Sources: Meta is offering Hollywood celebrities like Judi Dench millions of dollars for the right to use their voices for AI projects; SAG-AFTRA agreed to terms (Lucas Shaw/Bloomberg)

Mediagazer: Sources: Meta is offering Hollywood celebrities like Judi Dench millions of dollars for the right to use their voices for AI projects; SAG-AFTRA agreed to terms (Lucas Shaw/Bloomberg)

Top News:

New York Magazine:

The White House asked news outlets to hold their stories on the prisoner swap until Evan Gershkovich and others were in US custody, an embargo Bloomberg broke— How did Bloomberg beat The Wall Street Journal and the rest of the press corps on one of the most-watched stories in the world …
Discussion: Deadline, Wall Street Journal, Mediaite, Talking Biz News, Washington Post, @djmatthewdalton, @biettetimmons, @sdkstl, @megankstack, Sarah Krouse on LinkedIn, @oriana0214, @ishaantharoor, @jamesrbuk, @tbridis, @brianmfloyd, @dancow, @maggienyt, @mradamtaylor, WBUR, @WarnerCrocker@mastodon.social, @mediaevan, @bashowicks@threads.net, New York Post, CBS News, Poynter, Semafor, Fox News, The Guardian, The Mirror, Telegraph and Wall Street Journal

Discussion:

Nellie Andreeva /
Deadline: Hot Property: WSJ's Evan Gershkovich Negotiations Story Sparks Major Hollywood Interest

Bojan Pancevski /
Wall Street Journal: How Germany Enabled a Historic Hostage Swap With Russia

David Gilmour /
Mediaite: Bloomberg Under Fire for Breaking Embargo To Seize Russia Prisoner Exchange Scoop

Chris Roush /
Talking Biz News: Bloomberg broke Gershkovich embargo

Matthew Dalton /
@djmatthewdalton: Fantastic story by ⁦@bopanc⁩, including this fascinating nugget: Germany “saw an opening when their Russian counterparts said they wanted to wrap up the deal before the U.S. election in November.” https://www.wsj.com/...

Nora Biette-Timmons /
@biettetimmons: I *need* to know more about how & why this happened, especially re: the tweet this story mentions... 👀

Staci D Kramer /
@sdkstl: >>With a prisoner swap, you don't know if it's going to happen until it happens. (As one Journal reporter put it: “We literally had Yaroslav Trofimov on the ground with binoculars waiting to see Evan come off the plane, and we pubbed as soon as that happened.")<<

Megan K. Stack /
@megankstack: Not usually impressed by pearl clutching stories about reporters breaking “the rules,” but reporting these prisoners were free when they were still aboard a Russian plane/in Russian custody is indeed pretty awful.

Sarah Krouse /
Sarah Krouse on LinkedIn: What a day for Evan and his family, WSJ and anyone who believes in the importance of a free press. If you read one thing today …

Oriana Pawlyk /
@oriana0214: “The Russian plane was still in the air at the time of publication. That plane could have just turned around and gone back to Moscow, which is why the Journal and other publications had agreed to hold off.”

Ishaan Tharoor /
@ishaantharoor: The Post respected a embargo imposed by US officials who didn't want this to be derailed last minute, so other outlets (and Ankara) got ahead of us Live updates: Evan Gershkovich, others to be freed in U.S.-Russia prisoner swap, Turkish government says https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...

James Ball /
@jamesrbuk: I had wondered when Bloomberg ran this earlier than everyone else - especially when it wasn't clear whether or not Evan was actually out of Russia yet - whether something like this had happened.

Ted Bridis /
@tbridis: Hearing from inside @WSJ - which at moment remains notably silent on this - news was embargoed until Evan was out safely, so that premature reporting wouldn't muck things up. Ecstatic if this happens but such scoops are risky.

