Mediagazer: Nintendo of America President Doug Bowser describes the company's evolution from a gaming company to a broader entertainment company, including live events (Gene Park/Washington Post)

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Katie Robertson / New York Times:

The MacArthur Foundation and 20+ non-profits announce Press Forward, an initiative to invest $500M over five years in local news, eventually rising to $1B — The effort, spearheaded by the MacArthur Foundation, will give grants to support newsrooms and start-ups as concern grows over the rapid disappearance of local news outlets.

Discussion: Nieman Lab, NPR, Associated Press, Axios, Free Press, Poynter, Second Rough Draft, American Public Media, @journalismproj, @chicagosamir, @peterlattman and @vabvox

Jess Weatherbed / The Verge:

Google makes its relevance and measurement APIs for Privacy Sandbox generally available, meaning the APIs are now available by default in Chrome — Google's Chrome browser is now one important step closer to its goal of phasing out third-party cookies by the end of 2024.

Discussion: Gizmodo, @baekdal, Neowin, The Register and The Messenger, more at Techmeme »

Mia Sato / The Verge:

Patreon adds Discord-like group chats, with support for up to four chats and letting creators restrict access based on subscriber tiers, starting on mobile — Beginning today, Patreon creators who want a dedicated space to interact with fans will have a built-in option: group chats.

Discussion: TechCrunch

Sarah Scire / Nieman Lab:

An interview with Jonathan Knight, head of games at the NYT, on the paper's new game Connections, creating a “news plus games” daily habit for readers, and more — “Come for the news, stay for the games.” — Jonathan Knight, head of games for The New York Times, has a few rules for new games.

Discussion: USA Today, PC Gamer and Media Voices

Rick Reger / Local News Initiative:

A survey of 1,507 US teens aged 13 to 17 finds 46% saw local TV news daily or weekly, while 42% encountered national network TV news daily or weekly — New Medill survey shows higher-than-expected news engagement among young people — An oft-cited factor in the continued struggles …

Discussion: @localnewsini, The Desk and @timafranklin

Gene Park / Washington Post:

Nintendo of America President Doug Bowser describes the company's evolution from a gaming company to a broader entertainment company, including live events — For decades, Nintendo was synonymous with video games. Now in its second century, the Japanese company wants to be much more.

Discussion: @carnage4life@mas.to and @genepark

Financial Times:

Sources: DMGT, which owns the Daily Mail and Metro newspapers, has held talks with Qatari investors about a combined £500M+ bid for the Telegraph Media Group — Gulf finance in demand as rival media groups circle conservative broadsheet — Lord Rothermere's Daily Mail and General Trust …

Discussion: The Guardian, @mediaevan and @pressgazette

Davey Alba / Bloomberg:

Google plans a November policy update requiring election advertisers to prominently disclose when their ads contain generative AI-based images, video, or audio — Audio, images and video on political advertising will need to be labeled … The policy update, which applies starting mid-November …

Discussion: The Verge, Gizmodo, Associated Press, MIT Technology Review, Neowin, MediaNama, Financial Times, @carnage4life@mas.to, Washington Post, The Messenger, @Noupside@saturation.social and The Hill, more at Techmeme »

Joe Coscarelli / New York Times:

Ghostwriter, the anonymous creator who used AI to mimic Drake and The Weeknd, has met with record labels, Grammy organizers, and more, and releases a new song — The anonymous artist, who stirred conversation with the A.I. track “Heart on My Sleeve,” has been quietly consulting with executives, while also gunning for a Grammy.

Discussion: TechCrunch, Billboard, The Verge, Engadget, Variety, Deadline, Futurism, Music Ally, The Fader, Gizmodo, Consequence, Forbes, UPROXX, TMZ.com, The A.V. Club, The Messenger and ET Canada, more at Techmeme »

Josef Adalian / Vulture:

How Paramount Network reversing the release order of 1883 and Yellowstone on streaming and broadcast helped grow viewers, a tactic other companies could adopt — The 2010s USA Network drama Suits might have been the hottest thing on Netflix this summer, but over on cable …

Discussion: TVLine

Lesley Goldberg / The Hollywood Reporter:

Sources: Warner Bros. Television Group suspends several overall deals for top creatives, including J.J. Abrams, Greg Berlanti, Bill Lawrence, and Mindy Kaling — Warner Bros. Television Group has also suspended pacts for Mindy Kaling and Bill Lawrence. — The WGA strike has reached …

Discussion: New York Times, Variety, @snoodit, @salcalleros, The Wrap and Deadline

Jay Peters / The Verge:

YouTube plans to drop individual Studio controls for pre-roll, post-roll, skippable, and non-skippable ads, starting in November 2023; mid-roll ads won't change — YouTube is making some notable changes to the ad controls available to creators. Beginning in November …

Discussion: TechCrunch, The Keyword, Beyond Search, @ekstasis.bsky.social, Neowin and 9to5Google, more at Techmeme »