Top News:
Jon Allsop / Columbia Journalism Review:
Survey of layoffs and closures in media between Jan and June 2019: thousands were laid off or offered a buyout; industry is on course for worst year since 2009 — Between January and May this year, approximately 3,000 people working in the news industry were laid off or offered a buyout.
Discussion:
Bloomberg, @paul_bowers, @chick_in_kiev, @mattgertz, American Press Institute and Politico
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Samantha Sunne / Poynter:
Of the 65 journalists laid off at New Orleans' Times-Picayune, 19 plan to remain as journalists in the city; The Advocate hired 10, 3 with grant-funded salaries — Less than a third of the former Times-Picayune staffers are staying in New Orleans journalism
Discussion:
@skooks, Poynter, Miami New Times, @yatpundit, @lhcbmatt, @lamarwhitejr, @jameskarst, @tmorris504, @jbenton, @poynter, @bpwarsh, @jbenton and @poynter
Andrew Flanagan / NPR:
Big Machine Label Group, Taylor Swift's old label, was sold to a company owned by the manager of Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande; source: deal valued at $300M+ — The country-pop record company Big Machine Label Group, one of the most successful independent labels in the country …
Ken Dilanian / NBC News:
Study finds gains in Trump's standing in polls in 2016 closely correlated with high levels of social media activity by the Internet Research Agency — The study does not prove Russian interference swung the election to Trump. But it did find Trump's poll numbers improved when Russian trolls were active.
Discussion:
firstmonday.org, Boing Boing and Reason
Todd Spangler / Variety:
NBC News Now hires former Fox and WSJ reporter Alison Morris as its first full-time anchor, after launching the free streaming service in May — NBC News Now, five weeks after the free streaming service's launch, has a full-time anchor: Alison Morris, who most recently was with Fox Corp.'s Fox 5 in New York.
Discussion:
TVWeek.com, Deadline, Talking Biz News and TVNewser
Sam Stein / The Daily Beast:
Progressive news site ThinkProgress, launched 14 years ago, is put up for sale by the Center for American Progress as it faces falling ad revenue and donations — News site launched during the Bush years is running millions of dollars short. Its parent think tank says it will consider the editorial leanings of prospective owners.
Discussion:
@cd_hooks, @kileykroh, @jbenton, @igorvolsky, @thedailybeast, @joesudbay, @waywardwinifred, @celisa_mia, @chrisbangsdc, @lhfang, @rebleber, @daniellebmclean, @shortformernie, @elienyc, @zackford, @willmenaker, @asymmetricinfo, @jamessurowiecki, @rebekahentralgo, @ddayen, @davidsirota, @lauraolin, @josephsreed, @mattyglesias, @fshakir, @annaholmes, @alyssarosenberg, CNN and Mediaite
Brian Barrett / Wired:
Loss of ebooks bought in Microsoft's book section is a reminder that digital rights management is defective by design as goods don't really belong to the buyer — YOUR ITUNES MOVIES, your Kindle books—they're not really yours. You don't own them. You've just bought a license that allows …
Discussion:
@michellemanafy, @williambibbiani, BGR, VICE, Gizmodo and CNET
Erik Hayden / Hollywood Reporter:
Simon and Schuster to publish a book by CNN's Brian Stelter on the relationship between Trump and Fox News, in 2020 — The ‘Reliable Sources’ anchor will pen an untitled book looking at the network's relationship with the president, set to publish in 2020.
Discussion:
The Hill
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
Epidemic Sound, a search engine for video producers looking to license music for soundtracks, raises $20M at a reported $370M valuation — The rise of streamed video has seen the market for licensing streamed music boom in the last few years, with not only consumers using video as a medium …
Discussion:
hypebot, more at Techmeme »
Travis Yeh / Facebook:
Facebook updates News Feed ranking algorithm to reduce the distribution of sensational health claims or promotion of products with health-related claims — People come together on Facebook to talk about, advocate for, and connect around things like nutrition, fitness and health issues.
Discussion:
TechCrunch, VentureBeat, The Hill and 9to5Mac, more at Techmeme »
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Spotify ends its direct music upload beta program for artists after debuting it last year, saying it would rather focus on features unique to the platform — Spotify is shutting down a program that allowed indie artists to upload their own music to the streaming service, the company announced today.
Discussion:
artists.spotify.com, Music Business Worldwide, @lucas_shaw, @lucas_shaw, Highsnobiety, Bloomberg, RAIN News, Engadget and Variety, more at Techmeme »
Brooks Barnes / New York Times:
Oscars Academy invites 842 new members, of which 50% are women and 29% are minorities; if all accept, composition will be 32% female and remain 16% POC — LOS ANGELES — Racing to make good on a 2016 pledge to double female and minority membership by the end of next year …
Discussion:
CNN, Vanity Fair and The Guardian
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