Top News:
Alexandra Bruell / Wall Street Journal:
Memo: BuzzFeed plans to rely on OpenAI to enhance quizzes and personalize content; a spokeswoman says the newsroom remains focused on human-generated journalism — CEO Jonah Peretti intends for artificial intelligence to play a larger role in the company this year — Cheating With ChatGPT: Can an AI Chatbot Pass AP Lit?
Discussion:
CNN, The Verge, Insider, Financial Times, Forbes, Gizmodo, @samitsarkar, Fortune, @jon_christian, @thataldendiaz, @mylesudland, @ktmboyle, @sizpatel, The Hill, @mattmitovich, @jessicalessin, @katienotopoulos, @abrahamjoseph, @dandock, Newser, @jimprosser, @carnage4life, Social Media Today, @loudmouthjulia, CBS News, @rosiegray, @henereyg, The Guardian, @paultassi, @kylebuchanan, @jackmirkinson, @emmmzyne, @bendwalsh, @sokane1, @katehydeny, @timmarchman, @kantrowitz, @nxthompson, @glenngabe, @mattshuham, The Wrap, @azalben, @lindsaygoldwert, @tomwarren, @dellcam, @pranavdixit, @henereyg, @azalben, Transistori, @kevincollier, @kelsaywhat, @tomgara, @rcmacleod, @adribbleofink, @je_somerton, @sockjig, @yoda, Variety, Yahoo Finance, Engadget, Free Press Journal and Nieman Lab, more at Techmeme »
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Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Meta pays BuzzFeed to generate creator content for Facebook and Instagram and to train online creators to grow, as part of a ~$10M deal reached in 2022
Sources: Meta pays BuzzFeed to generate creator content for Facebook and Instagram and to train online creators to grow, as part of a ~$10M deal reached in 2022
Discussion:
The Rebooting, The Information, Observer, Social Media Today, The Hollywood Reporter, Insider, The Wrap and @chrisharihar
Clare Malone / New Yorker:
Sources question The Washington Post CEO Fred Ryan's strategy, after top executives left in 2022, union distrust grew, and layoffs hit beside new job postings — After a decade of growth, the paper is laying off staff and was reportedly on track to lose money last year.
Discussion:
@michaelluo, @dabeard, @harrispolitico, @claremalone, @newyorker, @genepark, @brianmfloyd and @_cingraham
Sara Fischer / Axios:
In a memo to staff, Dotdash Meredith CEO Neil Vogel announces layoffs affecting 274 people, or ~7% of the outlet's workforce, across nearly all departments — Dotdash Meredith, one of the largest print and digital publishers in the country, is laying off 274 people, roughly 7% of its staff …
Discussion:
@parkermolloy, @simonowens, @petersterne, Quartz, @jeffjarvis, @elieraine, The Hollywood Reporter, CNN, The Wrap, New York Times, Variety, Observer and MediaPost, Thanks:@petersterne
Scott Lamb / Medium:
Medium updates its standards to welcome “the responsible use” of AI-assistive technology and to require stories created with AI assistance to be clearly labeled — Transparency, disclosure, and publication-level guidelines — Last month, we asked the Medium community …
Discussion:
@bmorrissey and MediaPost, more at Techmeme »
Lachlan Markay / Axios:
Former employees of Russia-backed broadcaster RT America take over its former Washington, DC studios and ramp up GlobalTek, a media venture formed in April 2022 — Former employees of Russian propaganda broadcaster RT America have taken over its old studios in downtown D.C. and are ramping up a new media venture, Axios has learned.
Discussion:
@sarafischer, @lachlan, @lachlan and @annalecta
Georg Szalai / The Hollywood Reporter:
NBCU reports Q4 revenue rose 5.9% YoY to $9.89B as EBITDA fell 36.3% YoY to $817M; Peacock had 20M+ paid subscribers and its EBITDA loss grew 75% YoY to $978M — Parent company Comcast reported its broadband and pay TV subscriber figures for the latest period.
Discussion:
Variety, MediaPost, Seeking Alpha, The Desk, @tvgrimreaper, @carlquintanilla, @thr, CBR, IndieWire, TechCrunch, Wall Street Journal, The Wrap, The Streamable, Deadline and Media Play News
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Jennifer Maas / Variety:
Comcast and NBCUniversal executives expect Peacock's EBITDA losses to peak in 2023 at “around $3B” and “improve steadily from there”; Peacock lost $2.5B in 2022
Comcast and NBCUniversal executives expect Peacock's EBITDA losses to peak in 2023 at “around $3B” and “improve steadily from there”; Peacock lost $2.5B in 2022
Discussion:
The Wrap, @richlightshed, @loudmouthjulia, @tvgrimreaper, The Information, Next TV, Adweek, TVNewsCheck and Awful Announcing
James Vincent / The Verge:
Springer Nature, the world's largest academic publisher, doesn't let LLMs like ChatGPT be credited as an author but allows AI to help write papers, if disclosed — Springer Nature, the world's largest academic publisher, has clarified its policies on the use of AI writing tools in scientific papers.
Discussion:
@jcreswellbaez, @mmitchell_ai, @jjvincent, @mkmasud_bd, @altustro, @altustro and @iethics
Meduza.io:
Russia designates Meduza an illegal, “undesirable organization”, meaning anyone who “cooperates” with the outlet, including sources, can face felony prosecution — The Russian Prosecutor General's Office designated Meduza as an illegal, “undesirable organization” on Thursday, January 26.
Discussion:
The Guardian, @ianbremmer, Financial Times, @vonelisa, @awinston, @billbarhydt, @kevinrothrock, @meduza_en, Committee to Protect … and Al Jazeera
Dessi Gomez / The Wrap:
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences partners with Letterboxd, a film-focused social network that has 8M members, ahead of the Oscars on March 12 — The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has launched a partnership with Letterboxd, the growing social network …
Rick Porter / The Hollywood Reporter:
Nielsen's most-streamed titles on US TVs in 2022: Stranger Things, followed by NCIS, CoComelon, Ozark, and Encanto; streaming content consumption rose ~27% YoY — Nielsen's year-end rankings put the Netflix hit head and shoulders above every other title. — One of Netflix's biggest shows ever is …
Laura Hazard Owen / Nieman Lab:
The New York Times launched its flagship TikTok account on January 24, after creating specialized accounts including for NYT Cooking and the Hard Fork podcast — On March 21, 2007, The New York Times announced itself on Twitter: “Word up! It is I, the Gray Lady, with a ‘shoutout’ to all my hip young friends.
Discussion:
@ylichterman and @arjunbasu
Kareem Shaheen / New Lines Magazine:
Mainstream outlets made important missteps in the Hamline University controversy, particularly by not publishing the painting of Muhammad that sparked it all — The omission is curious because the drawings are central to both the reporting and the cause of academic freedom
Sarah Sluis / AdExchanger:
Q&A with David Cohen, the CEO of ad trade group IAB, who has blasted Apple's ATT rules and legislators' labeling of personalized ads as surveillance capitalism — Digital advertising's biggest trade organization, the IAB, took a shot at Apple on Monday.