Mediagazer: Right-wing media pushed ivermectin, a deworming drug used for livestock, as a potential COVID-19 treatment despite FDA warnings that it can be unsafe for humans (Oliver Darcy/CNN)

12:05 PM ET, August 24, 2021

Top News:

Freddy Mayhew / Press Gazette:

Interview with Zillah Byng-Thorne, CEO of UK publisher Future, on acquiring The Week publisher Dennis for £300M, plans for an expansion in the US, and more — Magazine publisher Future has been on an acquisitions drive over the past five years that's earned it the label of industry …

Discussion: @pressgazette, @pressgazette, @pressgazette and @rafat

Variety:

AMC Networks CEO Josh Sapan is stepping down after 26 years and will be vice chairman; Matt Blank, former head of Showtime, will be interim CEO — Josh Sapan, a cable pioneer who has headed AMC Networks and its predecessors in the Dolan cable dynasty for more than 25 years, is seguing to the vice chairman role at AMC Networks.

Discussion: MediaPost, deadline.com, The Wrap, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg and @claireatki

Oliver Darcy / CNN:

NY Post is requiring all employees to wear masks while away from their desks, after peddling anti-mask rhetoric and questioning mask mandates in editorials — New York (CNN Business)The New York Post, the Rupert Murdoch-owned tabloid that has peddled a high volume of anti-mask rhetoric during the pandemic …

Discussion: @michaeljstern1, HuffPost, @badfoxgraphics, @cnnbusiness, @oliverdarcy, @oliverdarcy, The Wrap and Raw Story

Oliver Darcy / CNN:
Right-wing media pushed ivermectin, a deworming drug used for livestock, as a potential COVID-19 treatment despite FDA warnings that it can be unsafe for humans

Discussion: Mediaite, @againcassandra, Raw Story, @bobosphere, Media Matters for America and KNSD-TV

Reuters:

Investigation into the last days of Reuters photojournalist Danish Siddiqui, who was killed in Afghanistan after being left behind in retreat — Danish Siddiqui was with soldiers on the front line of an Afghan Special Forces clash with the Taliban. New reporting, and his last photographs …

Discussion: The Hill, @aramroston, @jbmoorephoto, @someshjha7, @sreenivasanjain, @stephengrey, @stephengrey, @stephengrey, @stephengrey and @manaman_chhina

Associated Press:

Hong Kong says it plans to amend a film censorship law to forbid screenings of movies deemed contrary to national security, including previously approved films — HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong authorities on Tuesday said they plan to amend a film censorship law to forbid screenings of movies deemed contrary to national security.

Discussion: Hollywood Reporter, Gizmodo, Reuters and Variety

Kia Kokalitcheva / Axios:

Substack buys the team behind Cocoon, a subscription-based social network for friends and family, to help foster connections between readers and writers — Newsletter startup Substack has scooped up the team behind Cocoon, a subscription-based social network for connecting with close friends and family.

Discussion: TechCrunch, Substack and @sachinmonga

Erin Woo / New York Times:

TikTok partners with Shopify to launch a pilot program letting merchants add a shopping tab to their profiles and link to products in their posts — TikTok and Shopify, the e-commerce platform, said on Tuesday that they were working together to add the ability for consumers to shop directly in the TikTok app for the first time.

Discussion: TechCrunch, Ad Age, TikTok and Shopify, more at Techmeme »

Laura Hayes / Washington City Paper:

A look at DC's spot news reporters who chronicle crime via their social media feeds, including DC REALTIME NEWS and Killmoenews, and compete with local TV news — City Paper turns 40 this year. Will you help fund the next 40 years of local news? — Every dollar you give goes back into creating the journalism you trust.

Discussion: American Press Institute, @nikkiusher, @consciousgiver, @justupthepike, @barnhardt, @marycheh, @chuckthies, @laurahayesdc, @laurahayesdc, @amandabeadle, @laurahayesdc, @wcp and @laurahayesdc

Eric Deggans / NPR:

A look at the rise of “Consequence Culture” documentaries about celebrities like R. Kelly, which push audiences to consider old scandals with new sensibilities — As the trial of disgraced R&B superstar R. Kelly unfolds, it's tough to imagine reaching this moment without the 2019 Lifetime docuseries Surviving R. Kelly.

Discussion: @deggans

Benjamin Mullin / Wall Street Journal:

Sources: Vox Media is weighing several options to finance its expansion, including a SPAC merger or an IPO; Vox says it is buying drinks website Punch — Digital media company is buying a cocktail website founded by Bertelsmann SE's Penguin Random House — Vox Media LLC said Monday …

Discussion: Axios, @benmullin, @bowtiedrobin, @srussolillo, @karanewman, @sarafischer, @jeremymbarr, @stevekovach, Tubefilter, Eater, MediaPost and Adweek

Ashley Carman / The Verge:

Spotify enables subscriptions for all US podcasters using Anchor for episodes on RSS and Spotify, adds pricing options, lets creators download subscriber emails — Plus new price tiers and email addresses — Spotify is broadening the number of people who can offer subscription podcasts and have their shows play on its service.

