Top News:
A.J. Perez / Front Office Sports:
The Arena Group tells Sports Illustrated staff that it will be “laying off staff that work on the SI brand” since Authentic Brands revoked the SI license — Staffers at Sports Illustrated were notified on Friday of massive layoffs—some immediately, others in short time.
Discussion:
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Axios:
Simplify Inventions' deal to buy a ~65% stake in Sports Illustrated owner Arena Group in August 2023 didn't close as expected by the end of 2023 — Sports Illustrated editorial staffers were warned on Friday that layoffs were coming that could affect the entire staff, according …
Discussion:
Awful Announcing, Sportico, The Wrap, Associated Press, @sarafischer, @sarafischer and Chicago Sun Times
Julia Jacobs / New York Times:
A grand jury in New Mexico indicts Alec Baldwin on a charge of involuntary manslaughter in the shooting of a cinematographer on the set of “Rust” in 2021 — A grand jury in New Mexico indicted the actor in the shooting death of the cinematographer on the film “Rust,” …
Discussion:
IndieWire, Sky News, ABC News, TMZ.com, Associated Press, Rolling Stone, New York Post, @yashar, @ragland1836, @steveweatherman, Hollywood Reporter, The Messenger and Fox News
Meg James / Los Angeles Times:
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, Bloomberg, New York Post, @eleniforca, @alexpadilla4ca, @byalexzaragoza, @rokhanna, @bokchoy_baobei, @kierafeldman, @smasunaga, @jason_koebler, @mattdpearce, Talking Biz News, The Messenger, @angiejaime, @jeremymbarr, @joshpcain, @corbinbolies, Poynter, @latguild, @cassiermartin, @cmonstah, @eedugdale, @nafeesasyeed, @jessicamartinez, @gerrickkennedy, @benmullin, Axios, @benmullin, @davidfolkenflik, @parismarx, @bcmerchant, @awprokop, @gabemschneider, @pkafka, @aritbenie, Reuters, The Hollywood Reporter, The Hill, @amyalexca.bsky.social, CNN, @imleor.bsky.social, @craigwelch@threads.net, @oliverdarcy@threads.net, Deadline, @evanrodge@threads.net, The Hollywood Reporter, The Daily Beast and The Wrap
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Ampere: the number scripted series in the US dropped 24% YoY to 481 in 2023; subscription streamers released 77 fewer seasons and broadcast TV 55 fewer seasons — Scripted TV output in the U.S. dropped sharply in 2023, thanks to a combination of twin Hollywood strikes and a pullback on content spending …
Discussion:
The Wrap, The Streamable, Deadline, @televisionaryzw, @american_noona, The Hollywood Reporter, MediaPost, The A.V. Club, WORLD SCREEN and Media Play News
Barry Schwartz / Search Engine Roundtable:
Google says it is not “boosting” AI-written articles as the 404 reporter sorted news by date rather than relevance, and there is no “free pass” to AI content — In short, Sullivan said that the way they filtered Google News was by date and not relevancy …
Discussion:
@justinling.bsky.social, more at Techmeme »
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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
Discussion:
Engadget, 9to5Google, The Overspill, @lawrenceabrams, @emilymbender, @martyswant, @lmatsakis, @brianmfloyd, @vahn16, @bkoo, @isaiah_bb, @nkulw, @jason_koebler, @jason_koebler, @telefontelaviv, @jessicalessin, The Information, Crikey, Gizmodo, Emil Protalinski on LinkedIn and @emilymbender@dair …, more at Techmeme »
Doug Faulkner / BBC:
Prince Harry withdraws his libel lawsuit against Mail on Sunday publisher Associated Newspapers, over a 2022 article about his fight against the UK Home Office — Prince Harry has withdrawn his libel claim against the Mail on Sunday publisher, Associated Newspapers says.
Discussion:
New York Times, Mediaite, The Guardian, Press Gazette, Variety, Telegraph, Daily Mail, Page Six, Rolling Stone, New York Post, The Messenger and The Hill
Dan Ladden-Hall / The Daily Beast:
Author Rie Kudan, this year's winner of Japan's prestigious Akutagawa Prize, reveals that ~5% of her book “quoted verbatim the sentences generated by” ChatGPT — One of the judges praised her winning book as being “flawless.” — At an award ceremony for one of Japan's …
Discussion:
Boing Boing, VICE, Semafor, The Messenger and New York Post, more at Techmeme »
Elena Khokhlova / 24.kg:
Kyrgyzstan police raided outlets 24.kg and Temirov Live, and detained 11 current and former Temirov Live journalists on January 16 for allegedly inciting unrest — «The United States is deeply concerned by reports of recent actions taken by the government of the Kyrgyz Republic …
Discussion:
eeas.europa.eu, Reuters, Radio Free Europe/Radio … and United States Department …
Alicja Ptak / Notes From Poland:
After a top Polish court rejected the government's changes to state media management and liquidation of state media, the government declared the ruling invalid — Poland's Constitutional Tribunal (TK) has ruled that using commercial law to implement changes in the management of public media …
Discussion:
Semafor, Bloomberg and The Straits Times
Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
Sources: PE firm Silver Lake plans to sell parts of Endeavor after it takes the entertainment company private; Silver Lake holds a 71% voting stake in Endeavor — The group's bid will be delivered in coming weeks to Endeavor's independent directors, who will hire advisers to evaluate the terms …
Discussion:
The Wrap and @lucas_shaw
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
A look at the reasons behind why Artifact failed, such as not growing its user base outside of the US and user confusion about its ever-growing set of features — Last week, Artifact, a buzzy news app from Instagram's co-founders, announced it was shutting down after failing to gain critical mass …
Discussion:
@carnage4life@mas.to, more at Techmeme »
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
Discussion:
Variety, Mediaite, @airbagged, Jonathan Streetman on LinkedIn, Stephen Parker on LinkedIn, @michaelbarthel, The Honest Broker, @ganserband, @d_felsenthal, @noahshachtman, @future_of_music, @marchogan, The NewsGuild, The Guardian, BBC, CMU, Digital Journal, Washington Post, Digital Music News and HuffPost
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