Top News:
Cheyenne Roundtree / Rolling Stone:
Filing: text messages show HBO executives used fake Twitter accounts to troll TV critics and comment on trade publication stories from June 2020 to April 2021 — Casey Bloys ordered staffers to create fake accounts to fire back at critics, according to text conversations reviewed by Rolling Stone as part of a new lawsuit
Discussion:
Eric Deggans on LinkedIn, IndieWire, The Hollywood Reporter, Vanity Fair, Gizmodo, @alexwild@mastodon.online, @Nickiquote@mstdn.social, @paultassi, @moryan.bsky.social, @bigmeaninternet, @nina_metz, @film_girl, @tvgrimreaper, Screen Rant, @ddavidrenshaw, @moryan, @marlownyc, @arictoler, The A.V. Club, Winter is Coming, @annevclark, @cheyenneisround, @marlownyc, @mattzeitlin, @kvanaren, @alissamarie, @pkafka, @teroterotero, @emmajanepettit, @dlberes, @kenlowery and Boing Boing
The Walt Disney Company:
Disney intends to acquire the 33% stake in Hulu held by Comcast's NBCUniversal, giving Disney full ownership; Disney expects to pay NBCU ~$8.61B by December 1 — The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) announced today that it will acquire the 33% stake in Hulu, LLC held by Comcast Corp.'s …
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The Verge, Next TV, Radio & Television …, Los Angeles Times, Variety, Screen Rant, Reuters, The Wrap, CNN, Bloomberg, Axios, Deadline, The A.V. Club, CNBC, The Hill, Media Play News, @gamoid, @tim_bays, The Hollywood Reporter, @tim_bays, @dylanbyers, Gizmodo, WORLD SCREEN and Cord Cutters News, more at Techmeme »
Arlene Getz / Committee to Protect Journalists:
CPJ's Global Impunity Index: 261 journalists were murdered in retaliation for their work over the past decade; Haiti becomes the third-worst impunity offender — The persistent lack of justice for murdered reporters is a major threat to press freedom. Ten years after the United Nations declared …
Discussion:
LatAm Journalism Review, @pressfreedom, WAN-IFRA, Global Investigative … and Voice of America
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Mike Corder / Associated Press:
Reporters Without Borders seeks a “priority investigation” by the International Criminal Court into the deaths of 34 journalists killed in the Israel-Hamas war — Thirty-four journalists have been killed in the war between Israel and Hamas, an international media freedom group said Wednesday …
Discussion:
The Times of Israel, Associated Press, Reporters Without Borders and The Hill
New York Times:
Condé Nast plans to cut ~5% of its workforce, or ~270 staff, citing digital ad pressures, a decline in social media traffic, and shifting audience behaviors — Roger Lynch, the chief executive, said the company was grappling with digital advertising pressures, a decline in social media traffic and shifting audience behaviors.
Discussion:
MediaPost, Reuters, The Hollywood Reporter, New York Daily News, @goodbyealma, @benmullin, Deadline, Variety, @katie_robertson, @pkafka and The Wrap
Howard Koplowitz / al.com:
Atmore News says its publisher and one of its reporters were arrested on October 27 for allegedly revealing grand jury secrets in a COVID-19 funds investigation — A press freedom group on Tuesday called for charges to be dropped against the Alabama newspaper publisher and a reporter arrested Friday …
Discussion:
Committee to Protect …, @sunnysouthal, @stjbs, WEAR-TV, @cfwij, The Rural Blog, @pressfreedom and Atmore News
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Memo: Daily Beast CEO Heather Dietrick is leaving to become chief media officer of Outside Inc., overseeing operations and 150+ staffers, at the end of 2023 — Dietrick has been hired as chief media officer at Outside Interactive, whose 13 editorial brands include Outside Magazine, Backpacker …
Discussion:
The Wrap and The Daily Beast
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Roku reports Q3 revenue up 20% YoY to $912M, vs. $853.2M est., net loss up 170% YoY to $330M, and forecasts a “similar” YoY ad growth for Q4; ROKU jumps 15%+ — Roku shares rose after the streaming-platform company beat Wall Street expectations for the third quarter of 2023 on the top line.
Discussion:
CNBC, The Wrap, Roku Inc., Reuters, The Hollywood Reporter and MediaPost, more at Techmeme »
Filipe Espósito / 9to5Mac:
Apple quietly discontinued Apple Music's $4.99/month Voice Plan, which was introduced in 2021 and let users access the Apple Music catalog exclusively via Siri — Apple this week held a special event to announce new Macs, but what the company didn't tell is that it has just quietly discontinued the …
Discussion:
TechCrunch, Apple Support, The Verge and MacRumors, more at Techmeme »
Liam Scott / Voice of America:
A deepfake video used VOA Russian Service anchor Ksenia Turkova's likeness to pitch crypto software, after similar deepfakes of BBC, CNN, and CBS journalists — Like so many others, the video looks real at first glance. — Ksenia Turkova, a journalist with VOA's Russian Service, is seated at a desk looking directly at the camera.
Discussion:
Insider, Consequence, Associated Press, PolitiFact, Forbes, Bloomberg and Ad Age
Dade Hayes / Deadline:
Kino Lorber launches Kino Film Collection, a $6-per-month streaming service for arthouse and specialty films, available on Prime Video Channels in the US — - Condé Nast Laying Off 5% Of Its Workforce, Citing “Volatile” Nature Of Digital Video Marketplace
Discussion:
The Wrap, Collider, Variety, IndieWire and Media Play News
Bron Maher / Press Gazette:
Cartoonist Zoom Rockman resigns after feeling “disrespected” by UK-based Private Eye's response to an online threat over his cartoon parodying antisemitism — Zoom Rockman said he felt “disrespected” by Eye management. — Private Eye cartoonist Zoom Rockman has resigned …
Discussion:
Mediaite and @the_zoomcomic
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