Mediagazer: Elon Musk's intent in buying Twitter wasn't only to dismantle a tool he perceived as empowering the media but also to turn the app into a right-wing heavyweight (Philip Bump/Washington Post)

4:35 PM ET, May 24, 2023

Top News:

Elon Musk's intent in buying Twitter wasn't only to dismantle a tool he perceived as empowering the media but also to turn the app into a right-wing heavyweight — It was only a year ago that Elon Musk, then simply the guy who was hoping to buy Twitter, insisted that his politics sat squarely at the center of the national spectrum.

NBC News:

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis plans to launch his presidential bid on Twitter Spaces on May 24, in a discussion with Elon Musk moderated by David Sacks — The Florida governor will announce he is running for president on Twitter Wednesday evening in a conversation with Musk.

Discussion: Axios, Insider, Quartz, Semafor, New York Times, The Hill, Mediaite, @brianstelter, TechCrunch, Reuters, Fox News, CNN, Garbage Day, Axios, Politico, @cwarzel, Vanity Fair, @jbouie, @semaforben, Slate, TIME, Media Matters for America, Poynter, @svdate, The Source, Reason, @jordanbpeterson, NBC Bay Area, @jaynordlinger, UPROXX, The Daily Signal, @tfl1728, @wholemarsblog, ABC7, @michaelkruse, @joncoopertweets, The Messenger, @digiphile, @digiphile, The Verge, Boing Boing, @briannawu, @rmac18, @joohnchoe, @christinapushaw, @ozraeliavi, @simonwdc, @lanceulanoff, @rubinreport, @bakari_sellers, @emeriticus, @cwarzel, @mattbinder, @rachelbitecofer, @chrislhayes, @warddpatrick, @scalzi, @shanegoldmacher, @jamesrbuk, @vabvox, @sparrowmedia, @sparrowmedia, @vabvox, @ewong, @brianstelter, @ambernoelle, @jakelahut, @jakelahut, @rachelsklar, @aishacounts, @nbcnews, @blake_allen13, @tripgabriel, @imillhiser, @benjysarlin, @_cingraham, @curtishouck, @radiofreetom, @donmoyn, @smotus, @mehdirhasan, @sarafischer, New York Post, The Guardian, NPR, CBS News, @dangillmor@mastodon.social, The Information, The Wrap, Forbes, Gizmodo, Deadline, Associated Press, TMZ.com and Bloomberg

Todd Spangler / Variety:

After backlash, Max will change back film credit listings to break out directors and writers, blaming a technical “oversight” for grouping them under “creators” — Now the company says it is changing the listings back to how they were presented on HBO Max, blaming the issue on a technical “oversight.”

Discussion: @jfrankensteiner, Los Angeles Times, @anoushasakoui, @empirestatebldg, The Hollywood Reporter, The Wrap, The Streamable, The Verge, @snoodit, TVLine, @zackbornstein, IGN, @benmullin, @davidaugust, TVNewsCheck, The Messenger, @kelleent, @emtothea, @terri_white, @kavehtaherian, @mikeisaac, The A.V. Club, @zachsilberberg, @jfrankensteiner, @mikeisaac, Deadline, @jfkenney, @itsmecarolamptp, @justysilverman, @jeffjarvis, @mjmckean, @agraybee, @mileskahn, Dark Horizons, @pattymo, @derrific, @geoffwilt, @glenmazzara, @scottemovienerd, IndieWire, @kirkwrites79, @nicksharafinski, @kimmasters, @sautterdays, @kaludiasays, @cwarzel, @johnsemley3000, @nycsouthpaw, @scottderrickson, The Wrap, @imjohnleary, @megjameslat, @vincenzo_natali, @brennancaldwell, @jfruh, @acuna_mattata, @kabirakhtar, @peterapeel, @fb_bmb, @fb_bmb, @norazuckerman, @jbflint, @imohumoren, @jcampanellinyc, @janefriedman, @jakelawler42, @johnlevenstein, @trulyrick, @jasondashbailey, @alishagrauso, @nkulw, @carolinerenard_, @jamessabata, @jayhasrajani and Rolling Stone

Benjamin Mullin / New York Times:

Semafor raised $19M from Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang and others, replacing the $10M from Sam Bankman-Fried, and says the outlet has $10M+ in 2023 revenue so far — The media start-up's new backers include Henry Kravis, a founder of the private-equity giant KKR, and Jerry Yang, a Yahoo founder.

