Top News:
Kelefa Sanneh / New Yorker:
How music criticism lost its edge: since the 2010s, outlets like Pitchfork have abandoned extremely low scores, and critics face harassment for negative reviews — Music writers were once known for being much crankier than the average listener. What happened?
Discussion:
@dannygroner.bsky.social, @angulusterrarum, @rmbodenheimer.bsky.social, @gemko.bsky.social, @812filmreviews, @sotoalfred.bsky.social, @aalong64, @willystaley, @poniewozik.bsky.social, @vlrtualboy, @ericdharvey.com, @bigsnugga, @stevenhyden.bsky.social, @_zeets, @gemko.bsky.social, @kearse.bsky.social, @grace_roso, @grace_roso and UPROXX
RELATED:
Jesse Hassenger / The Guardian:
Cultural criticism is at risk of erasure, as the Chicago Tribune cut its film critic job, VF fired its film critic, and the NYT reassigned four arts critics — Recent announcements at major publications have seen critics losing their positions, an ongoing shift that we should all be alarmed by
Ray Schultz / MediaPost:
Time promotes Alex Altman, previously deputy Washington bureau chief and executive features editor, to executive editor — Time has promoted Alex Altman to the post of executive editor. Previously, he served as deputy Washington bureau chief and executive features editor.
Discussion:
Time
The Marshall Project:
The Marshall Project names Jennifer Peter as EIC, replacing Susan Chira, who stepped down in December 2024; Peter worked at the Boston Globe since 2004 — Peter, of The Boston Globe, will lead the national criminal justice outlet's news operations. — Jennifer Peter has been named editor …
Hanaa' Tameez / Nieman Lab:
Noisy Creek, owner of Seattle's The Stranger and the Portland Mercury, is acquiring the Chicago Reader and also plans to expand its ticketing service to Chicago — After years of financial struggles and narrowly avoiding closure at the start of 2025, the Chicago Reader is getting another lifeline.
Discussion:
MediaPost, Axios, Chicago Reader, Crain's Chicago Business, Oregonian, Chicago Tribune and Block Club Chicago
Dade Hayes / Deadline:
Disney sues Sling TV for allegedly violating their carriage deal by including Disney's networks without permission in the new mini-bundles launched in August — The mini-bundles start at $4.99, a fraction of the usual minimum of $45.99 a month for a regular Sling subscription.
Sophie Culpepper / Nieman Lab:
Staffers, including 14 full-time reporters, from three nonprofit newsrooms backed by Signal Ohio are unionizing with the Northeast Ohio NewsGuild — Journalists from Signal Cleveland, Signal Akron, and Signal Statewide are seeking voluntary recognition. — On Tuesday, the three newsrooms …
David Folkenflik / NPR:
A US judge orders Kari Lake to submit to questioning under oath after she failed to comply with repeated orders to share info about her plans for VOA's future — A senior federal judge on Monday ordered Trump administration official Kari Lake to submit to questioning under oath in ongoing litigation …
Dan Shanoff / The Athletic:
YouTube's NFL debut will include influencer IShowSpeed, who has 43M subscribers, and three others doing “Watch With” streams, which enable live reactions — When YouTube makes its NFL broadcast debut with the Chiefs-Chargers game on Friday, Sept. 5, at 8 p.m. ET …
Discussion:
YouTube Official Blog, Sportico, Tubefilter and Sports Business Journal
RELATED:
Katie Campione / Deadline:
KPop Demon Hunters surpasses Red Notice to become Netflix's “most popular film of all time” based on a 91-day premiere window, hitting 236M views since debuting — The moment has finally arrived: Kpop Demon Hunters has officially become Netflix's most popular film of all time.
Discussion:
RTTNews, Cartoon Brew, Tom's Guide, The Sun, Netflix Tudum, Shortlist, Euronews, NME, The Korea Herald, BBC, Korea Joongang Daily, CBR, Wall Street Journal, Malay Mail, People, The A.V. Club, Bloomberg, The Verge, @nedraggett.bsky.social, Kotaku, Media Play News, The Wrap, The Guardian, Variety, IndieWire, The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline, Music Business Worldwide, Oh No They Didn't!, Comic Book and Forbes
Broadband TV News:
Ampere: US sports rights spending has jumped 122% since 2015 to $30.5B, while TV industry revenue is up 24% to $213B; 14% of US TV revenue is spent on sports — Spending on US sports rights has surged 122% over the past decade, rising from $13.8bn in 2015 to $30.5bn in 2025, according to new insight from Ampere Analysis.
Discussion:
TheDesk.net and Advanced Television
Annelise Levy / Bloomberg Law:
Filing: Anthropic reached a settlement in a copyright class action brought by authors whose works were included in two pirate databases Anthropic downloaded — Anthropic PBC reached a settlement with authors in a high-stakes copyright class action that threatened the AI company with potentially billions of dollars in damages.
Discussion:
Bloomberg, Implicator.ai, WinBuzzer, Reuters, Fortune, Tech Times, Publishing Perspectives, @carnage4life.bsky.social, Insurance Journal, Silicon Republic, TechPowerUp, dailyjournal.com, PYMNTS.com, Ars Technica, CNET, The Information, The A.V. Club, Los Angeles Times, @seldo.com, Engadget, Claims Journal, KSTP-TV, Wired, The Verge, TechCrunch, ai fray, @annkspencer.bsky.social, MediaPost and The Hollywood Reporter, more at Techmeme »
Leia Mendoza / Variety:
Fairchild Media Group promotes Michael Atmore to EIC of Women's Wear Daily, in addition to his role as chief brand officer — Fairchild Media Group has promoted Michael Atmore to editor-in-chief of Women's Wear Daily, in addition to his role as chief brand officer.
Discussion:
Adweek, Talking Biz News, WWD and MediaPost
