Top News:
Reuters:
Hong Kong tycoon, pro-democracy advocate, and Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai pleaded not guilty in his landmark trial; prosecutors laid out key allegations — Hong Kong tycoon and pro-democracy advocate Jimmy Lai pleaded not guilty on Tuesday in his landmark trial, where he is accused …
Discussion:
Voice of America, UPI, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Globe and Mail, Deutsche Welle, BBC, Associated Press, Bloomberg, @mbrookerhk, @hk_watch, @finnlau_cd, Hong Kong Watch, @benedictrogers, CFHK Foundation, @benedictrogers, @jchengwsj, @miriammlex, @ipacglobal, @natalieben, @lukedepulford, @lauraharth, @thecfhk, Hong Kong Free Press HKFP, Hong Kong Free Press HKFP, @safeguarddefend, @hkfp, @hkdc_us, @holmeschan_, @marksimonhk, @mbrookerhk, Le Monde.fr, @xinqisu, The Guardian, Bloomberg, @xinqisu and Fox News
Nic Fildes / Financial Times:
How Bluey, an Australian animated TV show for kids, became a global hit, in part due to partnerships between its production company Ludo and public broadcasters — The offbeat television show about an animated family of cattle dogs has fast become the country's most important cultural export
Discussion:
@timsout, @natalieben, @willwainewright, @aled_mj and @sriramk
J. Edward Moreno / New York Times:
The lawsuits against tech companies could shape what copyright means for AI, or simply serve as leverage for plaintiffs to secure more favorable licensing deals — The use of content from news and information providers to train artificial intelligence systems may force a reassessment of where to draw legal lines.
Pamela McClintock / The Hollywood Reporter:
Comscore: US and Canada box office revenue rose 20% in 2023 to cross $9B but was still below the $10B+ in 2009 and the $11B+ in every year from 2015 to 2019 — If Hollywood isn't setting off huge fireworks in celebration, it's because revenue is still down from pre-COVID times while worry looms …
Julia Kollewe / The Guardian:
UK film, TV, and video game producers will get more generous tax breaks with the new tax credit system for audio-visual expenditure and video-games expenditure — Industry has said Britain could lose out to other countries, particularly in animation and special effects
Discussion:
@paulino_cuevas, Telegraph, Neil Anderson on LinkedIn and GOV.UK
Bloomberg:
Filing: Baidu terminates its $3.6B acquisition of Joyy's Chinese livestreaming business YY Live, as some conditions haven't been met; Joyy seeks legal advice — - Tech industry's focus has turned to generative AI now … The Beijing-based company said its $3.6 billion deal for Joyy's YY Live …
Discussion:
JOYY Inc., @alex__pitti, Wall Street Journal, Reuters, @desmondjywee, SiliconANGLE and CNN, more at Techmeme »
GhoulsWhoCode:
Hoodline, a local news service acquired in 2020 by PR agency owner Impress3 Media, seems to have fake people of color bylining stories with automated content — Hoodline.com/Chicago appears to be using AI to generate fictional people of color to re-write aggregated news, often directly pulled from existing news sources or PR agencies.
Discussion:
@so_treu
Alejandra Molina / Los Angeles Times:
A two-year NAHJ survey of investigative journalism units at 22 US newsrooms: 60% of investigative news reporters are white, 13% are Latinos, and 9% are Black — A two-year survey of 22 major metro newsrooms found that investigative news reporters and editors are overwhelmingly white.
Discussion:
@michellemanafy@journa.host, @rubennews and @m_joel17
Georg Szalai / Hollywood Reporter:
Dish and EchoStar close an all-stock merger announced in August 2023, reuniting Charlie Ergen's telecom empire; Hamid Akhavan will serve as president and CEO — With the all-stock deal completed, Hamid Akhavan serves as president and CEO of the combined company, known as EchoStar …
Discussion:
The Wrap, The Desk, EchoStar Corporation, Bloomberg and Cord Cutters News
The Nation:
Interviews with journalists in Gaza on struggling simply to stay alive, as mounting challenges of reporting have meant the world gets a fraction of the story — The work of Gaza's journalists has been essential these past months, but as the challenges of reporting continue to mount, the world is getting only a fraction of the story.
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 …
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
Discussion:
@antihippy, @shantharmohan, The Financial Express, @dchristian5, @darrenwaters, @skamugasa, @totalcrime and @luissantos