.com and CNBC
George Gene Gustines / New York Times:
A number of popular comic book creators, including DC Comics' James Tynion IV and Marvel's Nick Spencer, join Substack — A group of creators will publish new comic book stories, essays and how-to guides on the platform as a way to connect directly with fans.
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Sony's Funimation group closes its $1.2B acquisition of Crunchyroll from AT&T, which was announced in December 2020 and had been pending regulatory approval — The telco, looking for every opportunity to pay down its debt, sold Crunchyroll for $1.175 billion in cash paid at closing …
Discussion:
The Verge and Hollywood Reporter
Azi Paybarah / New York Times:
How Gov. Cuomo's hometown paper The Albany Times Union's anti-off-the-record stance put it on a collision course with the notoriously press-controlling governor — The Times Union's strait-laced, minimal-schmooze, no off-the-record principles put it on a collision course with the notoriously press-controlling governor of New York.
Discussion:
Washington Post, @susannecraig, @jdawsey1, Fox News, @adamnagourney, Mediaite, @nicdawes, Forbes, CNN, @whodatgirl_2bd, @cezary, @loritodd, @eisingerj, @stephaniemlee, @harrysiegel, @sulliview, @alexburnsnyt, Poynter, @rmc031, Boston.com, @biancajoanie, The Hill, New York Post and Talking Points Memo
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Instagram says it is testing ads in its Shop tab, starting with select US-based advertisers — Instagram is further investing in its e-commerce business, Instagram Shops, with the launch of a new advertising product, Ads in Instagram Shop. The company says it's currently testing the new format …
Discussion:
The Guardian, Ad Age, @eric_seufert and The Verge, more at Techmeme »
Samuel Danzon-Chambaud / Columbia Journalism Review:
How nine news outlets used automation for reporting on the pandemic, from continuously updated charts to automated stories sent to Slack for journalists' review — For all the news organizations that have adopted automated journalism over the last decade or so, the COVID-19 pandemic …
Discussion:
datajournalism.com, American Press Institute, @gijn, @danzonchambaud and What's New in Publishing
Scaachi Koul / BuzzFeed News:
Profile of Trisha Paytas, one of the internet's most prolific trolls with over 5M subscribers on YouTube, who claims to have an income of $800,000 per month — For nearly 15 years, Trisha Paytas has been one of YouTube's most prolific and complicated creators. Now they say they're done trolling — or are they?
Discussion:
@taylorlorenz, @anoushasakoui, @scaachi, @buzzfeednews, @taylorlorenz, @believekarolina, @isaacfitzgerald, @kattenbarge, @kelsaywhat, @mathewi, @scaachi, @scaachi, @fraying, @taylorlorenz and @wsteaks
Joshua Benton / Nieman Lab:
As trackers, webcams, and other internet-of-things devices become cheaper and more user-friendly, they could become standard tools in journalists' toolkits — Want to find out what the city is doing with homeless people's belongings when it “clears” an encampment? An answer's now just $29 away.
Discussion:
@mikeelgan, @niemanfdn, @niemanlab, @jbenton and MediaPost
Scott Deveau / Bloomberg:
Activist investor Dan Loeb says his optimism of Disney+ has borne out, calls for Disney theatrical content to stream on Disney+ for no extra fee on release day — Activist investor Dan Loeb is calling on the Walt Disney Co. to do more to leverage its leadership position in sports …
Discussion:
The Streamable, @brasstackscap, ValueWalk and @business
Sam Thielman / The Guardian:
Sources: comic writers whose work features prominently in Marvel films receive just a check for $5,000 or very rarely a “special character contract” — As the comics giants make billions from their storylines and characters, writers and artists are speaking out about their struggles for fair payment
Discussion:
Gizmodo, @seanhowe, @ronhogan, @forcefriendspod, @saychieeef, @charlespulliam, @samthielman, @ek_johnston, @cheryllynneaton and @gerryconway
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