Mediagazer: A look at the struggles of billionaire-owned Time, The Washington Post, and The Los Angeles Times, all of which, sources say, lost millions of dollars in 2023 (New York Times)

9:35 PM ET, January 18, 2024

Top News:

The LA Times Guild calls for a one-day walkout on January 19 to protest planned cuts; sources: layoffs may affect at least 100 people, or ~20% of the newsroom — Los Angeles Times newsroom guild leaders called for a one-day walkout — Friday to protest planned cuts to offset steep financial losses …

Discussion: The Wrap, @amyalexca.bsky.social, @jeremymbarr, @imleor.bsky.social, @cassiermartin, @cmonstah, @eedugdale, @nafeesasyeed, @jessicamartinez, @gerrickkennedy, @benmullin and Deadline

Natalie Korach / The Wrap:
The LA Times Guild calls an emergency meeting after being told that the newspaper intends to “imminently execute another major round of layoffs”

Discussion: CNN, @benmullin, @pkafka, @parismarx, @oliverdarcy@threads.net, @aritbenie, The Hollywood Reporter, @gabemschneider, @craigwelch@threads.net, @bcmerchant, @evanrodge@threads.net, The Daily Beast, @davidfolkenflik and @awprokop

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Filing: Apple details new US App Store rules letting devs link to external payments, says apps in its Video Partner and News Partner program are not eligible — Apple this week updated its App Store rules to comply with a court order after the Supreme Court declined to hear …

Discussion: @timsweeneyepic, Variety, @dhh, @carnage4life, @neilcybart, @timsweeneyepic, United States District Court Northern District of California, @snazzylabs, @mgsiegler@threads.net, Wired, Gizmodo, Wall Street Journal, Computerworld, The Messenger and CMU, more at Techmeme »

Joseph Cox / 404 Media:

Google News is boosting sites that use AI to rip off other outlets and churn out content; Google says News doesn't focus on whether articles are by humans or AI — Google News is boosting sites that rip-off other outlets by using AI to rapidly churn out content, 404 Media has found.

New York Times:

A look at the struggles of billionaire-owned Time, The Washington Post, and The Los Angeles Times, all of which, sources say, lost millions of dollars in 2023 — Time magazine, The Washington Post and The Los Angeles Times — owned by Marc Benioff, Jeff Bezos, and Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong — are still losing money.

Discussion: Fox Business, @alexkantrowitz@threads.net, @hshaban, @mattrosoff, @alexpsbj, @dastdn, @froomkin, @edmundlee@threads.net, @aidanfitzryan, @skamidi, @froomkin, @emilybellnyc@threads.net, @benmullin, @jasoncolavito, @kenli729@threads.net, @tvgrimreaper and Axios

Marc Hogan / Rolling Stone:

As Condé Nast merges Pitchfork with GQ, a longtime Pitchfork staffer reflects on the publication's evolution and its impact on music journalism and his own life — As the hugely influential music site is being “folded into GQ,” a longtime staffer looks back on what P4K meant and how working there changed his life

Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:

Warner Bros. Discovery rebrands its US Sports division as TNT Sports, which has rights to the NBA, NHL, MLB, and March Madness basketball — Warner Bros. Discovery has rebranded its U.S. sports division, which has rights to the NBA, NHL, and MLB, as well as March Madness basketball.

Discussion: Sports Business Journal, Awful Announcing, @jeffgreco.com, The Desk, @wiretaup, Barrett Media, Cord Cutters News and The Streamable

Bloomberg:

YouTube and, according to a source, Spotify are not planning to launch a native Apple Vision Pro app or to allow their iPad app to run on the platform — - Users of those services will be steered toward the web — Searches indicate apps from Meta may also be unavailable

Cynthia Littleton / Variety:

Luminate: US program premieres dropped 21% YoY to 1,784 in 2023, the lowest level since at least 2018; US theatrical-wide film releases were up 41% YoY — Premieres of new and returning TV shows fell sharply last year while the number of movies getting a theatrical wide release went way up.

Discussion: The Hollywood Reporter

K.J. Yossman / Variety:

Email: Amazon Prime Video is restructuring its European teams to focus on regional content, and cuts local content and staff in Africa and the Middle East — Amazon Prime Video is restructuring its international business to focus on European originals. The re-org includes cutting content and staff in Africa and the Middle East.

