Mediagazer: A Mississippi indie bookseller on the proposed Penguin Random House-Simon & Schuster merger, as the industry increasingly favors best sellers over new writers (Richard Howorth/New York Times)

1:25 AM ET, August 15, 2022

Top News:

Fox News' Brian Kilmeade showed on air an altered image depicting the judge who signed off on the Mar-a-Lago search grafted over an image of Jeffrey Epstein — On Thursday's Tucker Carlson Tonight, guest host Brian Kilmeade showed a clearly photoshopped image of U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart …

Jeremy Bailey / The Wrap:

Brian Kilmeade tries to portray Fox News airing an altered image of the Mar-a-Lago search judge as a joke, saying that “we were showing a meme in jest” — Fox News host Brian Kilmeade has taken to social media in an effort to clean up the mess that was made Thursday night …

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, @adl, @rpsagainsttrump, @dangillmor, @underoak, Insider, @sephspeaks, @michaelshermer, @kenolin1, @fred_guttenberg, @jeffjarvis, @benestes, @thewrap, @crewcrew, Politico and The Racket News

Jeremy W. Peters / New York Times:

Sources: Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch are expected to sit for depositions as soon as this month in Dominion's suit against Fox, and there were no settlement talks — The suit, filed by Dominion Voting Systems, could be one of the most consequential First Amendment cases in a generation.

Discussion: @jillwinebanks, @aslavitt, @mukhtaryare, @bbg3shoe, @mitchellepner, @jswatz, @tomeblen, @longdrivesouth, @mattdpearce, @kimmasters, @dankennedy_nu, @globalecoguy and @defensebaron

Richard Howorth / New York Times:

A Mississippi indie bookseller on the proposed Penguin Random House-Simon & Schuster merger, as the industry increasingly favors best sellers over new writers — OXFORD, Miss. — Penguin Random House, the largest English-language trade book publisher in the world, has made an offer …

Discussion: @esquire, Esquire, @jeffjarvis, @alecmacgillis, @katherinemiller, @nilanjanaroy, @minjinlee11, @stacyfmitchell, @stacyfmitchell, The Scribbling Buddha … and Lorain

Check My Ads Institute:

NewsGuard makes a push to become the ad industry's partner in combating disinformation, even as its rating system regularly omits critical context about outlets — Welcome back to BRANDED, the newsletter uncovering how adtech companies fund hate and disinformation. Here's what's new with us:

Discussion: @nandoodles, @stopfundinghate and @nandoodles

Malte Warner / Global Investigative Journalism Network:

A look at Europe's “New Sector” public interest news outlets that operate with a “nonprofit state of mind”; Netzwerk Recherche: 66% rely on foundation support — This post is an excerpt from “The New Sector,” a May 2022 report on the state of independent public interest journalism …

Discussion: @gijn

Angela Fu / Poynter:

At least 20 Gannett newspapers executed layoffs on Friday, after dismal Q2 earnings; the NewsGuild has called on Gannett to cut executive pay instead of jobs — At least 20 papers across the country have been affected. It is unclear how many employees were let go

Jim Waterson / The Guardian:

Sources: the Daily Mail has approached Boris Johnson about writing a column for the paper after he steps down as prime minister — Outgoing PM expected to find new home for his old trade as journalist after Telegraph cools on his qualities — Three days before he became prime minister …

Discussion: @writerjackwhite, @andyjreed_obe, @emma_campaigner, @v_aravind, @realbristolnews, @richardhesketh1, @petefickling, @sebkraemer, @jchaltiwanger, @elwinway, @redpeter99, @bron_maher, @thattimwalker and @spanishdan1

Brian Welk / The Wrap:

Jeffrey Toobin leaves CNN after 20 years as a legal analyst and writer; CNN placed Toobin on leave in 2020 after he acknowledged exposing himself on a Zoom call — “We are grateful for Jeffrey's contributions to the network over the years and wish him all the best in his future endeavors,” a CNN spokesperson says

Discussion: @jeffreytoobin, Variety, @katmckinley, @brianjayjones, @johnnydollar01, @blackamazon, @jeremyhl, Breitbart, Newser, New York Post, Showbiz411 and Deadline

Wall Street Journal:

Sources: YouTube plans to launch a “channel store” for streaming services as early as Fall 2022 and is talking with partners about subscription revenue sharing — Ultracompetitive U.S. market is prompting streaming services to seek new ways to find subscribers

Discussion: Bloomberg, @shiraovide, @trengriffin, The Verge, @bysarahkrouse, @streamingwarshq, @trippmickle, @jtoonkel and Too Much TV Newsletter, more at Techmeme »

Luiz Romero / PolitiFact:

A review of 380 fact-checks published by purported fact-checking service War on Fakes shows how the format is being used to spread pro-Russia propaganda — - War on Fakes, a website and Telegram channel operated from Russia, claims to be a fact-checking service countering “an information war launched against Russia.”