Brian Floyd /
@brianmfloyd: breaking a prisoner swap embargo and celebrating it (when it's not even your reporter either!) is unforgivable and says a lot about the editors' judgment [image]

Dan Nguyen /
@dancow: who is the editor whose greatest career honor was to break embargo and endanger the lives of hostages [image]

Maggie Haberman /
@maggienyt: Reporting it before Gershkovich and other prisoners were safe and the deal was completed

Adam Taylor /
@mradamtaylor: Assumed this was a case of one side of newsroom not knowing what the other side was doing, but perhaps not? [image]

Warner Crocker /
@WarnerCrocker@mastodon.social: Inside media embargo-ball — Everybody Is Mad at Bloomberg for Its Embargo-Breaking Gershkovich Scoop — #journalism — https://nymag.com/... [image]

Evan DeSimone /
@mediaevan: As a general rule, embargoes are for losers, but in this specific instance, with lives a stake, unconscionable.

Bash O Wicks /
@bashowicks@threads.net: This WSJ story is such a good (long) read on the events that went on behind the scenes with Evan Gershkovich since day one. I've been so slammed with traveling today that I had to read it again to fully grasp the details.

Tom Jones /
Poynter: Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich freed in a prisoner swap with Russia, according to Turkish officials

Caroline Anders /
Semafor: Russia frees WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich in prisoner swap with US Fox News: WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich released by Russia in prisoner swap; Paul Whelan also being freed

Shaun Walker /
The Guardian: Russia prisoner swap involving US journalist Evan Gershkovich under way Wall Street Journal: A detailed timeline of Evan Gershkovich's arrest and release and the months of negotiations involving spy agencies, billionaires, politicians, and his mother

RELATED:

Columbia Journalism Review:
RFE/RL says it plans to use the “relationships and expertise” developed in its efforts to free Alsu Kurmasheva to free three non-American RFE/RL journalists

Discussion:

Grace Macaskill /
The Sun: Evan never stopped being journalist... when he was told to write to Putin for clemency, he asked for interview

Vritti Johar /
ComingSoon.net: Is Evan Gershkovich Married? Relationship Explained

Nick Visser /
HuffPost: Evan Gershkovich, Paul Whelan, Alsu Kurmasheva Land In U.S. After Russia Prisoner Swap

Mark Mwachiro /
Adweek: TV Journalists React to Release of WSJ's Evan Gershkovich and Other Prisoners From Russian Custody Committee to Protect Journalists: CPJ: Release of Gershkovich, Kurmasheva welcome, but Russia must stop stifling reporting The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press: Reporters Committee statement on the release of Evan Gershkovich, Alsu Kurmasheva, and Vladimir Kara-Murza Reporters Without Borders: Free at last: American journalists Evan Gershkovich and Alsu Kurmasheva swapped in Russian prisoner exchange

Liam Scott /
Voice of America: Historic prisoner swap sees Americans Paul Whelan, Evan Gershkovich, Alsu Kurmasheva freed from Russia

Jessica Schladebeck /
Boston Herald: Gershkovich, Whelan freed with several others in prisoner swap with Russia

Ellise Shafer /
Variety: Wall Street Journal Reporter Evan Gershkovich to Be Released From Russia in Prisoner Swap

Jeffrey M. McCall /
The Hill: Russia is using American journalists as pawns on its geopolitical chessboard

The Miami Herald:

McClatchy announces intent to merge with magazine publisher and distributor accelerate360, which publishes Us Weekly and is owned by Chatham Asset Management— McClatchy, one of the oldest and largest local media companies in the United States, plans to merge with accelerate360 …

Discussion:
@mawilner, @tatecurtis and @andybechtel@mastodon.online

Discussion:

Michael Wilner /
@mawilner: Breaking: @McClatchy plans to merge with the magazine giant behind @UsWeekly, @InTouchWeekly, and @WomansWorldUS under a new operating company name, with AMI tabloids excluded from the deal and David Pecker out. https://www.miamiherald.com/ ... @tatecurtis: 'But McClatchy executives said that accelerate360's tabloid publications, including the National Enquirer, Star, National Examiner and Globe, would be excluded from the merger' https://www.miamiherald.com/ ...

Kotaku:

GameStop shuts down Game Informer, the oldest gaming magazine in the US, and lays off staff; launched in 1991, it was among the last print gaming magazines— Game Informer, the longest-running gaming magazine in the U.S., is officially dead and GameStop killed it.

