Mediagazer: Twitch plans to roll out a long-requested anti-harassment feature within weeks that automatically blocks a streamer's banned users from watching their streams (Taylor Hatmaker/TechCrunch)

Gene Maddaus / Variety:

The WGA urges antitrust regulators to stop M&A in streaming, saying that Netflix, Amazon, and Disney amassed market power that depresses wages and limits choice — The Writers Guild of America issued a report on Thursday calling Netflix, Amazon and Disney the “new gatekeepers” …

Discussion: @slack2thefuture, @jbflint, @wgawest, IGN, Los Angeles Times, IndieWire, The Wrap, Writers Guild of America West, The Hollywood Reporter and Deadline

Discussion: Variety and Bloomberg

Jay Peters / The Verge:

Microsoft's Start, which uses AI to summarize news and other content, lists the Ottawa Food Bank as a tourist site and suggests visiting on “an empty stomach” — Microsoft published an AI-generated travel article about Ottawa, Canada that prominently recommended tourists visit …

Discussion: Boing Boing, @matthewkeyslive, @parismarx, Insider, @harrymccracken@sfba.social, @verge-poster.bsky.social, @ddsd.bsky.social, @ai6yr@m.ai6yr.org, @GossiTheDog@cyberplace.social, @dclan@mstdn.ca, @corbin@toot.community, @fraying@xoxo.zone, @ianbetteridge@writing … and @the_verge@mastodon.social

Sahil Patel / The Information:

Sources: Verizon has been in talks with Disney about partnering on a streaming version of the ESPN cable channel — Disney CEO Bob Iger has said he's looking for strategic partners to help launch a streaming version of the ESPN cable channel. One key distributor, Verizon, has already thrown its hat into the ring.

Discussion: The Wrap and Awful Announcing

Bloomberg:

Email: Amazon is offering $12,500 to some creators for 500 videos, or $25 a video, for its TikTok-like shopping feed; creators typically charge $200+ per video — - Content creators typically charge more than $200 a pop — Amazon.com Inc., looking to amp up its TikTok-like shopping feed …

Discussion: TechCrunch, Gizmodo, The Verge, Insider, The Information, @ugctravels, Digiday and Tubefilter, more at Techmeme »

Hanaa' Tameez / Nieman Lab:

Columbia's journalism school begins offering graduates in nonprofit news $5K to $10K forgivable loans each year, with a max total of $50K, to pay student loans — “It takes away a little bit of anxiety about pursuing a degree in journalism if you know that there is a path through which the cost can be covered.”

Discussion: @guacamayan@journa.host

Taylor Hatmaker / TechCrunch:

Twitch plans to roll out a long-requested anti-harassment feature within weeks that automatically blocks a streamer's banned users from watching their streams — Twitch's chat ban tools have been around for ages, but the platform is about to hand streamers a way to control who can watch a stream to begin with.

Discussion: Kotaku, Tubefilter, IGN and The Guardian, more at Techmeme »

Kim Zetter / Zero Day:

How Timothy Burke accessed video from Fox News and why his lawyer says Florida prosecutors are using a “novel and unsupported” interpretation of the CFAA — But attorneys for Timothy Burke say a raid on his home and office exhibit government over-reach and misuse of the federal hacking law …

Discussion: @snlyngaas, @bubbaprog, @kimzetter, @kimzetter, @kimzetter@infosec.exchange and @steve@s.yelvington.com

Oliver Darcy / CNN:

Sources: news publishers in the US say Meta made changes that cut their Facebook referral traffic; one publisher said traffic fell by 30%+ YoY, another by ~40% — Editor's Note: A version of this article first appeared in the “Reliable Sources” newsletter. Sign up for the daily digest chronicling the evolving media landscape here.

Discussion: New York Post, @mgeist, @jason_kint, @davidclinchnews, @blackamazon, Pugpig, @johnbattelle@threads.net and @johnbuckley.bsky.social

Reuters:

How major advertisers have adopted AI: WPP is using AI in Nestle and Mondelez campaigns, citing 10x-20x savings; Unilever developed its own generative AI — Some of the world's biggest advertisers, from food giant Nestle (NESN.S) to consumer goods multinational Unilever (ULVR.L) …

Manish Singh / TechCrunch:

Netflix partners with Jio Platforms, India's largest telecom operator, to bundle its Netflix Basic streaming tier with two of the carrier's pay-as-you-go plans — Netflix has inked a “first-of-its-kind” deal with Jio Platforms, India's largest telecom operator, to bundle the streaming service …

more at Techmeme »

Lucas Manfredi / The Wrap:

Trustees of NYC's pension funds send letters to the CEOs of Disney, Comcast, and Paramount Global, calling on them to negotiate and end the Hollywood strikes — Brad Lander and five pension fund trustees call on Paramount, Comcast and Disney executives to “end the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes promptly”

Discussion: Deadline and Deadline

ACA Blog:

Nine, which owns The Sydney Morning Herald and others, plans to stop publishing comic strips, after News Corp and Australia Community Media did the same in 2022 — The Australian Cartoonists Association notes with disappointment that the Nine newspapers (including The Age, the Sunday Age …