Mediagazer: A look at ActivityPub, the open, decentralized social network protocol finalized in 2018 that is gaining prominence powering Twitter alternatives like Mastodon (David Pierce/The Verge)

4:15 PM ET, April 20, 2023

Top News:

Memo: BuzzFeed News is shutting down, and BuzzFeed is cutting jobs by ~15%; Jonah Peretti: “We will have a single news brand in HuffPost, which is profitable” — BuzzFeed News, which won a Pulitzer Prize but never made money, is “beginning the process of closing,” the company's founder …

Discussion: @oliverdarcy, Nieman Lab, Los Angeles Times, The Daily Beast, Wall Street Journal, NBC News, WWD, MediaPost, @benmullin, Axios, @gamoid, @davidmackau, @genepark, The Verge, @addysbaird, PenguinRandomhouse.com, @maxseddon, CNN, Fox News, Mediaite, The Wrap, NPR, Talking Biz News, The Information, @maxseddon, @paldhous, @tomgara, @katenocera, @jgrebes, @thebrianpenny, @bcmerchant, @petersterne, Variety, Poynter, @simonateba, @sizpatel, @katienotopoulos, @panzer, @atrupar, @tess_townsend, @rahawahaile, @matthewsitman, @iansherr, @rdrv3, @michaelrcaputo, @shannon_liao, @film_girl@mastodon.social, @film_girl@mastodon.social, @film_girl@mastodon.social, @medinamora, @lolacoaster, @mikeduncan, CNBC, @jowrotethis, CBS News, Gizmodo, New York Post, The Information, @niketa, @chelseacirruzzo, @kevincollier@mastodon.social, @edmundlee, @daveyalba, @freeblackgirl, @lwalubengo, @caseynewton@mastodon.social, @ncksmmrs, @bernstein, @kpfallon, @benmullin, @chaykak, @rdrv3, @mnshap, @fortesalatifi, @karlbode, @johnpaczkowski, @papapishu, @kelsaywhat, @oliverdarcy, @ericnewcomer, @oneunderscore__, @benmullin, @harry1t6, @bcmerchant, @haleaziz, @tomnamako, @alexckaufman, @sarahw, @tomgara, @calebjhull, @kateaurthur, @lucas_shaw, @jeffjarvis, @stephaniemlee, @sarahkendzior, @mediumsizemeech, @pfpicardi, @hansmahncke, @lucas_shaw, @markseibel, @euamiri, @katienotopoulos, @cbellantoni, @kenbensinger, @craftingmystyle, @skbaer, @davidmackau, @supermathskid, @vv1lder, @film_girl, @marcusgilmer, @jon_christian, @mcbyrne, @sarafischer, @kantrowitz, @pdmcleod, @GossiTheDog@cyberplace.social, @micsolana, @sarayasin, @kemc, @1followernodad, @oliverdarcy, @oliviasolon, @jbenton, @howelloneill@infosec.exchange, @radbrowndads, @awolfeful, @oliverdarcy, @johnpaczkowski, @jason, @pt, @reichlinmelnick, @abgutman, @jayasax, @byjoelanderson, @gregbensinger, @apbenven, @selviano, @kfile, @russbengtson, @ericnewcomer, @sapna, @silvermanjacob, @mikeisaac, @rvawonk, @nycsouthpaw, @wesyang, @valeriereports, @edzitron, @katie_robertson, @waouwwaouw, @cfarivar, @lucas_shaw, @sapna, @harrymccracken, @film_girl, @annabroges, @tomgara, @charliekirk11, @maxseddon, @jane__bradley, @hardin, @film_girl, @brandyzadrozny, @sdkstl, @agraybee and The Hollywood Reporter, more at Techmeme »

Ben Smith / Semafor:
The end of BuzzFeed News signals a vast shift in digital media: the old way of thinking about news, based on text and distributed via social media, has passed

Gerry Smith / Bloomberg:
BuzzFeed CRO Edgar Hernandez and COO Christian Baesler are leaving as part of the company's cutbacks; BZFD is down 20%+

Discussion: Insider, @angelanfu, @tomgara, @matthewfoldi, @poynter and @petersterne

Bron Maher / Press Gazette:

Insider is laying off about 10% of its US-based staff, affecting editorial and commercial roles; the company employs approximately 950 people globally — The company president emailed staff to inform them at 7am Eastern time on Thursday. — Insider is laying off 10% of its staff in the US …

Discussion: The Daily Beast, New York Post, @corbinbolies, @lmoses, Gizmodo, The Information, @david_slotnick, Talking Biz News, @litcapital, @pressgazette, @pressgazette, @pressgazette and @tomaxwell

Angela Fu / Poynter:

A deep look at changes at The Buffalo News: print and design outsourcing, employee furloughs, insurance snafus, fewer reporters, and more pay for Lee executives — Lee cut budgets, pushed out veterans and outsourced design and print production at a paper that had been spared the worst of the industry's decline.

Discussion: @byjonharris, @tompreciousalb, @sulliview, @willcleveland13, @ckrewson, @poynter, @poynter, @byjonharris, @buffaloscribe and @zachreports

Mariella Moon / Engadget:

Imgur plans to delete “old, unused, and inactive content” that's not tied to a user account, starting on May 15, potentially erasing years of internet history — For years, Imgur has made sharing photos and GIFs on the internet as easy as uploading a file — you don't even need an account to use it.

