Top News:
Bloomberg:
Reddit opens up 38%, at $47 per share, in its New York Stock Exchange debut, valuing the company at about $9B on a fully diluted basis — The San Francisco-based company's stock began trading on Thursday at $47 each, above the offering price of $34 per share.
Discussion:
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Aftermath:
Kotaku EIC Jen Glennon, who joined in October 2023, resigns, citing in a letter the management team's recent decision to deprioritize news in favor of guides — Jen Glennon, who took over as editor in chief of Kotaku in October, resigned Thursday. In a resignation letter seen by Aftermath …
Ashley Carman / Bloomberg:
Spotify's TikTok-like redesign reveals the follower numbers for top podcasters: The Joe Rogan Experience has 14.5M, followed by TED Talks Daily with 5M — A new TikTok-like redesign from the streaming giant unveils actual audience data for top podcasters — Welcome back to Soundbite.
Neel Dhanesha / Nieman Lab:
Julia Angwin says Proof News aims to use “the scientific method” for investigative journalism, and expand beyond tech to cover corporate accountability, more — The cofounder of The Markup wants to expand beyond tech with her new publication. — At the end of February …
Discussion:
@sarahscire and @juliaangwin
Molly Bohannon / Forbes:
A super PAC backing Ted Cruz got ~$215K from iHeartMedia, earned from selling ads for Cruz's podcast; Cruz had likened his show to cable news appearances — A super PAC affiliated with Sen. Ted Cruz reported receiving $215,000 in “digital revenue” from iHeartMedia on Wednesday …
Discussion:
Zach Everson on LinkedIn
Andrew Deck / Nieman Lab:
How The Intercept, Alternet, and Raw Story are using the Digital Millennium Copyright Act in suits against OpenAI, possibly serving as a model for other sites — Raw Story, AlterNet, and The Intercept are among the first smaller publications to go up against the AI goliath for copyright violations.
Discussion:
@laureneheuser, @laureneheuser, @ben@werd.social, @laurahazardowen and @sarahscire
Jane Croft / The Guardian:
The UK proposes a new law banning foreign states and officials from holding direct stakes in newspapers, putting the UAE-backed bid for the Telegraph at risk — Proposed law unveiled on Thursday bans foreign states and government officials from holding direct stakes in newspapers
Discussion:
Financial Times and Bloomberg
Brian Steinberg / Variety:
How advertisers are trying to tie their ads to business outcomes, like a purchase, instead of ratings: in November, Fox guaranteed Netflix social media activity — Nearly every commercial that runs on TV is backed by a guarantee of how big an audience will watch it.
Jason Koebler / 404 Media:
Deadspin's new owner Lineup outlines plans to publish with support “via partnerships within the sports betting industry” and to keep all old Deadspin's content — Join the newsletter to get the latest updates. — Success — Great! Check your inbox and click the link. — Error
Adam Chitwood / The Wrap:
WBD plans to launch Max in Europe starting on May 21 in the Nordics, Iberia, and Central and Eastern Europe, in time for the Olympics, included in all plans — The rollout is also timed to the second season of “House of the Dragon” — Max will begin its launch in Europe on May 21 …
Discussion:
Engadget, The Streamable, Variety, Reuters, Next TV, Deadline, Media Play News, Advanced Television and Screen, more at Techmeme »
Etan Vlessing / The Hollywood Reporter:
Channel 4 says its internal investigation found “no evidence” to suggest its staff knew of sexual assault and misconduct allegations against Russell Brand — The British network that helped drive Brand's early fame, after an internal probe, did conclude a former employee made a …
Discussion:
Channel 4, The Independent, Sky News, Irish Examiner, BBC, @ohrhealy, Decider and Deadline
Daniel Thomas / Financial Times:
Sources: the BBC plans to build its own AI models, and is holding talks with tech companies, including Amazon, about selling its content for AI training — UK broadcaster seeks to build artificial intelligence models and negotiates with companies on content deal
Discussion:
Reuters, more at Techmeme »