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" (Francesca Ebel/Washington Post)

Mediagazer: 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” (Francesca Ebel/Washington Post)

Top News:

Hong Kong Free Press:

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 …
Discussion: Fox News, The Guardian, Agence France-Presse, Hong Kong Free Press HKFP, Committee to Protect …, CBS News, Financial Times, Reuters, Al Jazeera, Wall Street Journal, BBC, @klustout, @tomgrundy, @xinqisu, @tripperhead, @tomgrundy, @shibanimahtani, CNN, @pete_radcliff, @tomgrundy, @thomasvlinge, @galileocheng, @behlihyi, @tmclaughlin3, @rasmus_kleis, @tomgrundy, Reporters Without Borders and @1br0wn

Discussion:

Helen Davidson /
The Guardian: Two Stand News journalists in Hong Kong found guilty of sedition

Hillary Leung /
Hong Kong Free Press HKFP: Guilty verdict in Stand News sedition trial shows ‘necessity’ of editors' arrests, national security police say Committee to Protect Journalists: CPJ condemns Hong Kong's conviction of 2 Stand News editors for sedition

Austin Ramzy /
Wall Street Journal: Hong Kong Editors Convicted of Sedition in Landmark Press-Freedom Verdict

Nick Marsh /
BBC: HK journalists found guilty in landmark sedition case

Kristie Lu Stout /
@klustout: “Journalists do not have to be loyal to anyone, support anyone or be enemies of anyone. If we really have someone to be loyal to, it will be the public &only the public because we believe in freedom of the press&freedom of speech” -Stand News ex-editor Patrick Lam/ht @hkchrislau

Tom Grundy /
@tomgrundy: 1/ 🚨BREAKING: Two former chief editors of defunct outlet Stand News have been found guilty of sedition, marking the first such conviction of journalists in Hong Kong since the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997. In full: https://hongkongfp.com/... [image] @xinqisu: Chung Pui-kuen, Stand News founding editor who was just found guilty of sedition, leaves court. [video]

Aaron Busch /
@tripperhead: 🇭🇰👨 ⚖️ List of articles found to have sedition intentions in the Stand News trial. List via @HKFP [image]

Tom Grundy /
@tomgrundy: Prosecutors said Stand sought to incite hatred against the gov't through 17 website articles. Included interviews w/activists, op-eds by democrats like Nathan Law, a feature about protests & a hard news piece about an activist winning a rights prize. 11 were found ‘seditious.’

Shibani Mahtani /
@shibanimahtani: Stand News' editors were defending the entire profession of journalism in Hong Kong when they pled not guilty. They pushed back against charges that op-eds, features and articles were anything other than normal journalism. Their guilty verdict will have profound implications.

Chris Lau /
CNN: Hong Kong journalists found guilty of sedition in case critics say highlights decline in press freedom

Pete Radcliff /
@pete_radcliff: The heroic editors of Hong Kong's Stand News found guilty of sedition. Journalists and activists for democracy across the world need to stand in solidarity with them.

Tom Grundy /
@tomgrundy: 1/ A critical, years-long trial has concluded, with Stand News journalists facing jail over 11 “seditious” articles — a top story across the world. An interesting time to check on local news homepages: [image]

Thomas van Linge /
@thomasvlinge: Another low in #HongKong. Back in 2019 Stand News was one of the best outlets to follow for minute-to-minute coverage of the mass protests. Now its chief editors are being send to prison for doing a great job.

Galileo Cheng /
@galileocheng: Judge Kwok Wai-kin argues Stand News was a media “supporting and promoting Hong Kong localism and autonomy...a tool of smearing and criticizing the Central and Hong Kong Government” 11 out of 17 articles were found seditious https://legalref.judiciary.hk/ ...

Beh Lih Yi /
@behlihyi: Journalism is not seditious. Let's be clear: all they are guilty of is doing journalism. This oppressive ruling shows #HongKong is descending further into authoritarianism #StandWithStandNews

Timothy McLaughlin /
@tmclaughlin3: “...our biggest opponent is the regime...” Chung Pui-Kuen, former chief editor of Stand News who was convicted today of sedition in Hong Kong, gave an unfortunately prescient response to an academic when asked about the media environment in Hong Kong in 2019. [image]

Rasmus Kleis Nielsen /
@rasmus_kleis: “Stand News was among the last openly pro-democratic publications until its closure in December 2021, which saw seven arrested.” Now, editors Chung Pui-kuen and Patrick Lam have been found guilty of “sedition”. #journalismisnotacrime https://www.bbc.com/...

