Mediagazer: According to an email sent to podcast producers, Amazon says it will add free podcasts in Amazon Music, for both free and paid tiers, and on Audible (Matthew Keys/The Desk)

8:30 PM ET, August 10, 2020

Top News:

Facebook, Google, and Twitter are making the same mistakes big news outlets made decades ago, trying to placate hyperpartisan critics who are “working the refs” — The new referees in American politics are Facebook, Google and Twitter, and they would be wise to pay attention to lessons the old media tried to learn.

Bloomberg:

Hong Kong police have arrested pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai as well as his sons and Next Digital execs under its new national security law — - Lai's media group had backed pro-democracy demonstrations — His two sons, media executives also arrested: report

Discussion: New York Times, @joshuawongcf, Wall Street Journal, Nieman Lab, Wall Street Journal, South China Morning Post, @wesleyhunttx, Financial Times, @antoniogm, Los Angeles Times, Please pray …, The Foreign Correspondents …, @senjeffmerkley, @senatorromney, @aliciakearns, @zachweinberg, @ceccgov, Foreign Affairs, @mpwangtingyu, The Atlantic, @jchengwsj, Committee to Protect …, @jimsciutto, @ezracheungtoto, @nathanlawkc, @maxboot, @jchengwsj, Fortune, @katiekings, @kanghexin, @andygreensf, @fion_li, @tanganzhu, @melissakchan, @melissakchan, @maryhui, @birdyword, @birdyword, @paulmozur, @maryhui, @jcrutchmer, @maryhui, @maryhui, @maryhui, @shibanimahtani, @shibanimahtani, @w7voa, @chungyanchow, @axios, @lisafleisher, @terryglavin, @business, @iainmarlow, @rdrv3, @dangillmor, @evadou, @newley, @newley, @business, @mcfaul, @alvarosmith_, Washington Post, Reuters and Axios

Galileo Cheng / @galileocheng:
[Thread] Police in Hong Kong are raiding the Next Media Building, amid the arrest of Jimmy Lai and six others under a national security law passed in late June

Discussion: Press Gazette, Bloomberg, @williamyang120, @hkpoliceforce, @aaronmcn, @aaronmcn, @aaronmcn, @aaronmcn, @aaronmcn, @bydanielvictor and @fion_li

Juli Clover / MacRumors:

In iOS 14, Apple News+ publishers' web links are opened in the Apple News app by default for Apple News+ subscribers, though this feature can be turned off — Apple News in iOS 14 and macOS Big Sur has a toggle that's designed to open web links from ‌Apple News‌+ publishers directly …

Wendy Lee / Los Angeles Times:

TikTok announces first round of recipients of its $200M US creator fund, composed of 19 creators, 6 in LA; source: at least one will receive six figures — TikTok on Monday pushed back against rivals eager to poach its U.S. video creators (and to lure their audiences) …

Discussion: MediaPost, @unitedtalent, @rrhoover, Hollywood Reporter, The Verge, @stokel, @kalhanr, @taylorlorenz, @natjarv, @thr, @tubefilter and @loudmouthjulia

Steven Perlberg / Digiday:

Some publishers worry about the end of the “Trump Bump” in traffic, ratings, and subscriptions if he loses to Biden, as the pandemic decimates the ad market — It had been more than a decade since the New York Times launched a brand advertising campaign, but 2017 felt like the right moment.

Discussion: Mediaite, @jeremymbarr, @gerryfsmith, @ethanz, @perlberg, @andrewhclark, @maxwellstrachan, @hotlinejosh, @media_evan, @ddayen and @_cooper

Tim Baysinger / The Wrap:

Warner Bros. TV Group to consolidate its scripted and unscripted TV production operations, folding its cable/streaming unit Warner Horizon into Warner Bros. TV — Warner Bros. TV unscripted head Mike Darnell will continue to lead Warner Horizon's unscripted unit

Discussion: Hollywood Reporter, Deadline, Variety and @snoodit

Brian Steinberg / Variety:
Sources: after its corporate restructuring announced Friday, about 800 layoffs are expected in WarnerMedia's HBO and Warner Bros. divisions, starting Monday

Discussion: Variety, Ars Technica, Business Insider, Musings on Mouse, The Streamable, @xpangler, The Hill, @jbflint, @loudmouthjulia, @bristei and @variety

Lesley Goldberg / Hollywood Reporter:

Disney changes name of 20th Century Fox Television to 20th Television and Fox 21 TV Studios to Touchstone Television — No leadership changes or layoffs are expected to come with the moves. — To no surprise, Disney is rebranding its TV studios to remove the Fox name from two of them.

Discussion: The Verge, The Wrap, @snazzyq, Forbes, Variety, @rbpundit, @backlon, @harrymccracken, @wonderella, @thepressboxpod and Deadline

Ethan Zuckerman / The Atlantic:

Trump, who has dominated US media coverage since 2016, and the pandemic, which has dominated coverage in 2020, are crowding out almost all other topics — Over the past six months, it has seemed like every news story is about the coronavirus, or President Donald Trump's failed response to it.

Discussion: @ethanz, @niemanreports, @stefanie2000, @medialab, @bkcharvard and @adriennelaf

Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai / VICE:

In the wake of a widely protested election in Belarus, nonprofits say the government has blocked many sites, including those of independent media and Twitter — Twitter, local journalists, and internet freedom organizations report that there are widespread internet blocks in Belarus.

