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Samantha Cole / 404 Media:
Internal docs: Tumblr staff compiled users' data in preparation for deals where Automattic would sell the data to OpenAI and Midjourney to train AI tools — Join the newsletter to get the latest updates. — Success — Great! Check your inbox and click the link. — Error
Discussion:
Business Insider, MediaNama, The Verge, @jasonkoebler@mastodon.social, Automattic, @wbm312, @wbm312, Dead Pasts, Dread Futures, Morten Rand-Hendriksen on LinkedIn, Art L. on LinkedIn, DOODLEMANCY, Gizmodo, @michellemanafy@journa.host, @rahaeli.bsky.social, @rahaeli.bsky.social, @scottandrew@xoxo.zone, @wonkeythemonkey …, @proprietor@wandering.shop, @danilo@hachyderm.io, @theomegabit@infosec.exchange, @paulknightly@mstdn.social, @Thorin@mastodon.social, @ipstenu@tech.lgbt, @reillypascal@hachyderm.io, @bedirthan@dice.camp, @mitten@social.lol, @404mediaco@mastodon.social, mutatis mutandis, Tumbling Like Alice, Cyanide E., Cassandraic, PIXEL ART and just like a centipede!, more at Techmeme »
Blake Brittain / Reuters:
Filing: OpenAI asks a US federal judge to dismiss parts of NYT's copyright suit, alleging it “paid someone to hack OpenAI's products” and violated OpenAI's TOS — OpenAI has asked a federal judge to dismiss parts of the New York Times (NYT.N) copyright lawsuit against it …
Byron Tau / Wired:
A look at some government contractors that are helping US intelligence agencies and others use targeted mobile ads to track down people — Meet the guy who taught US intelligence agencies how to make the most of the ad tech ecosystem, “the largest information-gathering enterprise ever conceived by man.”
Discussion:
@simontsui@infosec.exchange, more at Techmeme »
Marina E. Franco / Axios:
Mexican President Obrador reading aloud an NYT reporter's cellphone number during his widely broadcast morning presser shows perils of reporting in the country — Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador's repeated claims that he has a “political right” …
Discussion:
New York Times, New York Times, Committee to Protect …, Fox News, The Hill, The Daily Beast and Fox News
Chris Roush / Talking Biz News:
Unionized editorial workers at LexisNexis-owned Law360 authorize a strike; the union says the vote is partly due to planned layoffs after record profits in 2023 — Unionized editorial workers at LexisNexis-owned Law360 voted to authorize a strike Monday. — The union says the strike …
Discussion:
@law360union and NewsGuild of New York
Julia Angwin / Proof:
Julia Angwin launches Proof, a nonprofit studio aimed at elevating journalism by using the scientific method as a guiding ethos; Angwin is founder, CEO, and EIC — Hello world! — Welcome to Proof News. Proof is meant to be an answer to the existential question that journalists are struggling with right now: What is our purpose?
Discussion:
@jason_kint, @brianstelter, @juliaangwin, TechCrunch and @juliaangwin, more at Techmeme »
Antenna:
Among premium SVODs, US subscriber growth fell from 21.6% YoY in 2022 to 10.1% YoY in 2023; 140.5M cancelled their subscriptions in 2023 vs. 104.3M in 2022 — The headlines suggesting that the boom times are over for streaming video have been unavoidable.
Discussion:
Quartz, IndieWire, Media Play News, Reuters and MediaPost
Ben Strauss / Washington Post:
Authentic says it has recouped its ~$90M SI purchase via licensing; sources: SI has 1M print subs, breaks even, and Minute Media is a potential new publisher — LAS VEGAS — “This is Sports Illustrated, the party!” the DJ yelled. “Tonight is going to be legendary.”
Alex Sherman / CNBC:
Sources: WBD is no longer pursuing a merger with Paramount, Skydance is doing due diligence, and Comcast is exploring commercial partnerships with Paramount — - Warner Bros. Discovery is no longer pursuing a merger with Paramount Global as its shares trade near a 52-week low, according to people familiar with the matter.
Discussion:
NBC 7 San Diego, Digiday, Quartz, Fast Company, IndieWire, Alex Sherman on LinkedIn, New York Post, The Streamable, The Desk, @lucas_shaw, Forbes, The Hill, Reuters, NewscastStudio, The Wrap and Cord Cutters News
Sara Fischer / Axios:
The FT launches a venture arm to invest in media and tech startups, starting with $1M for Charter, a media and insights company focused on the workplace — - The company has made several strategic minority investments to date, including one in the Business of Fashion.
Discussion:
Media Voices and Talking Biz News
Jem Aswad / Variety:
TikTok removes all songs published by Universal Music Publishing Group, expanding a licensing spat; at first only songs owned or distributed by UMG were removed — The bruising battle over royalties between Universal Music Group and TikTok entered a new and more severe stage in the early hours …
Alexis Ong / The Verge:
A look at the underground floppy disk music scene; Discogs data shows 500+ floppy music releases in the 2020s, more than in the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s combined — The first computery thing I do in the year 2024 is nudge a 3.5-inch floppy disk into a USB floppy drive that I bought …
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