Mediagazer: The SCNG Guild's members held a one-day strike on December 14 amid protracted contract talks with Alden's Southern California News Group (Joseph Pimentel/Spectrum News 1)

5:45 PM ET, December 14, 2023

Top News:

James Bennet / The Economist:

Ex-NYT editor James Bennet chronicles how fewer jobs for young reporters, the NYT's business model, and new ideals have led to “illiberal bias” at the paper — America's media should do more to equip readers to think for themselves — Are we truly so precious?

Wall Street Journal:

Putin says he hopes to “find a solution” regarding the detention of WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich, who lost another court appeal on December 14 for his release — Russian president says he hopes to ‘find a solution’ regarding Gershkovich and Paul Whelan, who are both in Russian custody

Discussion: The Moscow Times, The Desk, Voice of America, Talking Biz News, HuffPost, Semafor, CNN, The Detroit News, New York Times, CBS News, NPR, UPI, WKYC-TV, Bloomberg, The Sun, The Hill, The Wrap and New York Post

Wall Street Journal:

Some publishers estimate that Google's Search Generative Experience will cut referral traffic by 20% to 40% if the final version works like current iterations — Tech giant's AI-powered search product is being tested on roughly 10 million users; publishers rely on Google for traffic and see a gathering storm

Discussion: @carnage4life@mas.to, Max Hogan on LinkedIn, Digital Content Next, Patrick Biltgen on LinkedIn, Decrypt and One Man & His Blog

Cristina Criddle / Financial Times:

UK regulator Ofcom investigates TikTok over concerns the company supplied “inaccurate” information about its parental controls; TikTok blames a technical issue — Ofcom's investigation comes amid intensified efforts to protect children from harmful online material

Discussion: The Guardian, Ofcom and BBC, more at Techmeme »

Jaspreet Singh / Reuters:

Sensor Tower: 51 of the top 100 US advertisers on Twitter in October 2022, when Elon Musk bought the company, have ceased ad spending on X as of November 2023 — Big U.S. companies including Walt Disney and Comcast increased advertising spending on Instagram after pausing commercials on X last month …

Discussion: The Wrap, Los Angeles Times, Social Media Today, New York Post, @2xaught7.bsky.social, @carnage4life@mas.to and National Review, more at Techmeme »

Katie Robertson / New York Times:

Mother Jones and the Center for Investigative Reporting plan to merge in early 2024 with Monika Bauerlein as CEO and Clara Jeffery leading the combined newsroom — The combined newsroom will have more than 70 people. — Mother Jones and the Center for Investigative Reporting will merge next year …

Discussion: Mother Jones, Nieman Lab, @davidcorn1@threads.net, @dicktofel@threads.net and @_lizweil@threads.net

Joseph Pimentel / Spectrum News 1:

The SCNG Guild's members held a one-day strike on December 14 amid protracted contract talks with Alden's Southern California News Group — LOS ANGELES, Calif. — The union representing Southern California newspaper reporters, photographers and others plans to hold a one-day strike Thursday, protesting working conditions and low pay.

Discussion: @billplunkettocr, @billplunkettocr, @jeongpark52, @regjeffcollins, @jim_alexander, @katieporteroc@threads.net, SCNG Guild, SCNG Guild, @hansgutknecht, @themindyschauer, @carleighbee, @katieporteroc, @scngguild and @mattdpearce

Emma Roth / The Verge:

YouTube updates its TV app to show longer but less frequent ad breaks, after testing since September 2023, and adds a countdown timer in the bottom-right corner — The next time you sit down to watch YouTube on your TV, you might notice fewer ads breaking up the video you're watching.

Discussion: Radio & Television …, The Messenger and 9to5Google, more at Techmeme »

CNBC:

Nelson Peltz's Trian Fund Management nominates him and former Disney CFO Jay Rasulo to Disney's board as the fund wages its proxy battle with the media giant — - Trian Fund Management said it was nominating Nelson Peltz and former Walt Disney CFO Jay Rasulo to the media company's board.

Discussion: Radio & Television …, Los Angeles Times, Financial Times, CNN, New York Times, Reuters, The Messenger, Deadline, The Information, The Wrap, Variety, Wall Street Journal, The Hollywood Reporter and LaughingPlace.com

Parker Molloy / The Present Age:

Two open letters, signed by dozens of Substack writers, criticize and defend the platform's approach to platforming and monetizing Nazis and white nationalists — Last month, The Atlantic published a piece by Jonathan Katz titled “Substack Has a Nazi Problem.”

Dan Primack / Axios:

Vivendi is weighing splitting into three businesses: pay TV platform Canal+, ad agency Havas, and an investment firm that would include publisher Lagardère — French media and entertainment group Vivendi said that it's weighing a split into three separate businesses.

Discussion: Financial Times, Broadband TV News, Reuters and Wall Street Journal

Umar Shakir / The Verge:

Google plans to test Tracking Protection and blocking third-party cookies on January 4 for ~1% of Chrome users globally, ahead of a phased rollout in H2 2024 — Google is about to launch its grand plan to block third-party cookies in Chrome that many websites use to track your activity across the web for profit.

Discussion: MediaPost, MarTech, Social Media Today, The Keyword, Gizmodo and 9to5Google, more at Techmeme »

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Senior Data Journalist, NY — WSJ

Manager - Publishing Editorial, Manila — Reuters

Oil Reporter, Singapore — Bloomberg

Newsperson - State Govt. & Politics, CA — AP

Business Reporter, SC — Post & Courier

State Government Reporter, WA — Seattle Times

Climate Crisis Columnist — Prospect UK

Multimedia Journalist, CA — Paramount

Community Engagement Mgr., DC — Freedom Forum

Senior California Politics Reporter, CA — SFGATE

Staff Writer - Business, NY — WIRED

Team Editor - Opinion, ON — Toronto Star

Assistant Correspondent, DC — Kyodo News

Climate & Weather Reporter, MN — Star Tribune

Senior Tech Editor, Remote US — The Verge

Lead Business Reporter, TN — Daily Memphian

Managing Editor, WA — Everett Herald

Private Credit Reporter, NY — Debtwire

City Correspondent, London — Financial News

Legislative Reporter, CA — Sacramento Bee

Reporter, PA — Tribune-Review

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Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
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Benjamin Mullin / New York Times:
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Drew Harwell / Washington Post:
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Lili Bayer / The Guardian:
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Andrew Deck / Rest of World:
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Luke Bouma / Cord Cutters News:
WBD and YouTube announce that Max's ad-free tier is now available for $15.99 per month via YouTube's Primetime Channels in the US and includes access to CNN Max

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Emma Roth / The Verge:
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Gene Meyer / Eugene L. Meyer:
A Washington Post alumnus who took a 2003 buyout shares rumors that 2023 cuts will end all local columns and that half the education reporters are leaving

Discussion: @capitolhunters.bsky.social, @steverhodes.bsky.social, @jennifermromig.bsky.social, @froomkin.bsky.social and @froomkin.bsky.social

John Eggerton / Next TV:
The FCC votes for considering a rule that would end early termination fees for TV subscriptions; cable operators say the rules would hurt their competitiveness

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From Techmeme:

Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority:
Source: Google has canceled the development of a second-generation Pixel Tablet, planned for release in 2025, due to concerns that it wouldn't sell very well

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple is testing a more conversational version of Siri, dubbed “LLM Siri”, with plans to release it in spring 2026 as part of iOS 19 and macOS 16

Hannah Lang / Reuters:
Sources: a16z, Ripple, Kraken, and Circle are jostling for a seat on Trump's promised crypto advisory council, which is expected to set up a bitcoin reserve

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