Mediagazer: Twitter sets “daily limits” on the number of direct messages that accounts without Twitter Blue can send, as part of changes to reduce spam in DMs (Michael Kan/PCMag)

4:25 PM ET, July 22, 2023

Top News:

Sources say Jeff Bezos is taking a more active role in The Washington Post's operations as staff morale craters and the paper is on pace to lose ~$100M in 2023 — The Amazon founder, who purchased The Washington Post for $250 million in 2013, has taken a more active role in the paper's operations this year.

Alex Sherman / CNBC:

Sources: Disney CEO Bob Iger and ESPN head Jimmy Pitaro have held early talks with the NFL, the NBA, and MLB about bringing them on as minority ESPN investors — - ESPN has held early talks about strategic partnerships with the NBA, NFL and MLB that could include the leagues taking an equity stake in the business, sources told CNBC.

Discussion: The Verge, @sherman4949, @susanlitv, @sherman4949, @sherman4949, New York Times, Awful Announcing, Bloomberg, The Information, Front Office Sports, Barrett Media, The Desk, The Streamable and Cord Cutters News

Joshua Benton / Nieman Lab:

News reporters shouldn't write off AI assistance for first drafts of stories that aren't publishable; tools don't have to be perfect to be useful to journalists — Dystopian, yes — but tools don't have to be perfect to be useful to journalists. — Every other semester …

Discussion: @niemanlab@mastodon.social, @mmasnick.bsky.social, MediaNama, The Information, The San Diego Union-Tribune, Gizmodo, CNN, MediaPost and New York Times

Max Tani / @maxwelltani:
Memo: an Insider executive editor updates staff on AI experiments and recommends not using AI tools for quoting facts, data analysis, or getting up-to-date info

Discussion: @journalist_guy, @scottnover, @scottnover, @kaylaepstein and @thenewsan

Mathew Ingram / Columbia Journalism Review:
News organizations' deals with OpenAI and its rivals echo past Google and Meta “partnerships” and could ultimately help companies put journalists out of work

Discussion: Analytics India Magazine, @espiers, New York Post, The Verge, @mathewi, @cjr, @jayrosen_nyu, Platformer, The Information, @sarahposner.bsky.social and Vanity Fair, more at Techmeme »

New York Times:

Texas A&M's president quits after questions about administrative and political pressure in the school's failed effort to hire Black journalist Kathleen McElroy — The university said M. Katherine Banks would retire “immediately” after political pushback over the effort to appoint Kathleen McElroy to lead its journalism program.

Anne Steele / Wall Street Journal:

Sources: Spotify plans to raise its US ad-free premium tier's price for the first time, by $1 to $10.99/month, and increase prices globally in the coming months — Audio company had avoided raising prices, but faces investor pressure to increase profitability

Discussion: The Verge, @benfritz, @runciedan, The Wrap, CNET, Billboard, Forbes, The Information, @carnage4life@mas.to, Variety, @liquor_american …, @CStamp@mastodon.social, Music Business Worldwide, 9to5Mac and Bloomberg, more at Techmeme »

Corbin Bolies / The Daily Beast:

Former ABC News producer James Gordon Meek pleads guilty to CSAM transportation and possession, but not distribution; the US DOJ arrested Meek in February 2023 — The harrowing legal saga—the type of story that could've appeared on Meek's former network— has reached its conclusion.

Discussion: US Department of Justice, Adweek, The Hollywood Reporter, Washington Post, Insider, Variety, The Wrap, The Desk, TVNewsCheck, Los Angeles Times, New York Post, The San Diego Union-Tribune, Rolling Stone and Boing Boing

Check My Ads Institute:

A look at the Publir ad network, whose founders have ties to The Federalist Society and RealClearPolitics, and how it funnels ad revenue to The Donald forum — At the end of 2022, The_Donald quietly started running ads. — The_Donald, a MAGA forum banned by Reddit for its role in organizing …

Discussion: MediaPost, @joecardillo@federate.social and @dmarti@federate.social

Josef Adalian / Vulture:

By letting the Hollywood strike drag on, legacy companies like Disney, NBCUniversal, and Paramount risk the devastation of the traditional network TV model — This story first ran in Buffering, Vulture's newsletter about the streaming industry. Head to vulture.com/buffering and subscribe today!

Discussion: @petergould, @kimbenabib, @thisisweber, @jasonhirschhorn, @whitstillman, @kwatt, @jbflint, @jbflint, MediaPost, Wall Street Journal and The Wrap

Justin Garcia / Tampa Bay Times:

Lawyers for journalist Timothy Burke demand the return of his equipment from the US DOJ and argue he legally obtained controversial Fox News video outtakes — Burke's legal team says his phone and computers were seized “in violation of the law.” — Tim Burke's home office is gutted.

Discussion: @bubbaprog.ilovecitr.us, U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida, @bubbaprog.ilovecitr.us and Awful Announcing

Michael Kan / PCMag:

Twitter sets “daily limits” on the number of direct messages that accounts without Twitter Blue can send, as part of changes to reduce spam in DMs — It looks like Elon Musk really wants users to pay for Twitter Blue. … In another controversial change, Twitter will restrict …

Discussion: The Verge, The Hill, Engadget, @twittersupport, Comic Book and The Sun, more at Techmeme »

David Robb / Deadline:

In a 23-page document, the AMPTP disputes SAG-AFTRA's version of the status of contract negotiations as of July 13, before talks broke off and the strike began — UPDATED with SAG-AFTRA response: The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers is disputing SAG-AFTRA's “misleading” …

Discussion: @slack2thefuture, @slack2thefuture, @jbflint, @slack2thefuture, @jbflint, @slack2thefuture, The Wrap and The Hollywood Reporter

Ted Johnson / Deadline:

Former White House Communications Director Kate Bedingfield joins CNN as an on-air political commentator; Bedingfield left her White House post in February 2023 — Former White House Communications Director Kate Bedingfield has joined CNN as an on-air political commentator.

