Mediagazer: News Corp outlets published 45 articles in 2 days blasting Australia's ABC after the public broadcaster aired a critical program on Fox News and Trump coverage (Amanda Meade/The Guardian)

8:25 PM ET, August 26, 2021

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CNBC:

Axel Springer agrees to acquire Politico, the remaining 50% share in Politico Europe, and Protocol; sources say the deal is worth around $1B — - German publisher Axel Springer plans to acquire digital media site Politico. — The deal is worth about $1 billion, according to a person familiar with the situation.

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Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Apple launches News Partner Program, which lowers commissions on in-app purchases to 15% for news publishers who participate in Apple News — Apple today is launching a new program that will allow subscription news organizations that participate in the Apple News app and meet certain requirements …

Discussion: The Verge, Apple, MacRumors, 9to5Mac, CNBC and AppleInsider, more at Techmeme »

Lindsey Ellefson / The Wrap:

Vice has another round of layoffs, and sources say the cuts affect Vice Digital and Refinery29 employees in North America, with fewer than 20 let go — Vice Media saw another round of layoffs Thursday, just weeks after declaring a pivot to video content. According to one source with knowledge …

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Forbes:

Forbes is going public via SPAC at a valuation of $630M; the transaction is expected to close in late 2021 or early 2022 — ● Combination will enable Forbes to further capitalize on its successful digital transformation, pursue additional growth opportunities and fully recognize …

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Amanda Meade / The Guardian:

News Corp outlets published 45 articles in 2 days blasting Australia's ABC after the public broadcaster aired a critical program on Fox News and Trump coverage — Fox sent letter threatening possible legal action to Australian broadcaster before two-part program on the relationship with former US president aired

Discussion: Sydney Morning Herald, @peterbale, @tamepunk, @mrkrudd, ABC, @kimmasters, @chriscarmody4 and Barrett Media

Eric Levitz / New York Magazine:

Media figures have privileged the victims of American withdrawal from Afghanistan over those of American intervention even in straight news coverage — America's withdrawal from Afghanistan has yet to cost our nation a single casualty. Evacuations of U.S. citizens and allies from Kabul's airport …

Discussion: CBS News, @herr_naphta, Raw Story, @lawrence, @danpfeiffer, @edglavin, @lizzieblove, @equoamicus, @joyannreid, @dangillmor, @binajv, @attackerman, @fawfulfan, PRESS RUN, The AfterParty, New York Post, CNBC, The Week and NBC New York

Esha Sarai / Voice of America:
US lawmakers sent a letter to Biden on Wednesday urging help for about 550 USAGM employees and their relatives who are still trying to leave Afghanistan

Discussion: Chills, @w7voa, @benyt and GovExec.com

Will Oremus / Washington Post:

Researchers say YouTube, which attracts less scrutiny than Facebook or Twitter, is a hard platform to study because video is so difficult to analyze in bulk — While Facebook and Twitter take the brunt of backlashes over misinformation and ‘censorship,’ the Google-owned video giant has often laid low.

Discussion: YouTube Official Blog, Reclaim The Net, @marklittlenews, Bloomberg, @evelyndouek, @willoremus, @tomgara, @annaedge4, @noupside and @brianstelter, more at Techmeme »

Ian Burrell / inews.co.uk:

UK newspaper groups are adding local news sites and reaching places historically served by their rivals in order to attract national advertising — ANALYSISThe era of the local news monopoly is over, with publishers setting up digital operations to challenge their rivals

Discussion: @iburrell, @markdesthompson and @davidhiggerson

Matthew Gault / VICE:

Reddit CEO responds after calls from users to purge the site of COVID-19 disinformation, saying “dissent is a part of Reddit and the foundation of democracy” — The CEO of Reddit has responded to calls from users to purge the site of disinformation, saying “dissent is a part of Reddit and the foundation of democracy.”

Discussion: Reclaim The Net, Ars Technica, @motherboard and Insider, more at Techmeme »

Danny Nelson / CoinDesk:

DJ 3LAU launches Royal, which lets users trade shares of song royalty rights as crypto tokens, with $16M in seed funding led by Founders Fund and Paradigm — Paradigm and Founders Fund each invested $7 million, the crypto-savvy DJ told CoinDesk, with Paradigm's Fred Ehrsam joining the board.

Discussion: Billboard, Cointelegraph, Forbes, @shaughnessy119, TechCrunch and @benkesslermusic, more at Techmeme »

Joan E. Solsman / CNET:

Netflix is testing games in its Android app in Poland, starting with two existing Stranger Things games — Playing on Netflix's mobile app is new, but the games themselves — two pixelated Stranger Things games — have already been available off Netflix for years.

Discussion: Variety, Polygon, TechCrunch, Cord Cutters News, Protocol, Ars Technica, The Verge, The Streamable, MacRumors, 9to5Google, Decider and Hollywood Reporter, more at Techmeme »

Matthew Keys / The Desk:

WarnerMedia is ending distribution of CNN International on UK's Virgin Media, BT, and Freesat; viewers will have to pay £2/month for streaming service CNN Live — A global variant of AT&T WarnerMedia's news channel CNN will no longer be available on British cable television systems starting next month.

Discussion: Broadband TV News and Advanced Television