Tom Grundy /
@tomgrundy: 2/ Stand News' ex-editor-in-chief Chung Pui-kuen, 54, appeared in front of judge Kwok Wai-kin on Thur to hear the long-awaited verdict. The outlet's ex-acting editor-in-chief Patrick Lam, 36, was not present for the hearing due to a health issue, HKFP learned. [image] Reporters Without Borders: Hong Kong: RSF condemns the guilty verdict for Stand News editors-in-chief

Ian Brown /
@1br0wn: Starmer is busy cosying up to Xi, so sadly doubt we'll see any significant pushback from 🇬🇧 (and how can the few remaining British judges not now resign from 🇭🇰 Court of Final Appeal?)

RELATED:
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:
New York Times, Al Jazeera and Hong Kong Free Press HKFP

Discussion:

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

Discussion:
@jefffisch: I swear. If Russia killed the Pope in an errant bombing, they'd claim he was an Italian spy before admitting fault. https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...

Mac William Bishop /
@macwbishop: Incidentally, this claim could figure in establishing the mens rea element of command responsibility for the Russian military deliberately targeting civilians, in future war crimes prosecutions...

Siobhán O'Grady /
@siobhan_ogrady: A beautiful tribute to Ryan that captured him perfectly “I knew Ryan would be the person who would keep them safe in a war zone & still have time to feed the local dogs & make sure the team had enough sweets in the car and a decent playlist.” https://www.reuters.com/...

Elizabeth Piper /
Reuters: Ryan Evans, killed in Ukraine, played a vital role for Reuters

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

Discussion:

Natalie Korach /
The Wrap: World's Largest Piracy Operator Fmovies Shut Down by Authorities in Vietnam

Samantha Masunaga /
Los Angeles Times: Antipiracy coalition and Vietnamese police shut down major pirate streaming business

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:
Fortune, @joshuafoust@appdot.net, @jeffjarvis@mastodon.social, Rolling Stone, Gizmodo, Wired, Bloomberg and Al Jazeera, more at Techmeme »

Discussion:

Joshua Foust /
@joshuafoust@appdot.net: This is a great instance of where the Section 230 discourse in the US looks utterly puerile and disconnected from the reality of what has been unleashed on society. Like when SCOTUS ruled YouTube has a solemn constitutional right to algorithmically promote ISIS snuff videos. …

Jeff Jarvis /
@jeffjarvis@mastodon.social: At the dawn of print, the technologists—printers— were held responsible for what came off their presses, then booksellers. Finally authors were responsible, which Foucault says was the birth of the author. I think we will go through a similar sequence with the net & AI: …

Morgan Meaker /
Wired: Telegram Founder Pavel Durov Charged Over Alleged Criminal Activity on the App

Gaspard Sebag /
Bloomberg: Telegram CEO Charged in France for Crimes Committed on His App

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:

Chris Roush /
Talking Biz News: Ingram departing Columbia Journalism Review

Mathew Ingram /
@mathewi@threads.net: So long and thanks for all the fish: My final piece for the Columbia Journalism Review after almost seven years as the chief digital writer there — some thoughts about what has changed and what hasn't https://www.cjr.org/... Columbia Journalism Review on LinkedIn: So long, and thanks for all the fish: Mathew Ingram looks back on some of the changes he has seen in his seven years as CJR's chief digital writer https://lnkd.in/gHMQFGmH

Jon Allsop /
@jon_allsop: I'm very sad that @mathewi is leaving CJR! He's always been a generous colleague and an incisive writer at the intersection of media and tech. Read his final reflections on his work for us here: https://www.cjr.org/...

Wired:

Facebook, Instagram, Craigslist, Tumblr, the NYT, the FT, The Atlantic, Vox Media, the USA Today network, 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 »

Discussion:

William Gallagher /
AppleInsider: Big-name publishers are refusing to let Apple Intelligence train on data

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 …

Discussion:
Washington Post, Las Vegas Review-Journal, Reporters Without Borders, @spj_tweets, @mrandyngo, Poynter, Al Jazeera, Raw Story, The Hill, @alexleff, @pressfreedom, @hadas_gold, Reuters, CBS News, New York Times, Associated Press, Metro.co.uk, Rolling Stone, Boing Boing, @day_of_lemay@threads.net, New York Daily News, Axios, Newser, Voice of America, NPR, ABC7, Committee to Protect … and Fox News

Discussion:

Praveena Somasundaram /
Washington Post: Ex-county official convicted of murdering Las Vegas reporter

Katelyn Newberg /
Las Vegas Review-Journal: Jury finds Robert Telles guilty in murder of RJ reporter Jeff German — WATCH LIVE @spj_tweets: Today, justice was served as Robert Telles was found guilty of Las Vegas reporter Jeff German's murder. Jeff's dedication to seeking the truth and love for Vegas will not be forgotten. SPJ sends our support to his friends, family and colleagues. https://www.cnn.com/... @mrandyngo: Update Aug. 28, 2024: Robert Telles, a Democrat official in Nevada who lost a primary in 2022, has been convicted of killing reporter Jeff German. Telles was a gun control advocate and stabbed the journalist to death. At the time, leftists on social media falsely speculated that [image]

