Top News:
John D. McKinnon / Wall Street Journal:
Google sues unnamed individuals in India and Vietnam for tricking US-based SMB owners with Facebook accounts into clicking fake Bard ads that install malware — Lawsuit attributes the alleged scheme to hackers in India and Vietnam — Scammers are capitalizing on the rush of consumer interest …
Discussion:
The Keyword, Bloomberg, MediaPost and The Verge, more at Techmeme »
Axios:
The Block sells an 80% stake to Singaporean VC Foresight Ventures, valuing the crypto outlet at $70M and freeing the business from financial ties to FTX — Crypto media company The Block sold a majority stake to Singaporean venture capital firm Foresight Ventures in a deal valuing the crypto outlet at $70 million.
Discussion:
CoinDesk, @sarafischer and @lawmaster, more at Techmeme »
Matthew Belloni / Puck:
Source: after a social media backlash, Warner Bros. plans to let the filmmakers of Coyote vs. Acme shop the movie to other potential distributors — In a surprising about-face, Warner Bros. executives will allow the filmmakers of Coyote vs. Acme, a $70 million live action/CGI hybrid Looney Tunes film …
Carly Thomas / The Hollywood Reporter:
Actress Justine Bateman says union members should only approve SAG-AFTRA's tentative deal “if they don't want to work anymore”, calling out its AI provisions — The actress-writer-filmmaker said union members should only approve the deal “if they don't want to work anymore.”
Discussion:
@hewizard, @kellengoff, @actorjoshprice, IndieWire, @chescaleigh, @stephanfleet, @ohheydj, @rmbee, @justinebateman, @justinebateman, @justinebateman and The Wrap
RELATED:
Gene Maddaus / Variety:
The SAG-AFTRA national board approves its new contract with the major studios with an 86% approval vote, sending the deal to membership for ratification
The SAG-AFTRA national board approves its new contract with the major studios with an 86% approval vote, sending the deal to membership for ratification
Rolling Stone:
SAG-AFTRA's deal would require studios to get consent before making digital replicas of living and deceased actors, disclose their use, and pay actors for them
SAG-AFTRA's deal would require studios to get consent before making digital replicas of living and deceased actors, disclose their use, and pay actors for them
Discussion:
Puck, @vkhosla, @discussingfilm, @synopsi, @variety, @carnage4life@threads.net, @kayla__lmao, @awards_watch, @jbflint, @coveredgeekly, @amyklobuchar, New Scientist, Comic Book, IndieWire, ABC7, Variety, New York Post and Wired
Brooks Barnes / New York Times:
Marvel's The Marvels, which cost ~$300M to make and market, netted just $47M in US and Canada ticket sales over the weekend, the lowest ever for a Marvel movie — “The Marvels” cost about $300 million to make and market and arrived to $47 million in domestic sales.
Discussion:
Variety, CNBC, BBC, EW.com, Associated Press, Deadline, @nickmenakos, The Hollywood Reporter, CNN, @stephenking, Bloomberg, The A.V. Club, The Wrap, Variety, Collider, The Playlist, @johndilillo, Rolling Stone, @marvel, MediaPost and The Messenger
Daniel Thomas / Financial Times:
Ofcom Chair Michael Grade describes the BBC's license fee as a “regressive tax”, and calls for the BBC to strengthen its governance and complaints mechanisms — Michael Grade wants more transparency in how the UK's state broadcaster handles complaints
Discussion:
Broadband TV News, The Guardian, @danielthomasldn and City A.M.
Priscille Biehlmann / Reuters Institute:
A look at TOPO, a French magazine launched in 2016 covering the news and complex issues in a graphic-novel format for a teen audience, reaching ~5K subscribers — TOPO uses graphic novel techniques to tackle complex issues for its teenage audience. It's reached 5,000 subscribers since its launch in 2016
Discussion:
Lisa Drew on LinkedIn and @janebsinger
Bron Maher / Press Gazette:
Reach Chief Digital Publisher David Higgerson says that “there is no plan to replace journalists with social media influencers”, after the company cut ~450 jobs — Comments given by CEO Jim Mullen to The Telegraph prompted confusion and anger among staff.
Discussion:
@davidhiggerson, @mattgoodingtm, @davidhiggerson, @davidhiggerson, @jnkappers, @paulbreeden2 and @davidhiggerson
Choe Sang-Hun / New York Times:
A look at efforts by South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol to silence journalists in the name of fighting disinformation, including lawsuits and criminal probes — He calls fake news an enemy that threatens democracy. Critics of President Yoon Suk Yeol say he is silencing journalists in the name of fighting disinformation.
Discussion:
Fox News and The Kyiv Independent
Bloomberg:
Hybe, the South Korean music company behind BTS, acquires Spanish-language studio Exile Music, its first step into the burgeoning market for Latin music — - Hybe, the home of BTS, acquires Exile Music from Candle Media — Music sales increased by 26% in Latin America last year
Discussion:
@nachouy, @tim_bays, Reuters and Digital Music News
Dan Williams / Reuters:
Israel signals that the government will hold off on a threatened closure of Al Jazeera's local bureau, omitting the outlet from new emergency media regulations — Israel signalled on Monday it would hold off on a threatened closure of the local bureau of Al Jazeera, leaving …
Discussion:
The Times of Israel
Brian Morrissey / The Rebooting:
A survey of 201 publishers: the goal of subscriptions is to diversify revenue, 30% are seeing <10% growth in subscription revenue, and churn is a looming issue — Today, I'm releasing The Rebooting's second research project. With partnership from BlueConic, I surveyed over 200 publishers …
Discussion:
@peristrathearn and Simon Owens's Media Newsletter
Moira Donegan / The Guardian:
The era of explicitly feminist media in the US appears to be over with the closure of Jezebel, which outlasted the rest of the feminist blogosphere — Websites like Jezebel revived feminism, showing the internet might have a re-radicalizing effect. Who will carry the torch? — Jezebel is dead.
RELATED:
Jason Koebler / 404 Media:
The brand safety industry crushes news sites by keeping ads away from articles that algorithms say make people sad or upset, leading to shutdowns like Jezebel's
The brand safety industry crushes news sites by keeping ads away from articles that algorithms say make people sad or upset, leading to shutdowns like Jezebel's
Discussion:
Media Voices, The Overspill, @22@octodon.social, @pluralistic@mamot.fr, Blair Hickman on LinkedIn, Lou Paskalis on LinkedIn, @chronotope, @chronotope, @chronotope, @chronotope, @jason_kint, @learmonth, @jgreigj, @scottnover, @kattenbarge, @jason_koebler, @jason_koebler, @dollydeighton, @jason_koebler, @jeffhorwitz, @mollytaft, @koumdros, @lisettevoytko, @themattmager, @rach_greenspan, @bobsaietta, @xpatriciah, @josephfcox, @carolynmichelle, @josephfcox, @vanderhoofy, @emanuelmaiberg, @loudmouthjulia, @loudmouthjulia, @josephfcox, @unchartedworlds@scicomm.xyz, @ben@werd.social, @herhandsmyhands …, Dan Ackerman on LinkedIn, @stefan@stefanbohacek.online, Nick Lucchesi on LinkedIn, @lilithsaintcrow …, @rpardee@hachyderm.io, @ernie@writing.exchange, @jplebreton@mastodon.social and MediaPost