Discussion: TechCrunch, Techpoint Africa, Tech Labari, @joeyakan, @i_am_gwingy, TechCabal and @eboigbeanita

Reuters:

Sources: Reddit has drawn up plans for an IPO in March 2024, with a public filing in late February, the first major social media IPO since Pinterest's in 2019 — Social media platform Reddit has drawn up detailed plans to launch its initial public offering (IPO) in March …

Discussion: Mumbrella, The Information, Deadline, TechStartups, Cointelegraph, The Messenger, The Wrap, Anirban Sen on LinkedIn, TechCrunch, CoinGape, New York Post, Quartz and CityAM, more at Techmeme »

Emilia David / The Verge:

TikTok is testing AI Song, a tool powered by the LLM Bloom that generates songs from text prompts and allows users to toggle the song's genre — TikTok has launched many songs that have gone viral over the years, but now it's testing a feature that lets more people exercise their songwriting skills... with some help from AI.

Discussion: MediaPost, more at Techmeme »

Mark Stenberg / Adweek:

Sources: Twitch didn't renew partnerships with Rolling Stone, Complex, and Vice in 2023; the publishers were paid between $1M and $5M for exclusive content — Publishers were paid between $1 million and $5 million to cover costs in exchange for exclusive content

Discussion: Mark Stenberg on LinkedIn, @zachbussey and @zachbussey

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More News:

Gillian Brassil / Sacramento Bee:
The US House of Representatives passes the PRESS Act, protecting reporters from being compelled by the government to disclose their sources and information

Discussion: Freedom of the Press …, @digiphile, @repkiley, @freedomofpress and The US Congress

Ashley Carman / Bloomberg:
Some video podcasts are using AI-generated product placements from a company called Rembrand to supplement their typical host-read ads

Discussion: @ashleycarman@threads.net and @ashleycarman@threads.net

Kristin Robinson / Billboard:
The Mechanic Licensing Collective issues notices of intent to audit all digital services operating under its blanket license, including Spotify and Pandora

Discussion: Dmitri Vietze on LinkedIn and Radio & Television …

Karissa Bell / Engadget:
TikTok details its plans for the 2024 US elections, including a ban on political ads, work with fact-checking organizations, and reports on influence campaigns

Discussion: The Information, TikTok and The Wrap, more at Techmeme »

Naomi Zeveloff / Committee to Protect Journalists:
Israel is now the sixth largest jailer of journalists, imprisoning 17 Palestinians as of December 2023; many are held without charge in administrative detention

Discussion: The Messenger, Voice of America and The Guardian

Earlier Picks:

Trevor Pyle / Nieman Storyboard:
Q&A with The Washington Post's reporter Drew Harwell on how to approach a story about sex-content influencers, creators' privacy concerns, and more

Discussion: @drewharwell@threads.net, @taylorlorenz@threads.net, Talking Biz News and Business Insider

Wendy Kaur / Elle:
A profile of, and interview with, Kaitlan Collins on becoming a CNN anchor at age 31, having no regrets about her May 2023 Trump town hall, and more

Discussion: Mediaite, Poynter, @hameturgeman, @jeremymbarr, @jdawsey1, @dylanbyers, Fox News and The Wrap

Miranda Green / The Guardian:
Floodlight investigation: Alabama Power and its foundation fund local news outlets to control narrative around high electric bills and utility-related pollution

Discussion: @mirandacgreen, @sammy_roth, @mirandacgreen, @floodlightnews, @mirandacgreen, @mirandacgreen and @byrontau

Abigail Summerville / Reuters:
LiveRamp, which matches up customer datasets for brands, advertisers, and retailers, plans to acquire marketing data startup Habu for $200M in cash and stock

Discussion: AdExchanger, MarTech, Jayesh Easwaramony on LinkedIn, @tkawaja, @ericfranchi, @aripap, Rich Ashton on LinkedIn, @crumbler@threads.net, Business Insider and Business Wire

Ellen Huet / Bloomberg:
Fairly Trained, a nonprofit founded by ex-Stability AI VP Ed Newton-Rex, will give certification labels to AI companies that get consent for their training data

Discussion: CMU, Shelly Palmer, Music Ally, @neilturkewitz, @ednewtonrex, Fairly Trained, Antony Demekhin on LinkedIn, Vibhav Mithal on LinkedIn, Mansoor Rahimat Khan on LinkedIn, Wired, Publishing Perspectives, The Verge and Publishers Weekly, more at Techmeme »

From Techmeme:

Forbes:
AI startup founders and VCs hope that a Trump administration will lead to lighter regulations and the return of real acquisitions, not “contorted” ones

Financial Times:
Sources: TSMC told Chinese customers it would no longer manufacture AI chips at advanced process nodes of 7nm or smaller as of this coming Monday

Ming-Chi Kuo:
Kuo: Apple plans to upgrade the high-end iPhone 18's wide-angle lens in 2026 to a variable aperture camera; Sunny Optical will be the primary shutter supplier

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