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

3:45 PM ET, February 6, 2023

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.

Discussion: The Hill, MIT Technology Review, Forbes, @marie_haynes, @johnkoetsier, @dalperovitch, @jjvincent, @jjvincent, @glenngabe, @jjvincent, @rachelmetz, @rasbt, @atarkowski, @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: @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 …

Discussion: Ars Technica, The Guardian, Insider, New York Post, Engadget, @jasonschreier, @heerjeet, @craigfaycomedy, @nikostratis, Garbage Day, The Verge, IndieWire, @sir_superhero, @timmarchman, @merrittk, The A.V. Club, @samleecole and Screen Rant

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.

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

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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More News:

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

Discussion: Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter, @ohjuliatweets, @priaribi, @dayanitaramesh, @ericlbabb and @ashleyrcarman

Rana Foroohar / Financial Times:
The US DOJ seeking a jury trial over breaking up Google's ad business is risky in antitrust but a smart way to avoid a judge likely to align with a corporation

Discussion: @georgedibb, @justinhendrix, @jtasioulas, @ranaforoohar, @alemannoeu, @maxvonthun and @aidanpeppin, more at Techmeme »

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+

Discussion: MediaPost, Sportico, Associated Press, @rachyljones, Sports Business Journal, Front Office Sports, @ericjackson, Observer, Ad Age, Adweek, @larakiara, Variety, @parkerdelrey, @ourand_sbj, The Big Lead and Barrett Media

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, @joshmalina and Billboard

Earlier Picks:

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, @liamsadams, Springfield News-Leader and The Herald-Times

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

Zoe Tillman / Bloomberg:
A US federal judge dismisses a 2020 Trump campaign defamation lawsuit against The Washington Post but lets the campaign revise its complaint within 30 days

Discussion: Reason, New York Post and Insider

From Techmeme:

Stephanie Palazzolo / The Information:
An undisclosed 2023 agreement between Microsoft and OpenAI defines achieving AGI as the point when OpenAI develops AI systems that generate $100B+ in profits

New York Times:
Japan Airlines halts ticket sales after a cyberattack hit its network equipment, causing delays to more than 40 flights, and says flight safety was not impacted

Noah Smith / Noahpinion:
How H-1B workers from India and other countries help the US remain dominant in tech, as some on the new “Tech Right” discover MAGA's racial-nationalist bigotry

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