Top News:
The Hollywood Reporter:
Sources: Disney held talks with betting operators about a partnership with ESPN, with BetMGM, Caesars, and DraftKings seen as frontrunners — Now that major leagues are getting on board with gambling, the family-friendly Hollywood giant is eyeing that revenue and may start with a splashy ESPN licensing deal.
Discussion:
@brianroemmele, @erik_hayden, @news_maker, @stearnsseattle and @mediaevan
Antoinette Siu / The Wrap:
Substack expands its health insurance program to all writers in the US making more than $5,000 in gross annualized revenue on the service — Substack on Tuesday expanded its health insurance program to all writers making $5,000 a year on its newsletter platform.
Discussion:
Substack and @caseymlewis
Paul Farhi / Washington Post:
As well-written obits of prominent figures attract large online readership, outlets are bolstering their stockpiles of pre-written obits, including 1,850 at NYT — When Rush Limbaugh died this year, the mainstream media he had so long railed against gave him the kind of immaculately choreographed send-off …
Discussion:
@davidmaraniss, @richardjustice and @amyargetsinger
Rebecca Davis / Variety:
In a five-year plan, China wants domestic films to make up 55% of box office, encourages film companies to invest abroad, plans for 100K movie screens, and more — Over the next five years, China plans to expand its fleet of movie screens to more than 100,000 and release …
Discussion:
Insider, @zeeshanaleem, @mattzeitlin, @comfortablysmug and Deadline
Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
Daily Mail editor Geordie Greig steps down; Ted Verity will become Mail Newspapers editor with responsibility for Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday, and You magazine — Daily Mail editor Geordie Greig is leaving his role this week, with the Mail on Sunday's Ted Verity stepping up to take charge of a new seven-day operation.
Discussion:
The Guardian, The Independent, @domponsford, @andrew_adonis, @brokenbottleboy, @jimwaterson, @pressgazette and @jimwaterson
Chrissy Towle / The Keyword:
Google selects 25 projects from local news outlets to receive a share of $3.2M+ in the North America Innovation Challenge to build ties to their communities — We can't write about our communities without understanding them and being part of them. We don't want to just parachute ourselves …
Giving Compass:
Institute for Nonprofit News Index finds 90%+ of ~400 nonprofit newsrooms tracked over the last 12 years are alive; ~70% have four or more sources of revenue — Earlier this year, residents in Southwest Memphis received some good news. An oil pipeline project they were fighting against was called off.
Discussion:
@michellemanafy
Michael D. Shear / New York Times:
US agrees to provide renewable yearlong visas to Chinese journalists, while China lets WSJ, WaPo, and NYT reporters return — The deal tones down a diplomatic confrontation that led Beijing to expel some American reporters during the last year of the Trump administration.
Discussion:
Poynter, Protocol, @sorlins, @cliffordlevy, @jerometaylor, @shigesaburoo, @suzannenossel, @suilee, @williamyang120, @zhaoyinfeng, @shearm, @johndelury, Today's Edition Newsletter, Kyodo News+, The Guardian, The Wrap, South China Morning Post, Bloomberg, Reuters, The Hill, Barrett Media, NPR and CHINAdaily
Steve Inskeep / @nprinskeep:
[Thread] Complaints that journalists should have published Trump info sooner rather than holding it for books is mistaken, as reporting with context takes time — A complaint about the Trump books—that writers held back information they could have reported sooner—is understandable but mistaken, I think. Our most pressing need is for context, careful reporting, understanding. It's not to file stories instantly on every incremental tidbit.
Discussion:
@scarylawyerguy, @owillis, @dangillmor, @norsemythnews, @ericboehlert, @digiphile, @nprinskeep, @nprinskeep, @digiphile, @nprinskeep, @nprinskeep, @nprinskeep, @nprinskeep and @brianstelter
Peter White / Deadline:
Bad Robot launches a podcast division, to be led by former Audible and Spotify exec Christina Choi, and strikes a multiyear first-look deal with Spotify — JJ Abrams' Bad Robot is moving into the audio space. — The production company is launching its own podcast division …
Discussion:
Tubefilter, Los Angeles Times, @baekdal, Engadget and Spotify
Patrick Hipes / Deadline:
National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences says the Children's & Family Emmy Awards will be a standalone show starting 2022 — After a couple of years of tweaks to how the children's Emmy categories were presented, the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences said Wednesday …
Discussion:
Variety, nexttv.com, The Wrap and Hollywood Reporter
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Spotify expands Podcast Subscriptions from the US to 33 new markets globally and now includes 20 price points for creators, from $0.50 to $150 — Just a few months after launching support for podcast subscriptions to U.S. creators, Spotify today is making the service available to creators in global markets.
Discussion:
Variety, XDA Developers and Waivly, more at Techmeme »