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Sources: Ozy Media co-founder Samir Rao impersonated a YouTube exec on a Goldman Sachs call ahead of a $40M deal; Rao is back at Ozy after time off — The digital media company has raised eyebrows for its claims about its audience size for years. Then came the strange voice on the phone.
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New York Post, @tonyromm, @owillis, @nickconfessore, @edmundlee, @seanspicer, @caseyjohnston, @jodyavirgan, @bydanielvictor, @moorehn, @danprimack, @digitalshields, @katie_robertson, @melissajourno, @hshaban, @dgisserious, @hayesbrown, @bubbaprog, @bendwalsh, @rafat, @davidmackau, @annehelen, @sonnybunch, @timodc, @rmac18, @oliviasolon, @craigsilverman, @foxcahn, @cliffordlevy, @nickbilton, @lwoodhouse, @sonnybunch, @dandrezner, @maxseddon, @vincemancini, @caseynewton, @joshuatopolsky, @justinsink, @jimwaterson, The Wrap and @kevinmdraper


YouTube says it will cut YouTube TV's fee by $10/month and drop NBCUniversal channels if it can't reach a deal with NBCU by September 30 — Another carriage fight has burst into public view: NBCUniversal on Sunday said it was notifying customers with YouTube TV that more than 14 of its networks …


A look at NYT's trust-and-innovation project, one of several newsroom initiatives unfolding amid speculation over who will succeed Executive Editor Dean Baquet — On a mission for 10 million paying customers, the paper has formed a new team to help ensure confidence in its journalism …
Discussion:
@daphnehk, @will_bunch, @jayrosen_nyu, @will_bunch, @benedictevans, @mattortega, @matthewstoller, @regularron, @moorehn, @_richardhall, @mlcalderone, @jayrosen_nyu, @malika_imani, @joelockhart, @shannonfreshour, @geechee4kamala, @mekkaokereke, @will_bunch, @wagatwe, @soledadobrien, @anoushasakoui, @wokbonds, @nameshiv, @blackamazon, @maxapotter, @ericboehlert, @joepompeo, @yottapoint, @biblioracle, @jeffjarvis and @biblioracle


Spotify begins a campaign to win more advertisers, rebranding its ad business as Spotify Advertising, focusing on SMBs, and expanding its podcast marketplace — The audiostreaming company wants to appeal to new advertisers and publishers in a new campaign titled “All Ears on You”
Discussion:
@sjgoldstein


Axios Local says it is planning to expand into 11 new markets by Q3 2022, for a total of 23, and its 14 newsletters have about 400K subscribers — Axios is popping up local news-focused newsletters across the country, with ambitious plans to be in 23 markets in 2022.
Discussion:
@michelemclellan, @raju and Media Nation


The Mississippi Free Press, a nonprofit committed to solutions-based journalism that launched in March 2020, had little choice but to focus on the pandemic — On the Mississippi Free Press' birthday, publisher Kimberly Griffin headlined her summary of what the new nonprofit news organization …
Discussion:
@scchak, @haimerlad, @keaux_, @msfreepress, @ashtonpittman, @msfreepress, @niemanlab and PREVAIL


Behind Vox Media's acquisition of the Hot Pod newsletter, which it plans to keep at its $7/month subscription price, and how it intends to grow its audience — There is no doubt the media industry can be pretty cutthroat. Publishers are always looking for new ways to generate revenue …
Discussion:
What's New in Publishing, @niemanlab, @dcnorg and The Muffin por Mauricio …


GoodRx debuts GoodRx Health, a site with a 50-person editorial team aiming to give better answers to the most googled health questions than sites like WebMD — Cheap prescription-drugs platform GoodRx is getting into the content business. The company is debuting GoodRx Health …
Discussion:
@glenngabe, @harrymccracken, @fastcotech, GoodRx, TMCnet, Across America, US Patch, Becker's Hospital Review, MobiHealthNews and CNBC


The social media industry needs its own version of journalism's firewall to shield safety, moderation, and enforcement decisions from execs focused on growth — Government regulation will never fix everything wrong with online discourse. The industry needs to develop professional norms—just as journalism once did.
Discussion:
@juurdeijsvoogel, @evelyndouek, @michellemanafy, @jason_kint and @froomkin


News Corp. has documented its carbon emissions cuts and climate-change risk mitigation since 2006, even as many of its outlets deny the phenomenon — Murdoch's News Corp has spent the past 15 years mitigating its own climate risk while giving media outlets like Fox News carte blanche to deny climate change altogether.
Discussion:
@vicenews, @craigthomler, @damiencave, @davidfolkenflik, @sandiegosra, @vicenews, @brooklynmarie and @vicenews

[Thread] Jere Hester, founding EIC of The City in NYC, is leaving to return to CUNY's journalism school; the site is searching for a replacement — So, we have news: https://www.thecity.nyc/...
Discussion:
THE CITY, @akashvmehta, @benyt, @rachelholliday, @sssmaldo, @craignewmark, @katie_honan, @brigidbergin, @jmartineznyc, @fractenberg, @nicdawes, @nicdawes and @petersterne

Q&A with Gizmodo reporter Shoshana Wodinksy, on covering online advertising and data privacy issues and why adtech is dense and dull on purpose — This is the longest Q&A I've ever done here on Galaxy Brain. There's quite a bit, here. But I think it's worth the read. Let me explain why.
Discussion:
@shaneoleary1, The Starting Block, @gquaggiotto, @laurenancona, @russbengtson, @scottnover, @mmasnick, @mediated1, @iethics, @pdbeth, @zittrain, @kimekom, @caitlin_mcgarry, @nandoodles, @catthekin, @glynmoody, @davidclinchnews, @myles_younger, @daphnehk, @cwarzel and What's New in Publishing