Mediagazer: 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 (Wall Street Journal)

3:30 PM ET, March 22, 2023

Top News:

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

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, @patrickweekes, @eddcoates, Game Developer, Game Developer, TechCrunch, @charalanahzard, @ubisoft, PCMag and Shelly Palmer, more at Techmeme »

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, @jbfromdc89, @ashleyrcarman, The Daily Beast, @karenattiah, @lucas_shaw, @doctorjonpaul, @flynnwaslike, @andijarvis, @charlespulliam, @exavierpope and @lucas_shaw, 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: @jessicalessin and @asharma

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, Columbia Journalism Review, OutKick, Poynter, Front Office Sports, Inside Radio, Fox News and Awful Announcing

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

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

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

Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:

Reach offers staff earning £60K or less a 4% pay rise; a source says Reach will employ ~1,200 journalists, down from 2,862 in 2022, after planned redundancies — Reach is doubling down on growing direct audiences and data-driven digital revenues. — Reach has offered staff earning £60,000 …

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, departing hosts of DPReview TV on YouTube, plan to join PetaPixel to lead its new YouTube Channel that launches in May

Discussion: @lgworld, @raywongy and @jaronschneider

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

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 — Meta is introducing two new tools on Instagram designed to open up additional avenues for advertising as the company grapples with weak advertising demand.

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

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 — Ask lawyers about Eric Davis, the judge overseeing the $1.6 billion defamation suit against Fox News by Dominion Voting Systems …

Oliver Darcy / CNN:
Fox News drops its lawsuit seeking a restraining order against producer Abby Grossberg but places her on leave after she filed two lawsuits against the network

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More News:

William Turvill / Press Gazette:
UK publishers criticize new guidelines which could give police across England and Wales the option of not releasing the names of people charged with offenses

Discussion: HoldtheFrontPage

Sarah Spicer / Committee to Protect Journalists:
News reporters and journalists say at least 28 members of the press were obstructed, harassed, or attacked covering Nigerian elections on March 18 and 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, The Streamable, TechCrunch, Light Reading, PCMag UK and Media Play News, more at Techmeme »

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

Earlier Picks:

Elizabeth Dilts Marshall / Billboard:
Tencent Music reports 2022 revenue down 9.3% YoY to ~$4.1B as music subscriptions revenue rose 18.6% 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

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 »

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

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

From Techmeme:

Foo Yun Chee / Reuters:
Apple says Meta has made 15 interoperability requests under the EU's DMA, more than any other company, and that these could affect users' privacy and security

Reuters:
Sources: Apple is in early-stage talks with Tencent and ByteDance about integrating their AI models into iPhones sold in China; ChatGPT is unavailable in China

Will Judd / Eurogamer.net:
Sony details the PS5 Pro's specs, including an AMD RDNA 2 GPU and ray tracing improvements, and announces a long-term machine learning partnership with AMD

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