Axios

We attended the first leg of Y Combinator's "demo day," its twice-a-year event at which startups participating in its accelerator program present their businesses in front of a room of investors and journalists. One startup that stood out was 70MillionJobs: a job-placement service for folks with a criminal record.

The opportunity: 70 million Americans have criminal records, according to the company (hence its name). Most of the current organizations helping them with employment are small non-profits. 70MillionJobs founder and CEO Richard Bronson believes there is an opportunity to build a large for-profit service. "This population is having their moment," Bronson told Axios.

Millennials are moving away from plain texting to communicating through visuals, according to Nielsen's latest millennial media report.

Plain text messaging:

• 18-35 years-old: 59%
• 35+ years-old: 73%

Visual messaging:

• 18-35 years-old: 52%
• 35+ years-old: 30%

They're also more likely to communicate in groups:

1:1 messaging:

• 18-35 years-old: 83%
• 35+ years-old: 70%

Group messaging:

• 18-35 years-old: 52%
• 35+ years-old: 40%

Brian Williams had a great eclipse lead-in on his 11 p.m. MSNBC show, "The 11th Hour": "Just when we thought we run the show down here ... "

It was a rare day of community for America: to obsess about something non-Trump — something that was bigger than ourselves, and something that was terrifying to the ancients, but a diversion and fascination (and, yes, commercial opportunity) for us.

For decades, media has been measured by reach: How many people read the paper, listen to a radio broadcast or watch a show? In the smartphone-dominated world — where any media company can access almost anyone at anytime — the fight is shifting to dominating a person's attention.

Bottom line: "What people want to combine is digital video and TV metrics," says Jane Clarke, Managing Director of The Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement. "And the current data sets aren't always clean."

Google's chief economist says that technology will help people transition into new roles, even as it changes the nature of jobs. Hal Varian noted that technology has made it easier for people to learn crucial job skills — while on the job. Drivers, he noted, no longer need to have a perfect grasp of a city's geography; they can learn as they go because technology exists to help with navigation. Online content, such as Khan Academy, can help teach new skills.

"This cognitive assist is really a big deal because it allows for the kind of on the job training you're talking about," he said Monday at the Technology Policy Institute's annual conference.

Why it matters: Some argue that the tech industry has a responsibility to help workers who are impacted by automation, robotics and artificial intelligence. Varian told Axios that helping people pick up new skills is also good for business.

Investment firm ASL Strategic Value Fund has written a letter to the Community Health Systems board of directors that demands the immediate ouster of CEO Wayne Smith. ASL also urged the board to "claw back significant portions" of compensation from existing and retired executives as the for-profit hospital company continues to bleed losses and flirts with bankruptcy.

Key quote: "Management's previous missteps have resulted in billions of dollars of shareholder losses, all the while reaping tens of millions of dollars in compensation."

Why it matters: ASL's letter was dated Aug. 8 but was just publicized Monday — a week after our report on the collapse of CHS. The company did not respond, and now there's immense pressure on the board to do something. But one hospital industry observer told Axios that Smith has kept his job for so long because CHS' board is "populated with friends of Wayne."

The coming war between Steve Bannon and the "globalists" inside the White House promises to be a public spectacle, and a continuing distraction for the Trump administration. But it's Bannon vs. the Murdoch sons that could really define conservatism — or at least conservative media — far beyond the Trump era.

• We reported this weekend that Bannon, backed by the billionaire Mercers, has dreams of the Fox rival in the video/TV space. It will be unapologetically nationalist, and unapologetically at war with the Republican establishment, globalism and anyone who sides with either.
• Oh, and Bannon has the added incentive of knowing Rupert Murdoch — executive chairman of 21st Century Fox, the parent of Fox News — pushed for his ouster.
• Bannon vs. the sons — Lachlan and James, the next-generation leaders — will be even more intriguing. The sons tell anyone who will listen that they fancy themselves globalists who one day would like to steer Fox away from its hard-right roots and sexist, white-men's-club reputation and reality.