Monday, September 25, 2023 |
| “You say you’re giving more dollars to BIPOC newsrooms? Well, you’re actually giving to intermediaries who are filtering down those dollars to BIPOC newsrooms. But they’re not filtering down enough.” By Hanaa' Tameez. |
What We’re ReadingThe Hill / Rachel Scully
Trump pledges to investigate MSNBC for “treason” if elected →“It’s unclear whether a particular story or report drew Trump’s ire.” And the media is — you guessed it — “THE ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE!”ProPublica / Justin Elliott, Patricia Callahan, and James Bandler
Randy Smith, founder of newspaper vulture Alden Global Capital, has a Roth IRA with $252.6 million in it →“Roth IRAs were intended to help average working Americans save, but IRS records show [Peter] Thiel and other ultrawealthy investors have used them to amass vast untaxed fortunes.” The Verge / Emilia David
Getty Images is building an AI image generator trained only on its photos →“Generative AI by Getty Images (yes, it’s an unwieldy name) is trained only on the vast Getty Images library, including premium content, giving users full copyright indemnification. This means anyone using the tool and publishing the image it created commercially will be legally protected, promises Getty.”Semafor / Max Tani
The City’s layoffs may be attributable in part to an accounting error →“Staff were frustrated to be told that in recent months, the organization’s leadership and an outside accounting firm made a mistake in measuring The City’s finances, presented a flawed budget to the organization’s board and hired more people than they could afford.”Financial Times / Arash Massoudi and Leila Abboud
A majority stake in Le Monde may soon belong to a foundation in order to protect its independence →“French billionaire Xavier Niel has bought Czech energy tycoon Daniel Křetínský out of his stake in Le Monde…The [roughly €50 million] transaction will bolster Niel’s shareholding and take him a step closer to the goal he set in 2021 to move a majority stake into a foundation to ensure Le Monde’s independence and prevent takeovers.”Financial Times / Lauren Indvik
Anna Wintour: “I just have to make sure things are being done right” →“It is probable that Condé Nast cannot afford to lose her. Advertisers run ads in Vogue not only because they think that will sell clothes, but also to secure Wintour’s favour and advice. She is frequently consulted by investors looking for young labels to back and executives in search of a new creative director.”The Washington Post / Paul Farhi
AI may be news reporting’s future. So far, it’s been an embarrassment. →“They can’t discern fact from fiction, which means they can pass off nonsense just as easily as the real goods. They can’t call up experts and sources to gather new information, which limits their effectiveness on breaking news stories. They also have trouble understanding context and cultural nuance — that is, what’s appropriate in the body of a news article.”The Guardian / Alexandra Topping
Russell Brand and why the allegations took so long to surface →“The reason, according to multiple experts, is simple: publishing stories like this in England and Wales is extremely difficult, and fraught with risk. ‘People often think that we have a law that protects free speech here. We don’t. We have a law that protects reputation,’ says Caroline Kean, a partner at Wiggin who represented the journalist Catherine Belton when she was sued by multiple Russian billionaires. ‘Getting stories out like this may sound easy to people who watch a lot of crime dramas, but it’s actually incredibly difficult.'”The Washington Post / Naomi Nix, Cat Zakrzewski, and Joseph Menn
Misinformation research is buckling under GOP legal attacks →“Academics, universities and government agencies are overhauling or ending research programs designed to counter the spread of online misinformation amid a legal campaign from conservative politicians and activists who accuse them of colluding with tech companies to censor right-wing views.”The Guardian / Charles Kaiser
How The New York Times survived — and thrived — through the digital disruption →“Journalists have been waiting half a century for a worthy sequel to [Gay] Talese’s book, and that is what Adam Nagourney has attempted with The Times: How the Newspaper of Record Survived Scandal, Scorn, and the Transformation of Journalism, a history of the newspaper from 1976 to 2016, which he wrote with Talese’s encouragement and cooperation.”Wired / Vauhini Vara
Confessions of a viral AI writer →“For me, as for [Zadie] Smith, writing is an attempt to clarify what the world is like from where I stand in it. That definition of writing couldn’t be more different from the way AI produces language: by sucking up billions of words from the internet and spitting out an imitation. Nothing about that process reflects an attempt at articulating an individual perspective.”The Guardian / Tara Conlan
Next BBC chair faces tougher scrutiny over conflicts of interest →“The deadline for applicants to replace [Richard] Sharp in the £160,000-a-year post passed last Monday…In an information pack seen by the Observer, candidates are asked to provide not only ‘interests that might be relevant to the work of the BBC’ but also ones that ‘could lead to a real or perceived conflict of interest.'”The New York Times / John Koblin
