Mediagazer: News reports and journalists say at least 28 members of the press were obstructed, harassed, or attacked covering Nigerian elections on March 18 and March 19 (Sarah Spicer/Committee to Protect Journalists)

4:50 PM ET, March 22, 2023

Top News:

Ashley Carman / Bloomberg:

Memo: Spotify has spent less than 10% of its $100M Creator Equity Fund, announced in February 2022 to promote diversity in music after the Joe Rogan controversy — Spotify Technology SA's $100 million Creator Equity Fund, designed to promote diversity in music and podcasts following controversial comments …

Discussion: Engadget, @bsindia, @ashleyrcarman, @jbfromdc89, The Daily Beast, @lucas_shaw, @doctorjonpaul, @flynnwaslike, @andijarvis, @charlespulliam, @karenattiah, @exavierpope and @lucas_shaw, more at Techmeme »

Luke Plunkett / Kotaku:

Ubisoft unveils Ghostwriter, an internal AI tool saving its scriptwriters time by creating first drafts and more realistic non-player character interactions — Ubisoft Ghostwriter is described by the company as ‘an AI tool’ — Ubisoft, the publishers behind Assassin's Creed …

Discussion: Ubisoft on YouTube, Ubisoft, TheGamer, Engadget, Video Games Chronicle, @charalanahzard, @patrickweekes, @eddcoates, Game Developer, Game Developer, @ubisoft, PCMag, TechCrunch, @six6jiang and Shelly Palmer, more at Techmeme »

Gene Maddaus / Variety:

Sources: the WGA proposes allowing writers to use AI for scripts without sharing credit or residuals, after previously considering regulating AI use in writing — The Writers Guild of America has proposed allowing artificial intelligence to write scripts, as long as it does not affect writers' credits or residuals.

Discussion: The Verge, Insider, @sandeepparikh, @jsjdarling, @louisathelast, @bensolohope, @cadebrigade, @tedhope and @filmupdates

Sahil Patel / The Information:

Sources: Meta rehires veteran manager Nick Grudin, who left to join NFT startup Dapper Labs in August 2022, to oversee media company and creator relationships — Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg's effort to cut back on middle managers isn't stopping the company hiring more middle managers.

Discussion: Variety, @sizpatel, @pkafka and Inc42 Media, more at Techmeme »

Meg James / Los Angeles Times:

Newsmax will return to DirecTV after the companies reach a new distribution agreement — DirecTV's dispute with conservative network Newsmax — which turned bitter when the small channel enlisted support from Republican politicians — is ending with Newsmax returning to programming lineups of satellite TV customers.

Wall Street Journal:

Sources: at recent News Media Alliance meetings, publishing executives discussed the use of their content to train AI and how they should be compensated — Media executives want compensation for use of their content in ChatGPT, Bing and Bard — Bing With AI: Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella on Why Search Is Changed Forever

Discussion: @adamostrow, @niemanlab, @asharma and @jessicalessin

Max Tani / @maxwelltani:

JAF Communications, which publishes The Messenger, acquires DC-based Grid, which will be integrated into The Messenger for its May 2023 launch — Inbox: New media startup the Messenger has acquired Grid News https://twitter.com/...

Discussion: Press Gazette, Nieman Lab, @clairehoworth, @kailijoy, @sarafischer, @learmonth and @jbenton

Andrew Marchand / New York Post:

Source: ESPN fired EVP Rob King, at the company for ~20 years, after harassment accusations; King tweeted that he “decided the time is right for me to leave” — ESPN has fired executive vice president Rob King after he was accused of harassment, The Post has learned.

Discussion: @espn_robking, @sarahspain, Variety, Poynter, Columbia Journalism Review, OutKick, Poynter, Front Office Sports, Inside Radio, Fox News and Awful Announcing

Chris Stokel-Walker / BuzzFeed News:

Bellingcat founder Eliot Higgins says Midjourney banned him after he made images of a Donald Trump arrest; the company banned the word “arrested” in its tool — “I suspect it was pushing my luck when I did the [Twitter] thread,” said Bellingcat founder Eliot Higgins.