Lauren Sforza /
The Hill: Ex-Nevada politician Robert Telles convicted of investigative journalist's murder

Alex Leff /
@alexleff: Two years ago, Las Vegas was shocked by the stabbing of one of its best-known journalists, Jeff German. German's investigative reporting had dug into the world of a local official at the time. That ex-official has been found guilty of murdering German. https://www.npr.org/... @pressfreedom: “While Wednesday's ruling will not bring #JeffGerman back to his family, friends, and colleagues, the conviction sends an important message that the killing of journalists will not be tolerated,” CPJ's @kajtweets said. Read more: https://cpj.org/...

Hadas Gold /
@hadas_gold: Robert Telles, a former Clark County Public Administrator, was found guilty Wednesday of murdering Las Vegas Review-Journal investigative reporter Jeff German, who had reported extensively on Telles. https://www.reviewjournal.com/ ...

Isabelle Taft /
New York Times: Former Las Vegas Official Convicted in Journalist's Murder

Jessica Kwong /
Metro.co.uk: Politician shakes head as he's found guilty of killing journalist over unflattering stories

Jon Blistein /
Rolling Stone: Former Nevada Politician Convicted of Murdering Investigative Journalist Jeff German

Johnathan Lemay /
@day_of_lemay@threads.net: It's very easy to hate on the media and journalists these days, and I have my fair share of issues with them as well. But, we shouldn't forget how vital a job it is to hold power to account, or how dangerous it can become https://abcnews.go.com/...

David Matthews /
New York Daily News: Ex-politician Robert Telles found guilty in murder of Las Vegas reporter Jeff German

Ken Ritter /
ABC7: Jury finds ex-politician guilty of murder in 2022 killing of Las Vegas investigative reporter

Committee to Protect Journalists:
CPJ welcomes conviction in killing of Las Vegas Review-Journal reporter Jeff German

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— Sarah Palin on Wednesday won her bid for a new trial against the New York Times (NYT.N) over an editorial that the former Alaska governor said was defamatory.

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

Discussion:

Laura Wagner /
Washington Post: Sarah Palin wins bid for new defamation trial against New York Times

Josh Gerstein /
Politico: Appeals court reinstates Sarah Palin's libel lawsuit against New York Times

Dan Mangan /
CNBC: Appeals court revives Sarah Palin defamation lawsuit against The New York Times — again

Aaron Katersky /
ABC News: Sarah Palin granted new trial in defamation lawsuit against New York Times

Mike Sacks /
@mikesacksesq: CA2 orders a new trial in Sarah Palin's defamation case against the New York Times for its 2017 editorial ( https://www.nytimes.com/...) tying her political advertising to the 2011 shooting of then-Rep. Gabby Giffords that killed six others. https://storage.courtlistener.com/ ... [image]

Bill Grueskin /
@bgrueskin: Sarah Palin — who lost her first lawsuit vs the NYT in 2022 —is getting another shot. An appeals court found the judge erred in multiple ways, and that Palin has grounds for her suit, which focused on an editorial that was botched by the top editor of the section, on deadline [image]

Sarah Palin /
@sarahpalinusa: ... and just got great news re: PALIN vs NYT trial 👍🇺🇸 https://nypost.com/... [image]

Rebecca Falconer /
Axios: Sarah Palin granted new defamation trial against New York Times

Molly Crane-Newman /
New York Daily News: Sarah Palin granted new defamation trial against NY Times by appeals court

Larry Neumeister /
KXTV: Court revives Sarah Palin's libel lawsuit against The New York Times

Eugene Volokh /
Reason: Sarah Palin Gets New Trial in Libel Lawsuit Against N.Y. Times

Ted Johnson /
Deadline: Appeals Court Revives Sarah Palin's Defamation Lawsuit Against The New York Times

Lydia Moynihan /
Reuters: Sarah Palin scores victory with new trial in NY Times defamation case

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

Discussion:

Liam Scott /
Voice of America: Russian media ‘in survival mode,’ says recently freed American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva

Katie Robertson /
@katie_robertson: Russia barred more than a dozen @WSJ journalists from entering the country, as well as journalists from NYT and WaPo “The Putin regime is farcically consistent in its all-out assault on free press and truth. This laughable list of targets is no exception,” a WSJ spox said

Sarah Fortinsky /
The Hill: Russia bans multiple US journalists from entering the country

Katie Robertson /
TVNewsCheck: Russia Bars Numerous U.S. Journalists From The Country

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— BRISTOL, Conn. — ESPN, best known for its comprehensive portfolio of national sports rights, sees a chance to get into the business …

Discussion:

