Top News:


Investigation: earlier in 2023, Vietnam tried to plant Predator spyware on the phones of CNN journalists, two Asia-based reporters, and others via posts on X — The attempts appear to have been unsuccessful, but came as the U.S. and Vietnam were negotiating an agreement that President Biden signed last month in Hanoi


A look at Discogs, a user-generated music database and marketplace for physical music media, as sellers complain about the website's old tech and increased fees — A home for music diehards has been fractured by increased fees that are pushing sellers and shoppers to other platforms.
Discussion:
@jwelte, @dupuisj, @libationlegacy@mastodon …, @mulderbatflip, @natalieweiner and @burn_amb, more at Techmeme »


A look at the cottage industry around artificially boosting podcast numbers, used to push podcasts to the top of Apple's podcast charts and more — The News — Earlier this year, PJ Vogt received a strange proposition: If he paid a few dollars to a small self-described media buying company …
Discussion:
@semafor, @semafor and @semaforben


Sources: activist investor Nelson Peltz's Trian, now one of Disney's largest investors with a $2.5B+ stake, plans to launch a fresh push for Disney board seats — Activist's Trian Fund Management has accumulated a holding valued at more than $2.5 billion — Nelson Peltz is planning a fresh push for board seats at
Discussion:
@asharma, @davidpoland, @zugmanfabio, @batmongoose, Variety and NBC 7 San Diego


Advertisers face growing pressure to cut their emissions; Scope3: digital ads create ~7.2M tons of CO2 annually, equivalent to 1.4M US homes' electricity usage — The News — Of all the sectors under pressure to cut their carbon footprint, advertising has largely flown under the radar.
Discussion:
@semaforben, @msbeverlybryan, @briandevine, @semafor and MarTech Series


Q&A with Independence Public Media Foundation President Molly de Aguiar on the frequent disconnect between local media funders and national funders, and more — Molly de Aguiar on a key goal of plans like Press Forward … Q. I think we agree that the only way to really sustainably achieve …


A look at the launch of the French Sunday newspaper La Tribune Dimanche, as the only other Sunday paper, Le Journal du Dimanche, turns into a far-right outlet — La Tribune Dimanche goes on sale in landscape of declining print sales, culture wars and scrutiny of billionaire proprietors
Discussion:
Media Voices and @TheEuropeanNetwork …


Alexa has been claiming that the US 2020 presidential election was stolen, citing unvetted Rumble and Substack sources; Amazon says the errors have been fixed — The popular voice assistant says the 2020 race was stolen, even as parent company Amazon promotes the tool as a reliable election news source …
Discussion:
@katienotopoulos, @karlauerbach@sfba.social, The Messenger, @jaxalemany, @nadlermk, @emzorbit, @carnage4life@threads.net, @LALegault@newsie.social, @JoshuaHolland@mastodon.social, @funnymonkey@freeradical.zone, @dsilverman@mastodon.social, @GottaLaff@mastodon.social, @rootwoman123@mastodon.world and @davemark@mastodon.social, more at Techmeme »


Sources: Florida Politics founder Peter Schorsch lets politicians buy unlabeled stories and distorts coverage at the behest of political campaigns that buy ads — This story was reported by NPR's David Folkenflik and Miranda Green of Floodlight, a nonprofit newsroom that investigates the powerful interests stalling climate action.


Delhi police accuse Xiaomi, Vivo, and others of helping transfer funds illegally to news outlet NewsClick, which India accused of spreading Chinese propaganda — Indian police have formally accused Chinese smartphone makers Xiaomi Corp and Vivo Mobile of helping transfer funds illegally …
Discussion:
MediaNama, @arpanc_, @jairam_ramesh, @officialsauravd, @pun_starr, @sritara, @vijaita, @vijaita, @svaradarajan, @baxiabhishek, @mnshap, @cryptic_miind, @pun_starr, @t_d_h_nair, @vijaita, @sherbir, The Hindu, The Hindu, The News Minute, Deccan Herald, Business Today, The Indian Express, The Quint, The Wire and Scroll.in
RELATED:


New York Public Radio lays off 20 staff members and cuts two podcasts from its studio division; three more employees took union-negotiated voluntary buyouts — “It is not a good use of any of our time, looking in the rearview mirror and trying to figure out where we should place blame,” …
Discussion:
@jaycowit, @paulinepark, @bailyn_detocque, @cekent, @macfathom, @grace_panetta, @christrobbins, @estherxlwang, @askhalid, @jacremes, @jaycowit, @streever, @maxrivlinnadler, @grace_panetta, @acdha@code4lib.social, @emilybell.bsky.social, @anarchosynthism …, @hellgateny.bsky.social, @jasonisaacdrums@heads.social, Gothamist, Current and Inside Radio


The BBC blocks OpenAI and Common Crawl from scraping its data, but plans to explore using generative AI for research, production, and personalized experiences — The BBC, the UK's largest news organization, laid out principles it plans to follow as it evaluates the use of generative AI …
Discussion:
MediaNama, @owenboswarva, @back_the_bbc, @coolshannes, @leokelion, @darrenwaters and BBC