Mediagazer: Substack buys the team behind Cocoon, a subscription-based social network for friends and family, to work on “connections between readers and writers” (Kia Kokalitcheva/Axios)

1:10 PM ET, August 24, 2021

Top News:

Investigation into the last days of Reuters photojournalist Danish Siddiqui, who was killed in Afghanistan after being left behind in retreat — Danish Siddiqui was with soldiers on the front line of an Afghan Special Forces clash with the Taliban. New reporting, and his last photographs …

Discussion: The Hill, @stephengrey, @sreenivasanjain, @stephengrey, @aramroston, @someshjha7, @stephengrey, @jbmoorephoto, @stephengrey and @manaman_chhina

Variety:

AMC Networks CEO Josh Sapan is stepping down after 26 years and will be vice chairman; Matt Blank, former head of Showtime, will be interim CEO — Josh Sapan, a cable pioneer who has headed AMC Networks and its predecessors in the Dolan cable dynasty for more than 25 years, is seguing to the vice chairman role at AMC Networks.

Discussion: MediaPost, deadline.com, Ad Age, The Wrap, Realscreen, Wall Street Journal and @claireatki

Freddy Mayhew / Press Gazette:

Interview with Zillah Byng-Thorne, CEO of UK publisher Future, on acquiring The Week publisher Dennis for £300M, plans for an expansion in the US, and more — Magazine publisher Future has been on an acquisitions drive over the past five years that's earned it the label of industry …

Discussion: @pressgazette, @pressgazette, @pressgazette and @rafat

Oliver Darcy / CNN:

NY Post is requiring all employees to wear masks while away from their desks, after peddling anti-mask rhetoric and questioning mask mandates in editorials — New York (CNN Business)The New York Post, the Rupert Murdoch-owned tabloid that has peddled a high volume of anti-mask rhetoric during the pandemic …

Discussion: @michaeljstern1, @badfoxgraphics, @cnnbusiness, HuffPost, @oliverdarcy, @oliverdarcy, The Wrap and Raw Story

Oliver Darcy / CNN:
Right-wing media pushed ivermectin, a deworming drug used for livestock, as a potential COVID-19 treatment despite FDA warnings that it can be unsafe for humans

Discussion: Mediaite, @againcassandra, Raw Story, @bobosphere, Media Matters for America and KNSD-TV

Associated Press:

Hong Kong says it plans to amend a film censorship law to forbid screenings of movies deemed contrary to national security, including previously approved films — HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong authorities on Tuesday said they plan to amend a film censorship law to forbid screenings of movies deemed contrary to national security.

Discussion: Hollywood Reporter, Gizmodo, Reuters and Variety

Eric Deggans / NPR:

A look at the rise of “Consequence Culture” documentaries about celebrities like R. Kelly, which push audiences to consider old scandals with new sensibilities — As the trial of disgraced R&B superstar R. Kelly unfolds, it's tough to imagine reaching this moment without the 2019 Lifetime docuseries Surviving R. Kelly.

Discussion: @deggans

Ashley Carman / The Verge:

Spotify enables subscriptions for all US podcasters using Anchor for episodes on RSS and Spotify, adds pricing options, lets creators download subscriber emails — Plus new price tiers and email addresses — Spotify is broadening the number of people who can offer subscription podcasts and have their shows play on its service.

Discussion: Billboard, Word of Mouth, TechCrunch, Variety, Spotify and @ashleyrcarman, more at Techmeme »

Laura Hayes / Washington City Paper:

A look at DC's spot news reporters who chronicle crime via their social media feeds, including DC REALTIME NEWS and Killmoenews, and compete with local TV news — City Paper turns 40 this year. Will you help fund the next 40 years of local news? — Every dollar you give goes back into creating the journalism you trust.

