Top News:
Winston Cho / The Hollywood Reporter:
The MPA announces plans to work with US Congress to enact a SOPA-like anti-piracy law; SOPA was fiercely opposed by the tech industry and failed to pass in 2012 — The Motion Picture Association said it will work with Congress to enact an anti-piracy law similar to legislation that failed …
Jessica Jerreat / Voice of America:
Reporters Without Borders says Hong Kong authorities detained and deported a Taiwan-based RSF advocacy officer who had planned to cover the Jimmy Lai trial — A media watchdog said Wednesday that Hong Kong authorities expelled one of its officials who had arrived to cover the trial of pro-democracy publisher Jimmy Lai.
Max Goldbart / Deadline:
The BBC names Alex Kay-Jelski, currently The Athletic's UK and Europe EIC, as Director of BBC Sport, starting in June 2024 — The Athletic's Editor-in-Chief for UK and Europe is joining the BBC to run its sports coverage. — Reporting into content boss Charlotte Moore …
Discussion:
BBC
Katie Robertson / New York Times:
Axios changes strategy in response to AI: more events, a $1K/year membership program, and more subscription newsletters; Aja Whitaker-Moore will be the new EIC — “The premium for people who can tell you things you do not know will only grow in importance, and no machine will do that,” says Jim VandeHei, C.E.O. of Axios.
Discussion:
Sara Fischer on LinkedIn, @danprimack and @djtweets
Jeff Jarvis / Nieman Lab:
Excerpts from an analysis of the California Journalism Preservation Act, which has yet to pass the state Senate, including its many weaknesses and alternatives — “If there are resources to be put to work, we must ask where those resources should come from, who should receive them, and on what basis they should be distributed."
Anne Steele / Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Spotify is developing tools to let subscribers speed up, mash up, or edit songs as a type of playback feature; rights holders would still get paid — Streamer is developing tools that would make it easier for fans to create custom versions of their favorite music
Discussion:
9to5Mac
Brody Ford / Bloomberg:
Docs: Adobe offers its network photographers $120 for videos of people engaged in everyday actions, or ~$2.62/minute to ~$7.25/minute on average, to train AI — - OpenAI's Sora has increased competitive pressure on Adobe — Adobe has built AI models with stock library, procured media
Discussion:
MIT Technology Review, @adamhlavac, @klendathucap and @brodyford_, more at Techmeme »
Taylor Lorenz / Washington Post:
Hundreds of political and news content creators ask Meta to reverse its default Threads and Instagram setting opting accounts out of seeing “political content” — The change, they say, has significantly affected creators who are Black, female, disabled and LGBTQ
Richard Smirke / Billboard:
The UK parliament's CMS Committee urges the government to address “pitiful returns” for songwriters from music streaming, including changing the revenue split — The Culture, Media and Sport Committee is pushing for a package of reforms that would include changing the revenue split between recording and publishing.
Rest of World:
Rest of World receives a $200K grant from Luminate to support its coverage of elections worldwide, including AI's effects and social media platforms' roles — Rest of World, an award-winning global nonprofit publication, has received a $200,000 sponsorship from Luminate to support its coverage …
Discussion:
@restofworld and Anup Kaphle on LinkedIn
Corbin Bolies / The Daily Beast:
Sources: the WSJ lays off at least 11, primarily on its visuals desk and in video roles; some laid off were in the “Journalists as Creators” YouTube partnership — CHOPPING BLOCK — The layoffs, which came after months of cuts, impacted the social media and video desks.
Discussion:
MediaPost, Poynter, @maxwelltani, @ianjsilvera and Talking Biz News
Avi Asher-Schapiro / Context:
Unions representing animation and VFX workers plan to demand rules for how studios deploy AI, as most entertainment executives see AI displacing workers — What's the context? — Entertainment bosses see AI as a way to cut costs, but animators and visual effects workers are fighting back
Discussion:
@contextnewsroom, @datasociety, @contextnewsroom, @aaschapiro, @aaschapiro, @matthewchattle, @aaschapiro, @enriqueanarte, @aaschapiro and @tnewmstweet
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