Top News:
Joe Otterson / Variety:
WWE CEO and Chairman Vince McMahon says he is retiring, amid allegations that he paid four women $12M+ to keep quiet about his alleged affairs and misconduct — Vince McMahon is retiring from WWE. — “As I approach 77 years old, I feel it's time for me to retire as Chairman and CEO of WWE …
Discussion:
@vincemcmahon, @brandolightshed, CNET, SlashFilm, @realmickfoley, ScreenRant, RADAR, Mediaite, @bakingjason, @dontonyd, Next TV, @alasdairstuart, IndieWire, @bluemeaniebwo, @bellatwins, @the_ironsheik, @yashar, @moorehn, @variety, @themattcardona, Rolling Stone, @wwe_mandyrose, @sherman4949, @realpaigewwe and Fightful
Annie Palmer / CNBC:
Twitter reports Q2 revenue down 1% YoY to $1.18B, vs. 1.32B est., a $270M net loss, down from $66M in net income a year ago, and 237.8M mDAUs, up 16.6% YoY — - Twitter reported earnings for the second quarter on Friday that missed analyst estimates on earnings, revenue and user growth.
Discussion:
The Wrap, Wall Street Journal, Al Jazeera, Dana Blankenhorn, @lanceulanoff, Fortune, @tunguz, @twitterir, Stock Quest, Billboard, Forbes, Quartz, CNET, Axios and The Hollywood Reporter, more at Techmeme »
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Jacob Kastrenakes / The Verge:
Twitter says Q2 ad revenue grew 2% YoY to $1.08B and blames its revenue slide on uncertainty around Elon Musk's “pending acquisition” and ad industry problems — Musk is creating ‘uncertainty’ for advertisers — Twitter would have earned more money over the past few months if Elon Musk hadn't been in the picture.
Discussion:
Variety, iPhone in Canada Blog, @jeffjarvis, New York Post, Adweek, MediaPost, Fortune, TechCrunch and Deadline, more at Techmeme »
Sonia Rao / Washington Post:
Nielsen: ~17.7M people watched Thursday's second prime-time hearing of the January 6 investigation across 10 networks; MSNBC led with an average of 4.7M viewers — Listen — Gift Article — Nearly 17.7 million television viewers tuned in Thursday to the second prime-time hearing …
Parker Molloy / The Present Age:
The New Yorker's Isaac Chotiner provides the blueprint for covering claims of “cancel culture” by inserting in-line fact checks in his Q&A with Alan Dershowitz — If such coverage must exist, it's time to go beyond the single-source story newspapers seem to have adopted …
Discussion:
@ichotiner, New Yorker, @schwarz, @jamessurowiecki, @sevaut, @blackamazon, @stevenacook, @brosandprose, @nelson, @misfittorah, @margoandhow, @ronhogan, The Atlantic, @parkermolloy and bookforum.com
Erin Taylor / Observer:
MEL Magazine lays off all its staff again; MEL closed in March 2021 after Dollar Shave Club pulled support, and Recurrent Ventures relaunched it in August 2021 — Mel Magazine lays off its entire staff, bringing into question the future of the publication yet again. — MEL Magazine is folding, again.
Antony Sguazzin / Bloomberg:
Kremlin-backed TV network RT is developing an “English-language Africa hub in South Africa”, which will be headed by Paula Slier, who ran its Jerusalem bureau — RT, the Kremlin-backed TV network formerly called Russia Today, is setting up its first Africa bureau …
Discussion:
@bloombergafrica and @xsovietnews
Esther Kezia Thorpe / Digital Content Next:
Acast co-founders Måns Ulvestam and Karl Rosander are working on an à la carte model to buy podcast episodes and eventually articles, priced above micropayments — Most media monetization models are reliant on two sources: advertising or consumers paying.
Discussion:
@dcnorg, Thanks:@estherkeziat
Bron Maher / Press Gazette:
NewsGuard downgrades MSNBC from green, or trustworthy, to red in its credibility rankings for news outlets, along with its earlier downgrade of Fox News — Update, 22/7/22: Newsguard has now revised down the scores for both Fox News and rival liberal network MSNBC.
Discussion:
@nandoodles, @sarafischer, @pressgazette, @pressgazette, @brettfolkins, @pressgazette, @tysonbrody, @pressgazette, @patrickcotnoir, @pressgazette, Mediaite, Columbia Journalism Review, @grahambrookie, @mrddmia, @mrddmia, @stopfundinghate, @mrddmia, @checkmyadshq, @jljacobson, @moonalice, @pressgazette, @pressgazette, @emilybell and @pressgazette
Aaron Couch / The Hollywood Reporter:
A look at Marvel's Special Character Agreement that creators of its comic book characters sign, giving the company broad discretion to dramatically cut payments — Writers and artists who create characters that power the Marvel Cinematic Universe say the company offers a labyrinthine compensation system that underpays them.
Discussion:
@michellemanafy, @_zeets, Não Sei Desenhar, @jameshunt, @b1gg3r_m00n, @simonowens, @pocculture, @evilgalprods, @aaroncouch, @neilhimself and @borys_kit
Theo Schear / Nieman Lab:
Channel 5 News, a “part parody and part camouflage” brand with 1.94M YouTube subscribers, offers news for the disengaged by sharing people's reactions to events — “People who don't watch the news watch me. People who watch the news don't watch me."
Discussion:
@risj_oxford and @simonowens
Gabriela Selser / Associated Press:
La Prensa, a major Nicaraguan newspaper, says employees were forced to flee the country after authorities arrested two of its reporters earlier in July 2022 — MEXICO CITY (AP) — One of Nicaragua's leading national newspapers announced Thursday on its website that its staff had been forced …
Discussion:
@juanpappierhrw and Agence France-Presse