Discussion: American Press Institute, DCist, @nikkiusher, @consciousgiver, @justupthepike, @barnhardt, @marycheh, @chuckthies, @laurahayesdc, @laurahayesdc, @amandabeadle, @laurahayesdc, @wcp and @laurahayesdc

Erin Woo / New York Times:

TikTok partners with Shopify to launch a pilot program letting merchants add a shopping tab to their profiles and link to products in their posts — TikTok and Shopify, the e-commerce platform, said on Tuesday that they were working together to add the ability for consumers to shop directly in the TikTok app for the first time.

Discussion: TechCrunch, Ad Age, TikTok and Shopify, more at Techmeme »

Kia Kokalitcheva / Axios:

Substack buys the team behind Cocoon, a subscription-based social network for friends and family, to work on “connections between readers and writers” — Newsletter startup Substack has scooped up the team behind Cocoon, a subscription-based social network for connecting with close friends and family.

Discussion: TechCrunch, @heikoscherer, Substack and @sachinmonga

Zeynep Tufekci / @zeynep:

[Thread] Zeynep Tufekci says her substack will soon turn into a free newsletter for a future book as she joins NYT as an opinion columnist — So the news is out. I'm going to be a regular columnist with the New York Times. I started blogging about a decade ago simply because I had things to say, and thought it would be good to have more academic voices in the public sphere. It's been a journey, for sure. https://twitter.com/...

Discussion: @cliffordlevy, The New York Times Company, @zoabehafeez, @ianbremmer, @craignewmark, @tomgara, @brittanygrogan, @mkhammer, @rinireg, @rogerpielkejr and @joshconstine

Ben Smith / New York Times:

How Russia's crackdown has changed outlets like Meduza, which has an audience of 10M+/month and lost 95% of advertisers after being marked a “foreign agent” — Meduza, a leading independent news site, fights back with jokes and a stunning donation campaign. But can it stand up to the Russian state?

Discussion: Columbia Journalism Review, The Independent, @latlands, @kevinrothrock, @freedomofpress, @antontroian, @nytimes, @cernovich, @joelcpj, @crayonscrayons, @rasmus_kleis and @benyt

Archived Page Info:

This is a snapshot of Mediagazer at 1:10 PM ET, August 24, 2021.

View the current page or another snapshot:

Who's Hiring in Media?

Deputy Ed. - Gen. Assignment Desk, DC — WaPo

EU Technology Reporter, Brussels — Bloomberg

Breaking News Reporter, NY — Guardian US

Harrisburg Reporter, PA — PCBC

Senior Editor - Styles, NY — NYT

Part-time Editor, Remote — Techmeme

Home & Travel Reporter, Ireland — Newsweek

Assistant Digital Editor, MA — Boston Globe

Senior Editor - Visuals (Temporary), DC — NPR

Copy Editor, Remote US — ProPublica

Markets Reporter, NY/CA — Sherwood Media

Staff Writer, MI — Watershed Voice

Food Reporter, CA — SF Standard

Staff Writer, NV — Las Vegas Weekly

Pharma Editor, Remote — Endpoints

Higher Ed. Reporter, Remote CA — EdSource

Politics Reporter, Brussels — Politico

Investigations & Enterprise Ed., WI — Cap Times

Social Strategy Editor, NY — WSJ

Senior Narrative Editor, CA — Cloud Chamber

Editor-in-Chief, NY (flexible) — The 74

Housing Reporter, OK — The Frontier

Writer/AI Content Reviewer, CA — Outlier

Writer/Editor, Remote — Mediaite

Multi Media Reporter, NC — Cardinal & Pine

Afternoon/Night Editor, NH — Keene Sentinel

Education Lab Editor, WA — Seattle Times

Senior Editor, Remote US — PCWorld

State Worker Reporter, CA — Sacramento Bee

Executive Editor, NM — Searchlight

News Assistant, NY — Quanta Magazine

Local Editor, NJ (Remote) — Patch

News Writer, CA — Hollywood Reporter

News Editor/Reporter, KS — Blade-Empire

Add your company here

See Also:

