A look at WaPo's leadership issues under Jeff Bezos, as his hands-off approach and selection of publishers left the paper without a long-term strategy (Brian Stelter/The Atlantic)

Mediagazer: A look at WaPo's leadership issues under Jeff Bezos, as his hands-off approach and selection of publishers left the paper without a long-term strategy (Brian Stelter/The Atlantic)

Top News:

LateNighter:

Paramount has shut down its Comedy Central website, which held The Daily Show clips and the full run of The Colbert Report, after its shutdown of MTV News' site— First on LateNighter: One of the richest repositories of late-night videos is no longer. — ComedyCentral.com had been home …
Discussion: Variety, IndieWire, Consequence, The Hollywood Reporter, @davidfolkenflik, @alice@lgbtqia.space, @ramin_hal9001@emacs.ch, @philmeyer, @carnage4life@threads.net, @three_star_dave@mstdn.social, The Wrap, @bisexualkaiju.bsky.social, @punkonbus1701@tenforward …, @brunhilde2525.bsky.social, Deadline and TVLine

Discussion:

Jo Vito /
Consequence: Comedy Central's Website Shut Down, Removing Decades of Classic Daily Show and Colbert Report Clips

Rick Porter /
The Hollywood Reporter: Paramount Cuts Nearly All Content on Comedy Central, TV Land, CMT and MTV Websites

David Folkenflik /
@davidfolkenflik: This is a crime against humor and humanity @alice@lgbtqia.space: So it seems like Paramount is encouraging us to pirate anything from MTV, VH1, CMT, and Comedy Central (so far) 🤷🏼 ♀ ️ — https://latenighter.com/... #FuckCapitalism #Paramount #MTV #VH1 #CMT #ComedyCentral

Ramin Honary /
@ramin_hal9001@emacs.ch: Down the memory hole — Paramount has decided it requires too much capital to keep their archives online, so they just delete everything to save money. First they deleted MTV, now Comedy Central. Or perhaps not deleted, maybe they plan to make these exclusively pay-walled and available only to subscribers of the Paramount+ streaming service. …

Phil Meyer /
@philmeyer: As of Wednesday afternoon, sites for Comedy Central, CMT, Yellowstone airer Paramount Network & TV Land were instead directing users to Paramount+. On Monday, MTVnews site was taken down, purging some 20 years of stories from the web. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/ ...

Dare Obasanjo /
@carnage4life@threads.net: I assumed Paramount would be one of the streaming services that wouldn't make it but I didn't expect the company to struggle so much it would rather delete its websites than maintain them. First Warner Bros, now this. What's up with studios choosing to destroy value in this way? @three_star_dave@mstdn.social: “25+ Years of Daily Show Clips Gone as Paramount Axes Comedy Central Site” — This is why we can have nice things ... for long. Because, sooner or later, someone decides not to spend the money to keep it. And this is an especially key thing related to the #Internet, where anything can disappear at the click of a mouse, or a switch on a server. …

Mike Roe /
The Wrap: Paramount Kills More Online Content, Axing Archives From Comedy Central, MTV, TV Land and CMT @bisexualkaiju.bsky.social: These studios aren't shit, and I think they need another strike to rock their moneymaking machines to get their heads on straight. [embedded post] @punkonbus1701@tenforward.social: Y'all better buy all the physical copies of your favorite Trek shows now, if you haven't already.🤣🖖🏿 — #Paramount #ComedyCentral #StarTrek — Paramount Axes Comedy Central Site, 25+ Years of Daily Show Clips Gone — https://latenighter.com/... @brunhilde2525.bsky.social: This is cultural vandalism. It should inspire a greater horror than soup on a protected painting. [embedded post]

Bruce Haring /
Deadline: Comedy Central, MTV News, CMT, TV Land Online Archives Purged By Paramount Global

The Atlantic:

A look at WaPo's leadership issues under Jeff Bezos, as his hands-off approach and selection of publishers left the paper without a long-term strategy— How the world's greatest businessman drove his newspaper into a ditch — If you want to understand the current crisis at The Washington Post …

Discussion:
@semaforben, @nathanmart, @nkulw, @bgrueskin, @mattgertz, @benmullin and @jamiestelter

Discussion:

Ben Smith /
@semaforben: A great @brianstelter story that in the end is about the peril of running a company for an audience of one https://www.theatlantic.com/ ...

