Mediagazer: WBD partners with Web3 startup Eluvio to release The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring in full as a set of NFTs, to kick off its “WB Movieverse” (Charles Pulliam-Moore/The Verge)

4:10 PM ET, October 20, 2022

Top News:

Laura Wagner / Defector:

Semafor wants to tackle polarization using a “revolutionary” article template, but “Semaform” is a basic copy of what already exists, plus patronizing subheads — All around the world, and especially in the United States, widening economic inequality …

New York Times:

Sources: Puck, which is approaching 20K paid subscribers, recently held talks with potential investors with a goal of raising ~$15M at a $75M+ valuation — The humble email newsletter, which became a star in its own right, appears headed back to earth. — Meta, which owns Facebook, is killing Bulletin, its newsletter product.

Discussion: @jimvandehei, @jakesherman, @jakesherman, @benmullin, @anthony, @mccanner, @jaredbkeller, @margarita, @timmarchman, @benmullin, @jyarow and Tim Lott's Writing Boot Camp

Wall Street Journal:

Internal email: The New York Times canceled its plans to launch a Kids app, as it would cater “to a smaller market” when the newspaper's focus is subscriptions — Publisher has been promoting products beyond news, including in games, cooking and sports

Discussion: @merowing_, @niemanlab, @anthony, @zeveisenberg and @alexthomp

Mariella Moon / Engadget:

Google launches News Showcase in France, partners with 65+ publishers representing 130+ outlets, and plans to give away “a limited amount” of paywalled content — Google has launched News Showcase in France, and it has teamed up with over 65 publishers representing over 130 publications …

Discussion: The Keyword

Aisha Majid / Press Gazette:

Study finds the number of push alerts sent by publishers was 2% higher in 2021 than in 2019 and 28% higher than in 2018; 3% were opened at time of sending — The instant traffic hit from push alerts means that most publishers are now using them every day, regardless of whether the content …

Discussion: Nieman Lab

Paul Waldman / @paulwaldman1:

[Thread] A case study in how journalists let politicians lie: Punchbowl News amplified Kevin McCarthy's claim that the DOJ tagged some parents as “terrorists” — 1. A case study in how journalists allow politicians to lie, ensuring that the more cynical a politician is, the greater the rewards for dishonesty will be, courtesy of Kevin McCarthy and @PunchbowlNews . Come with me...

Discussion: @paulwaldman1, @paulwaldman1, @rjamesfinn, @paulwaldman1, @paulwaldman1, @paulwaldman1, @paulwaldman1, @paulwaldman1, @paulwaldman1, @modestholdings, @craignewman, @paulszoldra, @sarahposner, @soledadobrien, @dangillmor and The Week

Katelyn Newberg / Las Vegas Review-Journal:

The Las Vegas police department asks the Nevada Supreme Court to reverse a decision that blocked officials from searching slain reporter Jeff German's devices — The Metropolitan Police Department has appealed a judge's decision to bar officials from searching the personal devices …

Discussion: Associated Press

Thomas Germain / Gizmodo:

Google now lets users disable targeted ads without breaking useful features by having to turn off settings like Web & App Activity and YouTube History — In a major fix, Google's own privacy settings will no longer disable crucial features of its apps. — Alerts

Discussion: The Keyword, The Verge, Digiday, The Hill and YouGov, more at Techmeme »

Natasha Lomas / TechCrunch:

The UK's Ofcom publishes a report on its first year regulating video sharing sites, detailing how TikTok, Twitch, OnlyFans, and others tackle content challenges — The UK's media watchdog, Ofcom, has published a debut report on its first year regulating a selection of video-sharing platforms …

Discussion: Ofcom, Bloomberg, The Guardian, Light Reading and Broadband TV News, more at Techmeme »

Julia Felton / Greensburg Tribune-Review:

Union officials and workers say ~30 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette staff crossed the picket line after a narrow strike vote; the CWA provides $300/week strike benefits — Dozens of journalists, photographers and editors have crossed the picket line to continue working at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Discussion: Pittsburgh City Paper, nyguild.org, @lindseyforpa, Portside, Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh, @greenhousenyt, WITF and The Philadelphia Inquirer

Leila Fadel / NPR:

An interview with Lina Abu Akleh, the niece of Palestinian American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, on her push for justice and a US probe into her aunt's killing — Lina Abu Akleh was thrust onto the global stage after her aunt was killed while reporting on an Israeli military raid in the Palestinian city of Jenin in May.

