Top News:
Margaret Sullivan / Washington Post:
CNN's first debate, featuring divisive questions, frustratingly short response times, and outsize attention to fringe candidates, was a lost opportunity — About 40 minutes after the start of Tuesday night's Democratic primary debate, I got an email from a Washington Post reader with this subject line: “I don't care for this.”
Discussion:
@realdonaldtrump, Columbia Journalism Review, Slate, Media Matters for America, Deadline, Bloomberg, @jayrosen_nyu, Washington Post, Mediaite, Fortune, Mediaite, Adweek, Hollywood Reporter, New York Post, @jcstearns, @nymag, The Cut, @jamesfallows, @deanluk, @lpolgreen, @mattgertz, @slate, HuffPost, @jayrosen_nyu, @rmc031, @cjr, Politico, @lawrence, @fenitn, @jon_allsop and @gadyepstein
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Rick Porter / Hollywood Reporter:
Tuesday's Democratic debate drew 8.69M viewers, down 43% from the opening debate in June, a slide that mirrors the decline for analogous debates in 2015 — The news network's coverage of the 10 candidates slides by more than 40 percent over the first debate of the primary cycle in late June.
Tom Jones / Poynter:
Internal memo says LA Times is nowhere close to meeting its goal of doubling digital subs from 150K in 2018 to 300K in 2019, having only netted 13K this year — Troubling news at one of the nation's top newspapers. — Digital subscriptions at the Los Angeles Times are way below expectations …
Discussion:
Nieman Lab, American Press Institute, @raju, @noahchestnut, @davewiner, @xor, @samanthamatsu, @juliaturner, @melaniesill, @mitrakalita, @jkristufek, @chrisburkeshay, @juliaturner, @daytonpubpolicy, @sewellchan, @juliaturner, @emilyweinstein, @scribeguy, @juliaturner, @mattdpearce, @conroyforreal, @esotouric, @poynter, @juliaturner, @shelbygrad, @susannahbreslin, @palewire, @jmckellogg, @jbenton, @jayrosen_nyu and @thebenbergman
Laura Hazard Owen / Nieman Lab:
After six months fact-checking for Facebook, Full Fact makes 10 recommendations, including expanding the program to Instagram, enlisting help on public health — In December 2016, Facebook enlisted a handful of U.S.-based news organizations (ABC News, Snopes, PolitiFact, FactCheck.org …
Wall Street Journal:
Four major broadcast networks sue Locast, which is funded by AT&T, to try to stop it from freely retransmitting the signals of their local TV stations — CBS, ABC, NBCU and Fox say AT&T-funded Locast is retransmitting their signals without permission and in violation of copyright law
Tim Ingham / Music Business Worldwide:
Spotify reports 108M paying subscribers in Q2, up 31% YoY, and an operating loss of €3M on revenue of €1.67B, up 31% YoY; stock drops 5%+ — Spotify closed its second calendar quarter this year with 108m subscribers and 232m total Monthly Active Users (MAUs).
Discussion:
The Verge, Spotify, VentureBeat, Variety, Financial Times, RAIN News, Billboard, 9to5Mac, @pkafka, @richattbd and Engadget, more at Techmeme »
Alex Heath / The Information:
Sources: Facebook is working on a new TV device that can stream video and make video calls using its Portal tech, and has approached Netflix, Disney, and others — Facebook has approached Netflix, Disney and other media companies about putting their streaming services on a new Facebook device …
Discussion:
Variety, Multichannel News, The Streamable, Engadget, The Verge and FierceVideo, more at Techmeme »
Erik Wemple / Washington Post:
Deadspin, owned by G/O Media, is planning a story on company CEO Jim Spanfeller; Spanfeller reacts publicly with plans for an outside editor to review the story — A friendly piece of advice for whomever ends up buying the former Gawker Media sites: Don't try to tell them what to write.
Discussion:
New York Post, @benmullin, @benmullin, @megreenwell, @pblest, @albertburneko, @nbj914, @libbycwatson, @joannelipman, @ourand_sbj, @erikwemple, @erikwemple and @erikwemple
Jon Marcus / Nieman Reports:
A look at the debate behind the journalistic practice of strategic silence when it comes to naming shooters, addressing lies, and covering extremist ideologies — Journalists often withhold details of mass shooters and suicides to discourage copycats. Should that “strategic silence” …
Discussion:
@niemanreports and @mathewi
Claire Atkinson / NBC News:
Sources: if CBS and Viacom merge, Shari Redstone will consider even more acquisitions to help the company compete with other sizable media operations — Shari Redstone has held conversations about quickly pursuing acquisitions that would help the company compete with other sizable media operations.
Discussion:
@claireatki
Alexandra Steigrad / New York Post:
Bustle Digital Group, which had planned to relaunch Gawker in September, has laid off Gawker's staff and postponed the relaunch — A planned relaunch of snarky news and gossip web site Gawker is on hold indefinitely, The Post has learned. — Bustle Digital Group, which owns Gawker …
Discussion:
Press Gazette, Newser, The Cut, New York Times, @lyzl, @rafat, @kevinmdraper, @timmarchman, @libbycwatson, @jon_christian, Variety and The Wrap
Josh Kosman / New York Post:
Sources: Nielsen open to selling itself in pieces after failing to find a buyer for the whole firm; Blackstone and Goldman Sachs dropped out earlier this year — An auction to sell Nielsen Holdings appears to be a bust — but the ratings giant has not given up and is now looking to sell itself in pieces, The Post has learned.
Variety:
How WarnerMedia CEO John Stankey, a long-time AT&T executive and no-nonsense manager, is remaking WarnerMedia, trying to bridge the culture gap with Time Warner — Months after AT&T agreed to buy Time Warner, senior leaders from HBO, Warner Bros. and Turner flew out to the telecom giant's headquarters …
Discussion:
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