Mediagazer: Amazon says there are “no changes” coming to Freevee, following reports that the company plans to shutter its FAST service in the coming weeks (Lucas Manfredi/The Wrap)

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.

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: Raw Story, @aaron.rupar@threads.net, New York Post and Fox News

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 …

Lucas Manfredi / The Wrap:

Amazon says there are “no changes” coming to Freevee, following reports that the company plans to shutter its FAST service in the coming weeks — The statement comes after AdWeek reported that the free, ad-supported streamer was shutting down — Amazon is pushing back against reports …

Discussion: MediaPost, Media Play News, The Streamable, The A.V. Club, UPROXX, Variety and Cord Cutters News

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 …

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: @mediaguildwest, San Antonio Express-News, @susanrinkunas.com, The NewsGuild and MediaPost

Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch:

Instagram launches its marketplace tool to connect brands with creators for paid partnerships or ads in eight new countries, including India, Japan, and the UK — Instagram said today that it is expanding its marketplace tool to connect brands with creators for paid partnerships or ads in eight new countries.

Discussion: B&T and Meta

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: KGW-TV, UPI, KTAR.com, @megjameslat, @megjameslat, NewsNation, Rolling Stone, Raw Story, Reuters, Associated Press 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

Reuters:

Sources: Reddit has inked a deal with Google to make its content available for training the search giant's AI models; source: the contract is worth ~$60M a year — Social media platform Reddit has struck a deal with Google (GOOGL.O) to make its content available for training …

Discussion: @reuters, @reuters, @reuters, The Verge, @annatonger, Plagiarism Today, @chirag_mehta, @toddlombardo, @mrjnowlin, @basedtorba, @brij and Gizmodo, more at Techmeme »

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.

Discussion: Press Forward, Nieman Lab, Sarah Gustavus Lim on LinkedIn, Editor and Publisher, Lizzy Hazeltine on LinkedIn and North Carolina Local …

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