Mediagazer: Source: Brian Calle, CEO and publisher of The Village Voice and L.A. Weekly, purchases Paper Magazine and plans to resurrect it, contacting some former staffers (Daniel Spielberger/Study Hall)

5:30 PM ET, June 27, 2023

Top News:

Kirsten Eddy / Nieman Lab:

Reuters' 2023 Digital News Report: 22% of news consumers actively participate via posts or comments, down 11 percentage points from 2018; 47% don't participate — “We find that news users who say their experiences engaging with news online are negative (21%) are nearly four times as likely …

Discussion: Axios, @sarafischer, @mediaevan, @baekdal, @albertojourno, @thewelcomepac, @bloodravenlib, @posselist, @beachwoodreport, @dylanbouscher, What's New in Publishing, @niemanlab and @rasmus_kleis

Ashley Carman / Bloomberg:

Internal memo: SiriusXM plans to shut down the Stitcher podcast app on August 29 and move subscribers to its flagship SXM app, where podcasts will have ads — Sirius XM Holdings Inc., the satellite radio and audio company owned by Liberty Media Corp., plans to shut down its Stitcher podcast app …

Discussion: Variety, The Wrap, Billboard, Engadget, 9to5Google, @matt@isfeeling.social, Hollywood Reporter and @therealpodvader, more at Techmeme »

Max Tani / Semafor:
Spotify, SiriusXM, iHeartMedia, and other podcast companies are shifting from A-list celebrities and big-budget audio narratives to professional audio talent

Daniel Spielberger / Study Hall:

Source: Brian Calle, CEO and publisher of The Village Voice and L.A. Weekly, purchases Paper Magazine and plans to resurrect it, contacting some former staffers — The magazine has been purchased by Brian Calle, CEO and publisher of The Village Voice and L.A. Weekly.

Discussion: @dennisjromero, @theashleyray, @ruthesamuel, @j_fassler and @studyhallxyz

Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:

Roku and CBS Sports buy US media rights for Formula E; Roku plans to stream 11 races per season on the Roku Channel, its first foray into live sports — The company is sharing the rights with CBS Sports, which will televise 5 races annually as part of the multi-year deal.

Discussion: Roku, Variety, Sports Business Journal, MediaPost, Engadget, NBC 7 San Diego, TechRadar, The Verge, The Wrap, The Desk, Cord Cutters News, The Streamable, Barrett Media, Media Play News, Deadline and TechCrunch

Aisha Malik / TechCrunch:

Apple offers the full first episode of Silo, a sci-fi show, to be viewed on Twitter for free, three days before Apple TV+ airs the show's season finale — Apple has uploaded the entire first episode of its sci-fi dystopian TV show “Silo” on Twitter, allowing anyone on the platform to view it for free.

Discussion: The Wrap, MacRumors, Engadget, @peet2, The Verge and Collider

John Koblin / New York Times:

Ryan Seacrest will succeed Pat Sajak as host of “Wheel of Fortune” as Sony hopes to avoid the succession fiasco it faced with “Jeopardy!” — The game show has demonstrated remarkable durability even as traditional television has declined in the wake of streaming entertainment.

Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:

Thomson Reuters plans to acquire YC-backed Casetext, which builds AI/ML-powered workflows and tools for lawyers, for $650M in cash, expected to close in H2 2023 — Thomson Reuters has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Casetext, a Y Combinator-backed legal tech startup.

Discussion: Observer, Reuters, Castext, @darian314 and @trace_cohen, more at Techmeme »

Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:

Paramount+ with Showtime launches for $11.99/month, without ads; price of the ad-supported Paramount+ essential plan rises from $4.99/month to $5.99/month — The Showtime linear channel will continue for now, with eventual plans to rebrand it with Paramount+ programming.

Discussion: Next TV, The Streamable, The Verge, TechCrunch, Collider, Deadline, The Wrap, Variety, Gizmodo and Cord Cutters News

Sarah Scire / Nieman Lab:

A report on Canadian tax incentives for local journalism finds they aren't a cure-all and explores lessons the US can learn as some states debut related bills — “There are other big questions hanging over the program, like whether it has actually helped stave off the collapse of newsrooms.”

Discussion: @niemanlab, @jason_kint, @joeycoleman, Reuters, @issielapowsky, @jason_w_white, @jbenton and Local News Initiative

Jake Kanter / Deadline:

Documents: the BBC's Tim Davie was in contact with a senior government official the day he suspended Gary Lineker, raising questions about government pressure — EXCLUSIVE: BBC Director General Tim Davie was in contact with a senior government official on the day he suspended Gary Lineker …

Discussion: @jake_kanter

New York Times:

A look at review-bombing campaigns on Goodreads that can derail a book's publication long before its release, frustrating both new and established authors — The website Goodreads has become an essential avenue for building readership, but the same features that help generate excitement can also backfire.

