Top News:
Orlando Sentinel:
Orlando Sentinel's editorial board says an impending takeover of Tribune by Alden Global Capital feels like “an existential moment for our newspaper's future” — The Orlando Sentinel's extensive coverage of Joel Greenberg started getting attention this week.
Om Malik / On my Om:
Unsplash, a startup that hosts freely usable images and was designed to upend behemoths like Getty Images, sells to Getty Images — Knowing of my growing distaste for the Facebookization of Instagram, Evgeny Tchebotarev, the co-founder of 500px, sent me an email about a new project from Crew, a freelancer-focused design company.
Discussion:
@unsplash, Unsplash, @waskov6, @bikehugger, @ampressman, Data Operations, @olli101, @om, @givemefoxes, @lukechesser, Digital Photography Review, Getty Images Press Room, Digital Information World, Hindustan Times, BetaKit, MUO, @readdanwrite, @davemark, @davewiner, @dangillmor and PetaPixel
Matt Grossman / Wall Street Journal:
HYBE, which manages K-pop's BTS, is buying Ithaca Holdings, the company behind artists and labels including Justin Bieber and Big Machine Label, for $1B+ — Deal would unite South Korean media company with Scooter Braun's Ithaca Holdings — The South Korean media company that manages K-pop group BTS …
David Agren / The Guardian:
An argument over press freedom erupted in Mexico after its president attacked a US human rights report that highlighted Mexico's failure to protect journalists — A growing row over press freedom has engulfed Mexico after the country's nationalist president maligned a routine US human rights report …
Discussion:
@agnescallamard, @statedept, @usmission2asean, @dawn_, @duncantucker, United States Department … and Fronteras
Tatiana Cirisano / Billboard:
Profile of Bandcamp, profitable since 2012 without ads or major investors, which has paid out $196.3M to artists since March 2020, often foregoing its fees — Without advertisers or major investors, Bandcamp turned a profit helping musicians at all levels make a living.
Tom McKay / Gizmodo:
WaPo published a piece revealing an anti-QAnon researcher's real name, when it learned he was writing for them under a pseudonym for safety, contrary to policy — One of the hosts of the anti-conspiracy theory podcast QAnon Anonymous is no longer so anonymous.
Joshua Benton / Nieman Lab:
Study: political polarization slowed in Palm Springs, CA, in July 2019 when the local paper, The Desert Sun, covered only local issues in its opinion section — Shifting the focus of a newspaper's opinion section from national (Trump! Pelosi! distant, scary!) to local (schools! development! …
Discussion:
@lenny_mendonca, @niemanlab, @mydesert, @julie_makinen, @gintautasd, @niemanreports, @jbenton, @jbenton and @julie_makinen
Danny Konstantinovic / The Business of Business:
Gumroad's CEO on the company's first 10 years, competitors like Patreon and Substack, the rise of the creator economy, and how app store “taxes” stifle growth — When you visit Gumroad's website, one of the first things you see is a simple promise. — “Gumroad makes it possible for you to: Escape your 9-5 desk job.
Discussion:
@efeng and @thebizofbiz, more at Techmeme »
Lauren Harris / Columbia Journalism Review:
An overview of the journalism crises happening globally, with significant closures and job losses in the US, Europe, Australia, India, and elsewhere — Early in the pandemic, media closures, layoffs, furloughs and salary cuts spread across the globe, encompassing the US, Canada, Mexico …
Discussion:
@ashkan, @vwpickard, @cjr, @cjr and jamlab
Rebecca Davis / Variety:
China's National Film Administration directs every cinema in China to schedule and promote at least two screenings of propaganda films per week, starting now — Every cinema in China must schedule and actively promote at least two screenings of propaganda films per week beginning this week until …
Discussion:
@luiz_fernando_j
Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
Voice artists are experiencing a surge in demand as Netflix and other streamers offer a broad range of programming from around the world in local languages — Wendel Bezerra, a voiceover artist in Sao Paulo, attained modest fame when he became the Portuguese-language voice of SpongeBob SquarePants a couple of decades ago.
Discussion:
@business, @christopherkay, @codaunite, @business, @lucas_shaw and @lucas_shaw
Julia Alexander / IGN:
Nielsen: over half the most-watched streaming programs this week came from ViacomCBS, NBCUniversal, or Disney, but were watched on Netflix or Amazon Prime Video — Netflix's biggest helper is actually Criminal Minds and iCarly. — Talk to any Netflix executive, and they'll likely boast …
Discussion:
@ign, @nina_metz, @loudmouthjulia and @loudmouthjulia
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