Top News:


Alphabet lumps YouTube's revenue with Google's in filings, making insights hard to come by, though YouTube's annual revenue is likely $16B-$25B, topping Netflix — YouTube probably generates $16 billion to $25 billion in annual revenue, making the video service big enough to crack the top half of the Fortune 500.
Discussion:
@nytimesbusiness, @puiwingtam and @nytimesbusiness


Comcast Q2 earnings beat estimates with Sky accounting for a 23.6% YoY revenue spike; NBCU revenue fell 0.8% to $8.2B, but earnings grew 8.1% YoY to $2.3B — Comcast's second quarter earnings beat analysts estimates but total revenue came in just shy of expectations.
Discussion:
Multichannel News, Broadcasting & Cable, The Wrap, Reuters and CNBC


Amazon's now-deleted tweet of a Quillette article signaled approval of its thesis: critical coverage of labor conditions will push the company to automate jobs — Like a lot of predictable liberals, I've long imagined Amazon to be a terrible place to work.
Discussion:
@amazonnews, @rmac18, @jwherrman and Mashable


After Mississippi candidate for governor denied access to a reporter because she is a woman, other journalists say this is common on the political beat — Mississippi's Republican gubernatorial primary, just two weeks away, has been marked by a scandal over the ways female reporters are treated.


Study: in 2018, US newspaper circulation reached its lowest level since 1940; digital ad revenue, which grew 23% YoY, has nearly tripled since 2011 — Every year since 2004, Pew Research Center has issued an assessment of the state of the news media, tracking key audience and economic indicators …
Discussion:
@pewjournalism and @dkiesow

About 2,100 newspapers have closed in the USA since 2004, almost all of which are weeklies, leaving ~7,000 still in publication, many with declining revenues — The newspaper industry has continued its relentless downward spiral, which started with the advent of the internet and accelerated during the Great Recession.


Vice UK, which has about 50 staff, recognizes Vice UK union after four months of negotiations; a unionization attempt three years ago was rejected by management — Vice UK has recognised a National Union of Journalists' chapel representing editorial and production staff following four months of negotiations.
Discussion:
@viceukunion, @hannahrosewens and @simonchilds13

WAN-IFRA report details how news outlets are innovating in repressive news environments with partnerships, membership programs, sponsored content, and more — Digital publishers worldwide face a common set of challenges — monetizing digital while retaining print subscribers …
Discussion:
WAN-IFRA, What's New in Publishing and American Press Institute


FTC announces a $5B fine against Facebook for repeated privacy violations as part of a settlement that requires federal oversight of its business practices — The settlement between the Federal Trade Commission and Facebook ends a 16-month probe that began after revelations of the tech giant's entanglement with Cambridge Analytica
Discussion:
@ashk4n, @chopraftc, @alexstamos, Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook, Federal Trade Commission, Bloomberg, @chopraftc, @leakissner, Quartz, Vox, CNET, Techdirt, TechCrunch, Variety, NBC News, @eff, @rashadrobinson, @aprilaser, @kimmaicutler, @alexstamos, @pkafka, @pkafka, @reckless, @moonalice, @pkafka, @chopraftc, @kottke, Bloomberg, @sarahfrier, @privacymatters, @mikeisaac, @joesimonsftc, Facebook, @nickconfessore, @markseibel, @ashk4n, @reckless, @daviduberti, Wired, Reuters, Boing Boing and Vox, more at Techmeme »


Paul Dacre says he “bears a heavy responsibility” for the belief that journalism costs nothing because of his role in launching the free Metro and Mail Online — Former Daily Mail editor Paul Dacre has said he blames himself for helping create a culture in which news content is given away for free.
Discussion:
Spectator


After Mueller's testimony, NBC's Chuck Todd showed a basic misunderstanding of the requirements of his job, critiquing “optics” of the testimony, not substance — After former Special Counsel Robert Mueller' testified before the House Judiciary Committee this morning …
Discussion:
Nuzzel, American Press Institute, CNN, Media Matters for America, Mediaite, @jakesherman, Associated Press, @cjr, @rchristiepbp, @tonyatamanuik, @aedwardslevy, @moorehn, @elongreen, @gabrieljr, @shoq, @sarah_smarsh, @mariabustillos, @reneeklahr, @kylepope, Washington Post, New York Times, Slate and Politico


How Quartz used AI to help reporters search the Mauritius Leaks by finding similar documents among the 200K contained in the trove — Earlier this year, a whistleblower secretly leaked documents from a law firm in Mauritius to a group of investigative journalists.
Discussion:
@zseward