Mediagazer: Twitch suspends an AI version of Seinfeld for 14 days after Larry Feinberg, a Jerry Seinfeld clone, made transphobic and homophobic statements in a standup bit (Jason Koebler/VICE)

5:05 PM ET, February 6, 2023

Top News:

Katie Robertson / New York Times:

Vinco Ventures and Icon Publishing acquire The National Enquirer from A360 Media for “a little less” than $100M, an April 2019 price that included other outlets — The publication has come under scrutiny in recent years over its suppression of stories about Donald Trump in the 2016 campaign.

New York Times:

Penske Media acquires a majority ownership stake in Vox Media; sources: Penske acquired a 20% stake for $100M — The deal is the latest in a series of acquisitions and investments made by Penske Media, the owner of a swath of entertainment and trade publications including Rolling Stone and Variety.

Discussion: Variety and Axios

Carrie Blazina / Online News Association:

The Online News Association appoints LaSharah S. Bunting as its CEO and Executive Director, effective March 13; Bunting was most recently a Simon & Schuster VP — Journalist, transformational leader, equity advocate will lead organization — The Online News Association …

Discussion: @lasharah, @jeffjarvis, @ashleyalvarado, @irvwashington3, @ona, @avqueenbenet, @iiwrites, @cande313, @kelseyproud, @bylarrygraham, @jkealing and @carrieblazina

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.

Discussion: The Hill, MIT Technology Review, Forbes, @marie_haynes, @johnkoetsier, @dalperovitch, @rachelmetz, @rasbt, @jjvincent, @atarkowski, @jjvincent, @jjvincent, @glenngabe, @jjvincent and Wall Street Journal, more at Techmeme »

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: @raineytime, @raineytime, @david_sommers, @jbenton and @sammy_roth

Jason Koebler / VICE:

Twitch suspends an AI version of Seinfeld for 14 days after Larry Feinberg, a Jerry Seinfeld clone, made transphobic and homophobic statements in a standup bit — “Nothing, Forever,” has been banned for at least 14 days. — Jason Koebler — “Nothing, Forever,” the infinitely-generating AI version …

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 …

Discussion: @elonmusk, Fortune, @kassandraseven, @paul@tapbots.social, @berdlybot, @elonmusk, Engadget, @jamescridland, @inlined, 9to5Mac, @taizou_hori, @stefan@stefanbohacek.online, The Register, @luca@social.luca.run, Mashable, The Verge and Insider, more at Techmeme »

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

Jim Waterson / The Guardian:

GB News presenter Mark Steyn quits after the channel told him he has to pay Ofcom fines for breaches of the broadcasting code over his COVID-19 vaccine comments — Mark Steyn could face sanction by media regulator after he cast doubt on safety of Covid vaccines

Discussion: @juwanthewriter, @rj_abel, @eddierobson and @davideledingue

William Turvill / Press Gazette: GB News' CEO says the channel will be “pivoting sharply” toward profit by trimming “wasteful costs” and aims to become the UK's top news channel by 2028

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, @byron_wan, Fortune, @sariarhohavren, @yaling_jiang, @uyghurproject, CBR, @rachel_cheung1, @tripperhead, @therealjoshye, @therealjoshye, CNN, @thomashhchan, Insider and Politico, more at Techmeme »

Matthew Keys / The Desk:

DirecTV says the satellite broadcaster dropped Newsmax since the channel demanded tens of millions in licensing fees, not for “political or ideological” reasons — Satellite broadcaster DirecTV said money, not politics or social ideology, was the element that provoked …

Discussion: Next TV and The Streamable, Thanks:@matthewkeyslive

The Daily Beast:

Sources: ex-The Hill owner Jimmy Finkelstein plans to name former People EIC Dan Wakeford as the editor of The Messenger, a “Washington Post-Daily Mail hybrid” — This reporting is one of several scoops featured in this week's edition of Confider, the newsletter pulling back the curtain on the media.

