Top News:

People, The Washington Times, MarketWatch, and others fell for an elaborate hoax that claimed Barbie dolls would be plastic free by 2030; most removed the posts — The false campaign by environmental activists claimed that the toy giant was launching a new line of decomposable Barbies and would stop using plastic by 2030.
Discussion:
The Wrap, Washington Times, The Hill, @corbinhiar, @therockfather, @weareyellowdot, Yahoo Entertainment, @dhlovelife, New York Post and The Toy Book

Digital media company Factz acquires celebrity entertainment news site Hollywood Life; founder and EIC Bonnie Fuller leaves the company — Factz, a digital media company, acquired the celebrity entertainment news site HollywoodLife.com on Tuesday. Founder, president and editor-in-chief Bonnie Fuller is no longer part of the company.

PBS announces that The Atlantic EIC Jeffrey Goldberg will be the next moderator of Washington Week, which will be renamed Washington Week With The Atlantic — The Atlantic will co-produce the show, which will be renamed “Washington Week With The Atlantic.” The publication will cover some of the costs and help sell sponsorships.
Discussion:
The Hill, Variety, The Atlantic, Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter, @peterlattman, @benmullin and Semafor

The Writers Guild of America told screenwriters in an email that it agreed to restart talks with Carol Lombardini, the studio negotiator, on Friday, August 4 — A strike by writers and actors has caused nearly a complete production shutdown of scripted entertainment.
Discussion:
Screen Rant, CBS News, Deadline, Next TV, @wgaeast, @alexblagg, @ddayen, Los Angeles Times, The A.V. Club, The Hollywood Reporter, Screen Rant and Vanity Fair

Three theories about how AI will change the news: replace some outlets entirely, be a helpful tool, or turn news organizations into wire services — Here are three theories of the case. — In early July, the Associated Press made a deal with OpenAI, maker of ChatGPT, to license …
Discussion:
Poynter, @omkar_raii, @mediaevan, @cyrilsam, New York Post and What's New in Publishing

The Solomon Star and other newspapers in the Solomon Islands face criticism after accepting funding from China in exchange for positive coverage — The Solomon Star denies accusations of ‘giving away’ its independence by accepting thousands of dollars' worth of equipment

Q&A with ex-Washington Post chief Marty Baron on the need for outlets to figure out a commercially successful model by themselves, the role of owners, and more — In Pt. 1 of interview, Marty Baron calls on journalists to stop the nostalgia and doom-and-gloom and to focus on solving problems and making tough choices
Discussion:
Poynter, @dicktofel, @palewire, @markcaro, @mollybeck, @petercanellos, @tvgrimreaper, @dicktofel, @timafranklin, @timafranklin, @sarahscire and @ssuttell

MPA: Southeast Asia added only 7K net new streaming subscribers in H1 2023, down from 7M in H2 2022, for 47.6M total; TikTok had 42% of video streaming minutes — Southeast Asia only added 7,000 net new SVOD subscriptions in the first half of 2023, a big slowdown from 7 million new subscribers …
Discussion:
WORLD SCREEN and Variety

Pluto TV plans to launch in Australia on August 31 with over 50 FAST channels, as a branded area within Paramount Australian and New Zealand's 10 Play — Comprising more than 50 free ad-supported TV (FAST) channels, Pluto TV will be sold as a dedicated branded area within Paramount Australian …
Discussion:
The Hollywood Reporter, The Desk, WORLD SCREEN, Paramount ANZ, Mumbrella and Cord Cutters News

Meta releases AudioCraft, a new open-source AI model that lets users create music and sounds via prompts, consisting of MusicGen, AudioGen, and EnCodec models — It consists of three AI models, all tackling different areas of sound generation. MusicGen takes text inputs to generate music.
Discussion:
Fast Company, Variety, TechCrunch, Quartz, Meta, Engadget and @stockmktnewz, more at Techmeme »

James Larkin, one of two Backpage.com owners and former publisher of New Times, dies at 74 by suicide, days before his trial on charges of aiding prostitution — James Larkin, who helped turn the Phoenix alternative weekly New Times into a chain that took over the venerated Village Voice in New York …
Discussion:
@msmaggiemayhem, @jrgzztx, @gabrielle_qld and @jackshafer

Thomson Reuters reports Q2 operating profit up 111% YoY to $825M and revenue up 2% YoY to $1.6B; News revenue grew 1% to $194M — Thomson Reuters Corp (TRI.TO), on Wednesday reported higher sales and operating profit in the second quarter, helped by strong performance at its “Big 3” segments …
Discussion:
Thomson Reuters and @jonchevreau