Mediagazer: A look at the lessons learned at News Catalyst, an initiative that provided tools to build digitally sustainable local news outlets, ahead of its 2024 shutdown (Aron Pilhofer/The Lenfest Institute …)

7:45 PM ET, December 17, 2023

Top News:

The Prince Harry hacking verdict shows that newspaper management at two of the UK's biggest media companies lied to Parliament, other journalists, and others — Piece by painful piece, the murky truth about the darker corners of the British newspaper industry has been revealed

Discussion: @saltairesam, @johnrlister, The Guardian, @jeffjarvis, @deniseshrivell, @arusbridger, @jonnyrmcfarlane, @hamzamsyed, @campbellclaret, @arusbridger and Darren Burnett on LinkedIn

The Guardian:
Piers Morgan, Daily Mirror's editor from 1995 to 2004, denies he was aware of the paper's phone hacking, after a UK judge said there “can be no doubt” he knew

Discussion: @bestofthemail, @matthewstadlen, @paulbully, Dan Johnson on LinkedIn, Hacked Off, The Guardian, The Guardian, @ianbetteridge@writing …, @Andy_European@mastodon.online, Reuters, Mediaite and Boing Boing

Alexandra Topping / The Guardian:
A UK judge rules that 15 out of 33 Daily Mirror articles about Prince Harry were a result of phone hacking and awards him £140,600 in damages for the “distress”

Aron Pilhofer / The Lenfest Institute for Journalism:

A look at the lessons learned at News Catalyst, an initiative that provided tools to build digitally sustainable local news outlets, ahead of its 2024 shutdown — As The Knight-Lenfest Local News Transformation Fund, a joint venture between the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation …

Discussion: Tyler Fisher on LinkedIn, LinkedIn, Shannan Bowen on LinkedIn and Becca Aaronson on LinkedIn

CBC News:

Canada plans to distribute 63% of Google's yearly CA$100M media fund to print and digital media, 7% to CBC/Radio-Canada, and 30% to other broadcasters — CBC/Radio-Canada will get a maximum of 7% of fund, other broadcasters to split 30% — Almost two-thirds of the $100 million Google must give …

Discussion: @jeffjarvis@mastodon.social, @tvgrimreaper, @rf_journo, @cbcnews, @karivierimaa, Business Wire and Yahoo Finance

Daniel Thomas / Financial Times:

Days after securing the rights to show the majority of English Premier League games, CEO Dana Strong says Sky plans to show up to 1,200 soccer matches a year — The Comcast-owned group has secured rights to broadcast 1,200 football matches a year — Sky will aim to capitalise …

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Arkansas-based publisher Helena World Chronicle sues Google on antitrust grounds and says Search Generative Experience and Bard make issues even worse — A new class action lawsuit filed this week in the U.S. District Court in D.C. accuses Google and parent company Alphabet of anticompetitive behavior …

Discussion: MediaPost and Wall Street Journal

Clare Duffy / CNN:

As TikTok rolls out its new Creativity Program Beta, some creators say they're frustrated by its push to become a “mini YouTube” with videos of up to 10 minutes — New York CNN — — When TikTok took off in 2020 — with short dancing or comedy clips providing much-needed entertainment …

Discussion: Forbes, more at Techmeme »

Tom Kizzia / Anchorage Daily News:

Pulitzer Prize winner Howard Weaver, former editor of the Anchorage Daily News and McClatchy vice president for news, dies at 73 of pancreatic cancer — Weaver led the Daily News through a period of remarkable growth and transformation for Anchorage and Alaska, and later became an executive with McClatchy newspapers.

Discussion: @dancow, @bgrueskin, @arianelange, Rusty Coats on LinkedIn, @jomalley17@threads.net, @bobbycalvan@threads.net, Associated Press and @EyeOnAlaska@alaskan.social

New York Times:

Disney, WBD, and other studios are licensing more content to Netflix in return for much-needed cash, but are holding back their most popular movies and shows — When building their own streaming companies, many entertainment studios ended lucrative licensing deals with Netflix.