Discussion: @poynter, @politifact, @poynter, @poynter, @poynter and @fabiochiusi

Salvador Rodriguez / Wall Street Journal:

Sources: before ATT, Apple and Meta discussed revenue-sharing deals, such as Apple taking a cut of “boosted posts” via IAP and an ad-free, Facebook subscription — The two tech giants discussed revenue-sharing arrangements, including a potential ad-free, subscription version of Facebook

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More News:

Matt Dixon / Politico:
Gov. Ron DeSantis' press secretary Christina Pushaw, who regularly picks public fights with reporters on social media, resigns to join his reelection campaign

Discussion: @nkulw, @projectlincoln and The Hill

Washington Post:
Journalists juggle the news value of ransomware attacks with the knowledge that ransomware gangs lie and use stories to recruit and pressure victims into paying

Discussion: @suzannemsmalley, @spj_tweets, @brfreed, @uuallan and @flashpointintel

Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
The UK's National Union of Journalists plans 24-hour strikes on August 26 and August 31, 2022, and a 48-hour strike in September over 3% raises at Reach outlets

Discussion: @pressgazette and @pressgazette

Steven Perlberg / Insider:
Editor-in-Chief Sumi Aggarwal and COO Annie Chabel are leaving the Center for Investigative Reporting and Reveal, a month after 10 of 68 employees were cut

Discussion: @perlberg, @awinston, @clarajeffery, @byardduncan, @mgafni, @mikejcorey and @mattdrange

Jessica E. Lessin / The Information:
The Information hires Karl Wells, formerly Dow Jones' chief subscriptions officer, as its first chief commercial officer, to grow revenue

Discussion: Vanity Fair, @jessicalessin, @anthony, @nickwingfield and @lessin

Earlier Picks:

James Anderson / Nieman Lab:
A look at The Kansas City Defender, which has one full-time staffer, two part-timers, five interns, and four freelancers, rooted in abolitionist press tradition

Discussion: @spj_tweets and @pndblog

Nellie Andreeva / Deadline:
Charter plans to shut down Spectrum Originals, after launching the original scripted content initiative in 2019, amid increased production costs and competition

Discussion: @deadline, Variety, Axios and TVLine

Marketing Brew:
The Los Angeles Times, Vanity Fair, and others juice traffic by buying ads in the mobile game Subway Surfers, which offers rewards for viewing ads or articles

Discussion: @hautepop, @jblock49, @deepsee_io, @deepsee_io, @danbeucke, @simonowens, @marketingbrew, @bymeg and @ryanbarwick

Hamish McKenzie / On Substack:
Substack's Hamish McKenzie changes his title from COO to Chief Writing Officer to signal the company's respect for writers and says “I'll be writing a lot more”

Financial Times:
A look at livestreamed e-commerce, already mature and established in China, which TikTok, YouTube, Meta, Amazon, and others want to bring to the US and Europe

Discussion: @anjliraval, @cristinacriddle, @richlightshed, @liahaberman, @mattnavarra, @astaniscia86 and Simon Owens's Media Newsletter

From Techmeme:

Alphabet:
Alphabet Q1: revenue up 15% YoY to $80.5B, net income up 57% to $23.7B, Google Cloud revenue up 28% to $9.6B, and headcount down 5%; GOOG jumps 11%+ after hours

Microsoft:
Microsoft Q3: revenue up 17% YoY to $61.9B, net income up 20% to $21.9B, Office Commercial revenue up 13%, LinkedIn revenue up 10%; MSFT jumps 4%+ after hours

Reuters:
Sources: ByteDance prefers a TikTok shutdown in the US rather than a sale if legal options fail, deeming TikTok's algorithm as core to overall ByteDance systems

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