Top News:
Adam Kovacevich / Chamber of Progress:
The Journalism Competition and Preservation Act would support Breitbart, Newsmax, and hedge funds; other bills may help local journalism without paying for hate — Bill would require Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta, Microsoft to pay and link to right-wing news — Congressional Democrats are in array.
Discussion:
Poynter, @newsalliance, Adweek, Deadline, @pilhofer, @rickedmonds, @wexler, @wexler, @newsalliance, @newsalliance, @kombiz, @newsalliance, @newsalliance, @wexler, @adamkovac, @mmasnick, @blakereid, @m_ccuri and Bloomberg Government
Mark Stenberg / Adweek:
Subscription management platform Zuora reaches a deal to acquire Zephr, which provides paywall software to News Corp, Tribune Publishing, and others, for $44M — Zephr will bring its dynamic paywall technology to the subscriptions company — The subscription management platform Zuora …
Discussion:
Business Wire
Hope King / Axios:
Marginal MediaWorks agrees to acquire Fresno Unlimited, which wants to use AI trained on public consumer interest data to help studios green light projects — A new tie-up between a startup content studio and a data science startup aims to flip the way Hollywood green lights movies and shows.
Jim Waterson / The Guardian:
Former BBC presenter Emily Maitlis calls BBC board member Robbie Gibb an “agent of the Conservative party” who is “acting as the arbiter of BBC impartiality” — Former Newsnight presenter says former No 10 communications chief Sir Robbie Gibb on board acting as ‘arbiter of impartiality’
RELATED:
Joe Coscarelli / New York Times:
Capitol Music Group severs ties with FN Meka, a virtual “robot rapper” powered partly by AI with 10M+ TikTok followers, after backlash over racial stereotypes — The record company apologized to “the Black community” for insensitivity in promoting an AI-backed artist that critics said was …
Discussion:
Vibe, UPROXX, The FADER, @reptilianhybrid, @natealyn, @passionweiss, Music Ally, Complete Music Update, @billboard, @fakeshoredrive, @mrchuckd, @modernistwitch, The Hollywood Reporter, Variety, @eileenguo, @jherskowitz, @heranmamo, @joecoscarelli, Music Business Worldwide, The FADER, Hip-Hop Wired, AfroTech, Input, Fortune, Pitchfork, Stereogum, UPROXX, Yahoo News, The A.V. Club, The Hill, The Wrap, Los Angeles Times, Insider, Rolling Stone, Billboard, PAPER and Consequence, more at Techmeme »
Jeremy Fuster / The Wrap:
Rotten Tomatoes: among 100+ critics it added over the past year, 74% are from underrepresented groups, 48% are women, 38% PoC, and 34% from new media platforms — Rotten Tomatoes will expand its efforts to increase diversity among film and TV critics, with the review website announcing …
Dan Misener / Bumper:
Study of Spotify's podcast recommendations finds white noise episodes are among top recs and 14% of recommended episodes are Spotify originals and exclusives — I've long been interested in Spotify's podcast recommendation system, mostly because it uses a different strategy than its competitors.
Discussion:
@evoterra, @michellemanafy, Reclaim The Net and Remote Notes
Manori Ravindran / Variety:
Sources: Soumya Sriraman, who led Amazon's US Prime Video Channels business, steps down after two years; Sriraman was formerly the CEO of BritBox — Soumya Sriraman, the former BritBox CEO who joined Amazon to lead its Prime Video Channels business in the U.S., is stepping down after two years at the SVOD.
Discussion:
TechCrunch and The Streamable
Todd Spangler / Variety:
NBCU says current seasons of NBC shows will stream on Peacock Premium the day after airing starting September 19, after it reclaimed rights from Hulu — Fans of NBC current-season shows will no longer find them on Hulu as of next month — they'll be flying over to NBCUniversal's Peacock.
Discussion:
CNET, The Streamable, The Verge, UPROXX, TVLine, MediaPost, Next TV, The Wrap, UPI, Decider, @tvgrimreaper and Media Play News
Manish Singh / TechCrunch:
India's richest man, Gautam Adani, acquires a ~29.18% stake in NDTV using decade-old options and plans to acquire another 26%; NDTV says it did not give consent — Adani Group said Tuesday it will buy a majority stake in NDTV, a high-profile Indian news organization, in an apparent hostile takeover …
Discussion:
Scroll.in, Al Jazeera, Forbes, @ensaluja, @blitzkreigm, Variety, @mkvenu1, The Hindu, Livemint, The New Indian Express, The Signal, Financial Times and Bloomberg
Issie Lapowsky / Protocol:
Google's Jigsaw and YouTube to test video ads in Europe to “pre-bunk” anti-refugee sentiment, after a study found such ads raised awareness about misinformation — Three months after Russia launched its brutal assault on Ukraine, sending millions of refugees over the border …
Discussion:
Forbes, @raehodge, @issielapowsky, @issielapowsky, @issielapowsky, @issielapowsky, NBC News, The Verge and @protocol, more at Techmeme »
J. Clara Chan / The Hollywood Reporter:
iHeartMedia launches iHeartLand, its first virtual world, on Fortnite, with plans to host concerts, album release parties, and more — The in-game effort, which includes a main stage and mini-games, will kick off with a Charlie Puth concert on Sept. 9.
Discussion:
Inside Radio, RADIO ONLINE, @lanceulanoff, RadioInsight and Music Business Worldwide
K.J. Yossman / Variety:
UK broadcaster ITV plans to launch its ITVX streaming service in November, replacing the ITV Hub — ITVX, the upcoming streaming platform from U.K. broadcaster ITV, will launch in November. — ITV managing director for media and entertainment Kevin Lygo confirmed the launch date during …
Discussion:
The Hollywood Reporter and ITV Press Centre
Accounting Specialist Editor, Remote US — 
Senior Correspondent - Wealth, NY — 
Asia Credit Reporter, Seoul — 
Senior Editor, DC — 
Sr. Social Media Specialist, NC — 
Associate Editor - Aviation, TN — 
Assistant Editor - Digital, NC — 
Video Producer - YouTube, NY — 
Senior Managing Ed. - Daily Desk — 
Content Managing Editor — 
Editor, MA — 
Team Editor - Breaking News, ON — 
Senior Reporter & Event Host, NY/CA — 
Associate Editor, Remote — 
Retail Reporter, MN — 
Senior Data Editor, DC — 
Managing Ed. - Berks County, PA — 
News Editor - UK, Remote — 
Staff Writer, TX — 
Multimedia Journalist, PA — 
Service Journalism Editor, CA — 
Content Director, Remote — 
Sports Reporter, ME — 
Los Angeles Issues Reporter, CA — 
Reporter - Middle East — 
Executive Editor, OR — 
California Playbook Writer, CA — 
Senior Media Editor — 
National Investigative Reporter, NY — 
Lexington County Reporter, SC — 
Reporter - Offshore Wind — 
General Assignment Reporter, FL — 
Staff Reporter, CA — 
Data Editor, NY — 