Discussion: @lilithsaintcrow …, @flargh@mastodon.social, @dorolef, @anjalienjeti, @helaineolen, @zacbissonnette, @newblackman and @mariskreizman, more at Techmeme »

James Vincent / The Verge:

AI is killing the web with spam sites, mass article producing “AI editors”, AI-generated junk on Etsy, Reddit, and Wikipedia that exhausts moderators, and more — In recent months, the signs and portents have been accumulating with increasing speed. Google is trying to kill the 10 blue links.

NewsGuard:
Analysis: in May and June 2023, 141 major brands ran ads, mostly via Google Ads, across 55 low-quality sites with AI-generated articles, some posting ~1,200/day

Discussion: MIT Technology Review, @robpegoraro, @glenngabe, @pesach_lattin, Adweek, Gizmodo, @nandoodles, @jimswiftdc, @jeffjohnroberts, @jackmarshall, @gsterling, MediaPost, @accountabletech, @newsguardrating, @charlottejee, @jbruce218, @refocusedmedia and The Verge

Aisha Malik / TechCrunch:

TikTok launches the TikTok Creative Challenge, which lets US-based creators with 50K+ followers submit video ads for brands and make money based on performance — TikTok is introducing a new way for creators to earn money on its platform. The company announced on Tuesday that it's launching the …

Discussion: TikTok, The Verge and Ad Age, more at Techmeme »

Archived Page Info:

This is a snapshot of Mediagazer at 5:30 PM ET, June 27, 2023.

View the current page or another snapshot:

Who's Hiring in Media?

Energy & Commodities Editor, Tokyo — Bloomberg

Politics Reporter, TX — Texas Tribune

Consumer Brands Reporter, GA — AJC

Deputy Editor - Health Care, VA — Politico

Product Editor, CA — CalMatters

Indigenous Affairs Editor, Sydney — Guardian US

China Markets Correspondent, Shanghai — Reuters

Bangor Reporter, ME — Bangor Daily News

Commerce Editor - Health, Remote US — Yahoo

Sports Editor, MI — Detroit News

Deputy Politics Editor, CA — Sacramento Bee

Alphaville Reporter, London — FT

See Also:

Mediagazer: site main

Mediagazer River: reverse chronological Mediagazer

Mediagazer Mobile: for phones

Mediagazer Leaderboard: Mediagazer's top sources

Subscribe:

Mediagazer RSS feed

Mediagazer on X

Mediagazer on Mastodon

More News:

Kayla Cobb / The Wrap:
CW programming chief Kevin Levy, who joined when the network launched in 2006, is leaving as Nexstar puts its stamp on The CW

Discussion: Variety, Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter

Burcu Karakas / Reuters:
Report: a Turkish court jails a TV channel's chief editor, now pending trial on propaganda charges after criticizing the prison isolation of a jailed PKK leader

Discussion: @atillayesilada1

Wall Street Journal:
Tucker Carlson will be the subject of two upcoming books: “Tucker” by Chadwick Moore, out on July 18, and “Hated by All the Right People” by Jason Zengerle

Discussion: HuffPost and CBS News

Naman Ramachandran / Variety:
The 2023 Glastonbury Festival broke BBC digital audience records for viewing and listening with a record 50.3M streams on BBC iPlayer and BBC Sounds, up 47% YoY

Discussion: Broadband TV News, BBC and New York Daily News

David Bauder / Associated Press:
A look at CBS News' “solutions journalism” efforts focused on people and organizations that are trying to tackle problems like mental health and climate change

Discussion: American Press Institute and @spj_tweets

Earlier Picks:

Wall Street Journal:
The White House condemns the online harassment of WSJ reporter Sabrina Siddiqui for questioning PM Modi about human rights in India at a press event last week

Discussion: @andrewrestuccia, @kellyo, @gurratansingh, @andrewrestuccia, @sajahq, @bainjal, @dsupervilleap, Poynter, @kenroth, @iamcouncil, @mythilisk, The Wire, Mediaite and The Hill

John Kang / Forbes:
An interview with Pinkfong CEO Kim Min-seok on Baby Shark Live, a live show based on the viral song, plans to expand into webtoons and theme parks, and more

Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Group Black is in talks to buy a majority stake in the Arena Group, which publishes Sports Illustrated and owns 50+ publications, including TheStreet

Discussion: New York Post, @alexbruell, @davidclinchnews and Awful Announcing

Jared Diamond / Wall Street Journal:
Some question The Athletic reporter Shams Charania's commercial partnership with FanDuel after his June 22 tweet, which was wrong, moved NBA draft betting lines

From Techmeme:

Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
Meta VP of Generative AI Ahmad Al-Dahle denies a rumor that the company trained Llama 4 Maverick and Scout on test sets, saying that Meta “would never do that”

Matthew Gault / 404 Media:
Framework pauses sales of its six lowest-priced laptops in the US, saying the models would sell at a loss due to the 10% tariff that went into effect on April 5

Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Apple plans to send more iPhones to the US from India to offset the China tariffs, but the situation is too uncertain to upend supply chain investments

Sister Sites:

Techmeme
Top news and commentary for technology's leaders, from all around the web

memeorandum
What US political commentators are discussing online right now

WeSmirch
The top celebrity news from all around the web on a single page