Discussion: @justinbaragona, @scottnover and @lachcartwright

Ed Meza / Variety:

Israeli filmmakers criticize the new government's plan to reserve state funding for films that don't allegedly tarnish the reputation of Israel or its military — The Israeli government's efforts to reserve state funding only for films that uphold the regime's far-right agenda is causing growing alarm among local filmmakers.

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More News:

Manish Singh / TechCrunch:
Pakistan unblocks Wikipedia after three days; Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif: the ban's unintended consequences over objectionable content outweigh its benefits

Discussion: Engadget, @marriyum_a, El País, Forbes, Wikimedia Foundation, UPI, The Indian Express and Al Jazeera, more at Techmeme »

Ashley Carman / Bloomberg:
Staff at Crooked Media, the progressive, independent podcast network behind Pod Save America, unionize through the Writers Guild of America, East

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Rana Foroohar / Financial Times:
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Dade Hayes / Deadline:
Fox Sports EVP Mark Evans says the outlet sold all its Super Bowl LVII ad inventory the week of January 23, with some peak 30-second spots selling for $7M+

Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
The UK's Reach names the launch editors and teams for its US expansion of the Mirror and Express websites and expects to hire ~100 US staff by the end of 2023

Discussion: @karldholbrook, @lizhazelton and @baronessbruck

Enuma Okoro / Financial Times:
A profile of Chris Jackson, the publisher and EIC of Penguin Random House imprint One World Books, who is hiring diverse staff and publishing more POC authors

Discussion: @alecurussell, @nikadubrovsky, @enumaokoro and @raju

New York Times:
BMG signed and canceled a deal with a French rapper widely condemned in Europe for antisemitic lyrics; documents: the label's involvement was to be kept hidden

Discussion: @katierosman, @sowmyak, @alexmarshall81, @nytimesmusic, @nspector4 and @joshmalina

Earlier Picks:

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

Discussion: @bostonmagazine and @thestoryshorey

Elizabeth Spiers / New York Times:
Gawker's founding editor says its last iteration read like a literary journal and the original couldn't exist today as mainstream media covers salacious stories

Discussion: @nytimes, @nytopinion, @luxalptraum, @kottke, @sternbergh, @marklamster, @nickgillespie, @dorocren, @azi, @jeffjarvis, @clarajeffery and @espiers

Angela Fu / Poynter:
Gannett ended online comments for most of its ~200 news sites on February 1 as “a safe, moderated” discussion is no longer feasible due to “changes in staffing”

Discussion: @film_girl, @travelinganna, @glenngabe, @dicktofel, @yourprotagonist, @tmorris504, @poynter, @carlquintanilla and @liamsadams

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

Discussion: New York Post, @bobhutchins, @jeremarketer, Media Voices, @devindra, @davidfromkansas, @wsjmag, @loyolaquinlan, @neilretail, @itstheannmarie, @dawngilbertson, Bits of Yit, Insider, SPY, @wsjmag, @laneflorsheim, Good Good Good, TODAY.com and TIME

Julia Angwin / The Markup:
The Markup founder Julia Angwin says she is leaving the outlet after five years to pursue other projects; Angwin moved from EIC to editor-at-large in April 2022

Duncan Campbell / Byline Times:
A look at The Nation's refusal to retract a 2017 story saying the 2016 DNC email leak was an inside job, not a Russian hack, and its history of defending Russia

Anthony D'Alessandro / Deadline:
Sources: Hello Sunshine is closing its kids and animation business and will collaborate with CoComelon creator Moonbug on future kids and animation projects

Discussion: @mrschimpf

From Techmeme:

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Meta details Llama 3: 8B- and 70B-parameter models, a focus on reducing false refusals, and an upcoming model trained on 15T+ tokens that has 400B+ parameters

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Google announces a new Platforms and Devices team overseeing Pixel, Android, Chrome, Photos, and more, to integrate AI across its products, led by Rick Osterloh

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Europol and 19 countries make 37 arrests and disrupt phishing-as-a-service platform LabHost in a year-long operation with help from Microsoft, Intel, and others

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