Discussion: @nytimesbusiness, @letmebe_e@threads.net, @tvgrimreaper, @film_girl@mastodon.social, @loudmouthjulia, Phil Piazza on LinkedIn, @trengriffin, @trengriffin, @dantley@threads.net, @carnage4life@threads.net, @loudmouthjulia, @joepeyronnin and The Streamable, more at Techmeme »

Jay Peters / The Verge:

Adam Mosseri details Threads' fediverse plans, including following non-Threads accounts, showing replies from other platforms, and follower portability — The head of Instagram says a full integration with the fediverse could take ‘the better part of a year.’

Al Jazeera:

Israeli drones fired missiles in Khan Younis, Gaza, killing Al Jazeera Arabic journalist Samer Abudaqa on December 15 and wounding bureau chief Wael Dahdouh — Al Jazeera Arabic journalist Samer Abudaqa has died while covering an Israeli attack on a school in Khan Younis, southern Gaza.

Discussion: Al Jazeera, The Guardian, The Indian Express, i love choccy milk, Mediaite, Middle East Eye, Voice of America, The Desk, Committee to Protect …, Yusef J on LinkedIn, Reuters and TIME

Newslaundry:

After acquiring NDTV, Adani Group's AMG Media Networks acquires a 50.5% stake in Indo-Asian News Service, known for its Hindi and English news wire services — IANS will now operate as a subsidiary of Adani's AMG Media Networks. — Adani group-owned AMG Media Networks Ltd has acquired …

Discussion: Livemint, @pranavdixit, @newslaundry, @ttindia, Free Press Journal, PTI and NDTV Profit

Joseph Cox / 404 Media:

Cox Media Group claims it can listen to consumers' conversations through microphones in smartphones, smart TVs, and other devices and use the data to target ads — A marketing team within media giant Cox Media Group (CMG) claims it has the capability to listen to ambient conversations …

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More News:

Patrick Frater / Variety:
Alibaba Pictures plans to release Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour in theaters in mainland China on December 31, to be distributed by state-owned China Film Group

Discussion: The Wrap, Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter

Martin K.N Siele / Semafor:
TV BRICS, which focuses on Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, and is owned by Russia's MKR Media, expands with media company partnerships in Africa

Discussion: Dickens Onditi Olewe on LinkedIn, Colin Smith on LinkedIn and @semaforben@threads.net

Ash Parrish / The Verge:
Days after updating its content policy to permit certain kinds of sexual content, Twitch rescinds the “artistic nudity” portion, citing “community concern”

Discussion: safety.twitch.tv, UPI, TechCrunch, Tubefilter, Engadget, UPROXX, Boing Boing and Gizmodo

Mathieu Pollet / Politico:
EU negotiators reach an agreement on the European Media Freedom Act, a new set of rules aimed at safeguarding newsroom independence and fostering pluralism

Discussion: Council of the EU

Earlier Picks:

Bloomberg:
Memo: Weibo sent notices warning users to “avoid expressing pessimism about the economy” and “avoid crossing the red lines” around economic or financial topics

Discussion: Reclaim The Net, @wexler and Ethan Tan on LinkedIn

Ben Strauss / Washington Post:
A look at local sports news coverage, particularly in places where The Athletic cut staff, as rabid fandom and proprietary coverage may make for a good business

Discussion: Mike Koehler on LinkedIn, @toddbigphoto, @dcsportsbog, @afkostka and @ddiamond

Financial Times:
The trial of Hong Kong media mogul and activist Jimmy Lai, accused of collusion with foreign forces and publishing seditious material, starts on December 18

Discussion: Reuters, Reporters Without Borders, Bloomberg, The Indian Express, Hong Kong Free Press HKFP, The Guardian, Committee to Protect …, Hong Kong Free Press HKFP, Al Jazeera, Human Rights Watch and Reuters

John Buckley / Capital Brief:
Nine Entertainment Managing Director of Publishing James Chessell steps down from the role, but is set to remain involved in a different role or as a consultant

Discussion: @johnbuckley_, @mumbrellanews and Mumbrella

From Techmeme:

Juli Clover / MacRumors:
The second developer beta of iOS 18.2 shows a “daily limit” for free access to “advanced” ChatGPT via Siri and an option to upgrade to ChatGPT Plus in Settings

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple is exploring a push into smart glasses by conducting an internal study, codenamed Atlas, to gather employee feedback on products on the market

Bloomberg:
Sources: OpenAI is in early talks with the California AG's office to become a for-profit company; letter: it also has discussed the shift with the Delaware AG

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