Mediagazer: The Texas Observer editors raise $200K+ in emergency funding through a GoFundMe drive and urge its board to reconsider its decision to shut down the magazine (Sewell Chan/The Texas Tribune)

6:55 PM ET, March 28, 2023

Top News:

Sources: Disney closes its metaverse unit, cutting ~50 jobs, and cancels an Amazon Prime-like program integrating Disney+, online retail, and theme park apps — The unit, once seen as developing a new form of storytelling, had about 50 employees — Mickey Mouse has left the metaverse.

Alex Sherman / CNBC:
Memo: Disney plans to start layoffs this week, the first of three rounds before the summer that will amount to 7,000 roles, as part of $5.5B in cost cutting

Discussion: Insider, The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline, @fortunemagazine, Fortune, @susanlitv, @running_ryan, @trevordmoretz, The Verge, @alexweprin, @lucas_shaw, CNN, @ashleylcarter1, @andrewmarchand and @sherman4949

Aamna Mohdin / The Guardian:

The Guardian owner Scott Trust apologizes for the role the newspaper's founders played in the slave trade and announces expanded reporting on Black communities — Scott Trust to invest in decade-long programme of restorative justice after academic research into newspaper's origins

Discussion: The Guardian, The Guardian, Eventbrite, @margaretsimons, @rwilliams1947, @peterwalker99, @jeffjarvis, @aamnamohdin, @brianstelter, @lanre_bakare, @bonn1egreer, @jamesrbuk, @pippacrerar, @slaverymuseum, @jayrosen_nyu, @juliacarriew, @kathviner and @loisbeckett

Sara Fischer / Axios:

Substack invites its newsletter writers and others to invest, aiming to raise $2M; source: the raise is an extension of Substack's $65M Series B in March 2021 — Substack, the newsletter platform, will open up a community fundraising round on Tuesday, allowing writers on the platform to invest in the company.

Aisha Malik / TechCrunch:

Google plans to add a “Perspectives” carousel, showcasing journalists and others under Top Stories, and an “About this author” feature for US English searches — Google is introducing new ways for users to verify information on Search, the company announced on Tuesday.

Discussion: The Keyword, The Verge, Search Engine Land and @killedbygoogle, more at Techmeme »

Sewell Chan / The Texas Tribune:

The Texas Observer editors raise $200K+ in emergency funding through a GoFundMe drive and urge its board to reconsider its decision to shut down the magazine — Journalists at the progressive publication expect to be laid off this week. Relations between the board and senior staff have severely eroded.

The Verge:

Elon Musk says only verified accounts will be recommended in Twitter's For You tab and be able to vote in polls to address “AI bot swarms”, starting on April 15 — Twitter users will need a “verified account” to get recommended on the platform's For You page starting on April 15th …

Discussion: @elonmusk, Mashable, @carnage4life, CNN, CNBC, @mattbinder, @mattbinder, @videotech_, @adamsessler, @jason_kint, @elonmusk, @mims, @lisadlaporte, @kantrowitz, @kantrowitz, @lanceroberts, @goldman, Variety, Vanity Fair, @roslyntalusan, @teri_kanefield, Insider, The Wrap, @kt_so_it_goes, @javi_khoso, Fast Company, @mattbinder, @ryanjreilly, @benedictevans, @teri_kanefield, BGR, Gizmodo, The Register, @teri_kanefield, @teri_kanefield, @contrapoints, @teri_kanefield, @walkerbragman, @williamlegate, @teri_kanefield, @teri_kanefield, @zaleskiluke, @franklinleonard, @ryangrim, @santiagomayer_, @kruzadar, @1romans58, @jeffjarvis, @jarvis, @ischafer, @stevenbward, @mazmhussain, Music Ally, @rtehrani, @thestuffofmemes, @heydudeimadam, @jonfavs, @semaforben, @skillupyt, @lauren@mastodon …, @malwaretech@infosec.exchange, @jerry@infosec.exchange, @willoremus@mastodon.social, @paul@tapbots.social, @jeffjarvis@mastodon.social, @rodhilton@mastodon.social, @joshuatopolsky@mastodon …, @tchambers@indieweb.social, @danyork@mastodon.social, @mmasnick@mastodon.social, @dangillmor@mastodon.social, @hunterwalk@mastodon.cloud, @caseynewton@mastodon.social, @Jbat@mstdn.media, @rodhilton@mastodon.social, @lauren@mastodon …, @sharearea@mastodon.online, Bloomberg, Deadline, Reuters, Social Media Today and @mmasnick@mastodon.social, more at Techmeme »

James Rainey / Los Angeles Times:

A look at the decline of Gannett's The Salinas Californian, whose only original content comes from paid obituaries after its last reporter quit in December 2022 — When brown water overflowed the banks of the Salinas River in January, flooding thousands of acres and throwing an untold number …

Sara Fischer / Axios:

Gannett CEO Mike Reed says the company's top ~100 dailies bring in ~90% of its newspaper business revenue so they are “probably where most of our focus will be” — - CEO Mike Reed said on last month's earnings call that the company “would entertain bids on any of our markets.”

