Mediagazer: With online page views declining, UK-based Reach launches a voluntary redundancy scheme for editorial staff after undertaking multiple rounds of cuts in H1 2023 (David Sharman/HoldtheFrontPage)

1:40 PM ET, August 5, 2023

Top News:

Christopher Mathias / HuffPost:

Investigation: Richard Hanania, a Substack writer also published in WaPo, NYT, WSJ, and more, wrote for white supremacist outlets in the 2010s using a pen name — Hanania is championed by tech moguls and a U.S. senator, but HuffPost found he used a pen name to become an important figure in the “alt-right.”

Discussion: @ositanwanevu, @martinsfp, @danprimack, @exador23@m.ai6yr.org, @letsgomathias, @katzonearth, @paulstewartii, @paulstewartii, @letsgomathias, @david_j_roth, @letsgomathias, @letsgomathias, @letsgomathias.bsky.social, @emilybell.bsky.social, @letsgomathias, @paulstewartii, @letsgomathias, @david_j_roth, @paulstewartii, @tomscocca.bsky.social, @philipncohen@mastodon.social, @acdha@thepit.social, @lolgop.bsky.social, @socprof@masto.ai, @mmasnick.bsky.social, Mediaite, @mmasnick.bsky.social, @chadloder.bsky.social, @ddayen.bsky.social, @timnitGebru@dair …, @mattsheffield@mastodon.social, @timcarvell.bsky.social, @michellegoldberg.bsky.social, @tomscocca.bsky.social, @KimPerales@toad.social, @dandrezner.bsky.social, @jacobtlevy.bsky.social, @sethcotlar.bsky.social, @alexwild@mastodon.online, @strangestrings.bsky.social, @stevesilberman@newsie.social, @jsthrill.bsky.social and @charliearchy@mstdn.social

The Wrap:

Memo: WGA says the two sides remain too far apart after the Friday meeting with AMPTP, accusing AMPTP of violating its own request for a media blackout — In a letter to members, WGA accuses studios of leaking details about ‘confidential’ meet-up — Hopes for renewed contract talks between …

Discussion: IndieWire, TVLine, Vanity Fair, Screen Rant, TV Insider, Los Angeles Times, The Hollywood Reporter, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, The Verge, IGN, Bloomberg, CBS News, @genemaddaus, Puck, Deadline, Fortune, Collider, @genemaddaus and Reuters

The Hollywood Reporter:

Charities say food insecurity is rising in Hollywood as strikes linger, so nonprofits are boosting food and financial aid for writers, actors, and support staff — As the labor impasse continues, charities say growing numbers of the industry's most vulnerable are unable to feed themselves …

Discussion: Deadline, Fortune, Vanity Fair and Bloomberg

Deadline:

Thousands of WGA and SAG-AFTRA members picket NBCUniversal, after union members filed NLRB complaints saying the studio hindered earlier pickets — This is Day 95 of the WGA strike and Day 22 of the SAG-AFTRA strike — NBCUniversal has been at the center of a number of controversies involving …

Discussion: Rolling Stone, @slack2thefuture, Fans for the WGA, Deadline, @sonyasteele@mastodon.social, Forbes, The Wrap and Los Angeles Times

André Beganski / Decrypt:

The New York Times is fighting a gag order imposed on FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried after he shared former lover Caroline Ellison's writings with the outlet — The Gray Lady's letter follows a report that landed Bankman-Fried back in court. … The New York Times pushed back on Thursday …

Discussion: ABC News, @zguz, @decryptmedia, @elonmusk, @zguz, @zguz, The New York Times Company, Reuters, CryptoSlate, US Department of Justice, Cointelegraph, Molly White, CourtListener and CoinDesk

Casey Newton / Platformer:

New laws restricting access to porn circumvent First Amendment protections that prevent the government from deciding what content is “harmful to minors” — Anti-speech laws are spreading from states to Congress, and the future of online speech could hang in the balance

Discussion: @charliejane.bsky.social, @waxy@xoxo.zone, @caseynewton@mastodon.social, @dtgeek@mastodon.social, @carnage4life@mas.to, @drewharwell@mastodon.social, @ernie@writing.exchange and @metacurity@infosec.exchange

Khadijah Khogeer / NBC News:

Journalists at Vancouver-based IndigiNews and The Sarnia Journal in Ontario say Meta's news block is reducing their site visitors and hurting their outlets — Meta recently began blocking news from Instagram and Facebook in Canada in response to the Online News Act.