Discussion: Mediaite, CNN, Adweek, The Hill, The Wrap and Politico

Adam Sherwin / The i Paper:

UK-based Global, which owns LBC, Capital, Heart, and Smooth, plans to restructure its 11 radio newsrooms across the country, which could mean up to 40 job cuts — Journalists warn Global radio plans could ‘decimate local news’ with 40 jobs under threat at the home to Capital, Smooth, LBC and Heart

Discussion: The Desk and Talking Biz News

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More News:

Marie Woolf / Globe and Mail:
Some Quebec radio stations and news outlets refuse to run Meta's ads that inform Canadians of the company's plan to block news links on Facebook and Instagram

Discussion: CBC News, @fancrtcprofling, @pagmenzies, @dylanlindgren, @mgeist and @freemangrist

Noam Scheiber / New York Times:
A look at TV writing becoming a dead-end job with dwindling weekly pay, as studios break down the complex job of making TV shows into simpler, lower-paid tasks

Discussion: Deadline, @leavittalone, @wajahatali, @alexnpress, @tylerdinucci, @wgawest, @bigmeaninternet, @shawnryantv, @brucebartlett, @hiattb, @noamscheiber, @whet.bsky.social and @aworkinglibrary@mstdn.social

Natasha Lomas / TechCrunch:
TikTok launches its Commercial Content Library, giving the public access to ad data, including targeting parameters, but only ad data from Europe is available

Discussion: @tiktokcomms, @jadenester, @parkerjbach, @carolinegreer, Search Engine Land and TikTok

Nora Neus / Poynter:
A look at the ethics policy of not paying sources for stories or information, and how compensating people for their time could enable broader, deeper reporting

Discussion: @poynter

Natalie Korach / The Wrap:
Hearst Magazines Media Union says 41 members were laid off due to “company restructuring”; Elle, Seventeen, and Men's Health are among the impacted publications

Discussion: @hearstunion, @fsp_nwu, @alisonbrower, Daily Front Row, @katie_robertson, @hannahorens, @eschumer, @emmaspecter, @kath_krueger, @bdwilliams910, @stacey_grant91, @tamara_fuentes, Insider, Business of Fashion and WWD

Earlier Picks:

Wall Street Journal:
Artisan Gateway: box-office sales for US films in China hit $592M in H1 2023, down from $1.9B in H1 2019, as Chinese audiences gravitate toward local movies

Discussion: @astuttaford, @kristopherjans, @jchengwsj, @empirecitybo, @kimmasters, @asharma, @maxwelltani, @jchengwsj, @jbflint, @lucas_shaw and @erichschwartzel

Byline Times:
Investigation: Dan Wootton was the subject of at least six bullying claims from Sun colleagues, but was promoted while they were silenced with payoffs and NDAs

Discussion: @bylinetimes, @adambienkov, @hardeep_matharu, @archewellbaby, The Guardian, @jasonpedlow, @jacquihames, @themeredish, @themeredish, @harriettmb@mastodon.ie and The Guardian

Ellise Shafer / Variety:
Q&A with NME Networks COO Holly Bishop on relaunching the magazine as a global bimonthly using a “high-hype model” after shutting down print production in 2018

Discussion: Complete Music Update, NME, Mumbrella, Digital Music News, Press Gazette and Music Business Worldwide

Ben Strauss / Washington Post:
The New York Times' newsroom union files a grievance over the company's plans to shutter its sports section and rely on The Athletic for sports news coverage

Discussion: @4evrmalone, Vanity Fair, @jdbiersdorfer, @charlottetklein, @maggieastor, @smbahr14, @postsports, @tripgabriel, @lleibowitzz, @nytimesguild, The Wrap, Front Office Sports, @philipncohen@mastodon.social, Poynter, Barrett Media and Awful Announcing

Thomas Buckley / Bloomberg:
Sources: AMC Entertainment drops its seat location pricing plan; a test didn't grow revenue as moviegoers didn't pay up for better seats or less for worse seats

Discussion: NPR, Corporate Profile, TechCrunch, Insider, KGET 17, Variety, Deadline, CNET, CBS News, New York Times, The Verge, Screen Rant, The A.V. Club, Gizmodo, TMZ.com, Forbes, UPROXX, CNN, IndieWire, Los Angeles Times, SlashFilm, The Hollywood Reporter and Collider

From Techmeme:

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple is working on a smart doorbell system with advanced facial recognition that can wirelessly connect and unlock third-party smart locks

Lee-Anne Mulholland / The Keyword:
Google files its proposed remedies in the DOJ's search antitrust lawsuit, including letting browser companies have multiple default agreements across platforms

Wall Street Journal:
Gina Raimondo says holding back China in the chips race is a “fool's errand”, and investment, more than export controls, will keep US ahead of Beijing

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