Top News:
Tiffany Hsu / New York Times:
How a slowing digital ad market, Apple's ATT changes, tech companies' internal turmoil, weak content moderation, and more are contributing to a junk ad epidemic — Scrolling past ads has rarely been enjoyable. But in recent months, people say the experience seems so much worse.
Discussion:
@kantrowitz, @sub8u, @swodinsky, @davidhagmann, @freezydorito, @deaneckles, @deftlyinane and @pmanchanda_, more at Techmeme »
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Jonathan Vanian / CNBC:
Meta's ad targeting restrictions and Amazon's ad product investments are leading brands to shift their budgets to Amazon; Amazon's ad unit grew 19% YoY in Q4 — - Facebook's more limited targeted capabilities coupled with Amazon's investment in ads products is leading a growing number of brands to shift their ad budgets.
Discussion:
Financial Times, @glenngabe, @carnage4life, @lorakolodny, @kjgillenwater and The Indian Express, more at Techmeme »
Bron Maher / Press Gazette:
In a staff email, Insider UK discloses the minimum salaries for each role; the lowest-paid journalists make at least £35K and highest paid make at least £60K — The lowest editorial salaries at Insider UK start at £35,000. — Insider has disclosed to its UK journalists …
Discussion:
@pressgazette and @pressgazette
Charlotte Van Campenhout / Reuters:
An advertising joint venture by Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Telefonica, and Vodafone to rival Meta and Google wins unconditional EU antitrust approval — Deutsche Telekom (DTEGn.DE), Orange (ORAN.PA), Telefonica (TEF.MC) and Vodafone (VOD.L) on Friday secured unconditional EU antitrust approval …
Discussion:
TechCrunch, Media Voices, European Commission, @astaniscia86, The Register, @robertjbateman, @wolfiechristl, Newsroom Orange Groupe and Adweek
Max Tani / Semafor:
A look back at Spotify betting hundreds of millions of dollars on podcasts, which CFO Paul Vogel says were a “big drag on our business in 2022” — By 2021, Spotify had paid to sign some of the biggest names in podcasting, and it was ready to start squeezing its competitors.
David Folkenflik / NPR:
Sources: reporter Amelia Knisely's WVPB dismissal came after years of pressure on the station by Gov. Jim Justice's administration and some state legislators — Late last fall, West Virginia Public Broadcasting's Amelia Ferrell Knisely reported one story after another about allegations …
Discussion:
@carisacollins, @davemistich, @stphnfwlr, @hannahallam, @wvdemocrats, @maustermuhle, @tphunter, @historicalnoone, @davemistich and @omunderdal
Wired:
Publishers worry that Microsoft's and Google's search chatbots, which summarize key info from articles, may undermine their businesses and spread misinformation — Microsoft's new search interface can serve up key information from articles, removing the need to click—and potentially undermining publisher business models.
Discussion:
@CodexArcanum@hachyderm.io, Poynter, Wall Street Journal, Hania's Substack, CNET, Fortune and The Drum, more at Techmeme »
Seth Mydans / New York Times:
Cambodia PM Hun Sen orders the closure of the Voice of Democracy, one of the country's last independent outlets, intensifying a long-running media crackdown — The leader, Hun Sen, was not satisfied with an apology he received from the outlet after it wrote about his son, a lieutenant general.
Discussion:
The Independent, Agence France-Presse, BBC, Al Jazeera, The Guardian, @suilee, Amnesty International and Agence France-Presse
Kat Tenbarge / NBC News:
Sex educators, adult stars, and sex workers complain about Instagram, saying Meta's moderation has gotten more punitive and less predictable since SESTA-FOSTA — Cherie DeVille lives in perpetual fear of losing her 3.7 million Instagram followers. — DeVille is a well-known porn star who also has an OnlyFans account.
Discussion:
@kattenbarge, @kattenbarge, @ambermac and @cheriedeville, more at Techmeme »
Faisal Kalim / What's New in Publishing:
FIPP Q4 2022 report covering 140 titles with a combined 42.1M subscribers: despite inflation and recession fears, global digital news subscribers kept growing — “Publishers will continue to see growth in 2023 despite economic headwinds.” … Although “the combination of a looming recession …
Discussion:
Media Voices and @kenherts
Louise Matsakis / Semafor:
Sources: TikTok's Internal Audit team that spied on journalists had wide investigative powers with little oversight; ByteDance says it's restructuring the team — TikTok's hyper-aggressive internal security team drew a wave of complaints from employees before its conduct exploded …
The Guardian:
UK DCMS Committee report: BBC chairman Richard Sharp made “significant errors of judgment” by not publicly divulging that he facilitated a Boris Johnson loan — The chair's future at the corporation is in doubt after a damning Commons report on his role in the Boris Johnson loan affair
Discussion:
@patrickarobey, @ian_fraser, @richardjmurphy, @dawnwestgate, Deadline, The Independent, Sky News, The Independent, HuffPost UK, BBC, Variety, Bloomberg, Byline Times and The Hollywood Reporter
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