Media Insider: NBCU To Offer Hispanic Streaming, Google Adds Privacy Features For Teens, Chicago Tribune Names Top Editor

Welcome to Media Insider, PR Newswire’s roundup of media news stories from the week.

DEADLINE | DADE HAYES
NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises Forms Hispanic Streaming Division, Promoting Romina Rosado To Lead It

NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises has introduced a Hispanic Streaming business division. The new division will focus on the growth of Latinos on Peacock and across other Telemundo and NBCU platforms. Telemundo’s Romina Rosado accepted a promotion to EVP and GM of Hispanic Streaming and will lead the unit. Rosado will collaborate with Peacock’s leadership and the newly created Telemundo Streaming Studios to develop original content based on Peacock’s content strategy for Hispanics. The streaming service will begin releasing content in 2022.

ICYMI: Gannett To Sell Lake of the Ozarks Titles To Vernon Publishing.

THE NEW YORK TIMES | DAISUKE WAKABAYASHI
Google will add privacy steps for teenagers on its search engine and YouTube

In response to criticism that companies are not doing enough to protect children, Google announced its plans to implement additional privacy measures to protect teenage users on YouTube and its search engine. The new privacy measures include:

• Videos uploaded to YouTube by users under 18 years old would be private by default;
• Anyone under 18 years old, or a guardian, can request the removal of that minor’s images from Google Image search results; and
• Location history for all users under 18 years old will be turned off with no option to turn it back on.

Google said it will also limit the ability to target teenagers with advertising by blocking personalized ads that are based on age, gender or interests to people under 18. These changes are expected to be rolled out in the coming weeks.

YouTube launched a global ad campaign to promote Shorts, a new feature that allows creators to share videos 60 seconds or less in length.

DIGIDAY | MAX WILLENS
Medium will begin offering writers a 50% cut of the subscriber revenue their content generates

Medium announced several changes to its Partner Program that will reward its current creators and help the company stand out against the competition. At the top of the list is the launch of a referral program which will give program participants a 50% cut of the new subscriber revenue their content generates. The digital publishing platform will also change its eligibility requirements. Users interested in the program will now need to have at least 100 followers and have written at least one story before they can join the Partner Program. CEO Ev Williams said, “We really want to focus on rewarding the writers who are most actively engaged. When someone first starts, their chances of success are going to be much higher if they are able to go to the effort to not try to monetize right away.”

Read Next: NYT, WSJ, and Gannett share digital subscription growth.

CHICAGO TRIBUNE | ROBERT CHANNICK
Chicago Tribune names new top editor as newsroom leader resigns

Chicago Tribune has named Mitch Pugh as its new executive editor. He leaves his current position as executive editor of the Post and Courier (Charleston, S.C.), where he has been leading a 90-person newsroom since 2013. Under his leadership, the newspaper won a 2015 Pulitzer Prize for public service journalism and was a finalist for four other Pulitzer Prizes. Pugh arrives at the Chicago Tribune following Alden Global Capital’s acquisition which led to more than 40 journalists accepting a voluntary buyout. Pugh plans to follow a similar playbook to his time at the Post and Courier, stating, “For me, watchdog and accountability journalism has to be at the heart of everything we do every day. And that’ll be where we start.”

More personnel news: CNN appoints Kasie Hunt as an anchor and chief national affairs analyst and CBS This Morning adds Nate Burleson to co-host with Gayle King and Tony Dokoupil.

THE NEW YORK TIMES | DAVEY ALBA
Virus Misinformation Spikes as Delta Cases Surge

As Delta cases surge, misinformation experts have seen a spike in coronavirus misinformation online. Zignal Labs, which tracks mentions on social media, on cable television, and in print and online outlets, says vaccine misinformation in July jumped as much as five times the June rate. Disinformation researchers believe the spike shows that efforts by social media platforms to crack down on COVID-19 misinformation have not succeeded. Media Matters for America, a liberal watchdog group, found over 200 public and private Facebook groups dedicated to antivaccine discussion. The groups have added 13,000 members in just the last seven days.

Nine media organizations chronicle their experience covering COVID-19 with automated news.

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Erin Wade is a Senior Customer Content Specialist with PR Newswire. She is also an animal lover and aspiring world traveler. Tune into her insights as a social curator at @TotalCSR.