Mediagazer: 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 (New York Times)

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, The Hill, Washington Times, Yahoo Entertainment, @corbinhiar, @therockfather, @weareyellowdot, @dhlovelife, New York Post and The Toy Book

John Koblin / New York Times:

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: Next TV, Deadline, CBS News, @wgaeast, @alexblagg, @ddayen, Screen Rant, The A.V. Club, Los Angeles Times, The Hollywood Reporter and Vanity Fair

John Herrman / New York Magazine:

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: @omkar_raii, @cyrilsam, @mediaevan, Poynter, New York Post and What's New in Publishing

Mark Caro / Local News Initiative:

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: @tvgrimreaper, @dicktofel, @palewire, @markcaro, @mollybeck, @petercanellos, @dicktofel, @timafranklin, @timafranklin, @sarahscire and @ssuttell

Charley Piringi / The Guardian:

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

Helen Coster / Reuters:

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: @jonchevreau and Thomson Reuters

Patrick Frater / 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, WORLD SCREEN, The Desk, Paramount ANZ, Mumbrella and Cord Cutters News

Paul Farhi / Washington Post:

A look at news avoidance, a real threat to the news business, as many once-loyal readers and viewers say some news topics have become relentlessly toxic — The news was a lifelong habit for Claudia Caplan. It surrounded her like a blanket. Two newspapers in the morning, read nearly in full.

Discussion: @jonathanstray, @melissafleming, @dabeard, @lauranissen, @kncukier and @jeffjarvis@mastodon.social

Richard Ruelas / Arizona Republic:

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

Emilia David / The Verge:

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: TechCrunch, Meta, Engadget and @stockmktnewz, more at Techmeme »

Liz Shackleton / Deadline:

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

Sahil Patel / The Information:

Sources: some top ad agency executives plan to commit at least 10% to 20% more with YouTube this fall than in 2022; traditional TV ad commitments are down 15% — The Hollywood labor strikes have proven a boon for YouTube, with Google's video-streaming service luring television ad buyers …

Discussion: MIT Technology Review, @aagave, @theinformation and @carnage4life@mas.to, more at Techmeme »