Top News:
Chris Willman / Variety:
Gannett appoints Bryan West as its Taylor Swift reporter, who will be working out of The Tennessean's newsroom for USA Today and other Gannett local dailies — Gannett, the biggest newspaper chain in the U.S., no longer has a blank space under the title of “Taylor Swift reporter.”
Discussion:
The Tennessean, Awful Announcing, Los Angeles Times, MediaPost, Newser, @annatarkov.bsky.social, @tomaxwell, @tonybiasotti, @jakeharris4, @variety, @mirjamswanson, @jbenton, @slavkandyba206, @kristoncapps, @laurenpeikoff, Media Play News, @annatarkov.bsky.social, @marcuskdowling, @gregrajan, @seungminkim and @kyleodegard
Financial Times:
Sources detail Hunterbrook's plans for a “news hedge fund” and questions about how the business would operate, comply with securities law, and have credibility — ‘Narrow needle to be threaded’ as start-up combines journalism with trading house
Discussion:
@chassnews, @justinjfj, @tanarrowz, @simko_bednarski, @rbrtrmstrng, @jfk_america and @justin_cash_1
Katie Paul / Reuters:
Meta says it is barring political advertisers from using its new generative AI advertising products — Facebook owner Meta (META.O) is barring political advertisers from using its new generative AI advertising products, a company spokesperson said on Monday, cutting off campaigns' access …
Jacob Kastrenakes / The Verge:
Meta says there are now 1M active subscriptions to Instagram creators, just over a year after launching the subscriptions feature, and unveils new creator tools — There are now 1 million paid subscriptions to creators on Instagram, slowly transforming the platform into a space where creators can get paid directly by their fans.
Discussion:
The Information and Meta, more at Techmeme »
Madison Malone Kircher / New York Times:
An interview with former TMZ staffer Kristi Cook, who unmasked herself as the person behind popular YouTube channel Spill Sesh, which covers social media stars — For years, people have wondered who's behind the popular Spill Sesh channel. On Friday, the person behind the account unmasked herself.
Discussion:
@4evrmalone, @takethepoints20 and @4evrmalone
Editor and Publisher:
The Pulitzer Prize Board expands its awards' eligibility to include written journalism from digital news sites operated by broadcast and audio organizations — The Pulitzer Prize Board has decided to expand eligibility for its journalism awards to digital news sites operated by broadcast and audio organizations.
Discussion:
Associated Press, @mike_hixenbaugh, @niketa, @pulitzerprizes, @raju and @nicolefcarr
Brian Steinberg / Variety:
CBS News and Stations launches CBS News Confirmed to examine misinformation and deepfakes, co-led by SVP Claudia Milne and EVP Ross Dagan — CBS' news-and-stations division will launch a new unit to examine misinformation and so-called “deepfakes,” or false videos that can often be generated via artificial intelligence.
Discussion:
Deadline, @davidclinchnews and Adweek
Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
Digital-i: fewer than 5% of Netflix's original programs in 2022 would have triggered performance bonuses under the new WGA-AMPTP contract — Using Hollywood's new metrics, less than 5% of streaming originals count as hit shows. — Let's kick things off with a fun data point.
Tim Ingham / Music Business Worldwide:
Sources: Spotify sets its royalties threshold at 1,000 annual streams per track, which could demonetize 0.5% of its Streamshare that earns less than $0.05/month — Last month Music Business Worldwide broke the news that major changes were coming to Spotify's royalty model in Q1 2024.
Matt Grobar / Deadline:
Time Studios names Majordomo Media co-founder Dave O'Connor as its president, replacing Ian Orefice, who left to launch the content studio EverWonder — - Crazy Legs Developing Prince Biopic Based On First Wife Mayte Garcia's Memoir ‘The Most Beautiful’ — Good Deed Entertainment …
Discussion:
MediaPost, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter and The Wrap
Sara Fischer / Axios:
Jason Wagenheim leaves BDG Media to become the first North America CEO of Footballco, which owns soccer websites, ahead of the 2026 World Cup on the continent — Jason Wagenheim is leaving BDG Media, the parent company of Bustle and a slew of other female-focused lifestyle brands …
Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
Disney names PepsiCo vice chairman and CFO Hugh Johnston as its senior executive VP and CFO, starting on December 4; CFO Christine McCarthy left in June 2023 — The executive has been the CFO of beverage giant PepsiCo, and effectively succeeds Christine McCarthy. — The Walt Disney Co. has found its next CFO.
Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
OpenAI debuts Copyright Shield, promising to defend ChatGPT Enterprise users and OpenAI customers facing copyright infringement claims related to its services — OpenAI — bowing to peer pressure — today announced it'll step in and defend businesses using OpenAI products …
Discussion:
The Guardian, The Wrap and @nathanwchan, more at Techmeme »
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
YouTube plans to test generative AI features for Premium users, like a comments summarizer and a conversational recommendations tool, first on Android in the US — YouTube will begin to experiment with new generative AI features, the company announced today.
Discussion:
Variety, The Hill, 9to5Google, Android Police and Cord Cutters News, more at Techmeme »