Discussion:
The Wrap, Variety, Bloomberg, Dexerto, The Verge, My Nintendo News, Digital Trends, VentureBeat, @BrendanSinclair …, @gameinformer, Boing Boing and Engadget

Discussion:

Lucas Manfredi /
The Wrap: Game Informer Magazine Shuts Down After 33 Years

Jordan Moreau /
Variety: Game Informer Magazine Shuts Down After 33 Years

Jason Schreier /
Bloomberg: Sony's Bungie Faces Reckoning After Mass Layoff

Jay Peters /
The Verge: Game Informer is shutting down

Carli Velocci /
Digital Trends: Game Informer, one of gaming's longest-running magazines, shuts down after 33 years

Jordan Fragen /
VentureBeat: GameStop shutters Game Informer after 33 years

Brendan Sinclair /
@BrendanSinclair@mastodon.social: After 33 years, Game Informer is shutting down. All the staff were laid off and the site is already down entirely. — It was obviously headed this way given the situation at GameStop and the people running the show there, but it's still hard watching it happen. Best of luck to everyone no longer there. …

Rob Beschizza /
Boing Boing: Game Informer magazine closes, with all staff losing their jobs and the website wiped

Danny Gallagher /
Engadget: Game Informer magazine is shutting down after 33 years

New York Times:

The US DOJ sues TikTok, saying it collected children's data without parents' permission, knowingly let users under the age of 13 create accounts, and more— The Justice Department said that TikTok illegally collected children's data and knowingly allowed users under the age of 13 to create accounts.

Discussion:
MediaPost, TechCrunch, Variety, CBS News, Los Angeles Times, CNN, Ad Age, Wired, The Hollywood Reporter, Fortune, The Verge, Samuel A.A. Levine on LinkedIn, US Department of Justice, The Register, The Information, Engadget, Arun Rao on LinkedIn, Reuters, ABC News, Bloomberg, Politico, TVNewsCheck, Forbes, Washington Post, Deadline, ABC7 and Semafor, more at Techmeme »

Discussion:

Kyle Wiggers /
TechCrunch: FTC and Justice Department sue TikTok over alleged child privacy violations

Todd Spangler /
Variety: TikTok Sued by U.S. Justice Department for Allegedly ‘Knowingly and Repeatedly’ Violating Child Data Privacy Law

Caitlin Yilek /
CBS News: Justice Department sues TikTok over alleged children's online privacy law violations

Wendy Lee /
Los Angeles Times: Justice Department sues TikTok for allegedly violating child privacy laws

Samuel A.A. Levine /
Samuel A.A. Levine on LinkedIn: Along with our partners at the Department of Justice, the FTC is suing TikTok for knowingly and repeatedly violating kids' privacy rights … US Department of Justice: Justice Department Sues TikTok and Parent Company ByteDance for Widespread Violations of Children's Privacy Laws

Chris Williams /
The Register: Uncle Sam sues TikTok, accuses vid app of trashing millions of kids' privacy

Paris Martineau /
The Information: Justice Department Sues TikTok Over Child Privacy Violations

Arun Rao /
Arun Rao on LinkedIn: The Justice Department's Consumer Protection Branch, together with the Federal Trade Commission, today filed a civil lawsuit in the U.S. District Court … ABC News: Justice Department sues TikTok, alleging the social media company violated a children's online privacy law

Eric Niiler /
TVNewsCheck: AI Is Learning To Predict The Weather

Mary Whitfill Roeloffs /
Forbes: U.S. Government Sues TikTok—Claims App Violated Privacy Of Children

Ted Johnson /
Deadline: Justice Department Sues TikTok Over Alleged Violations Of Child Privacy Laws

Alexander Mallin /
ABC7: US government sues TikTok, accusing the company of illegally collecting children's data

Tasneem Nashrulla /
Semafor: US government sues TikTok over child privacy concerns

New York Times:

Docs and sources: The News Movement, a social media-first outlet, has slashed revenue expectations and is in talks to sell a controlling stake to Antenna Group— The Washington Post is creating a division to find valuable audiences in new places. The C.E.O.'s last company shows that's a tough road.