Discussion: @tehuti88

Richard Lawler / The Verge:

X delays its Ads Revenue Sharing program's payouts that were set for the week of July 31, saying the volume of people signing up “has exceeded our expectations” — In news that isn't very surprising given the recent history of Twitter, which Elon Musk is currently rebranding to X …

Discussion: Insider, @bestofdyingtwitter …, @elonmusk, @helenkennedy, @caseynewton.bsky.social, @carnage4life@mas.to, @rjcc, @rjcc.bsky.social, Techlusive, @enriquebrgn, @mho@social.heise.de, @chrisparkx and @hunterwalk.com, more at Techmeme »

Canadian Association of Broadcasters:

North American broadcasters say Meta's news ban in Canada is “monopolistic” and urge lawmakers to back rules enabling publisher negotiations with tech platforms — In response to Meta blocking news on Facebook and Instagram for Canadian users after the passage of Canada's Online News Act …

Discussion: New York Times, Next TV, Inside Radio, Radio & Television … and RADIO ONLINE

Joe Amditis / Center for Cooperative Media:

A look at LocalLens, a completely AI-driven website generating coverage of local government whose stated goal is to serve as a starting point for journalists — It's not journalism, but does it have a role to play in the information ecosystem? — Imagine you're using a metal detector …

Discussion: @_jeffpierce, @jsamditis, @spsullivan, @spsullivan, @jozsefmeszaros.bsky.social, @ndiakopoulos and Politico

Bobby Allyn / NPR:

Background actors describe studios scanning their bodies and worrying over the lack of control of their digital likenesses, a key issue in the SAG-AFTRA strike — After four weeks of working as a background actor on the Disney+ series WandaVision during the pandemic, Alexandria Rubalcaba …

Discussion: The A.V. Club, New York Times, ComingSoon.net, Screen Rant, Comic Book, @kagan@wandering.shop, @phillewis.bsky.social, @baldur@toot.cafe, IGN, SlashFilm, @WarnerCrocker@mastodon.social, @azalben.bsky.social, @black_intellect@mstdn.social, @labuzamovies.bsky.social, @JoParkerBear@universeodon.com and @lilithsaintcrow …

David Robb / Deadline:
SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher says Hollywood's potential misuse of AI is a “deadly cocktail” and a “poison” that needs to be strictly regulated

Discussion: @benzelevansky, @variety, Hollywood Reporter, Variety and Variety

Wall Street Journal:

Sources: private equity firm KKR is in advanced talks to acquire Simon & Schuster from Paramount for ~$1.65B; a judge blocked Penguin Random House's bid in 2022 — Book publisher was put up for sale for the second time after a judge blocked a previous deal with Penguin Random House

Discussion: Reuters, Financial Times, @geekaren@mstdn.social, The Wrap, New York Times, Publishers Weekly, 24/7 Wall St. and The Bookseller, more at Techmeme »

David Sharman / HoldtheFrontPage:

With online page views declining, UK-based Reach launches a voluntary redundancy scheme for editorial staff after undertaking multiple rounds of cuts in H1 2023 — A decline in online page views has prompted a regional publisher to launch a voluntary redundancy scheme for editorial staff.

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Luke Bouma / Cord Cutters News:
Fubo reports Q2 revenue up 41% YoY to $312.7M, net loss down 43% YoY to $54.2M, and paid subscribers up 23% YoY but down 9% QoQ to 1.17M

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Jennifer Maas / Variety:
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Pew Research Center:
The top 20 NPR-affiliated public radio stations had an average total weekly listenership of ~8M in 2022, down 10% YoY; NPR's 2022 revenue grew 8% YoY to $316.7M

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Matthew Keys / The Desk:
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Discussion: @thedeskdotnet, Next TV, Mediaite, The Daily Beast, Deadline and @researchbuzz@researchbuzz …

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Janet Lorin / Bloomberg:
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Angela Fu / Poynter:
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Discussion: @gannett, @bymikedavis, The Rural Blog, Digiday, Reuters, Gannett Inc., MediaPost and nyguild.org

Todd Spangler / Variety:
Apple reports Q3 revenue for its Services segment, which includes Apple TV+ and Apple Music, grew 8.2% YoY to a record $21.2B, driven by 1B+ paid subscriptions

Discussion: Insider, @sarafischer, Digital Music News, IndieWire, TechCrunch, Axios, @lexnfx, @patrickmcgee_, @patrickmcgee_, The Verge, Apple, The Hollywood Reporter, Billboard, Daring Fireball, Deadline, Forbes, The Wrap, Apple Inc. and Wall Street Journal

Annie Palmer / CNBC:
Amazon Q2: ad revenue up 22% YoY to $10.68B, vs. $10.4B est., subscription revenue up 14% YoY to $9.89B, and North America segment sales up 11% YoY to $82.5B

Discussion: KNSD-TV, Publishers Weekly, @digitalshields, Deadline, Variety, About Amazon, @epro.social and CNN, more at Techmeme »

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