Mediagazer: Sources: ByteDance's 2023 sales surged to $110B+, broadly matching 2022's 30% growth rate, despite economic turbulence in China and scrutiny in the US and India (Bloomberg)

Charlotte Klein / Vanity Fair:

A deep dive into The New York Times' big bet on its Games team, which grew from ~15 people in 2015 to ~100, about the same size as the newspaper's Business desk — Wordle. Connections. Spelling Bee. Ye olde Crossword. The Times is home to beloved brainteasers that are helping boost the paper's bottom line.

Discussion: Media Voices, The Overspill, Charlie Stadtlander on LinkedIn, Joel Leeman on LinkedIn, Jenna Hoffstein on LinkedIn, The Information, @stephentotilo, @kenherts, @davidclinchnews, @mlcalderone, @ahbseaborn, @phkeane, @elleactually, @bgrueskin, @charlottetklein, @jalefkowit@octodon.social and Zoe Bell on LinkedIn, more at Techmeme »

Bloomberg:

Sources: ByteDance's 2023 sales surged to $110B+, broadly matching 2022's 30% growth rate, despite economic turbulence in China and scrutiny in the US and India — - TikTok's Chinese owner expects revenue growth of about 30% … The world's most valuable startup's growth broadly matched …

John Herrman / New York Magazine:

OpenAI's deals with publishers, like the one the company recently inked with Axel Springer, offers a glimpse of how AI and the media might eventually intersect — This past week, Axel Springer, the German media conglomerate that owns Politico and Business Insider, signed a “multiyear licensing deal” …

Discussion: @ianbetteridge@writing …, The Verge, @jjvincent, @ednewtonrex, @jwherrman, @jwherrman, @intelligencer, @jwherrman, @jwherrman and @alexgraveley

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:

Media monitoring and analytics company Meltwater raised ~$65M from PE firm Verdane for an 11% stake at a $592M valuation, down from $1B+ in December 2020 — Meltwater, which first made its name around media monitoring and then got active in business intelligence using AI and big data analytics techniques, is picking up a new investor.

Discussion: Verdane

Liz Bowie / The Baltimore Banner:

The Baltimore Banner names Bob Cohn as its CEO, following Imtiaz Patel's departure in July 2023; Cohn was the president of The Atlantic and now The Economist — The Montgomery County resident has helped drive digital transformation and revenue growth at The Atlantic and The Economist

Discussion: @skamidi, @kyoshino, @kyoshino, Daniel Roth on LinkedIn, Bob Cohn on LinkedIn, @jeremycaplan@threads.net, Washington Post and The Baltimore Banner

Reuters:

Poland's parliament debates how to restore impartiality to public media; critics say some outlets fell under political influence and TVP Info aired propaganda — Poland's new parliament debated on Tuesday a resolution calling for the restoration of public media impartiality …

Pamela McClintock / The Hollywood Reporter:

Gower Street Analytics predicts 2024 global movie ticket sales of $31.5B, down 5% YoY, and 2024 North American box office revenue of $8B, down 11% YoY — Leading London-based box office analytics firm Gower Street attributes the downturn to Hollywood's historic labor strikes and the resulting slowdown in production.

Discussion: Deadline, Bloomberg, Variety and SlashFilm

Yona Tr Golding / Columbia Journalism Review:

Q&A with Human Rights Center Investigations Lab co-founder Alexa Koenig on the promises and challenges of OSINT for journalism, OSINT ethics training, and more — On October 17, the parking lot outside Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza, where hundreds of displaced Palestinians had amassed, was hit by an explosive of uncertain origin.

TIME:

Memo: Time EIC Sam Jacobs promotes Kelly Conniff from senior executive editor to deputy editor, in charge of day-to-day and strategic decisions — Dear all, — I am delighted to announce that Kelly Conniff has been promoted to Deputy Editor. In this role, Kelly will be my partner …

Discussion: @missmayad, Sam Jacobs on LinkedIn, @jsibo, Cee (Carol) Bunevich on LinkedIn, Kelly Conniff on LinkedIn and MediaPost

Brady Snyder / Android Central:

Google plans to limit the types of election-related queries for which Bard and SGE respond to, starting in early 2024, in preparation for elections worldwide — The move is intended to curb misinformation as the 2024 election nears — What you need to know

Discussion: The Indian Express, The Keyword and MediaPost, more at Techmeme »

Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:

An interview with The Guardian Deputy Editor Owen Gibson on the newspaper's voluntary contributions model, global ambitions, audience relationship, and more — Deputy editor Owen Gibson on the title's global ambitions and relationship with its audience. — The Guardian aims to continue growing the …

Discussion: @pressgazette

MacArthur Foundation:

The MacArthur Foundation announces $48M in grants to support Press Forward, including $32.5M for a national pooled fund for local news at The Miami Foundation — - Strengthening local newsrooms that have the trust of local communities; — Improving infrastructure for local news production and dissemination;

Discussion: Lindsey Linzer on LinkedIn, Lizzy Hazeltine on LinkedIn, Jonathan Kealing on LinkedIn, Steven Waldman on LinkedIn, Charlottesville Tomorrow, Outlier Media, @than@mozilla.social, URL Media, Free Press and TVNewsCheck