Top News:
Doomberg:
Doomberg, a pseudonymous Substack publication about economic and policy news with 150K+ subscribers, plans to leave Twitter to focus on Substack Notes — The Work of My Life: July 2023 Report — “There is a time for departure even when there's no certain place to go.” - Tennessee Williams
Discussion:
Notes, Notes, Notes, Notes, Notes, @doombergt, @howardlindzon, @jeremydschwartz, @substacklinda, @max_gagliardi and @lastbearstandng
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Amanda Marcotte / Salon:
Some experts say trolls who built businesses and media careers on Twitter have had to escalate shock value tactics as the audience of “normal people” shrinks — Elon Musk's business model depends on “triggering” liberals — but he's now running out of progressives to bait
Discussion:
@manigarm, @prezlives2022, @manigarm, @codinghorror@infosec.exchange, @letitmelo, @AmandaMarcotte@mastodon …, @darcyjamesargue, @amandamarcotte, @letitmelo, @timfordwrites@mstdn.ca, @amandamarcotte, @touaregtweet@mastodon.social, @manigarm, @salon, @letitmelo, @amandamarcotte, @brosandprose, @letitmelo, @mrsschwarzski.bsky.social, @amandamarcotte.bsky.social, @tharfagreinir.bsky.social, @mikethemadbiol.bsky.social and TMZ.com, more at Techmeme »
Shubham Kalia / Reuters:
France's AFP sues X in Paris, saying the company refused to discuss potential content distribution payments under a 2019 law; Elon Musk calls the move “bizarre” — said on Wednesday it filed a lawsuit in Paris against Elon Musk's X social media platform, formerly known as Twitter …
Discussion:
TechCrunch, Agence France-Presse, Associated Press, Quartz, @elonmusk, @afpcom, Forbes and @xdaily, more at Techmeme »
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Elon Musk / @elonmusk:
Elon Musk says X will amend its creator payouts policy to take no cut until a payout exceeds $100K, and plans to talk to Tim Cook about lower App Store fees
Elon Musk says X will amend its creator payouts policy to take no cut until a payout exceeds $100K, and plans to talk to Tim Cook about lower App Store fees
Discussion:
@scobleizer, @rdotchadha, @sawyermerritt, @oalexanderdk, Engadget, @xdaily, MacRumors, The Verge and 9to5Mac, more at Techmeme »
New York Times:
Sources: Fox News execs Jay Wallace and Suzanne Scott lobbied Trump to appear at an August 23 debate, during a private dinner just after his third indictment — The Fox leaders appealed to the former president to participate in the first G.O.P. debate, which is being hosted by the network.
Michael Geist:
As Meta starts blocking news links and sharing on Facebook and Instagram in Canada, a look at the harm that Bill C-18 will do to the country's media sector — For months, supporters of Bill C-18, the Online News Act, assured the government that Meta and Google were bluffing when they warned …
Brooks Barnes / New York Times:
The SAG-AFTRA Foundation says Meryl Streep and George Clooney helped lead a donation campaign that raised $15M+ in three weeks; eight other stars gave $1M+ each — The stars, joined by celebrities like Matt Damon and Oprah Winfrey, helped raise more than $15 million over the past three weeks.
Discussion:
SAG-AFTRA, CBS News, UPROXX, The Hollywood Reporter, Billboard, The Hill, Los Angeles Times, Variety, Vanity Fair, IndieWire, The Wrap and Deadline
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John Koblin / New York Times:
The Writers Guild of America told screenwriters in an email that it agreed to restart talks with Carol Lombardini, the studio negotiator, on Friday, August 4
The Writers Guild of America told screenwriters in an email that it agreed to restart talks with Carol Lombardini, the studio negotiator, on Friday, August 4
Discussion:
The Verge, The Hollywood Reporter, @wgaeast, @alexblagg, @ddayen, Screen Rant, Deadline, TVLine, Vanity Fair, Los Angeles Times, The A.V. Club, The Hollywood Reporter, Variety and Screen Rant
New York Times:
Sources say second-round bids for Simon & Schuster were due earlier this week and the sale process is expected to conclude in the coming weeks — The move to acquire the publisher, one of the five largest in the country, comes after the government blocked a deal last year on antitrust concerns.
Discussion:
@benmullin
Haleluya Hadero / Associated Press:
Twitch expands its ban on livestreams of gambling content to include online casinos Blaze and Gamdom; gambling viewership dropped ~75% after its bans in 2022 — Amazon-owned Twitch said Wednesday it's expanding the ban on livestreams of gambling content on the platform.
Discussion:
Video Games Chronicle, more at Techmeme »
Daniel Thomas / Financial Times:
Ofcom: UK broadcast TV weekly audience reach fell to 79% in 2022 vs. 83% in 2021; 66% of UK households were using an SVOD service in Q1 2023 vs. 68% in Q1 2022 — Media regulator's research shows big fall in weekly audiences of traditional ‘linear’ programming
Discussion:
Variety, Ofcom, Music Ally, @ofcom, @ofcom, @ofcom, @endersanalysis, Ofcom, Deadline and The Guardian
Oliver Darcy / CNN:
A US federal judge rules Catherine Herridge must participate in a deposition regarding the identity of confidential source(s) for her Fox News stories in 2017 — A federal judge handed down a rare and alarming court decision this week that could have significant implications for the free press in America.
Discussion:
The Desk, Bloomberg Law, @kyledcheney, U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, CourtListener and @wlabovitz
TVNewsCheck:
Sinclair reports Q2 revenue down 8% YoY to $768M and a $89M net loss vs. $11M YoY, even after the “deconsolidation” of RSNs operated by Diamond Sports Group — Sinclair Broadcast Group on Wednesday afternoon reported that its second quarter total revenue decreased 8% …
Discussion:
MediaPost, Deadline, Next TV, Radio & Television … and Sinclair, Inc
Alex Ross / New Yorker:
Apple failed to save classical music with iTunes and fails again with Apple Music Classical, an oddly clumsy point of entry that falls short of its competitors — As classical listeners shift to streaming, Apple's bespoke app falls short of its smaller-scale competitors.
Discussion:
The Information, @oxfordclock, @ionarts, @ajdoug and @scurve, more at Techmeme »