Discussion:
@jeffjarvis@mastodon.social, @ainemacdermot.bsky.social, @benmullin, Media Nation and TVNewsCheck

Discussion:

Jeff Jarvis /
@jeffjarvis@mastodon.social: Will Lewis left behind a business disaster. Will his fabled 3rd newsroom at The Post be built on BS such as this? — 'The company began adopting the “HIPPO” method for engaging its audience, short for “hook + intrigue, pace and payoff.” Making Money From News Aimed at Gen Z Is Easier Said Than Done https://www.nytimes.com/...

Áine /
@ainemacdermot.bsky.social: Strange. I've never even heard of them, & I'm usually at least peripherally aware of that space. 💭 [embedded post]

Dan Kennedy /
Media Nation: Your morning reads: The Evan Gershkovich talks, Will Lewis' folly and changes at CBS

The Canadian Press:

Study: a year after Meta blocked news content in Canada due to the Online News Act, Canadians' total engagement with news content on social media is down 43%— Canadian news struggling after Meta ban: study — MONTREAL - A new study is painting a grim portrait of how local Canadian news outlets …

Discussion:

James Clive-Matthews /
James Clive-Matthews on LinkedIn: The decline in news audiences - 43%, or 11 million daily views - is shockingly high. This follows Canada's ill-considered battle with Meta …

Kate McKenna /
CBC News: One year after news ban, Canadian journalism is suffering — but Meta isn't budging @mediaecosystem: Surprisingly, only 22% of Canadians know that news is banned on Facebook and Instagram. And despite the ban, news organization content is still available on #Meta platforms through work-around strategies. [image]

@mediaecosystem:
It's been a year since #Meta decided to block Canadians from viewing/accessing/sharing news article links on its platform! Our new brief shows a dramatic drop in news reach and social media impact with minimal public awareness. https://www.shorturl.at/SYvn0 [image]

@mediaecosystem:
Overall, Canadians are simply seeing less news online - an estimated reduction of 11 million views per day across Instagram and Facebook - due to the ban. Read the full brief by @s_j_parker, @AengusBridgman, Christopher Ross and Zeynep Pehlivan 👉🏽https://www.shorturl. at/ SYvn0

Aengus Bridgman /
Media Ecosystem Observatory: Old News, New Reality: A Year of Meta's News Ban in Canada

Bloomberg:

Sources: Meta is offering Hollywood celebrities like Judi Dench millions of dollars for the right to use their voices for AI projects; SAG-AFTRA agreed to terms— - Judi Dench, Awkwafina are among the celebrities holding talks — Some terms sought by Meta trigger actors' fears of AI

Discussion:
Financial Times, more at Techmeme »

NPR:

Former UK prime minister Gordon Brown says Jeff Bezos should “look very carefully” at whether Will Lewis should remain WaPo CEO amid Murdoch tabloid lawsuits— Gordon Brown, the U.K. former prime minister, believes that Rupert Murdoch's British tabloids hacked …

Discussion:
@davidfolkenflik, @timjgraham and The Daily Beast

Discussion:

David Folkenflik /
@davidfolkenflik: Former British PM Gordon Brown has accused Wash Post publisher Will Lewis of obstruction of justice and lying to police. Now Brown argues that WaPo owner Jeff Bezos needs to consider replacing Lewis. My interview with the former prime minister: https://www.npr.org/...

David Folkenflik /
@davidfolkenflik: “[Bezos] has got to look very carefully at whether this is the right message to send out to the readers, of the ethics of The Washington Post,” Brown tells NPR. “You've got to ask very serious questions about the newspaper itself and what it wants to do in the future.”

David Folkenflik /
@davidfolkenflik: Lewis, who is not charged with any crime & is not a named defendant in any hacking suit against the Murdoch papers, has broadly denied all wrongdoing. News UK has denied Brown's allegations as well. Lewis, the Post and Bezos did not reply to requests for comment for this story.

Tim Graham /
@timjgraham: Folkenflik won't be happy until Will Lewis is replaced by oh, Tina Brown or something.

