Mediagazer: The FTC proposes banning difficult-to-cancel subscriptions via “click to cancel” rules requiring companies to make ending a subscription as simple as signing up (Adi Robertson/The Verge)

3:50 PM ET, March 23, 2023

Top News:

Sources: Apple plans to spend $1B per year to produce movies for release in thousands of theatres, a big increase from years past, seeking to grow TV+ awareness — Apple Inc. plans to spend $1 billion a year to produce movies that will be released in theaters, according to people familiar …

Discussion: The Verge, The Streamable, TechCrunch, The Information, CNET, IndieWire, 9to5Mac, @franklinleonard, @frankpallotta, @idownloadblog, Media Play News, @masked_investor, @shiraovide, @sonnybunch, @colin_gladman, @susanlitv and AppleInsider, more at Techmeme »

Giles Turner / Bloomberg:

Sources: Apple considers bidding for the streaming rights to a range of English soccer games, including to show Premier League games in the UK, following Amazon — Apple Inc. is considering bidding for the streaming rights to a range of English football games, according to people familiar …

Discussion: Macworld, IndieWire, The Streamable, @imbadatlife, @bloomberguk, @graceonfootball, @bloomberguk, 9to5Mac, Deadline, @irishtimesbiz, AppleInsider and Apple, more at Techmeme »

Adi Robertson / The Verge:

The FTC proposes banning difficult-to-cancel subscriptions via “click to cancel” rules requiring companies to make ending a subscription as simple as signing up — The US Federal Trade Commission is proposing a formal ban on subscriptions that are simple to start but difficult to stop.

Discussion: Federal Trade Commission, Wall Street Journal, Insider, NPR, Nieman Lab, CNN, @whstancil, @r_thaler, @linakhanftc, @linakhanftc, @mh4oh, Ars Technica, @work_matters, The Hill, Engadget, PCMag UK, CNET, Fortune, Gizmodo, @neolithicsheep, 9to5Mac, @revelatrix, Vox, @blackamazon and CBS News, more at Techmeme »

Michael E. Kanell / Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

Atlanta Journal-Constitution EIC Kevin Riley announces his retirement, to be succeeded by Leroy Chapman, the first Black EIC in the newspaper's 155-year history — Managing Editor Leroy Chapman to succeed Kevin Riley as editor-in-chief. Riley announced retirement Thursday.

Katie Robertson / New York Times:

Fox Corp's lawyers argue executives, including the Murdochs, had no direct involvement in Fox News content, so Fox Corp shouldn't be liable in the Dominion case — Lawyers for the company, which faces a $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit, are pushing for a judge to rule in their favor before a trial.

Discussion: Media Matters for America, Slate, @jackshafer, @leetravis_, @oliver_drk, TVNewsCheck, @tonywalker1, @rolandsmartin, The Guardian, Reuters, The Wrap, Bloomberg, The Hill, CNBC, Vanity Fair, Washington Post and The Daily Beast

Cory Doctorow / Pluralistic:

Cory Doctorow says he's selling a third audiobook via Kickstarter after refusing to consent to Amazon's DRM for Audible, which gets 90% of genre audiobook sales — Red Team Blues is my next novel, a post-cyberpunk anti-finance finance thriller; it's a major title for my publishers Tor Books …

Mark Jacob / Nieman Lab:

Journalism schools show no interest in an outright ban on Fox News, even though the Dominion case appears to have revealed an ethical breach from the network — Fox News appears to have committed a gross breach of journalism ethics: intentionally lying to its audience about the 2020 election.

Discussion: @markjacob16, @jayrosen_nyu, @froomkin and @markjacob16

Gretchen A. Peck / Editor and Publisher:

A look at local news publishers' views on grants and government funding: one skeptic views tech company grants as “business-building projects”, not philanthropy — Publishers report revenue diversification, philanthropy and public funding key to sustainability

Discussion: International Center …, @localnewsini, What's New in Publishing, Washington Post, @viacristiano, @robatkinsonitif and Local News Initiative

Laura Hazard Owen / Nieman Lab:

Q&A with Center for Cooperative Media Research Director Sarah Stonbely residents' top needs from local news outlets, especially calendars of municipal meetings — Blairstown, Paterson, and Trenton are three very different communities in New Jersey, but when Sarah Stonbely …

Discussion: @niemanlab, @spj_tweets and @aliciak2010

Ashley Belanger / Ars Technica:

A look at arguments presented by the Internet Archive and the major publishers in a NY court; publishers claim millions in lost revenue from IA's book lending — A federal judge will soon decide if digital lending violates copyright laws. — Today, the Internet Archive (IA) …

Discussion: @mariabustillos, @clancynewyork, The Register, Techdirt and DigitalKoans

Brian Steinberg / Variety:

CNN plans to launch The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper, a 60 Minutes-style show, on April 16 at 8pm, part of its plans for premium programming on Sundays — Anderson Cooper, a regular contributor to “60 Minutes,” will now lead CNN's attempt to put on something similar.

Discussion: New York Daily News, New York Post, CNN, The Wrap, Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter and @brianstelter

Nathan Grayson / Washington Post:

Current and former Twitch staff describe how the service lost its way: out-of-touch leaders, losing big creators, cost cutting, many irrelevant ads, and more — The platform's recent moves have confused and upset creators, fans and staff alike — For Twitch, the live-streaming platform watched …

Discussion: @adribbleofink, @vahn16, @vahn16, @vahn16, @vahn16, @vahn16, @vahn16 and Kotaku

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More News:

Naman Ramachandran / Variety:
Ofcom sets out rules for the BBC's new operating license, which requires adherence to 70+ quotas and fully regulates the BBC's online services, from April 1

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Sara Fischer / Axios:
MoffettNathanson predicts less spending on streaming TV shows and movies in 2023, especially by Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount Global, and NBCUniversal

Discussion: @sarafischer

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

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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

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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: @fhamiltontimes, @pollyrippon, @pressgazette and HoldtheFrontPage

Wall Street Journal:
Sources: at News Media Alliance meetings in recent weeks, publishing executives discussed their content being used to train AI and how they might be compensated

Discussion: MediaPost, @niemanlab, @dinasrinivasan, @shashidigital, @lilianedwards, @jackmarshall, @cameronwilson, @jbenton, @adamostrow, @jessicalessin and @asharma

Earlier Picks:

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

Discussion: Wired

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

Discussion: HoldtheFrontPage and Media Voices

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

Discussion: Washington Post, Associated Press, @stokel, American Press Institute, Ars Technica, @ibjiyongi, Talking Points Memo, @ksergatskova, @glynmoody, @stokel, New York Post, The Daily Dot, Kotaku, The Hill, Wired, The Present Age and PetaPixel

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

Discussion: Music Ally, @sizpatel, @pkafka and Variety

Max Tani / @maxwelltani:
JAF Communications acquires DC-based Grid and plans to integrate the news site into The Messenger before launching the digital news media company in May 2023

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

From Techmeme:

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple is working on a smart doorbell system with advanced facial recognition that can wirelessly connect and unlock third-party smart locks

Wall Street Journal:
Gina Raimondo says holding back China in the chips race is a “fool's errand”, and investment, more than export controls, will keep US ahead of Beijing

Kevin Roose / New York Times:
A look at Amazon's revamped drone delivery program near Phoenix, Arizona, where the company's new MK-30 drones deliver dozens of packages a day to customers

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