Top News:
Matt Donnelly / Variety:
Masters of the Universe, a live-action movie about He-Man and other Mattel toys, is dead at Netflix; sources: development cost estimates range from $30M to $60M — “Masters of the Universe,” a live-action movie based on He-Man and a slew of other popular Mattel toys, is officially dead at Netflix …
Or Goren / Cord Busters:
Netflix removes its $10 Basic tier, its most affordable ad-free tier, in the US and UK for new and rejoining members — Breaking: In a major shakeup of its pricing model, Netflix, the global streaming giant, has abandoned its low-cost ‘Basic’ tier in the UK and the US, echoing its earlier strategy in Canada.
Discussion:
Variety, TVLine, The Streamable, The Wrap, Screen Rant, TechCrunch, The Verge, Gizmodo, @alexweprin, The Hollywood Reporter, 9to5Mac, Engadget and Tech Advisor, more at Techmeme »
Devin Coldewey / TechCrunch:
Over 8,500 authors sign an Authors Guild letter asking AI leaders to get consent and fairly compensate writers when using copyrighted material for generative AI — If you ask GPT-4 to do a passage in the style of Carmen Machado or Margaret Atwood or Alexander Chee, it will do a fair job at it …
Ben Thompson / Stratechery:
The Hollywood strike pits talent against old-line studios while the internet threatens both groups by making distribution effectively free and no longer scarce — From the New York Times: … Oh, I'm sorry — that's an article from 63 years ago. — Here's the one in the New York Times from last week:
Discussion:
Collider, Deadline, Forbes, The Hollywood Reporter, The Guardian and AdExchanger
Jim Waterson / The Guardian:
Dan Wootton says he made “errors of judgment in the past” and suggests the claims he offered men money for sexual material were a campaign to undermine GB News — GB News presenter facing allegations he inappropriately offered colleagues large sums in return for sexual material
Discussion:
Press Gazette, @gbnews, The Sun, Deadline, GB News, @beardedgenius, @allisonpearson, @jamesrbuk, Irish Examiner and Byline Times
Gene Park / Washington Post:
A look at “non-playable character” TikTok creators, like Pinkydoll, who livestream themselves doing robotic and repetitive actions for digital tips — On TikTok, a woman named Pinkydoll with a thousand-yard stare faces you, undulating just enough to let you know she's alive.
Discussion:
Forbes, @detectclips, @hassankhan, @fakeyourbirth, @rvdneyxtra, @jakeriley, Rolling Stone and New York Times, more at Techmeme »
Jon Gertner / New York Times:
A look at the Wikipedia community's debates about AI, including AI's threats and potential benefits, knowledge creation, truthfulness, and legal concerns — Can the online encyclopedia help teach A.I. chatbots to get their facts right — without destroying itself in the process?
Discussion:
@landemore, @rao2z, @jessedodge, @raju, @amontalenti, @chrismoranuk and @danyork@mastodon.social, more at Techmeme »
Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
Reach group EIC Lloyd Embley steps down after about 30 years with the publisher; Reach's editors will report directly “on operational matters” to CEO Jim Mullen — Lloyd Embley has been group editor-in-chief at Reach since 2014. — Reach group editor-in-chief Lloyd Embley …
Discussion:
HoldtheFrontPage
Aisha Malik / TechCrunch:
TikTok debuts Elevate, a program to help rising music artists via amplification, early access to new features, and more, and signs a Warner Music licensing deal — TikTok is launching a new program that is designed to identify the next wave of rising artists in the music industry, the company announced on Tuesday.
Oliver Darcy / CNN:
Sources: in an off-site meeting, Bob Iger tries to reassure senior Disney TV leaders after saying last week that TV assets “may not be core” to the company — Bob Iger is seeking to reassure an anxious arm of Disney's business. In an off-site meeting on Tuesday, I'm told …
Discussion:
The Wrap and @oliverdarcy@threads.net
Axios:
Sources: Vox Media plans to stop using Chorus, its CMS that the company licensed to external publishers from 2018 to 2022, and move its websites to WordPress — Vox Media, the parent company to websites such as New York Magazine, Eater and SB Nation, will no longer use Chorus …
Discussion:
Adweek, @rafat, @brandon@masto.craftcms.com, @zseward@threads.net, @jeffjarvis, @jeffjarvis, @pgcat, @film_girl, @ssdai, @myurow, @armanbazz, @mediaevan, @gooregondux, @rafat, @kerrymflynn, @sil@mastodon.social, @jeffjarvis@mastodon.social, @harrymccracken@sfba.social, @clifff@shakedown.social, @eaton@phire.place, @boogah@simian.rodeo and @ben@werd.social, more at Techmeme »
Peter Kafka / Vox:
G/O Media executives plan to publish more AI-generated stories, despite the blowback from employees and media circles for their first botched attempts — Why G/O Media thinks we should have more stories written by bots. — In early July, managers at G/O media, the digital publisher …
Discussion:
@searchliaison, @hankgreen, Media Voices, New York Post, @pkafka, @kylebrussell, @mollytaft, @gmgunion, @gmgunion, @maura, @ryanvailbrown, @dloehr, @ryanbarwick, @jeffjarvis, @tomgara, @pkafka, @dkthomp, @sportsrapport, @mediaevan, @hoonofthe.day, @stefthepef@mastodon.social and @danilo.redeem-tomorrow.com
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