Publishers Weekly:

A bankruptcy court approves Barnes & Noble's $1.83M acquisition of Denver's Tattered Cover bookstores, which will be B&N's first US deal for an indie bookstore— On July 30, a federal bankruptcy court approved Barnes & Noble's acquisition of Tattered Cover, setting the stage …

Discussion:
Denver Gazette, @bsiegel1201, @tfrei, @tatteredcover, Publishers Weekly

Discussion:

Bernadette Berdychowski /
Denver Gazette: Court approves Denver's Tattered Cover sale to Barnes & Noble, sealing $1.8M deal

Bill Siegel /
@bsiegel1201: This includes payment of $1.6 million in secured claims and $50,000 for back rent with plans to extend the leases on the store's sites. https://www.denverpost.com/... #retail #landlords 2/2

Terry Frei /
@tfrei: Court approves $1.8M sale of Tattered Cover to Barnes & Noble. TC name will remain on 4 stores. Like most area authors, I've done signings at both and am grateful for the support. Let TC still act as a feisty independent, as hard as that might be. https://denvergazette.com/... [image] @tatteredcover: We wholeheartedly thank each and every one of you for your continued patronage as we venture into this exciting new chapter. We greatly look forward to being able to better support you and your book-buying needs.

@tatteredcover:
All of us here at Tattered Cover are proud and excited to announce that our sale has been approved by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Colorado and we have completed our transaction with Barnes & Noble. [image]

Animation Magazine:

WBD plans to shut down Boomerang, its standalone streaming service for classic cartoon brands, on September 30, and move both content and subscribers to Max— Warner Bros. Discovery announced today that the standalone video streaming app and website for its Boomerang service …

Discussion:
Variety, The Streamable, Deadline, BGR, Engadget, The Hollywood Reporter, @hoaks.bsky.social, Cartoon Brew, TVNewsCheck, Advanced Television, Next TV and Cord Cutters News

Discussion:

Todd Spangler /
Variety: Boomerang Cartoon Streaming Service Is Being Shut Down by Warner Bros. Discovery

David Satin /
The Streamable: Warner Bros. Discovery Shuttering Boomerang, Moving Cartoon Network Content to Max

Dade Hayes /
Deadline: Warner Bros. Discovery Is Unplugging Boomerang Streaming Service, Moving Some Of Its Content To Max

Jacob Siegal /
BGR: Classic cartoon streamer Boomerang is shutting down, but it's good news for Max subscribers

Lawrence Bonk /
Engadget: Say goodbye to Boomerang, the streaming service dedicated to classic cartoons

Rick Porter /
The Hollywood Reporter: Warner Bros. Discovery Shutting Down Boomerang Streaming Service

Amid Amidi /
Cartoon Brew: Warner Bros. Discovery Is Shutting Down Its Classic Cartoon Streaming Platform Boomerang

Gene Maddaus /
TVNewsCheck: Teamsters, Basic Crafts Unions Ratify Contracts Advanced Television: Boomerang not coming back — Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) will shut down its Boomerang streaming service …

R. Thomas Umstead /
Next TV: That's All Folks: Warner Bros. Discovery to Shut Down Boomerang Streaming Service

Publishers Weekly:

OverDrive, which helps libraries and other organizations lend digital catalogs, is integrating its video streaming service Kanopy with its other collections— With the demand for digital content surging in libraries and schools, OverDrive this week announced the formation of a newly configured Content Group.

Discussion:
OverDrive and Jennifer Leitman on LinkedIn

Nieman Lab:

How three journalists used tools including the Wayback Machine, Airtable lists, Dropbox links, and scrapers to save their work, as news sites shut down— From loading up the Wayback Machine to meticulous AirTables to 72 hours of scraping, journalists are doing whatever they can to keep their clips when websites go dark.

Discussion:
@internetarchive and TVNewsCheck

Discussion:
@internetarchive: Since corporations are bad archivists (see: MTV News 🕳️), where do journalists turn to preserve their own work? First stop: The Internet Archive's @waybackmachine. And then? Well, it gets complicated, as @HanaaTameez highlights for @NiemanLab 👉 https://www.niemanlab.org/... [image]