Top News:
Joshua Benton / Nieman Lab:
A few people called Genius the future of journalism, but its vision of simply adding boxes for comment on others' work was emblematic of its founders' arrogance — Genius (née Rap Genius) wanted to “annotate the world” and give your content a giant comment section you can't control.
Discussion:
@offtherecordnyc, @offtherecordnyc, @ckrewson, A Scammer Darkly, @ldnflds, @james_dasilva, @offtherecordnyc, @king_kaufman, @sizpatel, @niemanlab and @tomgara
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Sarah McBride / Bloomberg:
Music-annotating startup Genius sells its assets to MediaLab for $80M; MediaLab says it will cut some jobs in original content production teams — The sale price is less than the total funding raised. — Music-annotating startup Genius Media Group Inc., a site that drew attention in part …
Steven Perlberg / Insider:
Axios names Sara Kehaulani Goo as EIC, as it readies niche paid newsletters product Axios Pro; source: Axios is on track to make ~$85M in revenue this year — - Axios named Sara Kehaulani Goo and Aja Whitaker-Moore editor-in-chief and executive editor, respectively.
Discussion:
@russcontreras, @ajawmoore, @sarakgoo and @perlberg
Casey Newton / Platformer:
One year in, Casey Newton has doubled his Substack subscribers to ~50K, of which <10% convert to paid; Discord and Twitter are effective for attracting readers — A year ago, I quit the best job I ever had to start Platformer. Today I wanted to tell you all how it's going, what I've learned …
Discussion:
@mathewi, @kinseygrant, @seekingn0rth, @kantrowitz, @broderick, @siobhannyc, @mohamed, @caseynewton, @estherkeziat, @sarahscire, @elanazak, @adrianhon, @choire, @cwarzel, @ericnewcomer, @brandyzadrozny, @daveambrose and @sarahscire
Chris Dolmetsch / Bloomberg:
Jay-Z's Roc-A-Fella sues to stop co-founder Dash from selling the copyright to Jay-Z's debut album as an NFT, saying he has no legal right to do so — - Rapper battles co-founder Dash over NFT rights to debut album — Lawsuits proliferate as non-fungible token market takes off
Discussion:
@business and @aaronwall, more at Techmeme »
Financial Times:
China is cracking down on pessimistic financial blogs and social media accounts, as well as fraudulent ones; analysts worry independent voices will be silenced — China has launched a crackdown on financial blogs and social media, a move that risks exacerbating the difficulty …
Discussion:
@martinsfp, @gordongchang, @chinabeigebook, @chigrl, @carnage4life, @fritz844, @marcomnyc, @jkynge, @wexler, @chinabeigebook and @sonaliranade, more at Techmeme »
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Todd Spangler / Variety:
WarnerMedia is offering a 50% discount for six months on the HBO Max ad-free monthly plan until September 26 as HBO subscriptions via Amazon shut down Wednesday — WarnerMedia is trying to help offset the loss of about 5 million HBO subscribers who had signed up through Amazon in the U.S. with an aggressive discount offer on HBO Max.
Discussion:
TechCrunch, nexttv.com, Insider, The Wrap, The Streamable, GameSpot, Deadline, Engadget, Cord Cutters News, The Verge, FierceVideo, @xpangler, @pkafka and @richlightshed
Politico:
DHS: American extremists used TikTok in the lead-up to the Jan. 6 riots to recruit new members and share “tactical guidance” for terrorist and criminal activity — Extremists foreign and domestic have used the video platform, DHS says. The app says it has “absolutely no place” for violence and hate.
Samuel Petrequin / Associated Press:
European Commission issues recommendations to EU states to better protect journalists, including greater cooperation between media and cybersecurity bodies — BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union's executive arm asked its member countries Thursday to better protect journalists amid a rise …
Discussion:
The Guardian
Catie Keck / The Verge:
A judge has ordered the permanent shutdown of Locast, a nonprofit that streamed broadcast channels for free while frequently prompting viewers for donations — Things looked bad for Locast before, and they just got even worse. A judge this week permanently prohibited streamer Locast …
Discussion:
MediaPost, Cord Cutters News and The Streamable
BBC:
Two men have been charged in the 2019 murder of journalist Lyra McKee and are expected to appear in court on Friday — Two men have been charged with the murder of journalist Lyra McKee. — Ms McKee, 29, was shot dead while observing rioting in Londonderry's Creggan estate in April 2019.
Discussion:
@stevennott, Metro.co.uk and City A.M.
Reuters:
French court upholds a ruling by markets watchdog AMF against Bloomberg for publishing a hoax press release, but lowers fine from €5M to €3M — A French appeal court on Thursday upheld a ruling by France's markets watchdog AMF against U.S. news agency Bloomberg for publishing a hoax press release …
Mark Scott / Politico:
A look at EU Reporter, which portrays itself as an independent media organization while regularly failing to add disclosures to paid-for content — Brussels news outlet EU Reporter's blend of corporate press releases, original news and paid-for content makes it impossible for readers to determine who's behind the coverage.