Top News:
Sara Fischer / Axios:
BuzzFeed sells Complex, which it acquired for $300M in 2021, to livestream shopping platform Ntwrk for $108.6M; BuzzFeed plans to lay off 16% of its workforce — - The Wall Street Journal reported that BuzzFeed is also looking to possibly sell its social media food brand Tasty.
Discussion:
The Desk, New York Post, The Guardian, The Hill, The Hollywood Reporter, Adweek, Variety, Semafor, Deadline, The Wrap, Billboard, The Information, CNN, New York Times, Music Business Worldwide, @jalefkowit@octodon.social, @natjarv, Business Wire, @nicholasadeleon, @sarafischer and Bloomberg
Corbin Bolies / The Daily Beast:
Newsmax joins the New York Post's editorial board and other right-leaning outlets criticizing a pair of Florida bills making it easier to sue for defamation — The cable channel joins a growing list of right-wing outlets bashing Florida GOP legislation that takes square aim at the news media.
Discussion:
New York Post, Fox News, Raw Story and @aaron.rupar@threads.net
Amelia Pollard / Bloomberg:
Filing: a US court gives Audacy, the second-largest radio broadcaster in the US, approval to exit bankruptcy, slashing ~$1.7B of its debt in a restructuring — - Soros Fund Management slated to own largest stake in company — Firm to slash $1.7 billion of debt through restructuring plan
Discussion:
The Desk, Inside Radio and Radio & Television …
Mark Stenberg / Adweek:
Sources: Amazon plans to shut its FAST service Freevee in the coming weeks, as part of a broader effort to focus its ad and product efforts on Prime Video — The service has become redundant following the introduction of ads to Prime Video — Amazon is planning to sunset its free …
Discussion:
The Streamable, CarterMatt, @markstenberg3@threads.net, @seriestalks, The Desk, TechHive, The Information, Dan Rayburn on LinkedIn, @webbarr, TVLine, @takeshikitano3, Deadline, @jackgen0vese, 9to5Google, Geoff Clark on LinkedIn, @imperfecttl, UPROXX, Media Play News, Metro, The Wrap, Variety, Consequence and Appleosophy
Josh Peck / TPR:
Journalists at Hearst's San Antonio Express-News and MySA.com say they intend to unionize, becoming the fourth Texas newsroom to announce a union effort in 2024 — Journalists at the San Antonio Express-News and MySA.com announced their intent to unionize on Wednesday …
Discussion:
MediaPost, @susanrinkunas.com, @mediaguildwest, San Antonio Express-News and The NewsGuild
Kristen Hare / Poynter:
Press Forward, the philanthropic initiative to invest $500M over five years in local news, says 11 new communities have joined six established chapters — 11 more communities have joined the movement — On Wednesday, Press Forward announced an expansion of its local chapters at the opening of the Knight Media Forum.
Meg James / Los Angeles Times:
The first trial in the death of a cinematographer on the set of Rust begins; weapons handler Hannah Gutierrez pleads not guilty to involuntary manslaughter — More than two years after Alec Baldwin fired the deadly shot, questions persist about who was responsible for the accidental death …
Discussion:
NewsNation, @megjameslat, @megjameslat, UPI, Rolling Stone, Raw Story, Reuters and Deadline
Lachlan Cartwright / The Hollywood Reporter:
A look at Dana Walden's reorganization of ABC News, which is an effort to stabilize the unit and showcase her mettle as a top decision-maker at Disney — Dana Walden undertakes a major shake-up at ABC News with hopes to stabilize the unit and showcase her mettle as a top decision-maker in Bob Iger's empire.
Discussion:
New York Post
Dominic Ponsford / Press Gazette:
ABC report: UK magazines' digital sales rose 15.4% YoY to an average of 2.6M per edition, including 1.2M from “all you can read” sales via Readly and others — UK magazine titles report surge in access to digital editions according to ABC. — Digital sales of UK magazines rose 15.4% year …
Discussion:
@pressgazette and Press Gazette
Margi Murphy / Bloomberg:
A profile of ElevenLabs, whose AI voice cloning tech is being used to spoof politicians; five of the startup's 40 employees are dedicated to trust and safety — ElevenLabs' technology is already being used to spoof political candidates and promote scammy products.
Discussion:
Margi Murphy on LinkedIn
Katie Paul / Reuters:
Israel-based BRIA, a Getty-backed AI image generation startup that licenses 1B+ images from 18 stock providers, raised a $24M Series A from Publicis and others — A “responsible” AI image generation startup backed by stock photo provider Getty Images (GETY.N) has raised $24 million in a Series …
Lachlan Cartwright / The Hollywood Reporter:
Q&A with Jeff Zucker about RedBird IMI's approach to news investments, backlash from The Telegraph journalists, lessons from The Messenger launch, and more — Two years after his ouster from the network, the mogul explains why his investment firm RedBird IMI is snapping up media properties at a frantic clip.
Discussion:
Adweek, @lachcartwright, @jeremymbarr and @pressgazette
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