Mediagazer: Margaret Atwood argues that Substack violates its own terms of service by permitting Nazis to publish on its platform, and says Substack can't have it both ways (Margaret Atwood/In the Writing Burrow)

2:56 AM ET, January 1, 2024

Top News:

Margaret Atwood / In the Writing Burrow:

Margaret Atwood argues that Substack violates its own terms of service by permitting Nazis to publish on its platform, and says Substack can't have it both ways — Or, “A cannot be both itself and non-A at the same time,” Logic 101. — ∙ Paid — This instructive cartoon …

Discussion: @dfisherwrites@threads.net, @hunterwalk@threads.net, @kevinrns@mstdn.social, @hg_richardson@threads.net, @miki_lou@mastodon.social, @MelodyWainscott@zirk.us, @oneunderscore__@threads.net, @dsilverman@threads.net, @scottalister@threads.net, Farnsworth Radio, Mighty Forces Express and @chrisward.de

Jaspreet Singh / Reuters:

Filing: BuzzFeed President Marcela Martin intends to resign on January 12 to pursue other opportunities; the CEO and others plan to absorb her responsibilities — BuzzFeed's (BZFD.O) Marcela Martin has announced her intention to resign as president effective Jan. 12 to pursue other opportunities, the digital media firm said on Friday.

Discussion: The Information, @zerohedge and US Securities …

Martin Peers / The Information:

BuzzFeed, the media star of 2016 that now has a ~$36M market cap, needs just above $100M after its sale of Complex Networks to pay down debt due at 2024's end — Let's hope all those wannabe digital media entrepreneurs are paying attention to the slow disintegration of BuzzFeed, the media star of 2016.

The Information:
Sources: BuzzFeed is close to selling most of Complex Networks to livestream shopping startup Ntwrk for a little above $100M, far below Jonah Peretti's target

Discussion: @tomaxwell and @theinformation

Jessica Murray / The Guardian:

John Pilger, an Australian journalist and documentary filmmaker who covered conflicts in Vietnam, Cambodia, Bangladesh, and Biafra, dies at age 84 — Celebrated Australian journalist and documentary film-maker covered conflicts in Vietnam, Cambodia, Bangladesh and Biafra

Discussion: @johnpilger, Associated Press, BBC, The Wrap, @wikileaks, @zei_squirrel, Deadline, @ggreenwald, @wallacemick, @jeremycorbyn, Sky News and @kennardmatt

Alexandra Topping / The Guardian:

Berrow's Worcester Journal, owned by Newsquest and first published in 1690, hires “AI-assisted” reporters who use an in-house copywriting tool based on ChatGPT — Berrow's Worcester Journal is one of several papers owned by the UK's second biggest regional news publisher to hire ‘AI-assisted’ reporters

Cristina Criddle / Financial Times:

A look at the rise of AI-generated virtual influencers, with some charging thousands of dollars to promote products, leading to concerns from human influencers — Hyper-realistic ‘virtual influencers’ are being used to promote leading brands — drawing ire from human content creators

Discussion: @gunblaze1969, @jimharris, @digichelle@hachyderm.io, Michael Hobbs on LinkedIn, @brianroemmele, Ethan Tan on LinkedIn, LinkedIn, Dilan Thampapillai on LinkedIn, @jaroslawmarciuk, @rizstanford, Business Insider, @librarianshipwreck …, OSnews, @parvXtl@tech.lgbt, @alexisgoncalves and New York Post, more at Techmeme »

Gursimran Kaur / Reuters:

Venezuelan media mogul Gustavo Cisneros, who co-founded Univision in 1992 and launched DIRECTV Latin America in 1995, dies at 78 — Venezuelan media mogul Gustavo Cisneros, who had expanded Cisneros from a family business into an important conglomerate for the Latin American and U.S. Hispanic market …

Discussion: New York Post and Bloomberg

Alex Weprin / Hollywood Reporter:

Paramount Global and Comcast Xfinity strike a new carriage deal, averting a potential January 1 blackout that would have included CBS, MTV, and other channels — The previous deal was set to expire at the end of the year and would have impacted NFL and college football games.

Discussion: Deadline, @felixindafuture, Awful Announcing, Variety, The Desk and Sports Business Journal

A.O. Scott / New York Times:

How some authors are embracing ChatGPT and other chatbots as the latest iteration of an ancient literary conceit, a writer's “muse” — What happens to literature when writers embrace A.I. as their muse? — The robots of literature and movies usually present either an existential danger or an erotic frisson.

Discussion: @stephenmarche, @nytimesbooks and @lalatellsastory@threads.net, more at Techmeme »

Gary Marcus / Marcus on AI:

OpenAI and others will likely face more copyright lawsuits as systems like DALL-E produce copyright-infringing materials without attribution or informing users — At around the same time as news of the New York Times lawsuit vs OpenAI broke, Reid Southen, the film industry concept artist …

The Hollywood Reporter:

Netflix's stock ended 2023 up 65%, Spotify's was up 129%, and Roku's was up 126%; Lionsgate, Sony, and NBCUniversal owner Comcast were also media sector winners — Renewed sector deal chatter helped boost some stocks late in the year despite questions about the advertising and streaming outlook.

Discussion: Deadline and Variety

Alex Griffing / Mediaite:

Fox News was 2023's most watched US network, followed by MSNBC, the only one to grow viewers YoY; MSNBC's average viewer was 70, Fox's was 69, and CNN's was 67 — The cable news industry had an undeniably rough 2023, ending the tumultuous year with fewer eyeballs as cord-cutting continues …

Discussion: @civex, @jeffreymberry, @scottbrodbeck, The Willis Report, @joelmathis.bsky.social, @owillis.bsky.social and Los Angeles Times

Benjamin Mullin / New York Times:

Sources: for months, OpenAI has held talks with major news publishers including Gannett, News Corp, and IAC about the price and terms of licensing their content — Several major publishers have been in talks to license content to the creator of ChatGPT, but agreement on the price and terms has been elusive.

Discussion: @minimaxir, @davidclinchnews, @grecianformula, The Indian Express and @benjaminmullin@threads.net

Georg Szalai / The Hollywood Reporter:

WBD acquires BluTV, a Turkey-based streaming service launched in 2016 for Turkish- and Arabic-speaking audiences globally, after a three-year partnership — The streamer offers premium originals, Turkish TV series and movies, as well as Hollywood and international series and films.