Mediagazer: Interviews with authors and publishing insiders reveal the broken system of blurbs; a few authors say blurbs helped launch their careers, but hated the process (Sophie Vershbow/Esquire)

12:15 PM ET, September 8, 2023

Top News:

Jim Friedlich / Nieman Reports:

Press Forward is by far the largest coordinated philanthropic effort to support local news, with the potential to become a much larger, ongoing effort — A nonpartisan group of 22 foundations today announced the launch of Press Forward, a nationwide coalition committing more than $500 million …

Discussion: Werd I/O, Newser, MediaPost, The Hill, Associated Press, Free Press, Second Rough Draft, American Public Media and Poynter

Katie Robertson / New York Times:

The MacArthur Foundation and 20+ nonprofits announce Press Forward, an initiative to invest $500M over five years in local news, aiming to raise and invest $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: macfound.org, American Press Institute, @mollydeaguiar, Poynter, @mitrakalita, Media Voices, Washington Post, @jimfriedlich, @journalismproj, @peterlattman, @vabvox, @chicagosamir, Nieman Lab, Axios and NPR

URL Media:
URL Media, a network of media outlets focused on communities of color, receives a $1M Knight Foundation investment to support its 21 partners

Discussion: @mitrakalita, @mitrakalita, @susanmcp1 and @blackamazon

Krystie Lee Yandoli / Rolling Stone:

In a call with Tonight Show staff, Jimmy Fallon said he's “sorry” and didn't mean to “create that type of atmosphere”, after a report detailed a toxic workplace — “Sorry if I embarrassed you and your family and friends...I feel so bad I can't even tell you,” …

Discussion: Fox News, Breitbart, The Messenger, Deadline, The Guardian, @noahshachtman, @bobmorris@mastodon.social, Consequence, The A.V. Club, TVLine, Screen Rant, Page Six, New York Daily News, UPROXX, al.com, Insider, 98 Rock Online, The Sun and ET Canada

Krystie Lee Yandoli / Rolling Stone:

Interviews with 16 current and former employees describe a toxic workplace at The Tonight Show, starting with Jimmy Fallon's outbursts and erratic behavior — Sixteen current and former staffers say Fallon's erratic behavior spoiled their “dream” of working on The Tonight Show — I

Wall Street Journal:

Sources: Spotify plans to test a free audiobook bundle for its paying subscribers that offers up to 20 hours of content per month, as part of an audiobook push — Audio streamer to test program with listeners to learn about customer demand for audiobooks — Spotify plans to test …

Discussion: 9to5Mac, The Verge, CMU, Music Ally and The Bookseller, more at Techmeme »

Nieman Lab:

A study of 7K+ users from the US, the Netherlands, and Poland: non-news sites, like entertainment pages, expose people to more political content than news sites — Plus: The catalyzing effect of attacks on journalists, how journalists describe their target audiences, and new evidence of local news nonprofits' impact.

Discussion: @niemanlab

Sophie Vershbow / Esquire:

Interviews with authors and publishing insiders reveal the broken system of blurbs; a few authors say blurbs helped launch their careers, but hated the process — Do authors actually like the books they endorse—or even read them? Writers, literary agents, and publishing workers …

Discussion: @sarahroseetter, @sarahroseetter, @mollsotov89, @theinsneider, @taylorlorenz, @mattzollerseitz, @paulbogaards, @asdkfjasdlfjd, @tajjaisen, @jeffjarvis and @megireid

Michael Hunter / London Evening Standard:

Concord agrees to buy music copyright-focussed investment firm Round Hill Music, whose catalogue includes songs from The Beatles and Louis Armstrong, for ~$469M — Star-studded back catalogue including The Beatles and The Rolling Stones and Louis Armstrong to go private — T

Discussion: Billboard, Reuters, Music Ally, CMU and Digital Music News

Reuters:

Japanese broadcasters including NHK and NTV issue rare apologies for failing to report on sex abuse allegations at a J-pop agency, after the agency apologized — After Japan's top talent agency Johnny & Associates apologised on Thursday for decades of sexual abuses committed by its late founder …

James B. Stewart / New York Times:

Sources: Mattel stands to earn 5% of Barbie's $2B expected box office revenue, a percentage of eventual profits as a producer, and payments as the IP owner — The company's approach has paid off to a degree that even the C.E.O. could hardly have believed possible.

Discussion: ComingSoon.net, Fox Business, Forbes, Ad Age, Variety, Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter, The Messenger and Tubefilter

Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:

Artémis, François-Henri Pinault's investment firm, acquires TPG's majority stake in CAA; CAA's Bryan Lourd is expected to be named CEO of CAA — Bryan Lourd, Kevin Huvane, and Richard Lovett will remain the co-chairman of CAA, with Lourd set to be named CEO. — CAA has a new majority owner.

Discussion: TPG Press, @bostonjerry, Puck, @danprimack, Billboard, Fortune, Financial Times, Front Office Sports, Wall Street Journal, Reuters, The Wrap, Deadline, Variety, Los Angeles Times and WWD

Rick Porter / The Hollywood Reporter:

Nielsen delays use of Amazon streaming data in NFL ratings after criticism from the Video Advertising Bureau and plans to keep working with the MRC on approval — The ratings service says it will wait until an industry regulatory board signs off on including the first-party numbers.

Discussion: The Streamable, Sports Media Watch, Front Office Sports, Wall Street Journal, Variety, Ad Age and MediaPost

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Peter Kiefer / The Ankler:
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Hamish McKenzie / On Substack:
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Christopher Dring / GamesIndustry.biz:
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Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
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Max Tani / @maxwelltani:
Memo: Andrew Golis, WNYC's chief content officer and former Vox general manager and Vox Media VP of network development, is leaving WNYC

Discussion: Inside Radio, @maxwelltani, RadioInsight and Radio & Television …

Earlier Picks:

Jess Weatherbed / The Verge:
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Mia Sato / The Verge:
Patreon adds Discord-like group chats to mobile, letting creators join up to four chats and restrict access based on subscriber tiers; desktop is coming later

Discussion: Patreon, Music Ally, MediaPost, @simli.bsky.social and TechCrunch, more at Techmeme »

Financial Times:
Sources: DMGT, which owns the Daily Mail and Metro newspapers, has had talks with Qatari investors about a combined £500M+ bid for Lloyds' Telegraph Media Group

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Sarah Scire / Nieman Lab:
An interview with The New York Times Head of Games Jonathan Knight on the newspaper's new game Connections, creating a “news plus games” daily habit, and more

Discussion: USA Today, PC Gamer and Media Voices

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

Discussion: @genepark and @carnage4life@mas.to

From Techmeme:

Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority:
Source: Google has canceled the development of a second-generation Pixel Tablet, planned for release in 2025, due to concerns that it wouldn't sell very well

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple is testing a more conversational version of Siri, dubbed “LLM Siri”, with plans to release it in spring 2026 as part of iOS 19 and macOS 16

The Information:
Sources: OpenAI considered making a browser, discussed deals to power AI features on Samsung devices and search on sites and apps from Condé Nast and others

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