Discussion: TechCrunch, Variety, Podnews podcasting news and Spotify, more at Techmeme »

Zeynep Tufekci / @zeynep:

[Thread] Zeynep Tufekci says her substack will soon turn into a free newsletter for a future book as she joins NYT as an opinion columnist — So the news is out. I'm going to be a regular columnist with the New York Times. I started blogging about a decade ago simply because I had things to say, and thought it would be good to have more academic voices in the public sphere. It's been a journey, for sure. https://twitter.com/...

Discussion: @cliffordlevy, The New York Times Company, @zoabehafeez, @ianbremmer, @craignewmark, @tomgara, @brittanygrogan, @mkhammer, @rinireg, @rogerpielkejr and @joshconstine

Katherine Huggins / Mediaite:

CNN, Fox News, WSJ, NYT, WaPo, and others have successfully evacuated journalists from Afghanistan, including freelancers and interpreters — Multiple media companies have successfully evacuated journalists from Afghanistan, including Afghan freelancers and interpreters.

Discussion: Talking Biz News, @justinbaragona, @owillis, @zpleat, @susancrabtree, @betsylfisher, Daily Mail, The Jackal, Poynter, Wall Street Journal, @yarotrof, @katie_robertson, @tawnell, @dionnissenbaum and @jmalsin

Michael Savage / The Guardian:
UK agrees to visa waivers for more than 200 Afghan journalists who worked with the British media and their immediate family

Discussion: @jpmarthoz and @humayusuf

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More News:

Amaris Castillo / Poynter:
Interview with former AP reporter Tamara Lush on her decision to leave journalism and focus on writing fiction, which allowed her “to be a fuller human being”

Discussion: @poynter, @poynter, @poynter, @poynter, @janepeden, @kristenhare, @telkinsjr, @amariscastillo and @tamaralush

Nicole LaPorte / Fast Company:
Profile of Invisible Universe, which is developing animated franchises using characters born on social media with the help of influencers like Serena Williams

Discussion: @serenawilliams, @manuseuge, @chrisbrogan, @zoescaman, @ruima, @randgetlin, @spencerrascoff, @prettyboyshav, @brennanjp, @besvinick, @rrhoover, @michaelsidgmore, @alexisohanian and @psythor, more at Techmeme »

Dominick Mastrangelo / The Hill:
Jill Biden's press secretary calls on Fox News to apologize for a host's comments that the first lady failed the country by letting Joe Biden run for president

Discussion: Twitchy, Poynter, @thedemcoalition, @scottfeinberg, @brianstelter and deadline.com

Gene Maddaus / Variety:
California Film Commission awards a record $138.8M in film tax credits, up from $109M awarded in 2016, with Netflix alone getting $43.3M

Discussion: The Wrap

Brian Steinberg / Variety:
NBCUniversal says it is “assembling a full suite of interoperable measurement solutions”, as Nielsen's national TV ratings come under intense scrutiny

Discussion: @bristei, @bristei, AdExchanger, Ad Age, nexttv.com, The Drum, MediaPost, The Wrap and Realscreen

Earlier Picks:

Kim Lyons / The Verge:
YouTube says its Partner Program has 2M creators and the number of new channels joining the program in 2020 doubled YoY as channels making $100K+ grew 35% YoY

Discussion: YouTube Official Blog, @susanwojcicki, Digital TV Europe, MediaPost, musically.com, Axios, Variety and Adweek

Jim Friedlich / The Philadelphia Inquirer:
How the bipartisan Local Journalism Sustainability Act in US Congress would publicly fund local media orgs while letting them keep their editorial independence

Ben Smith / New York Times:
How Russia's crackdown has changed outlets like Meduza, which has an audience of 10M+/month and lost 95% of advertisers after being marked a “foreign agent”

Discussion: Columbia Journalism Review, The Independent, @latlands, @kevinrothrock, @freedomofpress, @antontroian, @nytimes, @cernovich, @joelcpj, @crayonscrayons, @rasmus_kleis and @benyt

Brian Steinberg / Variety:
Sources: Rachel Maddow has agreed to a new multi-year deal with MSNBC, which will include developing new projects with the network and NBCUniversal

Discussion: Vanity Fair, @ingridriley, Axios, @brianstelter, Too Much TV Newsletter, Mediaite, @benmullin, @variety, Newser, Fox News, Wall Street Journal, The Hill and Insider

From Techmeme:

Emma Roth / The Verge:
Mark Zuckerberg says Threads is testing custom feeds for certain profiles or topics; the Threads' version seems easier to use than Bluesky's custom feeds

Jibin Joseph / PCMag:
UK mobile operator Virgin Media O2 creates Daisy, an AI-generated “scambaiter” tool that mimics the voice of an elderly woman to waste scammers' time

Financial Times:
Sources: xAI raised $5B at a $45B valuation, almost double its valuation a few months ago; SpaceX prepares a tender offer that would value the company at $250B+

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