Top News:
Financial Times:
A Venezuelan rights group says the country has cancelled 40+ passports, mostly of journalists and activists, since Nicolás Maduro claimed a re-election victory — Move part of campaign of repression since President Nicolás Maduro claimed re-election win, say rights groups
Discussion:
@kenroth, The Art Newspaper and Reuters
Max Tani / Semafor:
Yashica Olden, who was Condé Nast's first head of diversity, equity, and inclusion, quietly left in June 2024, after internal tensions over the Israel-Hamas war — THE SCOOP — Condé Nast's high-profile head of diversity quietly stepped down in June amid bitter internal tensions …
Joseph Bernstein / New York Times:
A look at Pod Save America, which gets 20M monthly downloads, and its parent company Crooked Media, as both have grown into institutions in liberal politics — The hosts of the political podcast have outlasted the wave of anti-Trump #Resistance that made it popular. That's where things get complicated.
Discussion:
@bernstein and Fox News
Matthew Garrahan / Financial Times:
An interview with IAC chair Barry Diller on his Paramount bid being “more of a duty than a desire”, why Hollywood's hold on entertainment is “gone”, and more — IAC chair hits out at Trump and warns of power shift to Big Tech in film and TV
Discussion:
@tonytassell
Ben Smith / Semafor:
Q&A with ATTN co-founder and co-CEO Matthew Segal on the current social ecosystem, vertical video optimization, trying to be the “HBO of short-form”, and more — Born in 2014, the media company ATTN is the product of the Facebook video age, and was initially seen …
Christopher Cruz / Rolling Stone:
An interview with Puerto Rican Vtuber Ironmouse on recently breaking the Twitch subscriber record with over 326K subs, misconceptions about Vtubing, and more — The Puerto Rican Vtuber took the all-time subscriber record from Kai Cenat during a marathon of charity streaming
Discussion:
Dexerto, @dredgenv, @rollingstone, @thetexaslopez, @ironmouse, @yochriscruz, Game Rant, Game Rant, Sportskeeda, Dexerto and Dexerto
Alex Barasch / New Yorker:
A profile of Bang Si-hyuk, a South Korean music producer and chairman of Hybe Corporation who is taking his formula for creating K-pop idols like BTS to the US — Chairman Bang, the man behind BTS, is bringing his formula for creating K-pop idols to America. — Scooter Braun was in a tailspin.
Discussion:
@cfnchng, @christataetae, @thelionmutters, @intrnl_mnologue, @sugatheartist and @themarkrussell
Josef Adalian / Vulture:
The gap between TV show seasons is growing, with an 18-month break the new normal, thanks to the streaming production model and TV shows becoming spectacles — Eighteen-month gaps between seasons are the new normal. Here's why. — By Josef Adalian, Remember Stranger Things?
Discussion:
Screen Rant, Gizmodo and Just Jared
New York Times:
Sources: the Trump campaign contacted X to prevent the circulation of links to the hacked JD Vance dossier posted by journalist Ken Klippenstein — Elon Musk is planting himself in Pennsylvania, has brought his brain trust to help and may even knock on doors himself.
Discussion:
@kenklippenstein, The Independent, Newsweek, @esjesjesj, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Daily Beast, @kenklippenstein, @mac_ryan_@threads.net, HuffPost, Ken Klippenstein, The Verge, Raw Story, The Good in Us, Lawyers, Guns & Money, @kenklippenstein, The Guardian, InsideEVs, New Jersey Online, Talking Points Memo, Townhall, Ken Klippenstein, Benzinga, The Information, CNN, Digby's Hullabaloo, New York Magazine, Salon, The Hill, Quartz, Axios, @dangillmor@mastodon.social, The Wrap, Washington Post, Mother Jones, New Republic, @evilgalprods.bsky.social, @TheDailyEdge@universeodon.com, Alternet.org, Mediaite, The Philadelphia Inquirer, emptywheel, Business Insider and @kevincolliernbc@threads.net
Mark Stenberg / Adweek:
Filings: G/O Media is suing Paste Media, alleging breach of contract over the sale of Splinter and Jezebel to Paste; Paste's founder says the case lacks merit — The two firms are embroiled in a breach of contract lawsuit in a Delaware court — The digital media firm G/O Media filed …
Discussion:
@adweek and Mark Stenberg on LinkedIn
Mathew Ingram / The Torment Nexus:
Matt Mullenweg's WP Engine feud not only has the appearance of a significant conflict of interest but has also dragged the WordPress community into a legal mess — I realize that many people may not know or care who or what Matt Mullenweg and WordPress are, or why some people are upset about them …
New York Times:
WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich, imprisoned in Russia for more than a year, is writing a memoir about his time in prison and Russia's slide toward autocracy — The memoir, which will cover his time in prison and Russia's move toward autocracy, will be published by Crown, an imprint of Penguin Random House.
Discussion:
Talking Biz News and @katie_robertson