Mediagazer: The Aspen Times suffered a staff exodus after its new owner, Ogden, quashed coverage of a defamation lawsuit by billionaire Vladislav Doronin against the outlet (Angela Fu/Poynter)

5:50 PM ET, July 4, 2022

Top News:

Manori Ravindran / Variety:

To cut costs, HBO will cease producing HBO Max originals in the Nordics, Central Europe, the Netherlands, and Turkey and will also remove some HBO Max content — As the media conglomerate looks to recalibrate its streaming priorities, it will no longer produce originals in the Nordics …

Discussion: The Wrap, Deadline, Engadget, @nickandmore, Hollywood Reporter, @richlightshed, @kaludiasays and @ballmatthew

Colby Hall / Mediaite:

NPR ends its 33-year tradition of reading the US Declaration of Independence on July 4, instead discussing the meaning of the phrase “all men are created equal” — Morning Edition host Steve Inskeep typically celebrates July 4th with an annual reading of the Declaration of Independence to his loyal listeners on NPR.

Discussion: The Wrap, New York Post, Fox News, @nprinskeep, @leilafadel, @grahambrewer, @nprinskeep, @sarahmccammon, @nprinskeep, @allisonlcarter, @smotus and NPR

Angela Fu / Poynter:

The Aspen Times suffered a staff exodus after its new owner, Ogden, quashed coverage of a defamation lawsuit by billionaire Vladislav Doronin against the outlet — Ogden's decision not to cover a billionaire's lawsuit against The Aspen Times has sent the paper — and the town — spiraling

Discussion: @jayrosen_nyu, @irenegentle, @spj_tweets, @jeffjarvis, @poynter and @xshularx

Elizabeth Aubrey / NME:

David Crosby, Stephen Stills, and Graham Nash's music returns to Spotify, after it was removed in February in solidarity with Neil Young's Joe Rogan protest — Of the news, David Crosby said: “I don't own it now and the people who do are in business to make money”

Discussion: Complete Music Update and Variety

Alex Weprin / Hollywood Reporter:

As NESN and Sinclair-owned Bally Sports launch streaming offerings, regional sports networks envision a hybrid DTC and pay-TV model for the foreseeable future — NESN and Sinclair-owned Bally Sports are the first out of the gate, but as the pay TV bundle declines, RSNs are looking …

Discussion: @mtfiii, @erik_hayden and @jeremymevansesq

Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:

Analysis: since the UK's 2019 general election, GB News has paid £48,266 total to MPs for TV presenting gigs, behind LBC, which paid £60,725, mostly to one MP — Sitting MPs have received almost £50,000 from presenting gigs on GB News since its launch a year ago …

Discussion: @paullewismoney and @fascinatorfun

Sarah Scire / Nieman Lab:

A Q&A with Votebeat EIC Chad Lorenz and co-founder and CSO Alison Go on changing from a pop-up to a permanent newsroom, measuring impact, elections, and more — “How do you produce journalism that strengthens elections? That's the question that runs through my mind every day."

Discussion: @niemanfdn, @spj_tweets, @niemanlab, @niemanlab, @hughdellios and @sewellchan

Alexandra Topping / The Guardian:

In a reversal, the BBC says it received six complaints against DJ Tim Westwood, including one referred to the police; Westwood is accused of sexual misconduct — Corporation reviewing six complaints, raising questions over what it said in public about presenter accused of sexual misconduct

Discussion: BBC, @bolabankz, @jimwaterson, @sophiasgaler, @janinegibson, Deadline, @bbcbreaking, @mwolferobinson, @david_challen, @janinegibson, @aljwhite, Bloomberg, @jimwaterson, @jane__bradley and Variety

Press Gazette:

DMGT relaunches Mail+, giving users access to exclusive Daily Mail print content, podcasts, and more for £10.99 per month — The publisher of the Mail brands has relaunched its paid digital edition service Mail+ after editor Ted Verity took the reins of a more unified operation.

Discussion: @timgatt, @hayley_barlow, @eduardosuarez and @pressgazette

Electronic Frontier Foundation:

The JCPA, a US bill that would let news sites negotiate as a bloc with Google and Facebook, poorly addresses the digital ad market's domination by huge players — In response to the very real pressures that online news outlets are facing, Congress continues to believe the very flawed Journalism Competition …

Discussion: @eff

Matthew Leimkuehler / The Tennessean:

The Copyright Royalty Board upholds a nearly 44% bump in streaming royalties for songwriters after Spotify, Amazon, Google, and Pandora appealed the ruling — Songwriters earned a stalled victory Friday in their ongoing battle for higher streaming royalty pay.

Discussion: @davidisraelite, @dada_drummer, @eljuri, @thatericalper, @jpfishman, @grammyadvocacy, @davidisraelite, @legrandnetwork, @davidisraelite, Bloomberg Law, American Songwriter, MusicRow.com, Pitchfork, Variety, Music Business Worldwide and Billboard

Voice of America:

Turkey's media regulator blocks access to VOA and Deutsche Welle's Turkish-language online content after the outlets declined to apply for licenses as requested — The heads of Voice of America and Germany's Deutsche Welle on Friday criticized actions by Turkey's media regulator to block access to their content.

Brian Steinberg / Variety:

NBCUniversal plans to shut down its Olympic Channel, launched in July 2017 devoted largely to content associated with US Olympic athletes, on September 30, 2022 — A second NBCUniversal sports cable outlet is getting ready to finish its game. — NBCUniversal has notified cable …

Discussion: @tvgrimreaper, MediaPost and The Wrap

Rick Porter / The Hollywood Reporter:

Nielsen: Stranger Things had 7.2B viewing minutes for May 30-June 5, the highest weekly total for any streaming title since rankings began almost two years ago — The Netflix series surpasses 7 billion minutes of viewing time in the United States for the week of May 30-June 5.