Top News:
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.
Discussion:
The Texas Tribune, Texas A&M Today, @ijbailey, @amydiehl, @alexmill20, The Texas Tribune, Associated Press, Al Jazeera, UPI, The Battalion, @alexwild@mastodon.online, @jayrosen_nyu, @bgrueskin, NPR, @amazonatty, @robingnelson, @nanaslugdiva, The Eagle, @thephilosotroll, @jasonackery3rd, The Guardian, The Hill, Fox News and Bloomberg
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.
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 …
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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
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, @thenewsan, @scottnover, @kaylaepstein and @scottnover
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
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:
@espiers, New York Post, The Verge, @mathewi, @cjr, @jayrosen_nyu, Platformer, The Information, @sarahposner.bsky.social and Vanity Fair, more at Techmeme »
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
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.
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.
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
Michael Kan / PCMag:
Twitter says unverified accounts will have daily limits on the number of direct messages they 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 the number …
Discussion:
Comic Book, The Verge, @twittersupport 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.
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
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 — Meta has started to run ads to inform Canadians of its plan to block the viewing and sharing of news content on Facebook …
Discussion:
@fancrtcprofling, @pagmenzies, @freemangrist, @dylanlindgren, CBC News and @mgeist