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Sumner Redstone, the mogul who transformed National Amusements into a media empire that included Viacom, Paramount Pictures, and CBS, has died at 97 — Mr. Redstone built empire of TV, movies and radio that became focus of power struggle — Sumner Redstone, who turned his family's movie-theater company …
Discussion:
Variety, New York Times, Deadline, The Wrap, NPR, Forbes, New York Post, NBC News, CNBC, Bloomberg, Hollywood Reporter, Rolling Stone, Decider, @emilybell, @davidenrich, @brianstelter, @eriqgardner, @claireatki, @loulumenick, @sherman4949, Business Wire and @brianstelter


In a new filing, Microsoft adds Netflix, Hulu, and Tencent to its list of competitors, saying its gaming services compete with other entertainment providers — Microsoft may be toying with the idea of buying Tik-Tok, but more than ever, its bread-and-butter is basic cloud services and server software for businesses.
Discussion:
@pkafka, @toddbishop, @dylanbyers and @jbflint, more at Techmeme »


As part of WarnerMedia's layoffs, most of the staff of the streaming service DC Universe have been laid off, as well as top execs and editors of DC Comics — The majority of staff of the streaming service DC Universe has been laid off, as has editor-in-chief Bob Harras and multiple other executives on the publishing side.


A case study of a story about Bible burning in Portland, covered by RT and its Ruptly video service, then amplified by US right-wing media and politicians — WASHINGTON — For some of President Trump's loudest cheerleaders, it was a story too good to check out: Black Lives Matters protesters in Portland …
Discussion:
@bymikebaker, Business Insider, @jason_kint, @olganyc1211, @jimrutenberg, @clairecmc, @mollyjongfast, @jessedamiani, @karoli, Oregonian, The Independent, The Hill and The Slot


Facebook's new policy will label as political any promoted content by US news outlets with direct ties to political groups and ban them from the News tab — Facebook is rolling out a new policy that will prevent U.S. news publishers with “direct, meaningful ties” to political groups …
Discussion:
@emilybell, @mathewi, @newslitproject, @cjr, @kellykborn, @dellcam, @arawnsley, @persily, @robpegoraro and @nickpacilio


The Grayzone, founded by Max Blumenthal, has become a favorite of China's state media and government as it denies crimes against humanity affecting Uighurs — A website called The Grayzone has made a name for itself by denying China's campaign of cultural and demographic genocide in Xinjiang.
Discussion:
@davidpaulk, @yair_rosenberg, @im_pulse, @sashru88, @jayshams, @alex, @20committee, @bethanyallenebr and @josh_hammer


After a six month break, Time Out plans to resume its print edition only in Madrid, Barcelona, and London and is unlikely to do so in the US or Portugal — Group to exit US and cut jobs in focus on food markets and digital after pandemic — Time Out has published its first magazine following …
Discussion:
@petergriffiths_, @zencudosaas and @plitter


SimilarWeb: ~59% of traffic to Trump's campaign website from May to July came from The Gateway Pundit and Citizen Free Press, a fringe-right news aggregator — Traffic to President Trump's presidential website is more than 4x greater than traffic to Joe Biden's presidential website …
Discussion:
@mikemadden and @bencjacobs


CuriosityStream, a streaming service for documentaries on science and history, has agreed to go public through a ~$330M merger with Software Acquisition Group — CuriosityStream, a streaming platform for documentaries on science, history and other topics, has agreed to go public through …


Ramona S. Diaz's new documentary A Thousand Cuts follows Maria Ressa's and Rappler's conflict with Rodrigo Duterte's regime — The journalist who became a target of Rodrigo Duterte, the Philippines president, talks about her surreal present and her uncertain future
Discussion:
@povmagazine, The Daily Beast, New York Times and CNN


Researchers find network of 178 hyperpartisan low-quality news sites whose underlying purpose is to collect and sell email addresses and other personal info — The reality curated by “The Bearded Patriot” and “The Wolf of Washington” is dismal. — The websites tell of nonstop riots and “crazed leftists.”
Discussion:
@lachlan, @isaacstanbecker, @disinfoindex, @drslayton, @seth_hettena, @dfrlab, @craigsilverman, @josh_braun, @anneapplebaum, @washpostbiz, @davidclinchnews and @brianstelter


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 …
Discussion:
Digiday, @arctictony, The Verge, American Press Institute, @charlesarthur, @adrs, What's New in Publishing, A Media Operator, @arctictony, @mattnavarra, @harrymccracken, @claytonmorris, @tomcoates, @jaredcwhite, @alexjamesfitz, @scmitchp, The Loop, @tomgara, @lizmair, @nathanblawrence, @mgsiegler, @tomcoates, @tomcoates, @tomcoates, @dimsartz_, @tomcoates, @krave, @bzamayo, @panzer, @robpegoraro, @eric_seufert, AdExchanger and @om, more at Techmeme »