Top News:
Carrie Blazina / Online News Association:
The Online News Association appoints LaSharah S. Bunting as its CEO and Executive Director, effective March 13; she was most recently a VP at Simon & Schuster — Journalist, transformational leader, equity advocate will lead organization — The Online News Association …
Discussion:
@lasharah, @jeffjarvis, @irvwashington3, @cande313, @kelseyproud, @bylarrygraham, @ashleyalvarado, @ona, @avqueenbenet, @iiwrites, @jkealing and @carrieblazina
Katie Robertson / New York Times:
A360 Media sells The National Enquirer to VVIP Ventures, a joint venture by Vinco Ventures and Icon Publishing, for “a little less” than the $100M price in 2019 — The publication has come under scrutiny in recent years over its suppression of stories about Donald Trump in the 2016 campaign.
Discussion:
CNBC, The Wrap, New York Post, Vinco Ventures, Wall Street Journal, UPI, MediaPost, Deadline, @brianstelter, @deardara, CNN, Press Gazette, @katie_robertson, @trysmallbiz, @hodltheblunt, The Hollywood Reporter and Axios
James Vincent / The Verge:
Getty Images sues Stability AI in the US for allegedly copying 12M+ images without permission or compensation for training data used to create Stable Diffusion — Getty Images has filed a lawsuit in the US against Stability AI, creators of open-source AI art generator Stable Diffusion, escalating its legal battle against the firm.
James Rainey / Los Angeles Times:
Ken Doctor says his local digital outlet Lookout Santa Cruz is on track to make a profit in 2023 and hopes to expand, probably within California, by early 2024 — Over many years as a leading media analyst, Ken Doctor spoke out repeatedly about the disintegrating American newspaper business.
Discussion:
@jbenton, @raineytime, @raineytime, @david_sommers and @sammy_roth
Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch:
After Twitter said free API access would end on February 9, Elon Musk promises “a light, write-only API for bots providing good content that is free” — Last week, Twitter said it is shutting down free access to its APIs starting February 9. Now, days before the deadline …
Jason Koebler / VICE:
Twitch suspends an AI-generated version of Seinfeld for 14 days after Larry Feinberg, a Jerry Seinfeld clone, made transphobic statements during a standup bit — “Nothing, Forever,” has been banned for at least 14 days. — Jason Koebler — “Nothing, Forever,” the infinitely-generating AI version …
Amudalat Ajasa / Washington Post:
A look at the Black women fighting for years to claim top TV meteorologists roles in the US, some of whom face waves of backlash and hate from viewers — For decades, broadcast meteorology has been dominated by White men — leaving out women, and particularly women of color.
Discussion:
@tevinwooten, @drshepherd2013, @brynnecraig, @bhensonweather and @stellakafka
Chan Ho-him / Financial Times:
Disney removes an October 2022 episode of The Simpsons that referred to “forced labor camps” in China from Disney+ in Hong Kong, after a similar removal in 2021 — Missing programme on streaming platform mentions ‘camps where children make smartphones’
Discussion:
Fox News, Reuters, Forbes, Politico, Insider, @byron_wan, Fortune, @sariarhohavren, @yaling_jiang, @uyghurproject, CBR, @rachel_cheung1, @tripperhead, @therealjoshye, @therealjoshye, CNN and @thomashhchan, more at Techmeme »
Wall Street Journal:
A look at “de-influencers”, a rising cohort of TikTok users criticizing viral products and promoting thoughtful shopping; #deinfluencing videos passed 68M views — TikTok users are speaking critically about viral products and advocating for thoughtful shopping habits.
Manish Singh / TechCrunch:
Pakistan unblocks Wikipedia after three days; Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif: the ban's unintended consequences over objectionable content outweigh its benefits — Pakistan has unblocked Wikipedia in the South Asian market, just three days after the online encyclopedia was censored in the nation …
Discussion:
@marriyum_a, El País, Forbes, Wikimedia Foundation, UPI, Engadget, The Indian Express, Al Jazeera and The Verge, more at Techmeme »
Gretchen Voss / Boston Magazine:
After a Massachusetts newspaper spent years alleging mayoral corruption with approval by its owner, a defamation suit shows its sole journalist was a fabulist — Everett's oldest weekly newspaper, the Everett Leader Herald, spent years reporting that the city's highest-elected official …
Discussion:
@bostonmagazine and @thestoryshorey
Matthew Keys / The Desk:
DirecTV says it dropped Newsmax because the channel demanded tens of millions in licensing fees, not because of “political or ideological” reasons — Satellite broadcaster DirecTV said money, not politics or social ideology, was the element that provoked it to drop conservative commentary network Newsmax in January.
Discussion:
The Streamable, Next TV and Forbes, Thanks:@matthewkeyslive
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