Discussion: @terrencemcd, @sarafischer, @russbengtson, @jbenton, @appodlachia and @dicktofel

Reuters:

A report claims Amazon is considering acquiring theater chain AMC Entertainment Holdings, whose stock initially jumped 18% and closed up 13.19% on March 28 — Shares of AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc (AMC.N) jumped more than 18% on Tuesday, set for their biggest gain in a month …

Discussion: The Intersect, The Wrap, Forbes, Insider, Forbes and Bloomberg

Zoë Schiffer / Platformer:

Documents: Twitter closely monitors and boosts ~35 accounts including Matt Yglesias, Glenn Greenwald, Noah Smith, Adrian Wojnarowski, Ben Shapiro, and @catturd2 — Congratulations to Ben Shapiro, AOC, and ... LeBron? — Last week, Twitter began notifying users who were verified under …

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

OverDrive, which lets libraries and other institutions lend their digital catalogs, plans to shut down its app on May 1, 2023 and redirect its readers to Libby — For over a decade, the OverDrive app has offered a service that allows institutions, including public libraries and schools …

Discussion: The Bookseller

Charlotte Klein / Vanity Fair:

A profile of Kara Swisher where she explains why she left The New York Times, the importance of editorial control and owning your IP, writing a memoir, and more — The ultimate media insider is juggling podcasts, writing a memoir, and texting with “half the planet.” ("She has a coffee before bed," says Ben Smith.)

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More News:

Jim Waterson / The Guardian:
UK leaders plan to kill a law forcing news outlets to pay court costs of those who sue them, as part of a bill that may also add streaming service regulation

Discussion: Deadline and @davidleighx

Steve Herman / The Newsguy:
VOA's Steve Herman, who was suspended from Twitter and returned after withdrawing his appeal, explains Twitter's influence on journalists despite its many flaws

Discussion: @w7voa, @algernonwrites, @juristnews, @alanrealized and @w7voa

Lynette Rice / Deadline:
Paramount+ Chief Programming Officer Tanya Giles is leaving after 28 years at Paramount Global and its iterations; sources say there is no immediate replacement

Discussion: The Wrap, @bergopolis and Variety

Alex Sherman / CNBC:
Digital media companies like BuzzFeed, Vice, and Vox, which focused on consolidation to counter Google and Meta, abandon rollups to focus on differentiation

Discussion: The Rebooting, @sherman4949, @sherman4949, @simonowens and @anthony, Thanks:@ashkan

The Daily Beast:
New York Times managing editors Carolyn Ryan and Marc Lacey held “tongue-lashing” meetings and wrote warnings to ~20 staff who blasted the NYT's trans coverage

Kat Tenbarge / NBC News:
A look at the non-consensual deepfake porn economy, with video sites easily accessible via top Google search results and some accepting Visa and Mastercard

Discussion: @nbcnews, @mowgliflower, @ankachristine, @kattenbarge, @kattenbarge, @kattenbarge, @benjamingoggin, @kattenbarge, @mikestabile, @tomnamako, @pkedrosky and @jasonabbruzzese

Earlier Picks:

Andrew Webster / The Verge:
Apple plans to release Martin Scorsese's next movie Killers of the Flower Moon in theaters in partnership with Paramount Pictures before its Apple TV+ debut

Discussion: Deadline, @akhil_arora, SlashFilm, Bloody Disgusting!, IndieWire and Comic Book

Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
Peacock plans to stream MSNBC's Morning Joe and CNBC's Squawk Box starting on March 28, in an expansion of its live news lineup to political and financial news

Discussion: Deadline, @sherman4949 and @alexweprin

Isabella Simonetti / Wall Street Journal:
Sources: CNN is finalizing a deal for Gayle King to host a weekly prime-time show; in March, CNN may hit its lowest monthly rating in decades for ages 25 to 54

Discussion: Awful Announcing, Arizona Sports, Deadline, Vibe, New York Post, @asharma, The Hill, @feministajones, @bristei, @andrewmarchand, @keitholbermann, @owillis, @dylanbyers, @jbflint, @asharma and Variety

Sara Fischer / Axios:
Sources: Grid News' website shuts down as owner The Messenger evaluates what to do with Grid's products and interviews Grid's staff for roles at The Messenger

Discussion: Vanity Fair, @sarafischer, @sarafischer, Politico, American Press Institute, @scottnover, @joshua_eaton, @juwanthewriter, @mbolotnikova, @saramorrison, @oneunderscore__, @nickrmanes, @owillis and @paldhous

Fiona Sturges / Financial Times:
Audio content agency This Is Distorted launches Synthetic Stories, a podcast created in 24 hours using AI, including for the plot, music, artwork, and narration

From Techmeme:

Kate Kelly / New York Times:
Congress considers legislation to block DJI drones from running on US communication networks, effectively killing the Chinese company's US commercial business

Dustin Volz / Wall Street Journal:
Sam Altman, Satya Nadella, Sundar Pichai, Jensen Huang, and others join a board for advising the DHS on deploying AI safely within US critical infrastructure

The Baltimore Banner:
Baltimore Police arrest a high school teacher for allegedly framing his principal by using AI to create an audio file of the principal making racist comments

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