Nathan Martin /
@nathanmart: this feels like an obituary for the washington post (would be tragic for american discourse to lose this institution) https://www.theatlantic.com/ ...

Noah Kulwin /
@nkulw: The biz situation is very bad and all of the ideas presented (micropayments for individual articles, lol) are unproven or proven to fail, and will make it worse. The paper needs investment from above which is the one thing Bezos doesn't want to give. Oh, but he is talking up AI!

Bill Grueskin /
@bgrueskin: Lots of interesting bits in this @brianstelter ticktock on the Washpost's woes. I was struck by the fact that the former publisher (who is blamed for much of the decline) would go home at 5 pm. https://www.theatlantic.com/ ... [image]

Matthew Gertz /
@mattgertz: The most detailed account I've seen of Fred Ryan's total failure to develop and implement a business strategy for the paper when it was riding high in the Trump years.

Ben Mullin /
@benmullin: .@brianstelter on The Washington Post: “News organizations are raucous, living organisms, made up of people who know stuff and want to tell it to the world. What they need more than anything else is leadership.” https://www.theatlantic.com/ ...

Jamie Stelter /
@jamiestelter: DRIVING THE DAY @brianstelter for @TheAtlantic 💪🏼💪🏼 via @politico https://www.theatlantic.com/ ... [image]

RELATED:

Vanity Fair:
Will Lewis should be held accountable as a powerful executive and not simply seen through a parochial US lens that views UK journalists as having lax ethics

Discussion:
The Daily Beast, @bgrueskin, @jon_allsop, @mlcalderone, MediaPost and TVNewsCheck

Discussion:

Harry Lambert /
The Daily Beast: Cop: Jeff Bezos' WaPo CEO Deceived Police, Framed U.K. Prime Minister

Bill Grueskin /
@bgrueskin: “Swap in Fox News on the US side of the equation and the BBC on the other, and suddenly the US is the country that appears to have the ethics problem.” https://www.vanityfair.com/...

Jon Allsop /
@jon_allsop: Delighted to be asked to share some further thoughts on this for @VanityFair. With links to good stuff by @jamesrbuk and @TomMcTague, among others. https://www.vanityfair.com/...

Michael Calderone /
@mlcalderone: The view from London: @Jon_Allsop on the moral panic around the “British Invasion” of US newsrooms https://www.vanityfair.com/...

Ray Schultz /
MediaPost: Will Lewis Saga Continues With A New Allegation And A Newsletter Suspension

New York Magazine:

Two groups of Sandy Hook families disagree on whether Infowars' parent company FSS should go into bankruptcy or whether they should take control of FSS assets— In 2021 and 2022, two sets of families of the 20 children murdered during the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting won separate defamation suits against Alex Jones.

Washington Post:

An interview with Netflix's VP of external games Leanne Loombe on its push into gaming, focusing on narrative games without ads or in-app purchases, and more— I told my dentist that I was interviewing someone at Netflix later, and she got really excited. “Ooo, what about? Which show?”

Discussion:
Mobilegamer.biz and TVNewsCheck, more at Techmeme »

MatthewBall.co:

A look at what has happened to the US box office since 2000 and how the pandemic accelerated the decline in per capita theatrical admissions by roughly 15 years— Over the last six months, there has been a lot of talk about the future of theatrical exhibition ("going to the movies") …

Discussion:
@ballmatthew, @royprice and @loudmouthjulia

Discussion:

Matthew Ball /
@ballmatthew:

Roy Price /
@royprice: Excellent review of box office history and what it might suggest about the future. Worth a read!

Julia Alexander /
@loudmouthjulia: Great essay! One thing I'd add on live events + sporting — there is an additional incentive for those events to provide long term social capital through photos and videos that takes the original value (scarcity of event) and magnifies it (attention rewarded for attention given).

Financial Times:

Naver-owned online comics platform Webtoon raised $315M in its Nasdaq IPO at $21 per share, the top of its $18-$21 marketed range, valuing the company at $2.7B— Online comics platform prices IPO at top of range for $2.7bn valuation — Webtoon Entertainment, an online comics platform …

Discussion:
Deadline, Bloomberg, BBC, WEBTOON, KED Global and Reuters, more at Techmeme »

Discussion:

Jesse Whittock /
Deadline: Naver's Comic Platform Webtoon Entertainment Seeks To Raise $315M Through U.S. IPO

João da Silva /
BBC: Korean web comic giant set for $2.7bn market debut

Seok-Cheol Choi /
KED Global: Naver's webtoon unit to raise $315 mn via Nasdaq IPO

Nieman Lab:

The Oaklandside's publisher, Cityside, launches Richmondside in Richmond, CA, a town where the top employer, Chevron, owns the primary news source— Last month, I talked to Floodlight's Miranda Green and NPR's David Folkenflik about how they teamed up to investigate a news site owned by Chevron.

