Top News:
Brian Steinberg / Variety:
Vox Media is buying Hot Pod to make it The Verge's first paid subscription product; Ashley Carman will replace Nick Quah, who launched the podcasting newsletter — Vox Media is acquiring Hot Pod, the independent news outlet focused on the podcasting industry, as part of a bid to expand offerings from its technology site, The Verge.
Tom Ley / Defector:
One year in, Defector has 40K+ paying subscribers, 23 full-time employees, and about $3.2M in revenue, roughly 95% of which comes from subscribers — This week marks one year since the lights here at Defector flickered on and we began publishing blogs. The question that you were probably asking during …
Discussion:
Nieman Lab, @labuzamovies, @albertburneko, @pkafka, @lisatozzi, @yourmandevine, @davidcrespo, @timmarchman, @mattufford, @alexlaughs, @tristandross, The Wrap, @choire, @rickpaulas, @senari, @film_girl, @toley88, @mattdpearce, @ryanlcooper, @scott_tobias, @bluechoochoo, @markstenberg3, @realbengilbert, @choire, @justinnxt and @emmacargo
Amanda Meade / The Guardian:
At a Senate hearing, Sky News Australia CEO says it “self-censored” 18 videos about COVID-19 to avoid a permanent YouTube ban, denies broadcasting Covid misinfo — CEO Paul Whittaker also tells media diversity inquiry Sky News Australia does not deny climate change, and accepts it is happening
Discussion:
New York Times, Sydney Morning Herald, @mrkrudd, @wendy_harmer, @lesstonehouse, Media Matters for America, @mikecarlton01, @markdistef, @murpharoo, @davidfolkenflik, @natecochrane, @mrkrudd, Vanity Fair, @dana1981, @mikecarlton01, @summersanne, Insider, @stephenjonesmp, @turnbullmalcolm, @ketanj0, @michaelemann, @edmundlee, @pt, @danawollman, @rmac18, @rasmus_kleis, @jayrosen_nyu, @nytmedia, @damiencave, @jftaveira1993, @zerowastechef, @leohickman, @jayrosen_nyu, SBS News, Brisbane Times, Sky News Australia and Mumbrella
Derek Thompson / @dkthomp:
[Thread] Media's most important public health failure isn't the false Rolling Stone ivermectin overdose story but the vax denial led by Fox News and others — The ivermectin story is being framed as the apocalypse of institutional media, but it's more like a glaring reminder of a few oldish truths 1) Journalism was always a mix of great, good, mediocre, and shitty work. The Internet makes it easier to find and highlight ... all of it. https://twitter.com/...
Discussion:
@dkthomp, @karlbode, @karlbode, @mattkleinhans, @nishfaria, @dkthomp, @karlbode, @rschooley, @rschooley, Reason, @dkthomp, @cwarzel, @karlbode, @timkarr, @dkthomp, Astral Codex Ten, Resident Contrarian, Jen the Libertarian and The Guardian
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Drew Holden / @drewholden360:
[Thread] Rolling Stone's story claiming ivermectin overdoses clogged Oklahoma hospitals was poorly sourced and wrong, but Insider, Maddow, and more picked it up
Discussion:
@ddale8, CNN, @stevedeaceshow, @jholmsted, @msignorile, @redsteeze, @ggreenwald, @cwarzel, @umairh, Gawker, @ddale8, @ddale8, @ddale8, @ddale8, @kayleighmcenany, @mediaite, @claytravis, Mediaite, National Review, @charlesarthur, @saifedean, @chrismasterjohn, @davidvdegraw, @marybethpf, @dylanmatt, @vprasadmdmph, @primalpoly, @jjcouey, @vprasadmdmph, @timrunshismouth, @evacide, @ggreenwald and @jimmy_dore
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Hulu is raising the prices of its two on-demand plans by $1/month on October 8; Hulu with ads will now cost $6.99/month and Hulu without ads will cost $12.99 — On Tuesday, Hulu began notifying subscribers that as of Oct. 8, the price of Hulu's two on-demand plans — with ads and without commercials …
ProPublica:
WhatsApp data helped prosecutors build a case against whistleblower May Edwards that cited hundreds of “encrypted” messages between her and a BuzzFeed reporter — When Mark Zuckerberg unveiled a new “privacy-focused vision” for Facebook in March 2019, he cited the company's global messaging service, WhatsApp, as a model.
Discussion:
@janelytv, ScreenRant, The Register, @davidfolkenflik, @danielschuman, @rmac18, New York Post, @tomgara, @knowtheory, Gizmodo, @brendannyhan, @evacide, @propublica, 9to5Mac and Insider, more at Techmeme »
Lorenzo Reyes / USA Today:
Gannett launches USA Today Sports+, a digital subscription product with reporting, interactive features, and sports betting content, in seven markets — Gannett Co., the parent company of USA TODAY, announced the launch of USA TODAY Sports+, a new, premium digital subscription product …
Discussion:
Awful Announcing, @gannett, @elgazzarblvd, @golfweek, @chrismsutcliffe, @injuryexpert, @osaliciad, @usatodaysports, Editor and Publisher, @raysototech, The Wrap and The Hill
New York Times:
Comscore data shows North American theaters sold about $2.2B in tickets so far in 2021, compared with $7.8B for the same period in 2019 — With box office numbers way down in the pandemic and streaming numbers hard to come by, the film industry is often unable to determine whether a movie is a hit or a miss.
Discussion:
@nytimesbusiness, The A.V. Club, @michellemanafy, @johannadc, @hamrahrama, @ennisnyt and @goldman
Jim Waterson / The Guardian:
Fran Unsworth, BBC veteran and director of news since 2018, will leave amid worsening relations with the government and internal fights over a staff reorg — Exit likely to set off competitive and politicised recruitment process to find replacement at corporation
Discussion:
Variety, The Guardian, @jimwaterson, @dafydd_62, @shivanidave, The Independent, BBC, Press Gazette, @ian_fraser, @sophiasgaler, BBC, Guido Fawkes, @stewartcadman, @cden128, @dannyshawnews, @nick_miles_, @jimwaterson and City A.M.
Elizabeth Byrne / ABC:
Australia's High Court affirms earlier rulings that media companies can be held responsible for Facebook comments posted under stories on their Facebook Pages — The High Court has dismissed an appeal by some of Australia's biggest media outlets including The Sydney Morning Herald and The Australian …
Sara Fischer / Axios:
IAC's Dotdash is launching its first standalone online store, tied to its site Liquor.com, as a pilot project; Dotdash makes ~1/3 of its revenue from commerce — Dotdash, the digital media company owned by IAC, is launching its first-ever standalone store pegged to its site Liquor.com, which it acquired in 2019.
Discussion:
@simonowens and @akidnamedjimmy
Kate Kaye / Digiday:
Salon turns off comments after finding less than 0.5% of its ~10M MAUs used them, and says its newsletter open rate rose from 16% to 32% over the last 6 months — It was especially notable when one post this week on Salon, the site named after the practice of gathering for intellectual discussion, had no comments.
Discussion:
@katekayereports, @kimekom and Salon
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