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Facebook extends its Local News Accelerator through the end of the year, launches a $3.5M Membership Accelerator program to help outlets with membership models — Today, we're excited to announce an additional $4.5 million investment in programs that support news publishers.
Discussion:
Nieman Lab, Wall Street Journal and @jcstearns
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Sources: Les Moonves told CBS board members months ago of an LAPD investigation into an alleged sexual assault; board hired an outside law firm to investigate — CBS board members learned several months ago that the Los Angeles Police Department had investigated an alleged sexual assault …
Discussion:
Business Insider, Slate, Hollywood Reporter, VICE News and CNBC
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USC School of Cinematic Arts suspends Les Moonves from its board of councilors and says it will discuss further action in October — In light of the recent allegations against Leslie Moonves, the USC School of Cinematic Arts has released a statement announcing its decision to suspend the CBS CEO from their Board of Councilors.
Discussion:
HuffPost, Deadline, Crain's New York Business, Ad Age, Fortune, The Wrap, mailchi.mp, Variety, Hollywood Reporter, @dylanbyers, HuffPost, The Wrap, Hollywood Reporter, Deadline and Los Angeles Times


Sources: Google is developing a news aggregation app for use in China that will comply with the country's strict censorship laws — Google is developing a news-aggregation app for use in China that will comply with the country's strict censorship laws, part of a plan to re-enter …
Discussion:
Bloomberg, TechCrunch, 9to5Google, Mashable, New York Times, Beyond Search, Fortune, MediaNama, TechNode, Entrackr, @moltke, @amir, Vanity Fair, Techdirt and The Intercept, more at Techmeme »


Activists accuse Facebook of suppressing free speech after it removed an event listing it said was part of a disinformation effort with possible ties to Russia — SAN FRANCISCO — Left-leaning political activists accused Facebook of suppressing free speech when the social media giant removed …
Discussion:
The Hill, The Daily Caller, The Hill, @washingtonpost, @tonyromm, @lizzadwoskin, @statedeptspox, @notmynypd, @notmynypd, @notmynypd, Gizmodo, NBC News, MediaNama, @dpetrohilos and The Outline, more at Techmeme »


Sources: Condé Nast plans to put Brides, Golf Digest, and W up for sale after losing $120M in 2017 due to a sharp decline in ad revenue from print — Anna Wintour is staying, but the once-plush company behind Vogue and The New Yorker lost $120 million last year.
Discussion:
New York Post, @robingivhan, @nytimesbusiness, Ad Age, Adweek, Fashionista, @tomgara, @edmundlee, @nbj914, The Wrap, @sapna and The Business of Fashion


AMC Networks' Q2 revenue rose to $761.3M for profits of $106M, a 3% YoY growth, thanks to shrinking losses at its international operations — AMC Networks said second-quarter profit rose 3% as the owner of cable networks like AMC and IFC narrowed operating losses at its international operations.
Discussion:
MediaPost


Sources: Univision chairman Haim Saban is considering stepping down and would like Tribune CEO Peter Kern to replace him — - Billionaire wants Tribune Media CEO Peter Kern to replace him — Sinclair-Tribune sale woes complicate Saban's sucesssion plan


Spotify has removed some episodes of “The Alex Jones Show” for violating policies around hate speech, but the podcast is still available on the service — The music streaming service has been the target of public outrage for carrying Jones's show.
Discussion:
Bloomberg, Variety, The Verge, @nymag, The Hill, Gizmodo, Boing Boing, Mashable, Fortune, The A.V. Club, @lucas_shaw, The FADER, The Wrap, Business Insider, @fraying, The Daily Beast, Mediaite and @fraying, more at Techmeme »


Belgian government now requires ~1K journalists living there to pay the €50 cost of the biannual background check of those covering European Council summits — BRUSSELS — Journalists who cover the regular gatherings of the leaders of European Union countries got a rude surprise this week …


The emergence of the gun-loving QAnon conspiracy theorists at a Trump rally is dangerous; Trump should stop the anti-media rhetoric at these rallies — Hostility toward the media at Donald Trump's rallies is nothing new. It infected the presidential campaign and has marred every raucous gathering of supporters since the election.
Discussion:
Poynter, TVNewser, The Hill, Washington Post, New York Times, RealClearPolitics, NPR, The Federalist, HuffPost, The Daily Caller, Mediaite, @danrather, @ennisnyt, @michaelskolnik, @theplumlinegs, Washington Post, @armandodkos, @mkraju, @theplumlinegs, Axios, @karaswisher, @theplumlinegs, @nycsouthpaw, @jayrosen_nyu, @johnrobinson, @swin24, @jamilsmith, @dabeard, @tcbrown88, @publishorperish and @johnbridges


Vizio launches WatchFree, a free, ad-supported streaming service powered by Pluto TV that offers access to over 100 channels — Think there are too many streaming services? How about one more? Today, Vizio says it's launching its own streaming service called WatchFree that will be available …