Discussion: Fast Company, @josephfcox, @lorenzofb and @janelytv, more at Techmeme »

Robert Channick / Chicago Tribune:

Chatham names former Tribune Publishing CEO Tony Hunter as CEO of McClatchy when the newspaper chain emerges from Chapter 11 bankruptcy next month — Former Tribune Publishing CEO Tony Hunter will become CEO of McClatchy Co. when the newspaper chain emerges from Chapter 11 bankruptcy next month …

Discussion: Columbia Journalism Review, @tonywhunter, @raju, @chicagotribune, PR Newswire and Daily Herald

Maxwell Tani / The Daily Beast:

Sports Illustrated staff describe mismanagement issues under Maven like the CEO hiring his relatives; Meredith has limited Maven's access to SI's photo archive — CUSTODY BATTLE — Staffers at the iconic sports mag feel caught in the middle of a war between the brand's owner and its publisher …

Discussion: Awful Announcing, @kerrymflynn, @rolandsmartin, @baileycarlin, @mylesudland, @jatayler, @thedailybeast, @noahshachtman, @maxwelltani, @maxwelltani, @mccarthyryanj, @maxwelltani, @maxwelltani and @digitalshields

John Koetsier / Forbes:

Apple Advertising seems to be on by default in iOS 14, while other advertisers and ad networks will have to ask for permission to track users — Is Apple playing fair? — Apple looks to be giving its own ad network a leg up on competitors with customer data that other ad networks can't access.

Discussion: @rauschma, @om, @johnkoetsier, @pbannist, @anthonykatsur, @worcester_spoon, @aripap, @slayser8, @admonstergavin, @caseyoppenheim, @rlerallut, @eric_seufert, @eric_seufert and @aviwankanobi, more at Techmeme »

Samson Amore / The Wrap:

Women hosted just 23 of the top 109 podcasts that appeared on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, and Google Podcasts charts in 31 straight days in June and July — Women represent roughly half of podcast listeners nationwide, but an overwhelming majority of the top-charting shows across …

Discussion: @sharonwaxman and @thewrap

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More News:

Matthew Keys / The Desk:
According to an email sent to podcast producers, Amazon says it will add free podcasts in Amazon Music, for both free and paid tiers, and on Audible

Discussion: @matthewkeyslive and @matthewkeyslive, more at Techmeme », Thanks:@matthewkeyslive

Kevin Tran / Variety:
Data from 7Park: “Hamilton” on Disney+ reached 37% of US households in July, the largest streaming audience of 2020, ~3X that of Netflix's widest-reaching title

Discussion: /Film, @hesherman, @variety, @bignoah256, @heidi_chung, @mr_masonthe2nd, @brianduffield and @awallenstein

Think with Google:
Survey of video watching habits: TV-era quality markers like production value, being on a preferred platform, and famous actors ranked low on reasons to watch

Discussion: @stshank, @raju, @mohamed and @stokel

Sheila Dang / Reuters:
In a memo to advertisers, TikTok says it will refund ad campaigns it can't fulfill due to a US ban and will work with influencers to migrate to other platforms

Discussion: Wall Street Journal

Alex Barker / Financial Times:
With 2,500 claims of improper use of unlicensed music on Twitch in June, the Artists Rights Alliance, a trade body, criticizes Jeff Bezos' “wilful blindness”

Discussion: @daveleeft and NME, more at Techmeme »

Earlier Picks:

Noam Cohen / Wired:
A look at Wikipedia's growing skepticism towards Fox News, designated as a generally unreliable source on politics and science in July

Discussion: @caitlin__kelly, @pandemic_times, @noamcohen, @privacydigest and @drleighmjohnson

The Guardian:
BBC's Tony Hall apologizes after the N-word was used during a TV news broadcast, following mass complaints; BBC had initially refused to apologize last month

Discussion: Press Gazette, BBC, NBC News, @larrymadowo, @wahibaasa, @dionnegrant, @bbcnewsbeat, @mlothianmclean, CNN, Metro.co.uk, @bbcsangita, @sofiehagen, @thelondonhughes, @ammarkazmi_, BBC, The Independent and Deadline

Seb Joseph / Digiday:
The Trade Desk and Roku, the two largest independent ad tech companies, now have a combined market cap of $42.8B, vs. $35.1B for Omnicom, WPP, IPG, and Publicis

Megan K. Stack / New York Times:
Profile of journalist Behrouz Boochani, who as a detainee exposed human rights abuses in Australia-run offshore detention center for refugees after fleeing Iran

Discussion: @cathyreisenwitz, @melissakchan, @nytimesworld, @laurenthehough and @nytmag

Andy Paras / @andyparas:
[Thread] A look at SC's newspaper war amid media contraction, as The Post and Courier and McClatchy's The State add reporters, sometimes poaching from Gannett

From Techmeme:

Nintendo of America on YouTube:
A livestream of Nintendo's Switch 2 event

John Hudson / Washington Post:
Sources and docs: White House National Security Advisor Michael Waltz and other NSC members have conducted government business via their personal Gmail accounts

Wikimedia:
The Wikimedia Foundation says the base bandwidth demand for downloading Wikimedia Commons multimedia content is up 50% since January 2024, driven by AI crawlers

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