TV networks’ last best hope: Boomers →“Just nine years ago, the median age of most top-rated network entertainment shows ranged from the mid-40s to early 50s…But in the most recent network television season, which ended in May, the median viewer was older than 60 for most entertainment shows, including ‘The Voice’ (64.8), ‘The Masked Singer’ (60.6), ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ (64.1) and ‘Young Sheldon’ (“65+,” the highest range that Nielsen provides).”The Washington Post / Jeremy Barr
Lachlan Murdoch will be fully in charge of Fox. Will viewers notice? →“In 2021, Murdoch moved back to Australia with his family. That distance from Fox’s headquarters in New York is also representative of his remove from the network’s day-to-day machinations. In a deposition he gave for the Dominion case, Murdoch made clear that he has delegated authority to the network’s chief executive, Suzanne Scott, along with its president, Jay Wallace.”The Verge / Wes Davis
Meta’s AI chatbot plan includes a “sassy robot” for younger users →“According to internal chats the Journal viewed, the company has tested a ‘sassy robot’ persona inspired by Bender from Futurama and an overly curious ‘Alvin the Alien’ that one employee worried could imply the bot was made to gather personal information. A particularly problematic chatbot reportedly told a Meta employee, ‘When you’re with a girl, it’s all about the experience. And if she’s barfing on you, that’s definitely an experience.'”The New York Times / Jeremy W. Peters
Dana Perino of Fox News is about to face her biggest test as a journalist →“Not known for being as provocative or partisan as many of her colleagues behind the desk, Ms. Perino, 51, has spent a good part of the last decade trying to thrive as a Bush Republican working for a network where loyalty to former President Donald J. Trump is often the ticket to high ratings and the career advancement that accompanies them.”The Guardian / Jim Waterson
Rupert Murdoch’s last move? The Spectator is in his sights →“The rightwing magazine, which is due to be auctioned off next month, is said to be a favourite of the billionaire, who used his resignation statement to claim much of the media is ‘in cahoots’ with elites who have ‘open contempt for those who are not members of their rarefied class.'”Press Gazette / Charlotte Tobitt
Journalists fear “secret justice” over proposed one-reporter limit in U.K. sex trials →“The Law Commission’s proposed reform suggests excluding all media except for one reporter while evidence is heard from a complainant in a sex offence case. Currently, alleged victims in such cases frequently give evidence from behind a screen, remotely or in a pre-recorded interview. The consultation also questions whether the public should potentially should be excluded from the courtroom for entire sexual offences trials.”The Atlantic / Jeff Jarvis
Jeff Jarvis: I was wrong about the death of the book →“Fifteen years ago, in What Would Google Do?, I called for the book to be rethought and renovated, digital and connected, so that it could be updated and made searchable, conversational, collaborative, linkable, less expensive to produce, and cheaper to buy. The problem, I said, was that we so revered the book, it had become sacrosanct. ‘We need to get over books,’ I wrote. ‘Only then can we reinvent them.’ I recant.”The Guardian / Tory Shepherd
Tony Abbott’s nomination to the Fox Corp. board fuels fears over the Murdoch media empire under son Lachlan →“Six years ago the former Australian prime minister Tony Abbott argued global warming may benefit populations, noting that more people died from cold weather than heatwaves. The speech in London…is now under renewed scrutiny after it was announced on Friday that he had been nominated to join the board of the Fox Corporation.”Press Gazette / Joanne Forbes
The fight to save the U.K.’s Community News Project after Meta stopped funding →“Meta’s decision was always going to be a commercial one, based on its business priorities, which have changed, and with the politics of regulation and fair competition as the backdrop. It’s some comfort that its decision is no reflection on the project itself which it regards as one of its most successful industry initiatives.”Financial Times / Max Seddon
Russian state TV is promoting a new Tucker Carlson show (apparently without his consent) →“Since last week, Rossiya 24 has run ads with a montage of Carlson repeatedly saying ‘Russia’ and promising: ‘The high-profile American presenter is moving to another level. Here.’ The ad then cuts to a screen showing a logo: ‘TUCKER ROSSIYA 24.'” Read Max / Max Read
What is it with David Brooks and restaurants? →“What is it about restaurants to Brooks? Why do they hold the key to unlocking the deepest divisions in American politics? I still don’t really have an answer.”Wired / Kate Knibbs
The bizarre cottage industry of YouTube obituary pirates →“Some of these channels upload dozens of death notice summaries every hour, abandoning any pretense of looking like an official source of information in an effort to churn out as many videos as they can.”Vox / Peter Kafka
Why is Rupert Murdoch leaving his empire now? →“In a company memo announcing his move, he made a point of saying he’s not walking away from his companies at all: ‘I will be watching our broadcasts with a critical eye, reading our newspapers and websites and books with much interest, and reaching out to you with thoughts, ideas and advice.'”
Nieman Lab / Fuego
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