Discussion: @npr and @leilafadel

Simon Owens / Simon Owens's Media Newsletter:

Patreon faces more competition and lacks basic creator tools to find audiences and analyze content and traffic; memo: its valuation fell 70% over the past year — Patreon's “valuation has decreased substantially — by 70% — over the past year." — Welcome! I'm Simon Owens and this is my media newsletter.

Discussion: The Rebooting, Lightspeed Venture Partners, The Information, Protocol, @oh_that_crab and Digiday

Jill Goldsmith / Deadline:

Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos downplays releasing Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery in 600 theaters over US Thanksgiving weekend; theater owners lauded the move — Netflix co-CEO and chief content officer Ted Sarandos tossed cold water on hopes that the streamer's recent deal with major cinema chains …

Discussion: Media Play News, ScreenRant, Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter, The Wrap and Variety

Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Netflix execs weighed more movie theater releases and talked to Sony about a shorter window; Sarandos: Netflix won't significantly change its strategy

Discussion: BGR, @asharma and The Streamable

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More News:

Agence France-Presse:
Iran sanctions BBC Persian and Iran International, among other organizations, for “supporting terrorism”; sanctions include a visa ban and seizure of assets

Discussion: Reuters and Iran International

Charles Pulliam-Moore / The Verge:
WBD partners with Web3 startup Eluvio to release The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring in full as a set of NFTs, to kick off its “WB Movieverse”

Discussion: The Wrap, TechCrunch, Deadline, Variety, Vanity Fair, @xpangler, @rjcc, Decrypt, Media Play News, SlashFilm and @tvgrimreaper

Gabby Miller / Columbia Journalism Review:
Journalists and academics say unions can help protect some journalists from newsroom cuts at chains like Gannett, and can benefit, but not save, the industry

Discussion: @katechedraoui, @szkolar_lohud, @errolsalamon, @szkolar_lohud and APP-MCJ Guild

Katyanna Quach / The Register:
A study of 1,063 US adults' YouTube browsing experience shows the site is more likely to suggest conservative-leaning videos regardless of the viewer's ideology

Discussion: @htsuka and @brooklynmarie

Earlier Picks:

Dan Kennedy / Media Nation:
Opinion editor James Bennet and Semafor's Ben Smith leave out a lot about The New York Times firing Bennet, which wasn't just victimization by the “woke mob”

Discussion: @semaforben, @dangillmor, @dankennedy_nu, Poynter, @jenzerb, @jbarro, @bgrueskin and @nprinskeep

Anthony D'Alessandro / Deadline:
Sources: Walter Hamada has left Warner Bros. after four years as DC Films' president; he's the fifth WB studio exec to leave since David Zaslav became WBD's CEO

Discussion: Insider, @henrygayden, The A.V. Club, @getfandom, @deadline, @amasna, ScreenRant, SlashFilm and Collider

New York Times:
A look at Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott's work, boosting the network's consumer brand and facing legal scrutiny for her internal messages in Dominion's lawsuit

Discussion: @jwpetersnyt, Vanity Fair, Poynter, @kimmasters, Insider, @froomkin, @athenae, @froomkin, @nick_field90, @katie_robertson, @aidnmclaughlin, @carlquintanilla, @dfenton, @justinbaragona, @maxwelltani and @rachelabramsny

Nitish Pahwa / Slate:
The Wire was a singular bulwark against false and propagandistic “news” in the Narendra Modi era and its botched Meta story is a huge blow to Indian journalism

Discussion: Columbia Journalism Review, Nieman Lab, Engadget, Media Voices, @caseynewton, @suhel, @kriticalvodka, @profcarroll, @w7voa, @karaswisher, Washington Post, Scroll.in, MediaNama, Platformer and Crikey

From Techmeme:

Andy Greenberg / Wired:
Cisco details a hacking campaign that penetrated multiple governments' networks using two zero-day flaws in its VPN and firewall Adaptive Security Appliances

Ben Glickman / Wall Street Journal:
IBM agrees to buy HashiCorp, which helps companies manage cloud infrastructure, in a deal valuing HashiCorp at $6.4B and expected to close by the end of 2024

David Pierce / The Verge:
Hands-on with the Rabbit R1: a fun and funky AI device that feels pretty nice and does a solid job with basic AI questions, but the Rabbithole app is unfinished

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