Top News:
Michael M. Grynbaum / New York Times:
NBC News hires former RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel as an on-air contributor for NBC and MSNBC; her NBC debut will be on the March 24 edition of Meet the Press — Her new role as a commentator on NBC and MSNBC programs comes shortly after she stepped down as the leader of the Republican National Committee.
Discussion:
CNN, The Wrap, Politico, New Republic, Breitbart, Mother Jones, Media Matters for America, @mmfa.bsky.social, Newser, @oliverdarcy@threads.net, The Daily Caller, The Daily Beast, The Hill, @timothypmurphy, @tvaziri@mastodon.social, @lispower1, @mattmfm, @kevincollier@mastodon.social, Deadline, Axios, @mattmfm, Mediaite, @WarnerCrocker@mastodon.social, New York Post, @richarddeitsch, @asfried, @ajbl.bsky.social, @thetnholler@threads.net, @atrupar, @pirahnabrother1@threads.net, @tonyheyl, @maxwelltani, @karlbode.bsky.social, @igorbobic, Fox News, The Hollywood Reporter, Adweek and Media Nation
Isaac Schorr / Mediaite:
The Daily Wire and right-wing commentator Candace Owens end their relationship after months of controversy over her antisemitic comments — The Daily Wire and controversial right-wing commentator Candace Owens parted ways on Friday, according to CEO Jeremy Boreing.
Alex Kantrowitz / Big Technology:
Sources describe Google's generative AI tools for publishers, intended to be used for simple write-ups; Google is paying small publishers for feedback — Google wants to help journalists write stories with generative AI. Will it succeed? — ∙ Paid
Discussion:
MacRumors, @kantrowitz, Journalism.co.uk and New York Times, more at Techmeme »
Bloomberg:
Sources: OpenAI is meeting with Hollywood studios, media executives, and others to form partnerships to encourage filmmakers to integrate Sora into their work — - Startup pitching its new AI video generation tool, Sora — CEO Altman attended LA parties during Oscars weekend
Discussion:
Gizmodo, Jackie Szymanski on LinkedIn, Tubefilter, Lucas Shaw on LinkedIn, The Hill and The Wrap, more at Techmeme »
Christi Carras / Los Angeles Times:
The Long Beach Post lays off staffers following a switch to nonprofit ownership and amid employees' efforts to unionize; source: staff was cut from 17 to eight — The Long Beach Media Guild announced Friday that at least 60% of the bargaining unit received layoff notices shortly …
Discussion:
@jasonruiz_lb, @lbmguild, @lbmguild, @laistunion, Press Telegram, @___abcdennis and @lbmguild
Ashley Belanger / Ars Technica:
Some users on Instagram and Threads complain that a new setting to limit political content, which Meta announced in February, is enabled by default — Instagram never directly told users it was limiting political content by default. — Instagram users have started complaining on X …
Antenna:
Seven weeks after the AFC Wild Card NFL game, 71% of the 3M people who subscribed to Peacock for the game remained subscribed — The first two months of 2024 brought some big moments for streaming and sports: in January, Peacock's exclusive broadcast of the NFL AFC Wild Card Game and Paramount+'s broadcast of Super Bowl LVIII.
Discussion:
@davezatz, Awful Announcing, MediaPost, The Streamable, Sportico and Next TV
Ben Sisario / New York Times:
Joni Mitchell's music returns to Spotify after she removed it in 2022 in protest of what she called “lies” about vaccines on the platform, following Neil Young — Her music has quietly reappeared on the streaming service, two years after a departure over what she called “lies” about Covid-19 vaccines in podcasts.
Discussion:
The Wrap, The Hollywood Reporter, New Statesman, People, Vulture, Stereogum, The Verge, The Guardian, Pitchfork, Digital Music News, Billboard, Variety, Rolling Stone, Forbes, The Hill and Engadget
Jesusegun Alagbe / Rest of World:
Filmmakers, critics, and users detail why Prime Video failed in Africa; Amazon laid off staff and scaled back operations on the continent in January 2024 — Filmmakers, critics, and users blame the platform's struggle in Africa on poor user experience, a lack of local content, and mediocre publicity.
Dan Primack / Axios:
Donald Trump's Truth Social is going public via a SPAC merger after DWAC shareholders approved the move; TMTG will be listed on the Nasdaq as early as next week — - As Axios reported earlier today, this ends a multiyear saga that's included civil lawsuits, criminal lawsuits, closing extensions and vote postponements.
Discussion:
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Brent Lang / Variety:
Imax partners with NBC to air live coverage of the Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony at US Imax locations on July 26 — The television network, which broadcasts the games, will air its live coverage of the 2024 Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony across Imax locations nationwide on Friday, July 26.
Max Goldbart / Deadline:
The UK government sets a panel to assess the BBC's current licensing model, examine alternate funding options, and find ways to grow commercial income — Former ITV and Channel 5 bosses will examine the future funding model of the BBC. — The UK government has just set out the panel …
Discussion:
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