Roger Palmer /
What's On Disney Plus: ESPN “Flagship” Looking To Include Local Sports

Colin Mann /
Advanced Television: Survey: Fans open to more streamed sports

Eric Fisher /
Front Office Sports: ESPN's Pitaro: RSN Turmoil Is Chance to Expand Local Game Coverage Associated Press: Your own personalized “SportsCenter”? ESPN working on that for an upcoming streaming service

Jacob Feldman /
Sportico: AI SportsCenter, Local In-Market Games Could Boost New ESPN App

Timothy Burke /
@bubbaprog.ilovecitr.us: >Pitaro said the company would be able to “geotarget” subscribers to its streaming services & make games available to people in specific markets. — you mean that thing the leagues already do with their own streaming products, two of which use the exact same MLBAM/BAMTEC platform that ESPN does? [embedded post]

David Satin /
The Streamable: ESPN Aims to Add Local Rights as ‘Flagship’ Streamer Prepares for 2025 Launch

Kayla Cobb /
The Wrap: ESPN Launches ‘Where to Watch’ on ESPN App and Website to Find Games Anywhere

Erik Gruenwedel /
Media Play News: Hub: Sports Fans Open to Live-Streaming Events, Games

Caitlin Huston /
The Hollywood Reporter: ESPN Launches New ‘Where to Watch’ Feature Online

Dade Hayes /
Deadline: ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro Talks Disney Succession, Regional Sports Rights, Streaming Flagship Launch, AI & More

RELATED:

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:
@tvgrimreaper: Complete nonsense. ESPN & ESPN+ & all other Disney channels (don't forget ABC!) affiliate fees are >=$20/mo. And are almost 100% gross margin. No way you recoup that with a $25-30/mo retail price for DTC ESPN.

Sar Haribhakti /
@sarthakgh: ESPN has done for sports content what many have long wanted for general streaming content A hub that gives on click access to content regardless of which service it is on: https://www.theverge.com/...

Brendan Brady /
@bradybrendan1: ESPN's plans were reported 1.5 years ago. What took so long? A 7-person team at https://www.livesportsontv.com/ does this ESPN wanted a cut of subscription fees, but launching with just NESN and Monumental Sports as “link” partners suggests those talks didn't go well

Sara Fischer /
@sarafischer: NEW: @ESPN launching a “Where to watch” feature on the ESPN App and https://espn.com/ — Feels sort of like a response to Apple's new sports app — Shows fans where to watch a game (on their network or elsewhere) — Lets them personalize by teams, leagues, etc [image]

Los Angeles Dodgers /
ESPN: U.S. Open Cup

Kenny Smith /
@kennysmith.bsky.social: From the same company that won't allow their writers to create hyperlinks to other sites in their sports copy ... [embedded post]

Matthew Keys /
The Desk: ESPN moves forward with aggregate sports discovery feature

Ryan Christoffel /
9to5Mac: Apple TV tried being a sports hub, but now ESPN's launching a competitor

David Satin /
The Streamable: ESPN Is Trying to Make It Easier to Find Out Where Games Are Streaming

Dominick Mastrangelo /
The Hill: ESPN launching first-of-its-kind ‘Where to Watch’ feature in app

Roger Palmer /
What's On Disney Plus: ESPN Launches New “Where To Watch” Feature

Brian Steinberg /
TVNewsCheck: ESPN Will Vie For Local Sports Rights

Poynter:

How students at the Independent Florida Alligator used public records and cultivated sources to cover college president Ben Sasse's spending and resignation— Independent Florida Alligator's stories drew national attention to former senator's high-dollar consulting and remote personnel spending

Discussion:
@craigtimes, @alissagary1, @poynter and

Discussion:

Craig Pittman /
@craigtimes: Meet the University of #Florida student journalists who broke big stories about former President Ben Sasse. Their stories drew national attention to the former senator's high-dollar consulting and remote personnel spending https://www.poynter.org/... via @GabrielleRusson

Alissa Gary /
@alissagary1: So proud of our staff, always. Reminder that student journalism is real journalism! @poynter: 1/ University of Florida President Ben Sasse abruptly resigned in July, citing his wife's poor health. Less than a month later, the student-run newspaper @TheAlligator broke a bombshell story about how spending under Sasse's office tripled in his first year.

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— In the fossil fuel-rich Permian Basin, a major producer runs a regional website that combines industry perspective with feel-good local stories.

Discussion:
Media Matters for America, @reporteralvarez,

Discussion:

Evlondo Cooper /
Media Matters for America: Chevron's faux news site exploits local journalism's decline, epitomizing the fossil fuel industry's insidious greenwashing strategies

Felicia Alvarez /
@reporteralvarez: Many thanks to my reporting partners @MarLaMariposa and Richard Tzul who always inspire good accountability journalism in me.

Felicia Alvarez /