Mediagazer: A profile of Jimmy Lai, the owner of now closed Apple Daily and one of Hong Kong's most outspoken pro-democracy activists, as he marks 1,000 days in prison (Amy Hawkins/The Guardian)

6:30 PM ET, October 3, 2023

Top News:

Sources: Netflix plans to raise the price of its ad-free service a few months after the SAG-AFTRA strike ends, likely starting with the US and Canada — Company to become latest streamer to lift fees; Disney weighs launching new live-sports tier abroad — plans to raise the price …

Sara Fischer / Axios:

Meta VP of Media Partnerships Campbell Brown says she's stepping down from the role in the fall but staying on as a consultant, as Meta backs away from news — Campbell Brown, the veteran TV anchor who led Meta's foray into news, is leaving the company, according to an internal note obtained by Axios.

Discussion: New York Times, Bloomberg, New York Post, Variety, @bgrueskin, @9number9, NBC 7 San Diego, @brandonetc, @readdanwrite, The Information, @nytimesbusiness, @mediaevan, @emilybell and The Verge, more at Techmeme »

Todd Spangler / Variety:

In honor of “Mean Girls” day, Paramount launches an official TikTok account for the movie and makes the 47-minute film, broken into 23 clips, available for free — Happy “Mean Girls” day, to all who celebrate! — In observance of so-called Mean Girls Day …

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Kalhan Rosenblatt / NBC News:

MrBeast asks whether social media platforms are “ready to handle the rise of AI deepfakes” after a deepfake scam TikTok ad, since deleted, used his likeness — MrBeast, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, called the rise of AI deepfakes “a serious problem” in response to a fake ad circulating online.

Discussion: Insider, TechCrunch, The Messenger, Semafor and Engadget

Ben Strauss / Washington Post:

A look at the scoop wars between NBA reporters Adrian Wojnarowski and Shams Charania, the impact on other NBA beat reporters, and their usefulness to the league — In a battle for scoops and attention, it's ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski vs. his former protégé, the Athletic's Shams Charania.

Discussion: Awful Announcing, @leadergrev, @thelatinochild, @alexknobel, @dannyfunt, Poynter and Defector

Amy Hawkins / The Guardian:

A profile of Jimmy Lai, the owner of now closed Apple Daily and one of Hong Kong's most outspoken pro-democracy activists, as he marks 1,000 days in prison — He went from rags to riches before his anti-communist newspaper fell foul of security forces. Now Lai's plight tells of a city forced …

Discussion: New York Times

New York Times:

Spotify starts offering Premium subscribers 15 hours of audiobook streaming per month across 150K+ titles, first in the UK and Australia, and the US this winter — A year after adding à la carte sales of audiobooks, Spotify is offering paying subscribers 15 hours of books a month.

Discussion: Variety, Fast Company, TechCrunch, Wall Street Journal, Consequence, The Sun, Deadline, The Verge, BGR, Spotify, Bloomberg and Cord Cutters News, more at Techmeme »

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Code in the latest build of the Spotify app suggests the company is working on AI-generated playlists based on users' prompts — Following the successful launch of Spotify's AI-powered DJ feature and, more recently, added support for AI-translated podcasts, Spotify now appears …

Discussion: @alex193a, @chris@threads.net, @thomas_thomas_thomas …, @chris@threads.net and Music Ally, more at Techmeme »

Dominic Ponsford / Press Gazette:

The Guardian, The Mirror, Reach sites, and The National take down some stories about Dan Wootton; a source says the moves follow a warning by Wootton's lawyer — Publishers threatened with exemplary damages and punitive costs. — The Guardian, Mirror, various other Reach sites and Newsquest's …

Dalya Alberge / The Guardian:

A look at County Highway, a new, $8.50 print-only newspaper published six times a year with a retro 19th-century look, no advertising, and a focus on the US — The retro-look County Highway costs $8.50, is published six times a year - and will never be available online

Discussion: @jeffjarvis@mastodon.social

Bron Maher / Press Gazette:

A profile of The Examination, a new nonprofit global health outlet with 12 employees and a partnership model to work with outlets based in areas it covers — One of The Examination's first priorities is boosting and diversifying its funding. — The executive director …

Discussion: Journalism.co.uk

Lauren Forristal / TechCrunch:

Wattpad replaces its Paid Stories paywall with a freemium tier letting users read some chapters free and buy others; Premium+ subscribers get two stories/month — After launching its “Paid Stories” program in 2019, the social storytelling platform Wattpad is now replacing it with a new freemium model called …

Discussion: wattpad

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Bureau Reporter - Vietnam, HCMC — Bloomberg

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Executive Ed. - Tech & Electronics, AZ — AspenCore

Economy & Industry Reporter, TX — Texas Tribune

Deputy Editor - Health Care, VA — Politico

Political Enterprise Editor, DC — Guardian US

Housing & Real Estate Reporter, ME — BDN

Associate Reporter - Yahoo Finance — Yahoo

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Sophie Culpepper / Nieman Lab:
An interview with Atlanta Journal-Constitution Publisher and President Andrew Morse, on the goal of growing its digital subscribers from ~60K to 500K by 2026

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Sara Fischer / Axios:
The News/Media Alliance organized a US lobbying blitz the week of September 25 to discuss copyright protections for the work of outlets, given the threat of AI

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Todd Spangler / Variety:
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Benjamin Mullin / New York Times:
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Jon Lafayette / Next TV:
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Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
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more at Techmeme »

Earlier Picks:

Financial Times:
New Delhi police raid the homes of 40+ NewsClick journalists and contributors amid Indian officials' allegations the site is an outlet for Chinese propaganda

Discussion: Agence France-Presse, The Indian Express, Scroll.in, Associated Press, The Guardian and Committee to Protect …

Sam Schechner / Wall Street Journal:
Sources: in September, Meta pitched EU regulators a plan to charge Facebook and Instagram users a subscription to avoid ads, starting at ~€10/month for desktop

Associated Press:
The police chief who led the raid on the Marion County Record in August resigns, just days after he was suspended from his post by the mayor of Marion, Kansas

Todd Spangler / Variety:
TikTok confirms the company is running a limited-scale test of an ad-free subscription plan, but only says the market is not the US and does not share the price

Discussion: Billboard, The Messenger, Tubefilter, Music Ally, IGN, @gao_zibo, MediaPost, BGR, The Information, TechCrunch, The Messenger, Search Engine Land, Engadget, The Verge and 9to5Mac, more at Techmeme »

Matt Donnelly / Variety:
Sources: Miramax CEO Bill Block is out after the company did not renew his contract, which expired this week; Miramax hired the film producer in 2017

Discussion: The Wrap, The Hollywood Reporter and Deadline

Jordan Moreau / Variety:
The Golden Globes adds 11 members, bringing its voting body to 300 people that represents 76 countries and is 47% female and 60% racially and ethnically diverse

Discussion: The Wrap, The Hollywood Reporter and Deadline

From Techmeme:

Amanda Silberling / TechCrunch:
Appfigures: Signal downloads were up 45% from the daily average on March 24 in the US and up 42% in Yemen, after The Atlantic's story; global downloads grew 28%

Amanda Silberling / TechCrunch:
Nintendo unveils Virtual Game Cards to make it easier for users to port over their existing Switch games to other devices and lend out games, available in April

Alex Heath / The Verge:
Sources: Reddit banned r/WhitePeopleTwitter for 72 hours in February 2025 after Elon Musk messaged CEO Steve Huffman about users threatening DOGE staffers

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