Mediagazer: Studio CEOs attended another marathon bargaining session with the WGA on September 21; talks between the WGA and studios resumed on September 22 (Wendy Lee/Los Angeles Times)

6:10 PM ET, September 22, 2023

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Caitlin Huston / The Hollywood Reporter:

Documentary filmmaker Ken Burns tries to distance himself from SCOTUS Justice Clarence Thomas after ProPublica published a photo of the two alongside David Koch — The documentary filmmaker says he has not had contact with Thomas beyond taking a photo. — Documentary filmmaker Ken Burns …

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David Rutz / Fox News:

Rupert Murdoch transitions from chair of Fox Corp and News Corp to the new role of Chairman Emeritus; Lachlan Murdoch becomes the sole chair of both companies — ‘For my entire professional life, I have been engaged daily with news and ideas, and that will not change’

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Michael Wolff / The Ankler:

Excerpt from Michael Wolff's The Fall: the first chapter imagines an eventual Rupert Murdoch obituary that details his life and career at Fox Corp and News Corp — The mogul's ‘obituary’ opens the buzzy upcoming book, ‘The End: The Fall of Fox News and the Murdoch Dynasty’

Discussion: Variety, The Guardian, The Hollywood Reporter, @sharonwaxman, Columbia Journalism Review, Bloomberg, Puck, Crikey, New York Times, The Messenger and The Ringer

New York Times:

A profile of Lachlan Murdoch, who is less overtly political than his father, has led Fox through lawsuits, and has some proven successes, such as acquiring Tubi — He solidified his rise to the top of his father's media empire on Thursday. — Lachlan Murdoch's path to succession has been rocky at times …

Discussion: Bloomberg, New Republic, Fortune, The Daily Beast, Sydney Morning Herald, Financial Times, @Lilmikesf@c.im, CNN, Variety, Forbes and New York Post

Matthew Garrahan / Financial Times:
The way Rupert Murdoch structured the ownership of his companies doesn't necessarily mean Lachlan's ascension ends the fight for control of the family empire

Discussion: Forbes, The Guardian, Reuters, City A.M., Axios, Sydney Morning Herald, Insider, Wired, Rolling Stone, The Messenger and Vanity Fair

Max Seddon / Financial Times:

Russia's flagship state news TV channel, Rossiya 24, is running ads for a Tucker Carlson show “at the weekend”, but Carlson denies hosting a show on Russian TV — Rightwing former Fox News presenter said he was unaware of the ‘absurd’ claim — Russia's flagship state news channel …

Discussion: BBC, Mediaite, Insider, Forbes, Newser, @anneapplebaum, @anneapplebaum and @maxseddon

Sam Schube / GQ:

How Apple SVP of Services Eddy Cue led the company's push into live sports streaming and is using its MLS deal to test reshaping how sports are consumed — Longtime Apple executive Eddy Cue happens to be an enormous sports fan. And with Apple entering the wild west of broadcasting live sports …

Discussion: Sportico, @geoffgagnon, The Sun, @tsoh_investing, @samschube, 9to5Mac, The Messenger and UPI, more at Techmeme »

PEN America:

US public schools had 3,362 book bans from July 1, 2022, to June 31, 2023, up 33% from the previous school year; Florida schools accounted for 40%+ of the bans — Banned in the USA: The Mounting Pressure to Censor — Introduction — The freedom to read is under assault in the United States …

Discussion: Publishers Weekly, Orange County Register, @JaneRLaForge@mstdn.social, New Republic, The Rural Blog, Publishing Perspectives and The Hill

Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:

The FT debuts an e-paper app for international readers; ABC: the FT digital edition had a 16,343 average circulation in August, of which 81% was outside the UK — The FT's e-paper has evolved since it first launched on desktop in 2015. — The Financial Times has launched an app …

Discussion: Journalism.co.uk

Sara Fischer / Axios:

Memo: Snap President of Americas Rob Wilk leaves, after joining the company in March 2023, replaced by Patrick Harris, who joined Snap after 10+ years at Meta — Snap Inc. has promoted former Meta executive Patrick Harris to the position of President of Americas, overseeing sales …

Discussion: The Information

Wendy Lee / Los Angeles Times:

Studio CEOs attended another marathon bargaining session with the WGA on September 21; talks between the WGA and studios resumed on September 22 — Jobs, Labor & Workplace — The Writers Guild of America and major studios — held a marathon bargaining session Thursday …

Discussion: The Hollywood Reporter, Variety, Deadline, @jorgecoolreyes, @megjameslat, @slack2thefuture, Next TV, Bleeding Cool News, The Messenger, CNN, The Wrap and Reuters

Tom Ambrose / The Guardian:

WBD announces an expansion of Warner Bros Studios Leavesden, in Hertfordshire, UK, including adding 10 sound stages starting in early 2024 and finishing in 2027 — Studios behind Harry Potter films to undergo 400,000 sq ft expansion by 2027, in boost to struggling industry

Discussion: Variety, Advanced Television, CNN, @wes_greer, @bobdigi69, @wbd, Press Association, Collider, Bleeding Cool News, The Wrap, Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

YouTube debuts YouTube Create, an app that lets creators edit videos, adding effects, GIFs, royalty-free tracks, and more, in beta on Android in eight markets — YouTube this morning introduced a new app for creators, YouTube Create, that will offer a suite of easy-to-use and free tools …

Discussion: Insider, The Indian Express, Communicate Online, Music Ally, ICYMI, CNN, The Information, Tubefilter, Bloomberg, 9to5Google and The Verge

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
YouTube unveils YouTube Studio AI features coming in 2024 and lets select creators test Aloud, a dubbing tool that creates AI-generated dubs in other languages

Discussion: @snazzylabs, The Messenger, Billboard and The Hollywood Reporter, more at Techmeme »

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
YouTube announces Dream Screen, a Shorts feature that lets users create an AI-generated video or image background using text prompts, rolling out in early 2024

Discussion: Voicebot.ai, CNET, Gizmodo, Deadline and MediaPost