Top News:
Joe Pompeo / Vanity Fair:
Profile of veteran Black journalist Kevin Merida who became the executive editor of LA Times in June and says he wants to “redefine what a modern newspaper is” — The new executive editor of the L.A. Times rode a stellar career to helm California's paper of record.
Discussion:
@kainazamaria, @adriana_lacy, @mlcalderone, @joepompeo and @hughhewitt
Rick Porter / The Hollywood Reporter:
ViacomCBS launches BET Studios, offering Black creatives an equity stake to produce content for outlets within and outside the media conglomerate — The three producers will be equity partners in the venture, which Aisha Summers Burke has been tapped to lead.
Discussion:
The Wrap, Variety, Deadline and Realscreen
Brian Welk / The Wrap:
National Association of Broadcasters cancels next month's convention in Las Vegas amid a COVID-19 surge and says it hopes to hold the next event in April 2022 — The National Association of Broadcasters, or NAB, has canceled its 2021 NAB Show that was scheduled for Las Vegas next month amid …
Discussion:
Variety, insideradio.com, Radio & Television …, nexttv.com, Light Reading, Deadline, Broadband TV News, Realscreen and Hollywood Reporter
Corrie Driebusch / Wall Street Journal:
SmartNews, a news aggregation app that shows users articles on the same topic with labels on their political bent, raises $230M at a ~$2B valuation — Tokyo-based news-discovery company is valued at $2 billion in its latest funding round — SmartNews Inc. has raised $230 million …
Discussion:
TechCrunch, Axios, SmartNews, Inc. and @anthony, more at Techmeme »
Emma Kelly / Metro.co.uk:
BBC confirms that ex-HuffPost UK EIC Jess Brammar has been appointed to a new role overseeing the BBC's domestic and international news channels — Jess Brammar has been hired by the BBC, following controversy about her potential role at the corporation. — BBC chairman Richard Sharp confirmed today …
Discussion:
BBC, Press Gazette, @robmanuel, @lisaocarroll, @jessbrammar, @nmsonline and Guido Fawkes
The Guardian:
Police investigating the 2019 killing of journalist Lyra McKee have arrested four men in the Derry area — Police Service of Northern Ireland says the men have been detained under the Terrorism Act — Detectives investigating the killing of the journalist Lyra McKee have arrested four men.
Discussion:
BBC, @matthewhughes, PinkNews, UPI, @poppymcp, RTÉ, @peteradamsmith, HoldtheFrontPage, Metro.co.uk, The Irish Times, Reuters, Sky News, @hagan_utv and @psnidcsdistrict
Brian Steinberg / Variety:
In a memo, Fox Corp. says around 90% of its employees are vaccinated and it will soon introduce daily COVID-19 testing for those who are not vaccinated — Fox Corp. intends to test unvaccinated employees daily for coronavirus infections, the company disclosed in a memo.
Discussion:
CNN, Insider, @ddiamond, Deadline, @oliverdarcy, @brucedawson0xb, @jeffrichgels, @mattsheffield, The Daily Beast, The Hill and Deadline
Kerry Flynn / CNN:
Clubhouse hires Nina Gregory, senior editor for NPR's Arts Desk, as its first head of news and media publishers — New York (CNN Business)Live audio app Clubhouse boomed during the early months of the pandemic as people craved social connections and entertainment while spending most of their time isolated and inside.
Discussion:
Variety, @christenlien, @justinebateman, @jowyang, @kerrymflynn, @kerrymflynn, @kerrymflynn and @kerrymflynn
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Quibi settles its legal battle with interactive video company Eko, as part of which Eko will get the IP for the Turnstyle mobile-video viewing feature — But it has lived on as holding company because of a legal battle with interactive-video firm Eko, which alleged Quibi stole trade secrets and infringed Eko patents.
Discussion:
Deadline
Katie Kilkenny / The Hollywood Reporter:
A slate of candidates for WGAE union leadership that supports more digital newsroom organizing won election Tuesday, after internal debate on the union's focus — After a campaign narrative centered on a perceived split over the role of digital journalists in the guild …
Sahil Patel / The Information:
Sources: Reddit is on track for more than $350M in ad revenue this year, at least double what it earned in 2020 — The “meme stock” rally that sent shares of companies like GameStop and AMC Entertainment soaring earlier this year was driven in large part by discussion on Reddit …
Discussion:
@cindygallop, @sizpatel and @jessicalessin
Elias Leight / Rolling Stone:
Sleep Fruits Music, which plays 30-second clips of rain sounds, has ~10M Spotify streams/day, diminishing the money available for artists recording actual songs — Onlookers in the music industry are not pleased — On an average day on Spotify, megastars like Olivia Rodrigo and Drake routinely rack up the biggest stream counts.
Discussion:
@crispinhunt, @benfrigeri_, musically.com, @amyxwang, @annemariebridy, @choi_clint, @jonbern, @imleor and @cheriehu42
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