Top News:
Mike Isaac / New York Times:
Reddit raises $410M+ led by Fidelity Investments at a $10B+ valuation, up from $6B six months ago when it raised $250M; the new round could reach $700M — Reddit, the virtual town square of the consumer internet, has raised a fresh $410 million in funding, valuing it at more than $10 billion, the company said on Thursday.
Discussion:
Upvoted, Variety, The Verge, The Wrap, TechCrunch, Insider, @bowknowsbiz, Bloomberg and @sarafischer, more at Techmeme »
Sara Fischer / Axios:
The New York Times is launching seven subscriber-only opinion newsletters and making 11 other existing newsletters exclusive to subscribers beginning August 16 — The New York Times is rolling out a slew of new, subscriber-only newsletters from news and opinion writers.
Discussion:
Nieman Lab, The Hill, New York Times, @ylichterman, @elanazak, @elanazak, @jakesherman, @elanazak, @venkatananth, @nbj914, Bloomberg, @lucas_shaw, @nbj914 and @jakesherman
Joshua Benton / Nieman Lab:
Q&A with Center for Public Integrity's new CEO Paul Cheung and EIC Matt DeRienzo on CPI's plans for a membership program, diversified revenue strategy, and more — “I'm not worried about the journalism. But if you don't have the business and technical infrastructure to support the journalism, then it's just not going to thrive."
Discussion:
@niemanlab, @sarahscire and @aaronmehta
CNBC:
Snap creators say they are leaving Snapchat's Spotlight feature as payments have dried up after June 1, with some moving to YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok — - Creators say they're leaving Snapchat's Spotlight feature after payments on the service had dried up.
Discussion:
@stevekovach, @taylorlorenz and The Drum, more at Techmeme »
Drew Harwell / Washington Post:
Right-wing video platform Rumble is paying some media personalities, including Glenn Greenwald, to post videos to its site with a two-hour exclusivity window — The video site has exploded during the pandemic as a home for anti-vaccine misinformation and conservative complaints about Big Tech censorship
Discussion:
@eoinhiggins_, @tonyromm and @drewharwell
Rachel Abrams / New York Times:
Profile of former National Enquirer editor Dylan Howard, who runs Grazia USA, bought OK Magazine's website and Radar Online, and has signed a podcasting deal — Dylan Howard, known for the “catch and kill” deals during the #MeToo reckoning, teams up with an Italian publisher for a paper aimed at the Hamptons crowd.
Discussion:
@mediaevan and @rachelabramsny
Vanessa Gera / Associated Press:
Poland's parliament passes a bill that could force Discovery, owner of Poland's TVN network, to sell its holdings, in a move viewed as a blow to media freedom — WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland's parliament has voted in favor of a bill that would force Discovery Inc., the U.S. owner …
Max Willens / Digiday:
Medium says its Partner Program has 200,000+ enrollees as it launches a referral program that will give participants a ~50% cut of new subscriber revenue — As the creator services arms race intensifies across digital media, Medium is hoping to stand out by sharing more of its spoils with a smaller …
Discussion:
@maxwillens, @realbengilbert, @ahmetasabanci, @rebeccatee, @mattnavarra, @caleweissman, @mclendaniel, 3 min read and TechCrunch
Alex Sherman / CNBC:
Verizon is providing one year of AMC+ for free to certain new and existing subscribers through February 10; it already offers Disney+ and Discovery+ — - Verizon is offering free AMC+ for 12 months to new and existing customers who buy a new 5G phone with a payment plan or sign up for Fios home internet.
Manish Singh / TechCrunch:
VerSe Innovation, parent of news aggregator Dailyhunt and short video app Josh, raises $450M+ Series I, five months after raising $200M — VerSe Innovation, the parent firm of popular news aggregator Dailyhunt and short video app Josh, said on Thursday it has raised over $450 million …
Discussion:
The Economic Times, The Tech Portal, Tech in Asia, Business Insider and musically.com, more at Techmeme »
Natasha Ishak / Nieman Lab:
A look at the Twitter account Writers of Color, started by a group of journalists to politely shame publications about pay transparency — As a freelancer and journalist of color, I use many sources to find jobs, but the Writers of Color account on Twitter has become one of my favorite go-tos.
Discussion:
@writersofcolor, @writersofcolor, @writersofcolor, @laurahazardowen, bookforum.com and What's New in Publishing
James Hercher / AdExchanger:
Eyeo, creator of Adblock Plus, debuts Trestle, a demand-side platform that lets ad agencies target Eyeo users who consent to see ads, plus “lookalike audiences” — But Trestle makes it easy to plug directly into existing campaign infrastructure, Padhye said.
Discussion:
@astaniscia86 and @bmorrissey