Mediagazer: Michael Lacey, co-founder of the classified ad site Backpage, gets five years in prison and a $3M fine for money laundering; two other executives get 10 years (New York Times)

2:50 PM ET, August 29, 2024

Top News:

A Hong Kong court finds two former editor-in-chiefs of defunct outlet Stand News guilty of sedition, the first such conviction of journalists there since 1997 — Two former chief editors of defunct outlet Stand News have been found guilty of sedition, marking the first such conviction …

Reuters:

A profile of Stand News, a nonprofit founded in 2014 that was Hong Kong's leading online media outlet before coverage of protests in 2019 led to its closure — After Hong Kong police raided Stand News and arrested two editors, its staff decided that to avoid more arrests they had to shut …

Discussion: Semafor, Reuters, New York Times, Al Jazeera and Hong Kong Free Press HKFP

Axios:

At ESPN's media day, executives said ESPN plans to lean heavily into sports betting, streaming, and social media, including by supporting influencers — - Its biggest priority is a forthcoming streaming service that will include all of its TV networks and its current streaming service ESPN+ …

Discussion: The Streamable, @schneidremarks.bsky.social, @hobdat.bsky.social, @colewagoner.bsky.social, @dubleahy.bsky.social, @russbengtson.bsky.social, @publichealth.bsky.social, @apocalypticanow.bsky.social, Timothy B Baysinger on LinkedIn, Sara Fischer on LinkedIn, Advanced Television, @sarafischer, Front Office Sports and Deadline

Brian Steinberg / Variety:
ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro says the company has suggested to sports leagues that it could help distribute games to specific markets via its streaming products

Discussion: What's On Disney Plus, Front Office Sports, Associated Press, Barrett Media, Sportico, @bubbaprog.ilovecitr.us, TVNewsCheck, The Streamable, The Wrap, Media Play News, The Hollywood Reporter and Deadline

David Pierce / The Verge:
ESPN launches a Where to Watch feature on its website and app, which aims to be a universal guide for streaming sports with data from 250+ streaming services

Discussion: @bradybrendan1, @sarafischer, @tvgrimreaper, @sarthakgh, Engadget, ESPN, @kennysmith.bsky.social, Ars Technica, The Desk, 9to5Mac, Awful Announcing, The Streamable, The Hill, @coreypein.bsky.social, What's On Disney Plus and TVNewsCheck

Francesca Ebel / Washington Post:

Reuters denies Russia's claim that slain security adviser Ryan Evans was a UK spy and calls Russia's claim that Western agencies control Reuters “ludicrous” — Russia's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman connected the killing of security adviser Ryan Evans to foreign mercenaries aiding Ukrainian troops.

Discussion: Talking Biz News, Reuters, @siobhan_ogrady, @jefffisch and @macwbishop

Mathew Ingram / Columbia Journalism Review:

Mathew Ingram, chief digital writer for Columbia Journalism Review and formerly a senior writer for Fortune and GigaOm, is leaving after nearly seven years — Before we go any further, I should note that this is my last newsletter for CJR, as I am moving on from my job as the magazine's chief digital writer.

Discussion: Talking Biz News, @jon_allsop, Columbia Journalism Review on LinkedIn, @mathewi and @mathewi@threads.net

New York Times:

Michael Lacey, co-founder of the classified ad site Backpage, gets five years in prison and a $3M fine for money laundering; two other executives get 10 years — Michael Lacey, 76, co-founded the website that became known for its ads for prostitution. He was convicted on a money laundering charge …

Discussion: Arizona Republic, US Department of Justice and Associated Press

New York Times:

Experts say Pavel Durov's arrest is likely an outlier, as the legal bar is high in the US and Europe to prosecute tech executives for content on their platforms — The indictment of Pavel Durov, Telegram's founder, as part of an investigation into illicit activities on the messaging app set off worries …

Discussion: London Evening Standard, Reuters, Consequence, Daniela Andrade on LinkedIn, Fortune, @joshuafoust@appdot.net, @jeffjarvis@mastodon.social, Wired, Bloomberg, Gizmodo and Al Jazeera, more at Techmeme »

Kate Knibbs / Wired:

Facebook, Instagram, Craigslist, Tumblr, the NYT, the FT, The Atlantic, Vox Media, USA Today, Condé Nast, and more block Apple's Applebot-Extended AI crawler — This summer, Apple gave websites more control over whether the company could train its AI models on their data.