Discussion: @sophaskins, Mashable and @tomgara, more at Techmeme »

Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch:
Imgur plans to ban explicit images, but permit artistic nudity, from May 15, and expects issues as the service adopts a mix of automatic and human moderation

Discussion: The Verge, Gizmodo and Windows Central, more at Techmeme »

Katherine Le Ruez / The Guardian:

The Guardian signs a licensing deal with British tech company Illuma, letting Illuma use The Guardian API to categorize article pages for contextual ad purposes — The Guardian has signed an agreement with a British technology company, Illuma, to categorise article pages for contextual advertising purposes …

Discussion: Digiday, @vivaldibrowser, @missig_geek, @mattrogerson and @digiday

Nate Saunders / ESPN.com:

The family of ex-F1 racer Michael Schumacher plans legal action against German magazine Die Aktuelle, which ran an AI-generated fake interview with the driver — Michael Schumacher's family plans to take legal action against a German magazine that ran an AI-generated interview with the Formula One legend.

Discussion: Reuters, Fox News, The Verge, CBS News, Engadget, @edspencer99, @marybschneider, @lavosaurus, The Daily Beast and Fortune

Jef Feeley / Bloomberg:

Sources: the prospect of fired Fox News producer Abby Grossberg's secret recordings being played during trial helped push Fox News to its Dominion settlement — The prospect of a fired Fox News producer's secret recordings being played during trial helped push the conservative network …

Discussion: Gizmodo and @timobrien

CNN:
Sources and the mediator detail how Fox and Dominion settled, after Dominion notified Fox that Rupert Murdoch and Tucker Carlson were among its first witnesses

Washington Post:
The Fox-Dominion settlement is the largest publicly disclosed one in a US defamation case yet; sources: Fox doesn't have to make an on-air correction or apology

Discussion: Columbia Journalism Review, Media Matters for America, Insider, New York Magazine, New York Times, @aaronblake, Forbes, @danprimack, @11tulips, @leonidragozin, @davidsirota, @aaschapiro, @kbandersen, Poynter, @nytopinion, @awelder, @con_carnage, @finnertymike, @espuelasvox, @therealzblog, @ronfilipkowski, @mcfaul, @dvillella, @jeffjarvis, American Press Institute, @goangelo, @martinishark, @1414maple, @fabienmajor, @bollywoodhq, @bbtrashstan, @michellebhasin, New York Daily News, @seanstanglanddh, @toddhallidy, @billablog, @ibishblog, @ibishblog, @kennethcolereal, @froomkin, @gibsonradio, @kdeitsch_wx, @famousbl3, @bizballmaury, @niemanlab, @senatormenendez, @tripgabriel, @johncusack, @justinbaragona, @b52malmet, @mattgertz, @goangelo, @maassp, @alexpadilla4ca, @macfarlanenews, @ryanvanvelzer, @jamilsmith, @donmoyn, @mollyjongfast, @steven_strauss, @timobrien, @walshfreedom, @waltisfrozen, @renato_mariotti, @wilkowmajority, @davidaxelrod, @davidfolkenflik, @ron_fournier, @tedlieu, @tomfitton, @nickconfessore, @brianstelter, @bgrueskin, @haldavis3, @lindyli, @erikwemple, @jakeadelstein, @farhip, @farhip, @claremalone, @bgrueskin, @bgrueskin, @erikwemple, @mattiweil, @blowryontv, @brianklaas, @alfranken, @kbandersen, @tripgabriel, @lindyli, @pickardje, @maassp, @aaronblake, @froomkin, ABC News, Axios, Washington Post, New York Times and New Yorker

Mark Joyella / Forbes:

Fox News host Dan Bongino says he is leaving the network after unsuccessful contract talks, ending his shows Unfiltered with Dan Bongino and Canceled in the USA — Fox News has ended its relationship with Dan Bongino, who hosted the Saturday night show Unfiltered with Dan Bongino.

Discussion: Mediaite, The Hill, @parkermolloy, @helenkennedy, @jennaellisesq, @justinbaragona, @bradmossesq, Deadline, @mattgertz, The Daily Beast and @jeremymbarr

David Pierce / The Verge:

A look at ActivityPub, the open, decentralized social network protocol finalized in 2018 that is gaining prominence powering Twitter alternatives like Mastodon — The tech industry is abuzz about a new standard for social networking that is more open, more user-centric, and potentially more powerful than Twitter and Facebook.

more at Techmeme »

Financial Times:

Internal slides: in the coming months, Google plans to let advertisers supply “creative” content for generative AI to “remix” for more sophisticated campaigns — Big tech groups are racing to incorporate the groundbreaking new technology into their products

Discussion: Engadget, MarTech, Gizmodo, The Verge, @johnreedwrites, @ruslantrad, @bigmeaninternet, @cristinacriddle and @lukolejnik, more at Techmeme »

Winston Cho / The Hollywood Reporter:

Alec Baldwin's lawyers say involuntary manslaughter charges against him will be dropped in the fatal shooting of Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchins — Baldwin faced two counts of involuntary manslaughter.

Discussion: Variety, The Wrap, Insider, TMZ.com, New York Post, Deadline, Semafor, Los Angeles Times, abc7NY, IndieWire, Page Six, The A.V. Club and Rolling Stone

Julia Rock / The Lever:

Fox says it can deduct the cost of its Dominion $787.5M payout; if Fox can write off the full payment, it could amount to an estimated $213M in tax savings — Fox's massive settlement with private equity-backed voting machine company Dominion Voting Systems didn't just spare …