Discussion:
@tigerbeat, @khulacrichmond and @davidfolkenflik

Discussion:

Steve Rhodes /
@tigerbeat: @davidfolkenflik While editor @KHulacRichmond and reporter Joel Umanzor @jr_umanzor are on twitter like @berkeleyside @Oaklandside, @richmondside won't update here & can be found at https://x.com/...

Kari Hulac /
@khulacrichmond: At 6:18 am today there was one less news desert in the Bay Area. Richmondside is live. Stories include: Poss. July Covid spike; new help for homeless people, art stories, @WCCUSD news, food, city hall & restaurant updates. https://richmondside.org/ #localnews [image]

CNBC:

A look at YouTube's growing dominance as Nielsen says it had ~10% of all viewership on connected and traditional TVs in the US in May, ahead of Netflix's 7.6%— WATCH NOW — It's been almost 20 years since the founding of Alphabet's YouTube, and Hollywood still doesn't really know what to do with it.

Discussion:

Andrew A. Rosen /
@aagave: Alex didn't intend it this way but this 2nd graf—which comes after a reveal that Disney $DIS is trying to figure out how to add UGC to D+ (not happening)—implies that Disney doesn't understand its streaming customers. https://t.co/... @tvgrimreaper: YouTube's streaming leadership, and continued rapid growth is a little bit less uncovered today! [image]

Tara Walpert Levy /
@tarawlevy: As with all things, I recommend watching the video. :) It's at the top of the article and the nuances of the competitive ecosystem are well articulated by @sherman4949, @KevinMayer, @RichLightShed, @MichelleKhare, @brittanybroski, and others. @sportstvratings: YouTube's strength on the big screen truly is under-covered, but... ...whenever Nielsen finally adds mobile consumption to its monthly “The Gauge” reporting, YouTube's dominance will be so striking and pronounced that it will swing to being over-covered! @richlightshed: YouTube is a TV Juggernaut — 25% of time spent streaming video on a big-screen TV is @YouTube Thanks for featuring us @sherman4949 @CNBC Watch full 13 min video on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/... [video]

Alex Sherman /
@sherman4949: Disney is laser focused on YouTube with a clearly defined strategy and has even considered adding user generated content to Disney+. Other companies are less concerned with YouTube, content to keep focusing on traditional scripted/sports.

Tara Walpert Levy /
Tara Walpert Levy on LinkedIn: As with all things, I recommend watching the video. It's at the top of the article, and the nuances of the competitive ecosystem are well articulated …

Brooks Day /
Brooks Day on LinkedIn: As we witness YouTube's unprecedented dominance in viewership and advertising revenue, capturing a historic 9.7% TV viewership share …

Jeff Jenkins /
Jeff Jenkins on LinkedIn: What is TV ask my 11 year old.....YouTube now accounts for 10% of all TV viewership, cementing its dominance in the media landscape. …

Alex Sherman /
Alex Sherman on LinkedIn: The common answer to who is winning the streaming wars is Netflix, but the real answer is YouTube. YouTube has been the most watched US streaming service …

Alex Sherman /
@sherman4949: The most undercovered company in the media and entertainment world is YouTube. I spoke with some YouTube execs and creators about why YouTube's dominance keeps expanding and asked Hollywood's main players what they're doing about it. https://www.cnbc.com/...

Alex Sherman /
TVNewsCheck: Youtube Dominates Streaming, Forcing Media Companies To Decide Whether It's Friend Or Foe

NewsGuild of New York:

Members of The NewsGuild of New York vote 1,229 to 599 to make a temporary dues rate of 1.75% permanent; the rate had been set to expire on September 30, 2024— NEW YORK - In a resounding display of solidarity and as an investment in the future of their union, members of The NewsGuild …

Discussion:
@nyguild and @susandecarava

Discussion:
@nyguild: WE VOTED YES: Our members have voted to invest in our collective strength to hold management accountable, win new contracts and build a better future with our members. Read more here... https://www.nyguild.org/... [image]

