Technology
Amazon Plans to Open Large Retail Locations Akin to Department Stores — www.wsj.com
An Amazon department store? Long a retail disrupter, the online shopping pioneer plans to open several large physical locations to sell clothing, household items and other goods.
Facebook launches “Horizon Workrooms” for virtual offices — here’s how it works — www.cbsnews.com
Mark Zuckerberg revealed the new virtual reality app in an exclusive interview with “CBS This Morning” co-host Gayle King.
Pay cut: Google employees who work from home could lose money — finance.yahoo.com
MT @DanPriceSeattle Google is cutting pay up to 25% for remote workers. Same goes for Facebook, Twitter and other corporations. They’re double-dipping with remote work: saving on office costs and worker salaries, then wondering why employees are quitting
Twitter asks users to flag COVID-19 and election misinformation — techcrunch.com
Twitter introduced a new test feature that allows users to report misinformation they run into on the platform, flagging it to the company as “misleading.” The test will roll out starting today to most users in the U.S., Australia and South Korea. #Twitter
Why Podcasting? For Amazon, The Answer Seems To Be Advertising.
#podcasting #advertising via @insideradio
Why Instagram’s creatives are angry about its move to video
Photographer Sam Binding experimented, uploading pics to Instagram & Twitter. On Insta, only 1/2 of his 11K followers saw it. On Twitter, 5,611 people did, despite the fact he has just 333 followers on Twitter.
Google is quietly meeting with a select group of publishers each month to talk Privacy Sandbox tech — digiday.com
Publishing & Media
Hachette Book Group to Acquire Workman For $240 Million
lunch.publishersmarketplace.com
LeVar Burton to Host TV Special Featuring Library of Congress National Book Festival on PBS — www.loc.gov
MT @librarycongress NEWS: @levarburton will host a TV special introducing the 2021 #NatBookFest and its exciting lineup of authors, poets and writers. “Open a Book, Open the World: The Library of Congress National Book Festival,” will premiere on Sept. 12 on @PBS.
The romance novel sales boom continues — fortune.com
Romance accounted for 18% of adult fiction unit sales in the 12 months ending March 2021, making it the second most popular fiction genre overall, according to NPD BookScan.
After Lengthy Investigation, Mystery Book Thief Remains At Large
lunch.publishersmarketplace.com
Since at least early 2017, an unknown person with knowledge of the book business and dealmaking has persistently impersonated a number of people in attempts to steal unpublished manuscripts for no discernible reason. The suspect is strangely persistent.
Serialized Books Are a Burgeoning Business at Substack — www.publishersweekly.com
The subscription e-newsletter platform Substack has already made its mark on the media business, but will it do the same for book publishing? Author Anand Giridharadas is helping to test the waters by serializing the first two chapters of his 2014 book, ‘The True American,’ in his newsletter, ‘The.Ink.’
Red Ventures, the Biggest Digital Media Company You’ve Never Heard Of
HT @nycmedialab What do CNET, Lonely Planet, The Points Guy, and Healthline all have in common? They’re all owned by Red Ventures — a digital media company with virtually no name recognition, that, according to the NY Times, is maybe the biggest digital publisher in America: “A 4,500-employee juggernaut that says it has roughly $2 billion in annual revenues, a conservative valuation earlier this year of more than $11 billion, and more readers, as measured by Comscore, than any media brand you’ve ever heard of — an average of 751 million visits a month.”
Axel Springer in Talks to Buy Ownership Stake in Politico
www.wsj.com
Talks between Politico and Berlin-based Axel Springer also include the possibility of a full buyout.
Mashable owner J2 Global is being renamed Ziff Davis and will boast some $1 billion for buying up more assets in media
Forbes Media Said in Talks to Go Public Via Magnum Opus SPAC, a deal that would value the company at $650M — www.bloomberg.com
RT @mediagazer
UK Magazine Firm Future Preps Expansion in US w Buy of Dennis (publisher of The Week and Kiplinger), From Private Equity’s Exponent, in a £300m Deal
The Hill Acquired by TV Broadcast Group Nexstar Media for $130 Million
Spotify’s The Ringer And WWE Team To Launch Audio Network, as part of a multi-year partnership.
Quora Plus
HT @TheTiltNews The social Q&A website now has added a plus to its lineup. Quora+ is similar to Medium. Readers pay $5 a month. Most of the earnings go to writers based on member reading time. via @startitup_ h/t @katairobi #contentwriter #contententrepreneur
Bon Appétit To Launch New Podcast, FOOD PEOPLE
NBCUniversal is said to be facing a loss of nearly $100 million on its investment in BuzzFeed, even with concessions
Resources & Opportunities
MT @latinxpitch Get those pitches ready Just a month to go for the next #LatinxPitch coming your way on September 15th. Watch this feed for pitch tips and practice events. Spread the word.
Free Henry Stewart Digital Asset Management Virtual Conference 9/1–9/2
www.henrystewartconferences.com
Free Virtual Event: Early Bird Tix for Summit 2021: Future Imperfect 10/6–10/7
Future Imperfect conference from @nycmedialab — to explore the future of media and tech in New York City and beyond.
Afghan journalists seeking refuge — twitter.com
MT @CFWIJ ANNOUNCEMENT ‼ If you know/are an Afghan journalist seeking refuge please get in touch on the following email address: safety@womeninjournalism.org — Currently assisting everyone regardless of gender.
Bronx Documentary Center Films Fellowship Program — www.bronxdoc.org
MT @followbdc BDC Films Fellowship 2021/2022 submissions are now open! Application Deadline: 9/21/21.
‘They deserve a place in history’: music teacher makes map of female composers
HT @LZSundayPaper Interactive tool features more than 500 women who are often forgotten in the classical music world
3rd Doses of Pfizer/Moderna for the Immunocompromised
HT @MarkLevineNYC City-run vax sites in NYC began offering 3rd doses of Pfizer/Moderna to immunocompromised NYers. Via walk-in and appointment.
How to Look Up Prices at Your Hospital, if They Exist — www.nytimes.com
Start with a web search. Consider a third-party tool. Expect frustration.