Discussion: AppleInsider and 9to5Mac, more at Techmeme »

Robbie Whelan / Wall Street Journal:

A profile of Disney Experiences Chair Josh D'Amaro, who turned the unit into Disney's main profit engine and is in contention to succeed Bob Iger — Josh D'Amaro, head of the entertainment giant's theme-park division, is in contention to succeed Bob Iger — ANAHEIM, Calif. …

Katie Kilkenny / The Hollywood Reporter:

Anti-piracy group ACE says it worked with Hanoi police to shutter Hanoi-based Fmovies and its affiliates, “the largest pirate streaming operation in the world” — The Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment, whose members include Netflix and Walt Disney Studios …

Discussion: The Wrap, Advanced Television, Variety, Los Angeles Times and Deadline, more at Techmeme »

Eric Levenson / CNN:

A jury in Las Vegas finds former Nevada politician Robert Telles guilty of fatally stabbing Las Vegas Review Journal reporter Jeff German in September 2022 — A jury has sentenced Robert Telles, a former Nevada politician found guilty of fatally stabbing a Las Vegas investigative reporter …

Katie Robertson / New York Times:

Russia bars 14 WSJ employees, including EIC Emma Tucker, five NYT journalists, four WaPo journalists, and dozens of other Americans from entering the country — The list of barred journalists includes the top editor of The Wall Street Journal. Dozens of other Americans are also forbidden to enter Russia …

Discussion: @katie_robertson, TVNewsCheck, CNN, Voice of America, The Hill, Associated Press, Talking Biz News and Reuters

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Breaking News Editor, London — Bloomberg

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More News:

Gabrielle Russon / Poynter:
How students at the Independent Florida Alligator used public records and cultivated sources to cover college president Ben Sasse's spending and resignation

Discussion: @craigtimes, @alissagary1, @poynter and @poynter

Felicia Alvarez / Louisiana Illuminator:
A look at Chevron's local news site Permian Proud, produced by the same PR firm behind California's The Richmond Standard, pushing positive oil industry news

Discussion: Media Matters for America, @reporteralvarez, @reporteralvarez and @reporteralvarez

Kayleigh Barber / Digiday:
Excerpts from an interview with Jessica Sibley, CEO of Time, on negotiating with AI companies, taking down the paywall, predicting a “very strong” H2, and more

Discussion: @digiday

Nico Grant / New York Times:
Yelp sues Google, alleging Google used its dominance in general search to gain an unfair advantage in local search services and local search advertising markets

Andrew Marchand / New York Times:
MSG Networks and YES plan to launch the Gotham Sports App, with Yankees, Knicks, Nets, and NY area NHL games, for $42/mo., ahead of the Knicks and Nets seasons

Discussion: StreamTV Insider, MediaPost, Variety, @tvgrimreaper, @loudmouthjulia, @frankelfrankel, @sbondynba, NBC New York, The Desk, @kennysmith@mstdn.social, Awful Announcing, Next TV, Sphere Entertainment Co., Barrett Media, Front Office Sports, The Hollywood Reporter, Sportico and New York Post

Earlier Picks:

Sophie Culpepper / Nieman Lab:
The Maine Monitor, The Nevada Independent, and Deep South Today sign content sharing deals with the AP, which now has deals with nine nonprofits in 10 states

Discussion: @ralstonreports, @spj_tweets, MediaPost and @davidpwhelan@mastodon.world

Lisa Richwine / Reuters:
Disney's ESPN extends its deal with the US Tennis Association to continue broadcasting the US Open in the US, Latin America, and the Caribbean through 2037

Discussion: @christophclarey, Front Office Sports, @benrothenberg, Associated Press, New York Times, Advanced Television, Awful Announcing, Variety, Barrett Media, Sportico, Sports Media Watch, The Wrap, Deadline, MediaPost, Bloomberg and The Hollywood Reporter

Nate Raymond / Reuters:
A US court rules TikTok must face a lawsuit over a 10-year-old's death and the “blackout challenge”, saying algorithmic curation isn't protected by Section 230

Jonathan Stempel / Reuters:
The Second US Circuit Court of Appeals grants Sarah Palin a new trial in her defamation suit against the New York Times over a 2017 editorial

Discussion: Washington Post, CNN, Politico, CNBC, @mikesacksesq, ABC News, @bgrueskin, @sarahpalinusa, Raw Story, Axios, New York Daily News, New York Times, KXTV, Reason, Deadline, Mediaite and Reuters

Pavel Durov Detained / Bloomberg:
Russians, from Kremlin officials to Putin's harshest critics, see Telegram as a source of both uncensored info, including on Ukraine, and problematic content

Discussion: Meduza, Agence France-Presse, Al Jazeera and New York Post

From Techmeme:

Nilay Patel / The Verge:
iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max review: physical shutter button, 4K120 video, and camera tone control, but Camera Control can be fiddly and an incremental upgrade

Pieter Haeck / Politico:
Intel's decision to delay new Germany and Poland plants by two years is a blow to the EU's goal of making 20% of the world's chips by 2030, up from ~9% in 2022

Juli Clover / MacRumors:
Apple pulls the iPadOS 18 update for M4 iPad Pro models after bricking complaints as the company works “to resolve an issue impacting a small number of devices”

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