Mediagazer: [Thread] Engadget announces layoffs and a restructuring that separates news and features from reviews and buying advice; EIC Dana Wollman is leaving (Max Tani/@maxwelltani)

4:10 PM ET, February 22, 2024

Top News:

[Thread] Engadget announces layoffs and a restructuring that separates news and features from reviews and buying advice; EIC Dana Wollman is leaving — Memo that went out to staffers at Engadget announcing layoffs today [image]

Discussion: The Verge, Talking Biz News, @_terrence_obrien_@threads.net, @jason, @joannastern, @danawollman, @danawollman, @danawollman, @terrenceobrien, @maxwelltani and @maxwelltani

Abner Li / 9to5Google:

Google strikes a deal with Reddit, reportedly for $60M/year, giving Google access to the Reddit Data API to surface more Reddit content and train AI models — Google today announced an “expanded partnership” with Reddit that sees it get access to the forum website's data for training and other product uses.

Dr Richard Fletcher / Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism:

Analysis: at 2023's end, 48% of the top news websites in the US, the UK, and eight others had blocked OpenAI's crawler and 24% had blocked Google's AI crawler — In this factsheet we describe the proportion of top news websites in ten countries that block AI (artificial intelligence) crawlers.

Discussion: Nieman Lab, @risj_oxford, @risj_oxford, @risj_oxford, @carnage4life@mas.to, @risj_oxford, @josemurilo@mato.social, @risj_oxford, @risj_oxford and NewsLab, more at Techmeme »

Tampa Bay Times:

Tim Burke is charged with 14 crimes related to alleged computer hacks at Fox News, including six counts of accessing a protected computer without authorization — Burke, a nationally recognized media consultant, is scheduled to appear in federal court Thursday in Tampa.

Discussion: Mediaite, Rolling Stone, @willsommer, @matthewkeyslive, Daily Mail, The Daily Beast, @matthewkeyslive, @oneunderscore__@threads.net, @chathamharrison.bsky.social, @martinbowling, @jordanuhl, @oliviacgeorge, @collinsherwin, @kthorjensen, @ralphamsden, @tessastuart, @carlfranzen and @ryanlcooper.com

Michael McCarthy / Front Office Sports:

Sources: Amazon paid $120M for exclusive rights to show a 2025 NFL playoff game on Prime Video; NBCU paid $110M for a January 2024 NFL playoff game on Peacock — Out of the Big Four tech giants, Amazon is the most ambitious about invading live sports. The giant streamer is opening …

Discussion: Mediaite, The Streamable, Deadspin, The Desk and Awful Announcing, more at Techmeme »

Lachlan Cartwright / Hollywood Reporter:

Sources: Vice News editor Josh Visser told staff he gave execs including CEO Bruce Dixon a chance to deny rumors the site was shuttering, but has not heard back — Editor Josh Visser said he had given senior executives of the company, including CEO Bruce Dixon, an opportunity to deny rumors …

Discussion: @janusrose, Mediaite, Talking Biz News, Deadline, @annamerlan, @karlbode.bsky.social, @BenjaminHCCarr@hachyderm.io, @rumpfshaker, @theloniusly and @leximcmenamin

Sara Fischer / Axios:

Substack says 3M+ customers subscribe to paid newsletters on its platform, up from 2M in February 2023, and credits its recommendations feature for the growth — - The company said it plans to expand the recommendations feature, which helps writers promote other newsletters in its network …

Discussion: TechCrunch, On Substack, The Verge, @alex, @substackinc, @sarafischer, @mattnavarra@threads.net and Ebony Lewkovitz on LinkedIn

Jonathan Vanian / CNBC:

Reddit files for a US IPO, says it had revenue of $804M in 2023, up 20% YoY, and a net loss of $90.8M, compared to a net loss of $158.6M in 2022, and 73M DAUs — - Reddit on Thursday filed to go public. — Its market debut will mark the first major tech initial public offering of the year …

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, The Verge, Reuters, @mikeisaac, Securities and Exchange Commission and NBC Bay Area, more at Techmeme »

Jessica Testa / New York Times:

A look at Alex Cooper's media movies beyond Call Her Daddy, as her company Unwell adds new podcasts and hosts, develops merch, and begins producing live events — The success of Alex Cooper's “Call Her Daddy” podcast has birthed a new media company. Can this millennial solve the riddle of what Gen Z wants?

Discussion: Bloomberg, Moorea Mongelli on LinkedIn, Greg Myrick on LinkedIn and Stuart Coxe on LinkedIn

Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:

A look at German tabloid Bild, whose paid tier, Bildplus, has 707K digital subscribers and has grown subscribers by buying rights to boxing matches not on TV — Bundles and sports livestreams help, but journalism drives most subscriptions for Bild. — The head of the digital subscriptions strategy …

Discussion: Charlotte Tobitt on LinkedIn

Miranda Bryant / The Guardian:

In a Danish court, prosecutors allege a man fraudulently made ~£502K in royalties from music streamers and breached copyright law — Aarhus court hears he may have profited from artificially generated playbacks, in case thought to be first of its kind

Discussion: The Kyiv Independent, CMU, Digital Music News and Music Ally

Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch:

Instagram debuts its marketplace tool to connect brands and creators for partnerships or ads in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Japan, India, and Brazil — 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: Search Engine Land, @lindseygamble_, @metanewsroom, Rachel Redman on LinkedIn, B&T, Music Ally and Meta, more at Techmeme »

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Lucas Manfredi / The Wrap:
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Meg James / Los Angeles Times:
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Discussion: Variety, Reuters, New York Times, The Daily Beast, Deadline, @megjameslat, @megjameslat, KTAR.com, NewsNation, UPI, Rolling Stone, Raw Story and Associated Press

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

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

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Sara Fischer / Axios:
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Corbin Bolies / The Daily Beast:
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Discussion: New York Post, Raw Story, @aaron.rupar@threads.net, New York Post and Fox News

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Press Forward, the philanthropic initiative to invest $500M over five years in local news, says 11 new communities have joined six established chapters

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

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

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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

Discussion: @pressgazette and Press Gazette

From Techmeme:

Meta:
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Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
How Apple may adjust to the US tariffs; sources: the iPhone 17 Pro's camera panel will span the width of the phone and will be the same color as the device

Tom Warren / The Verge:
Microsoft unveils a demo of Quake II generated using its Muse AI model, with limited playability in a browser, as part of the company's Copilot for Gaming push

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