Top News:
Benjamin Mullin / Wall Street Journal:
Internal memo: CNN is closing its US offices to all nonessential employees as COVID-19 cases rise at the network and nationwide — President Jeff Zucker cited a surge of cases at the network in a memo on the decision — CNN is closing its offices to nonessential employees …
Ben Bowman / The Streamable:
YouTube TV reaches a deal with Disney to bring back 17+ channels including ABC, Disney, ESPN, Freeform, FX, and National Geographic — After one day of being dark, YouTube TV and Disney have reached a deal which will see more than 17 Disney-owned channels, including local ABC affiliates, Disney Channel, and ESPN return to the service.
Discussion:
CNET, Awful Announcing, Variety, nexttv.com, Sports Illustrated, The Wrap, UPI, Deadline, @film_girl, The Verge, @reckless, 9to5Google, @thestreamable, @pkafka, @epro, Cord Cutters News, Sportico and Hollywood Reporter, more at Techmeme »
Randall Lane / Forbes:
Forbes says two of its editors testified about two old stories in front of a New York grand jury investigating Trump, after fighting subpoenas for months — Almost three months ago, I was subpoenaed by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. to appear before the grand jury investigating Donald Trump.
Discussion:
@spj_tweets, Mediaite, @chasewithorn, @dianesbaker1, @randalllane, @randalllane, The Hill, Axios and Talking Biz News
Jeremy Barr / Washington Post:
NYT fires a Wirecutter editor for “repeatedly invoking the NYT's name in an unprofessional way” in messages she allegedly sent to a gun rights advocacy group — Erin Marquis, a staffer for the popular product-review site, had also lashed out at a gun-rights organization on Twitter.
Discussion:
@jeffjarvis, @jeremymbarr, New York Post, The Hill, Mediaite and Talking Biz News
Danny Leigh / Financial Times:
Universal Pictures chair Donna Langley on releasing Trolls World Tour online at the start of the pandemic, shrinking theatrical release windows, and more — Donna Langley only looks ahead. She moves at pace through the packed dining room of La Petite Maison, a French Mediterranean restaurant in a Mayfair side street.
Discussion:
@patrickvons, @raju and @markghuneim
Andy Maxwell / TorrentFreak:
Malaysia passes a bill to imprison illegal streaming pirates, primarily those involved in the provision or facilitation of illegal streams, for up to 20 years — Laws that forbid the illegal uploading and downloading of copyrighted content are common around the world but the rise of streaming has sometimes exposed gaps in legislation.
Discussion:
Malaysiakini, Lowyat.NET and thesundaily.my, more at Techmeme »
Pew Research Center:
Analysis of news tweets from 500 US adults shows a focus on entertainment, politics, and sports; only 2% of news tweets had a hashtag, down from 34% in 2015 — Most Americans who use Twitter get news on the platform, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey.
Discussion:
The Starting Block, @jenmercieca, @killedbygoogle, @pewresearch, @pewresearch, @asmitch, @pewjournalism, @pewjournalism, @spj_tweets, @pewjournalism and @jamcnn
Rasmus Kleis Nielsen / Nieman Lab:
The news industry has neglected R&D and staff development for decades; Malaysiakini and South Africa's The Daily Maverick show how to do long-term investments — “The furniture industry seems able to invest in its future. Maybe we can, too?” — The news industry is a technology …
Gavin Bridge / Variety:
A record 1,923 original series were released across TV and streaming services in 2021, beating the previous high of 1,628 in 2019 — - 2021 saw a record number of original series across TV & streaming — Subscription streaming is now the platform with the largest number of original shows
Discussion:
@sportstvratings, @variety and The Streamable
Jonathan Burgos / Forbes:
BandLab, a Singapore-based music creation platform letting artists collaborate and engage with fans, raises a $53M Series B at a $303M post-money valuation — BandLab—a Singapore-based digital platform for music creators—said it raised $53 million from a funding round that will help …
Wall Street Journal:
Documents and sources: WaPo execs weigh how to attract young readers and expand features content as the outlet faces a slump in readership and subscriber growth — News outlet's audience is down sharply, amid sector-wide declines; subscription growth has stagnated as readers look beyond politics
Discussion:
@benmullin, @benfritz, @timothynoah1, @sewellchan, @froomkin, @janjekielek, @jayrosen_nyu, @alexbruell, @noahchestnut, @noahchestnut, @noahchestnut, @noahchestnut, @noahchestnut, @noahchestnut, @claremalone, @karaswisher, Nieman Lab, Breitbart, @drewsav, @pressgazette, @joshsternberg, @dellavolpe, @jbenton, @budkennedy, @stephengutowski, @chuckrossdc, @alexthomp, @walldo, @millie, @justupthepike, @ylichterman, @genepark, @daviduberti, @bmorrissey, @asharma and Poynter
The Citizen Lab:
The phone of an exiled Egyptian TV news host was compromised in June using Cytrox's Predator spyware via a single-click link in a WhatsApp message — Key Findings — Two Egyptians—exiled politician Ayman Nour and the host of a popular news program (who wishes to remain anonymous) …
Discussion:
@nouraaljizawi, @ryp__, @dr_ulrichsen, @laughing_mantis, @sarahleah1, @ngleicher, @evacide, Cyber Defence News …, TechCrunch, NPR, ScreenRant, Bloomberg, The Guardian and The Daily Beast