Discussion: New York Post, Mediaite, @ksergatskova, The Daily Dot, Kotaku, The Hill, Ars Technica, The Present Age, @stokel, @stokel, @glynmoody and PetaPixel, more at Techmeme »

Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:

Reach offers staff earning £60K or less a 4% raise; a source says Reach will employ ~1,200 journalists, down from 2,862 in 2022, after the planned redundancies — Reach is doubling down on growing direct audiences and data-driven digital revenues. — Reach has offered staff earning …

Celeste Katz Marston / Nieman Reports:

A look at the exiled journalists and outlets from South Sudan, Eritrea, Myanmar, Afghanistan, Nicaragua, Mexico, Belarus, and Russia covering their countries — As press freedoms around the globe erode, journalists are building networks outside their home countries to continue reporting

Discussion: @hraleighspeaks, @williamyang120, @icfj, @niemanfdn, @niemanfdn, @fbdnstories, @samiullahmahdi, @lnajafizada and The Guardian

Reuters Institute:

An analysis of 100 news outlets in Brazil, Germany, South Africa, the UK, and the US in 2022: 23% of the 81 top editors are POC with none in Brazil and Germany — In this Reuters Institute factsheet, continuing work started in 2020, we analyse the percentage of people of colour …

Discussion: @risj_oxford, American Press Institute, @rasmus_kleis, @johnycassidy, @kirstenaeddy, @luizferteixeira, @rasmus_kleis and @mitalilive

Jaron Schneider / PetaPixel:

Amazon-owned digital photography site DPReview is closing on April 10; people can request to download photos or texts they've uploaded to the site until April 6 — DPReview, easily one of the most beloved publications among photography enthusiasts, will shut down and its content will be deleted.

Jaron Schneider / PetaPixel:
Chris Niccolls and Jordan Drake, the departing YouTube hosts of DPReview TV, plan to join PetaPixel to lead its new YouTube Channel that launches in May 2023

Discussion: @lgworld, @raywongy and @jaronschneider

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More News:

William Turvill / Press Gazette:
UK publishers criticize a College of Policing's guideline change giving police across England and Wales the option not to name suspects charged with offenses

Discussion: @pollyrippon, @pressgazette, @fhamiltontimes and HoldtheFrontPage

Sarah Spicer / Committee to Protect Journalists:
News reports and journalists say at least 28 members of the press were obstructed, harassed, or attacked covering Nigerian elections on March 18 and March 19

Chris Welch / The Verge:
Amazon introduces new Fire TVs and the cheaper TV lineup 2-Series, and says 200M+ Fire TV devices have been sold

Discussion: Variety, Engadget, Light Reading, PCMag UK, TechCrunch, The Streamable and Media Play News, more at Techmeme »

Dan Kennedy / Media Nation:
The Boston Globe ends its two-year partnership with The Emancipator, leaving Boston University's Center for Antiracist Research to publish the digital outlet

Discussion: Nieman Lab

Elizabeth Dilts Marshall / Billboard:
Tencent Music reports 2022 revenue down 9.3% YoY to ~$4.11B, despite music subscriptions revenue up 18.6% YoY to ~$1.26B; Q4 revenue fell 2.4% YoY to ~$1.08B

Discussion: Tencent Music, Music Ally, Reuters, Music Business Worldwide and Digital Music News

Earlier Picks:

Wall Street Journal:
Sources: TikTok sought to reassure advertisers in recent days and play down the threat of an outright US ban, hoping to keep brands from cutting their spending

Discussion: @cpa_trendlines, @patiencehaggin, @jchengwsj and Adweek, more at Techmeme »

Aisha Malik / TechCrunch:
Instagram plans to roll out ads in search results globally in the coming months after initial tests and debuts Reminder Ads for opt-in upcoming event reminders

Discussion: The Verge, MarTech, 9to5Mac and MediaPost, more at Techmeme »

David Robb / Deadline:
WGA East members who work for Hearst Magazines plan a half-day walkout on March 23 to demand a fair contract and supporting rallies at four Hearst office sites

Discussion: @sfcguild, @greenhousenyt, MediaPost and Radio & Television …

The Guardian:
An Ecuavisa TV presenter was hurt after inserting a bomb disguised as a USB stick into his computer; other journalists across Ecuador received similar devices

Discussion: Ars Technica, Reporters Without Borders, PCMag UK, BBC, @johnhultquist, @kimzetter, @runasand, @bbhorne, @littlenewsnetwk, Fox News, Boing Boing and New York Daily News

Jef Feeley / Bloomberg:
Lawyers for Dominion and Fox News try to persuade a judge to resolve the defamation lawsuit against Fox without the jury trial scheduled to start on April 17

From Techmeme:

Andy Greenberg / Wired:
Cisco details a hacking campaign that penetrated multiple governments' networks using two zero-day flaws in its VPN and firewall Adaptive Security Appliances

Ben Glickman / Wall Street Journal:
IBM agrees to buy HashiCorp, which helps companies manage cloud infrastructure, in a deal valuing HashiCorp at $6.4B and expected to close by the end of 2024

Bob Van Voris / Bloomberg:
US prosecutors charge two founders of Samourai Wallet, saying the crypto mixing service facilitated more than $100M in money laundering transactions

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