Top News:
Doomberg:
Doomberg, a pseudonymous Substack publication about economic and policy news with 150K+ subscribers, announces it is leaving 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:
@howardlindzon, @jeremydschwartz, @substacklinda, @max_gagliardi and @lastbearstandng
RELATED:
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 — Super Important to Support Creators! If you can afford it, please subscribe to as many creators on this platform as you find interesting. People from every corner of the world post incredible content on 𝕏, but often live in tough circumstances, where even a few hundred...
Discussion:
Engadget, The Verge, @scobleizer, @rdotchadha, MacRumors, @sawyermerritt, 9to5Mac, @oalexanderdk and @xdaily, more at Techmeme »
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
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.
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, @ionarts, @ajdoug, @oxfordclock, @scurve and MIT Technology Review, more at Techmeme »
New York Times:
People, The Washington Times, MarketWatch, and others fell for an elaborate hoax that claimed Barbie dolls would be plastic free by 2030; most removed the posts — The false campaign by environmental activists claimed that the toy giant was launching a new line of decomposable Barbies and would stop using plastic by 2030.
Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
Filing: WWE Executive Chairman Vince McMahon faced a search warrant and subpoena in July and is now on medical leave; the merger with Endeavor's UFC is on track — The WWE said in a footnote to a SEC filing that federal agents executed a search warrant and served a federal grand jury subpoena on McMahon July 17.
Discussion:
CNBC, Associated Press, WrestleTalk, Los Angeles Times, New York Daily News, Bleacher Report, Breitbart, Mediaite, Sportico, Deadline and ComingSoon.net
Emily Longeretta / Variety:
Digital media company Factz acquires celebrity entertainment news site Hollywood Life; founder and EIC Bonnie Fuller leaves the company — Factz, a digital media company, acquired the celebrity entertainment news site HollywoodLife.com on Tuesday. Founder, president and editor-in-chief Bonnie Fuller is no longer part of the company.
Robin Wigglesworth / Financial Times:
Study: the financial information industry generated $37.3B in revenue in 2022, with Bloomberg and Refinitiv accounting for about two-thirds of the total — Supplying the financial industry with data feeds, analytical tools, research and news is big business. Well, at least one of those is big.
Benjamin Mullin / New York Times:
PBS announces that The Atlantic EIC Jeffrey Goldberg will be the next moderator of Washington Week, which will be renamed Washington Week With The Atlantic — The Atlantic will co-produce the show, which will be renamed “Washington Week With The Atlantic.” The publication will cover some of the costs and help sell sponsorships.
Discussion:
MediaPost, The Hollywood Reporter, The Daily Beast, The Atlantic, @corbinbolies, @libertyjunky420, @benmullin, @nxthompson, @ggreenwald, Current, The Hill, @peterlattman, @lisadnews, Deadline, Variety and Semafor
Helen Coster / Reuters:
Thomson Reuters reports Q2 operating profit up 111% YoY to $825M and revenue up 2% YoY to $1.6B; News revenue grew 1% to $194M — Thomson Reuters Corp (TRI.TO), on Wednesday reported higher sales and operating profit in the second quarter, helped by strong performance at its “Big 3” segments …
Discussion:
Talking Biz News, Thomson Reuters and @jonchevreau
John Herrman / New York Magazine:
Three theories about how AI will change the news: replace some outlets entirely, be a helpful tool, or turn news organizations into wire services — Here are three theories of the case. — In early July, the Associated Press made a deal with OpenAI, maker of ChatGPT, to license …
Discussion:
@omkar_raii, @mediaevan, @cyrilsam, Poynter, New York Post and What's New in Publishing