Susan DeCarava /
@susandecarava: Immensely proud of how @nyguild members came together thru a democratic process and ultimately decided to invest in the future of our union. We are all in! And will continue the work we do together to build worker power now and for future generations #1U #GuildStrong

Radio & Television Business Report:

Audacy promotes Jeff Sottolano to chief programming officer from EVP and head of programming; he'll be responsible for content on radio stations and podcasts— Thanks to a new deal that sees him agreeing to a multi-year contract extension, the individual who has served as Executive Vice President …

Discussion:
Inside Radio, RADIO ONLINE

The Hollywood Reporter:

Dish offers customers who sign up for a two-year contract a new bundle with Netflix's ad-supported tier for free, or its ad-free tiers at a $7/month discount— The satellite TV company is giving its customers access to Netflix's ad-supported tier at no cost, or its ad-free tiers at a discount.

Discussion:
About DISH, Next TV, Variety and The Desk

Discussion:

Todd Spangler /
Variety: Dish Bundles Netflix for Free With New Two-Year Offer

Reuters:

SCOTUS declines to impose limits on the way Biden administration may communicate with social media platforms in the First Amendment case of Murthy v. Missouri— The U.S. Supreme Court declined on Wednesday to impose limits on the way President Joe Biden's administration may communicate …

Discussion:
Variety, The Verge, @hugolowell, @ronfilipkowski, @rebeccamkern, @joshsorbe, @drjbhattacharya, @mtaibbi, @brandyzadrozny, @repdanbishop, @mjs_dc, @ericgeller, @mjs_dc, @frankfigliuzzi1, @willoremus, @mjs_dc, @karaswisher, Reason, SCOTUSblog, Technology & …, SiliconANGLE, Ars Technica, The Daily Beast, Wall Street Journal, Slate, Fast Company, MediaPost, Free Press, New Republic, Reclaim The Net, CBS News, The Wrap, Los Angeles Times, Engadget, Forbes, WHDH-TV, NBC News, STAT, New York Times, Fox News, Semafor, Deadline, Associated Press, Washington Post, Bloomberg and Washington Examiner, more at Techmeme »

Discussion:

Todd Spangler /
Variety: Supreme Court Strikes Down Republican Challenge to Biden Administration's Efforts Urging Social Media Platforms to Remove Disinformation

Lauren Feiner /
The Verge: SCOTUS: White House can keep yelling at Facebook about covid misinfo, for now

Ron Filipkowski /
@ronfilipkowski: So, the whole ‘Twitter Files’ hoopla resulted in two clown show hearings with Jim Jordan that resulted in nothing, the main investigative journalist getting blocked by Musk after he hired him, he then quit the platform, now the Supreme Court tossed the lawsuits. Nice work.

Rebecca Kern /
@rebeccamkern: Cool to see my @politico reporting cited in the Supreme Court dissent to Murthy v Missouri decision today - https://www.politico.com/... [image]

Josh Sorbe /
@joshsorbe: Justice Barrett saying “I don't care about your rebrand, Elon” LOLOL [image]

Jay Bhattacharya /
@drjbhattacharya: The Supreme Court just ruled in the Murthy v. Missouri case that the Biden Administration can coerce social media companies to censor and shadowban people and posts it doesn't like. Congress will now need to act to enforce the Constitution since the Sup. Ct. won't.

Matt Taibbi /
@mtaibbi: Well, this massively sucks, not that it was unexpected. Buckle up for Big Brother, folks https://www.theguardian.com/ ...

Brandy Zadrozny /
@brandyzadrozny: Alito argues in the dissent that the federal government's coercive social media censorship campaign was just so sophisticated and its threats so subtle ... it's almost as if there never was a government conspiracy to censor people in the first place. https://www.supremecourt.gov/ ... [image]

Rep. Dan Bishop /
@repdanbishop: Alito's dissent is spot-on. The doctrine of standing is necessary to keep the judiciary within its bounds. Here, it constrains SCOTUS to leave unaddressed “arguably the most massive attack on free speech in US history.” That means it falls to Congress and the President to stop [image]

Mark Joseph Stern /
@mjs_dc: Alito dissents, joined by Thomas and Gorsuch. He calls it “one of the most important free speech cases to reach this Court in years” and embraces the lower courts' claim that the Biden administration censored users of social media companies by promoting removal of disinformation.

