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

6:50 PM ET, January 18, 2024

Top News:

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

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

Discussion: The Verge, AppleInsider, @the.gay.nautie.autie …, MacRumors, @tylerm, @gergelyorosz_@threads.net, @leguilloux, @zacbowden, @markgurman and @viticci@mastodon …, more at Techmeme »

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Netflix is not planning to launch a native Apple Vision Pro app or support its iPad app on the AR/VR platform, and says users can watch Netflix in the browser

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.

Discussion: Engadget, @lawrenceabrams, @emilymbender, @martyswant, @lmatsakis, Gizmodo, @brianmfloyd, @nkulw, @jason_koebler, @jessicalessin, @jason_koebler, @isaiah_bb, @emilymbender@dair …, @vahn16, Emil Protalinski on LinkedIn, @bkoo and @telefontelaviv, more at Techmeme »

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

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 — The House of Representatives passed a bill Thursday to strengthen journalists' protection of confidential sources from federal investigation.

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

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

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

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” — The newspaper intends to “imminently execute another major round of layoffs,” according to the bargaining committee

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

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.

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

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, @joeyakan, @eboigbeanita, @i_am_gwingy, Tech Labari and TechCabal

Ashley Carman / Bloomberg:

Some video podcasts are using AI-generated product placements from a company called Rembrand to supplement their typical host-read ads — A startup backed by United Talent Agency and L'Oreal is aiming to give podcasters a new line of revenue — Hello and welcome back to Soundbite.

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

Archived Page Info:

This is a snapshot of Mediagazer at 6:50 PM ET, January 18, 2024.

View the current page or another snapshot:

Who's Hiring in Media?

Commissioning Editor - Practical Law — Reuters

Energy Markets Reporter, London — WSJ

Asia Credit Reporter, Seoul — Bloomberg

Senior Social Media Specialist, NC — espnW

Courthouse Researcher, CA — Courthouse News

Associate Editor - Aviation, TN — Firecrown

Newsperson - State Govt. & Politics, CA — AP

Video Producer - YouTube, NY — Morning Brew

Climate Crisis Columnist — Prospect UK

Multimedia Journalist, CA — Paramount

Community Engagement Mgr., DC — Freedom Forum

Editor, MA — Nieman Reports

Team Editor - Breaking News, ON — Toronto Star

Senior Reporter & Event Host, NY/CA — Newcomer

Climate & Weather Reporter, MN — Star Tribune

Managing Ed. - Berks County, PA — Spotlight PA

News Editor - UK, Remote — The Verge

News Reporter, MA — Berkshire Eagle

Multimedia Journalist, PA — Observer-Reporter

Private Credit Reporter, NY — Debtwire

Service Journalism Editor, CA — Sacramento Bee

Reporter, PA — Tribune-Review

Los Angeles Issues Reporter, CA — CalMatters

Reporter - Middle East — Rest of World

Executive Editor, OR — Lookout Local

California Playbook Writer, CA — Politico

Senior Media Editor — Digiday

National Investigative Reporter, NY — HuffPost

Coastal Climate Reporter, SC — Island Packet

General Assignment Reporter, FL — County Record

Staff Reporter, CA — Daily Kos

Data Editor, NY — ProPublica

Add your company here

See Also:

Mediagazer: site main

Mediagazer River: reverse chronological Mediagazer

Mediagazer Mobile: for phones

Mediagazer Leaderboard: Mediagazer's top sources

Subscribe:

Mediagazer RSS feed

Mediagazer on X

Mediagazer on Mastodon

More News:

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: Radio & Television … and Dmitri Vietze on LinkedIn

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, The Wrap and TikTok, 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

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

Earlier Picks:

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, Jayesh Easwaramony on LinkedIn, MarTech, Rich Ashton on LinkedIn, @tkawaja, @ericfranchi, @aripap, @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 »

Lauren Forristal / TechCrunch:
Amazon now lets US users create AI-generated backgrounds using Alexa prompts on the second-gen Fire TV Stick 4K Max and the Fire TV Omni QLED Series

Discussion: Mashable India, Joshua Danovitz on LinkedIn, 9to5Google, Cord Cutters News and The Verge

Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
In a note to staff, Condé Nast announces it is bringing Pitchfork into the GQ organization, and lays off Pitchfork EIC Puja Patel and some Pitchfork employees

Discussion: @jillian_mapes, The Atlantic, @ryanpitchfork, Rolling Stone, @amyhphillips, @oneunderscore__@threads.net, BBC, @fridahalo, @ssodomsky, @passionweiss, @dddrewdaniel, CMU, @tedkessler1, @dorianlynskey, @ezraklein@threads.net, @nikostratis, @wifexofxagony, @aaronrosspowell@threads.net, @edmundlee@threads.net, The Guardian, @coldhealing, @jeremypgordon, @matthunzi, @guitar_yaz, @franziamom, @airbagged, @en_cohen, @danlesac, @annkpowers, @michaelbd, @nyguild, @lindsayzoladz, @annkpowers, @ashleyrgold, @broderick, Digital Journal, @jbenton, @jakeswearingen, @maxwelltani, @ericrennerbrown, @catzhang1, @lfitzmaurice, @rawiya, @mikeisaac, @ericrennerbrown, @nomizeichner, @elite_gz, @reallygordon, @grantsharpies, @adhocemilie, @bcmerchant, @genepark, @kevincollier, @_alialkhatib, @alex, @ohgooditsalex, @maxwelltani, @davidgross_man, @jeremypgordon, @mikeisaac, Washington Post, HuffPost, Consequence, Boing Boing, The Verge, New York Daily News, New York Times, The Daily Beast, Variety, Billboard, UPROXX, The Wrap, @crumbler@threads.net, Digital Music News and @maxwelltani

Nick Vivarelli / Variety:
A group of 20 prominent screen trade organizations ask governments around the world to enact regulations ensuring that streamers invest more in local content

Discussion: The Guardian

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

Sister Sites:

Techmeme
Top news and commentary for technology's leaders, from all around the web

memeorandum
What US political commentators are discussing online right now

WeSmirch
The top celebrity news from all around the web on a single page