Mediagazer: site main

Mediagazer River: reverse chronological Mediagazer

Mediagazer Mobile: for phones

Mediagazer Leaderboard: Mediagazer's top sources

Subscribe:

Mediagazer RSS feed

Mediagazer on X

Mediagazer on Mastodon

More News:

Amaris Castillo / Poynter:
Interview with former AP reporter Tamara Lush on her decision to leave journalism and focus on writing fiction, which allowed her “to be a fuller human being”

Discussion: @poynter, @poynter, @poynter, @poynter, @janepeden, @kristenhare, @telkinsjr, @amariscastillo and @tamaralush

Nicole LaPorte / Fast Company:
Profile of Invisible Universe, which is developing animated franchises using characters born on social media with the help of influencers like Serena Williams

Discussion: @serenawilliams, @manuseuge, @chrisbrogan, @zoescaman, @ruima, @randgetlin, @spencerrascoff, @prettyboyshav, @brennanjp, @besvinick, @rrhoover, @michaelsidgmore, @alexisohanian and @psythor, more at Techmeme »

Dominick Mastrangelo / The Hill:
Jill Biden's press secretary calls on Fox News to apologize for a host's comments that the first lady failed the country by letting Joe Biden run for president

Discussion: Twitchy, Poynter, @thedemcoalition, @scottfeinberg, @brianstelter and deadline.com

Gene Maddaus / Variety:
California Film Commission awards a record $138.8M in film tax credits, up from $109M awarded in 2016, with Netflix alone getting $43.3M

Discussion: The Wrap

Benjamin Mullin / Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Vox Media is weighing several options to finance its expansion, including a SPAC merger or an IPO; Vox says it is buying drinks website Punch

Discussion: Axios, @benmullin, @bowtiedrobin, @srussolillo, @karanewman, @sarafischer, @jeremymbarr, @stevekovach, Tubefilter, Eater, MediaPost and Adweek

Earlier Picks:

Brian Steinberg / Variety:
NBCUniversal says it is “assembling a full suite of interoperable measurement solutions”, as Nielsen's national TV ratings come under intense scrutiny

Discussion: @bristei, nexttv.com, @bristei, AdExchanger, Ad Age, The Drum, MediaPost, The Wrap and Realscreen

Katherine Huggins / Mediaite:
CNN, Fox News, WSJ, NYT, WaPo, and others have successfully evacuated journalists from Afghanistan, including freelancers and interpreters

Discussion: Talking Biz News, @justinbaragona, @owillis, @zpleat, @susancrabtree, @betsylfisher, Daily Mail, The Jackal, Poynter, Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, @yarotrof, @katie_robertson, @tawnell, @dionnissenbaum and @jmalsin

Kim Lyons / The Verge:
YouTube says its Partner Program has 2M creators and the number of new channels joining the program in 2020 doubled YoY as channels making $100K+ grew 35% YoY

Discussion: YouTube Official Blog, @susanwojcicki, Digital TV Europe, musically.com, MediaPost, Axios, Variety and Adweek

Jim Friedlich / The Philadelphia Inquirer:
How the bipartisan Local Journalism Sustainability Act in US Congress would publicly fund local media orgs while letting them keep their editorial independence

From Techmeme:

Alex Heath / The Verge:
Meta details Llama 3: 8B- and 70B-parameter models, a focus on reducing false refusals, and an upcoming model trained on 15T+ tokens that has 400B+ parameters

David Pierce / The Verge:
Google announces a new Platforms and Devices team overseeing Pixel, Android, Chrome, Photos, and more, to integrate AI across its products, led by Rick Osterloh

Bill Toulas / BleepingComputer:
Europol and 19 countries make 37 arrests and disrupt phishing-as-a-service platform LabHost in a year-long operation with help from Microsoft, Intel, and others

Sister Sites:

Techmeme
Top news and commentary for technology's leaders, from all around the web

memeorandum
What US political commentators are discussing online right now

WeSmirch
The top celebrity news from all around the web on a single page