Mark Joseph Stern /
@mjs_dc: Justice Barrett's opinion has sharp words for both the 5th Circuit and Trump Judge Terry Doughty, who imposed the original “sweeping” injunction. Barrett says many of Doughty's factual findings “unfortunately appear to be clearly erroneous.” https://www.supremecourt.gov/ ... [image]

Eric Geller /
@ericgeller: This win for the Biden administration will likely come as a huge relief to the FBI and CISA, as it dispels a shadow that had gathered over the agencies' work to combat election misinformation. We might see tech companies open back up to this kind of collaboration now.

Mark Joseph Stern /
@mjs_dc: The Supreme Court's first decision of the day is Murthy v. Missouri, the social media “jawboning” case. By a 6-3 vote, the court holds that the plaintiffs lack standing. Big win for the Biden administration. Another loss for the 5th Circuit. https://www.supremecourt.gov/ ... [image]

Frank Figliuzzi /
@frankfigliuzzi1: This is a win for national security and a loss for adversaries posting disinformation and propaganda: Supreme Court allows White House to press social media companies to remove disinformation | CNN Politics https://www.cnn.com/...

Will Oremus /
@willoremus: SCOTUS rules in the social media “jawboning” case to re-allow contacts between Biden admin and tech firms, overturning a lower court. Notably, they ruled the plaintiffs lacked standing, rather than deciding on merits. Live blog w/ reactions & analysis: https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...

Mark Joseph Stern /
@mjs_dc: Here is Barrett listing a bunch of mistakes that Trump Judge Terry Doughty made in his notorious July 4 opinion of last year banning millions of federal employees from “encouraging” social media companies to moderate any content. https://www.supremecourt.gov/ ... [image]

Kara Swisher /
@karaswisher: Correct decision. The GOP has lost the narrative here: Supreme Court allows White House contacts with social media firms https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...

Amy Howe /
SCOTUSblog: Justices side with Biden over government's influence on social media content moderation

Eric Goldman /
Technology & Marketing Law Blog: Plaintiffs Lack Standing to Sue Over Government Jawboning When Their Evidence is Based on Vibes-Murthy v. Missouri

Maria Deutscher /
SiliconANGLE: Supreme Court rules US officials can continue communicating with social media companies

Ashley Belanger /
Ars Technica: SCOTUS nixes injunction that limited Biden admin contacts with social networks

Jay Michaelson /
The Daily Beast: Supreme Court to MAGA: Your Social Media Conspiracy Dreams Are Bunk

Jan Wolfe /
Wall Street Journal: Supreme Court Rules for Biden Administration in Covid-Era Speech Case

Mark Joseph Stern /
Slate: The Supreme Court Gave Biden a Chance to Fight Disinformation. It's Too Little, Too Late.

Issie Lapowsky /
Fast Company: The Supreme Court sides with Biden administration in social media ‘jawboning’ case

Wendy Davis /
MediaPost: SCOTUS Scraps Restrictions On Biden Admin's Communications With Social Platforms

Amy Kroin /
Free Press: Supreme Court Ruling on Social Media Affirms the First Amendment and the Government's Responsibility …

Dan Frieth /
Reclaim The Net: Supreme Court Sides With Biden Administration Over Accusations of Social Media Censorship Pressure CBS News: Breaking down Supreme Court's decision siding with Biden administration on social media case

Natalie Korach /
The Wrap: Supreme Court Rules Feds' ‘Misinformation’ Talks With Social Media Platforms Did Not Violate First Amendment

David G. Savage /
Los Angeles Times: Supreme Court dismisses Republican suit claiming Biden officials censored social media

Karissa Bell /
Engadget: Supreme Court ruling may allow officials to coordinate with social platforms again

Alison Durkee /
Forbes: Supreme Court Won't Stop Biden Administration From Working With Social Media Companies

Dakota Antelman /
WHDH-TV: Supreme Court allows White House to press social media companies to remove disinformation

Lawrence Hurley /
NBC News: Supreme Court tosses out claim Biden administration coerced social media companies to remove content

Sarah Owermohle /
STAT: Supreme Court rejects challenge to Biden's use of bully pulpit to fight Covid misinformation

Adam Liptak /
New York Times: Supreme Court Rejects Challenge to Biden Administration's Contacts With Social Media Companies

Caroline Anders /
Semafor: US Supreme Court rules in favor of government in social media jawboning case

Ted Johnson /
Deadline: Supreme Court Sides With White House In Case Challenging Government Efforts To Curb Social Media Disinformation

Mark Sherman /