Discussion: Variety, @om, @seangriffey, @maggieseverns, The Information, @eliotwb, @bmorrissey, @viajoshhunt, @sdkstl, @jimlaporta, @justin_b_smith, @benmullin and @hkanji

Katie Robertson / New York Times:

The New York Times reaches a tentative deal with the NewsGuild of New York that would set a salary minimum of $65K; a vote is expected in the coming week — The new agreement, if ratified, will give union members immediate salary increases of up to 12.5 percent.

Adi Robertson / The Verge:

Hands-on with Sudowrite's Story Engine, a generative AI tool for writing long-form fiction novels that works better than expected but still has big limitations — Thoughts are swarming my mind like a nest of cyber-rats. — Last week, generative fiction tool Sudowrite launched a system for writing whole novels.

Discussion: @iethics, @jjvincent and @shakeelhashim, more at Techmeme »

Andrew Fedorov / The Fine Print:

A Forbes contributor sent two story drafts to his source “for approval and changes”; other writers are criticizing the practice as damaging to all journalists — A publicist's email snafu reveals the lax editorial standards — allowing sources to review copy before publication …

Discussion: @hernameisjae, @hernameisjae, @dariccott, @kathmschmidt, @dancow, @andrewfed, @imgarysuarez, @justicar, @parismartineau, @lisaofu, Debate Me, @chashomans, @gerrickkennedy, @jbenton, @jbenton and @thefineprintnyc

Perry Bacon Jr / Washington Post:

How The American Prospect, Balls and Strikes, Bolts, The Guardian US, Hammer & Hope, Popular Information, and States Newsroom are changing political journalism — Political journalism is in crisis. Over the past few months, BuzzFeed News, FiveThirtyEight, Vice and a number of other outlets …

Discussion: Columbia Journalism Review, American Press Institute, @postopinions, @amyhanauer, @chrisgeidner, @jmshumway and The Rural Blog

Sara Fischer / Axios:

BuzzFeed launches a Verishop-powered online store for lifestyle commerce brand Goodful, launched in 2016, its first store combining licensed and curated goods — BuzzFeed on Tuesday will debut a new online retail storefront for Goodful, a lifestyle commerce brand it launched in 2016 initially …

Discussion: MediaPost, @sarafischer and @dottkhan

Georgetown University:

Georgetown and the Knight Foundation commit $30M to establish the Knight-Georgetown Institute to connect researchers, journalists, and tech leaders on policy — Georgetown has partnered with the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation to invest $30 million in a nonpartisan institute …

Discussion: @datasociety, @grahambrookie, @craignewmark, @emilytav, @paulohm, @paulohm, Knight Foundation, @blackamazon, @jcperrino, @techgeorgetown, @ashleyzohn, @iohnsands, @csetgeorgetown and @lauradenardis

Mark Stenberg / Adweek:

A look at New York Magazine's investment in newsletters, growing its subscribers from ~500K in 2019 to pass 1M across its 30 email products in December 2022 — The publisher has used pop-up, subscriber-only newsletters to boost retention — Since retooling its newsletter strategy in 2019 …

Discussion: Journalism.co.uk and @markstenberg3

Sarah Frier / Bloomberg:

Linda Yaccarino's main challenge will be improving Twitter's advertiser relationships while keeping Elon Musk happy; sources say she wants to raise her profile — Elon Musk joked in December that he'd step down as Twitter's chief executive officer once he found someone “foolish enough” to take his place.

Discussion: @sarahfrier, @profgalloway, CNN and The Messenger, more at Techmeme »

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