Mediagazer: The CPJ led a coalition of media and civic groups urging the US DOJ to drop charges against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who has a UK hearing on May 20 (Committee to Protect Journalists)

4:10 PM ET, May 17, 2024

Top News:

The CPJ led a coalition of media and civic groups urging the US DOJ to drop charges against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who has a UK hearing on May 20 — The Committee to Protect Journalists led a coalition of civil society organizations urging the United States Department of Justice …

Discussion: Sydney Criminal Lawyers

Mia Sato / The Verge:

Memo: Gannett is adding AI-generated summaries to the top of some stories, with a disclaimer at the bottom; some USA Today stories already show the summaries — Gannett, the media company that owns hundreds of newspapers in the US, is launching a new program that adds AI-generated bullet points …

Discussion: Futurism, @roc_howe, @rocnewsguild, @kennysmith@mstdn.social, @miasato.2@threads.net, Digiday and Futurism

Arasu Kannagi Basil / Reuters:

OpenAI and Reddit partner to bring Reddit content to OpenAI tools including ChatGPT via Reddit's Data API and to add AI features to Reddit; RDDT is up 12%+ — Reddit (RDDT.N) has partnered with OpenAI to bring the social media platform's content to popular chatbot ChatGPT …

Laura Wagner / Washington Post:

Seven Black and female Chicago Tribune journalists file a federal suit against Alden, claiming it has knowingly paid them less than White and male counterparts — It's the latest revolt by journalists at a newspaper owned by Alden Global Capital. — Chicago Tribune journalists filed suit Thursday …

Discussion: Associated Press, @royalpratt, @ctguild and @jsmithrichards

Sarah Scire / Nieman Lab:

Q&A with New Yorker journalist Rachel Aviv on her Lucy Letby article, the cost of trial transcripts in the UK, why police comms aren't journalism, and more — “So much of the media coverage — and the trial itself — started at the point at which we've determined that [Lucy] …

Discussion: Nieman Journalism Lab on LinkedIn, @ginarush, @sarahscire, Washington Post, @davidpwhelan@mastodon.world and New York Times

Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch:

Reddit reintroduces the awards system it shut down in 2023, ends the replacement Golden Upvotes system, and expands its Contributor Program to 35 countries — Reddit announced on Wednesday that it is reintroducing its awards system after shutting down the program last year.

Discussion: The Verge and r/reddit, more at Techmeme »

Evan Drellich / New York Times:

Source: Roku's Sunday morning MLB package is worth $30M over three years, but the MLB can earn more from ads; Peacock paid $30M/year for the package before — Major League Baseball's Sunday morning package on Roku, called “Sunday Leadoff,” is worth a total of $30 million over three years …

Discussion: Awful Announcing and @tvgrimreaper

Emily Tomasik / Pew Research Center:

Survey: 39% of Americans say it is at least somewhat important that they get news from journalists who share their political views — Most Americans say it is not important that the news they get comes from journalists who share their political views, age, gender or other traits.

Discussion: @mediathoughts

Cade Metz / New York Times:

Two voice actors sue AI startup Lovo, saying it illegally used recordings of their voices to make audio clones without their permission; Lovo denies the claims — Two voice actors say an A.I. company created clones of their voices without their permission. Now they're suing.

Discussion: TechCrunch, CNN, Paula Zirinsky on LinkedIn, @charlescmann, @davidmackau, @albertfong98, @omunderdal, Avi Bar-Zeev on LinkedIn, Marilyn Simes on LinkedIn, Frank Verderosa on LinkedIn, The Wrap, Variety and The Hollywood Reporter, more at Techmeme »

CNN's Reliable Sources:

Michael Cohen testifies about his ties to reporters during Donald Trump's NY trial, showing the complicated relationships journalists often have with sources — The Donald Trump hush money trial is dragging reporters into uncomfortable territory and laying bare the complicated relationships journalists often have with sources.

Discussion: The Hill, Reuters Institute, @chriscillizza, @jeffplatsky, @bgrueskin, @clydehaberman, @mindys4biden, @katiephang@threads.net, @katiephang@threads.net, @katiephang@threads.net, @katiephang@threads.net, @saintbridge@threads.net, @ravishinginplaid@threads.net, @ravishinginplaid@threads.net, @webby2001@threads.net, @oliverdarcy@threads.net, Breitbart and Daily Kos

Steven Waldman / @stevenwaldman:

The California Senate Appropriations Committee approves a bill imposing fees on Alphabet, Meta, and Amazon to pay for local news through employment tax credits — The California Senate Appropriations Committee minutes ago approved Sen. Glazer's bill to put a fee on Alphabet, Meta & Amazon to pay for reviving local news (through employment tax credits). 1st time such a fee would be dedicated to saving local news. https://www.rebuildlocalnews.org/ ...

Discussion: @danibergstrom and @mattdpearce

Jon Campbell / Gothamist:
New York's $90M employment tax credit for local news outlets currently excludes publicly traded TV and radio companies as well as nonprofit news outlets

Discussion: Variety, @wesleylowery, @nicdawes, @nicdawes, @baekdal, @vitalcitynyc, @civiletti, @nicdawes, @joncampbellny, @giambusso and @christrobbins

Jem Aswad / Variety:

In a lawsuit, the Mechanical Licensing Collective claims Spotify's recent subscription offers that bundle music and audiobooks would result in lower royalties — The lawsuit states that, beginning in March 2024, Spotify announced that its Premium Individual, Duo and Family subscription streaming plans …

Discussion: CMU, Music Ally, Digital Music News, Music Business Worldwide, Fortune and Billboard

Daniel Thomas / Financial Times:

Sony Music sends letters to 700+ AI companies, developers, and music streaming platforms warning over the “unauthorized use” of Sony's content in training AI — Music group representing Adele and Beyoncé contacts more than 700 companies to prohibit use of content

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More News:

Benjamin Mullin / New York Times:
Sources: many NPR employees expressed anger or concern over the Backstop, a new layer of editors who will review all of NPR's journalism before it is released

Discussion: NPR, @jayrosen_nyu, @lydenfreeagent, Columbia Journalism Review, @lowkell, @donlinn, @obviousdwest@hachyderm.io and Current

Erin Doherty / Axios:
The Biden-Harris campaign accepts an invitation from CBS News to participate in a vice presidential debate on July 23 or August 13

Discussion: CNN, Fox News, Associated Press, New York Daily News, Adweek, New York Post, Fox News and New Republic

The Hollywood Reporter:
AI in film is on display at Cannes, as one distributor showcases AI dubbing and the movie Putin uses AI to re-create Putin's face over the body of an actor

Discussion: Liz Atherton on LinkedIn, Avi Hakhamanesh on LinkedIn, Dave Siegfried on LinkedIn, Christian Grece on LinkedIn and Phillip Covell on LinkedIn

Tom Warren / The Verge:
Meta starts testing TweetDeck-style customizable feeds on Threads that are stacked in a column interface on the web, available to selected users

Aisha Malik / TechCrunch:
TikTok is testing 60-minute videos, which would let media companies post full TV show episodes and put TikTok in even more direct competition with YouTube

Discussion: The Hill, CBS News, Digital Music News, Music Ally, ICYMI, Media Voices, Geekout Newsletter, Search Engine Land, Business Insider, New York Times, MediaPost, The Verge and 9to5Mac

Earlier Picks:

Lili Bayer / The Guardian:
Some Slovakian ministers and political allies of Prime Minister Robert Fico blame the media for the attempt on Fico's life

Discussion: Financial Times, CityNews Toronto, Breitbart, Balkan Insight, New York Times, PolitiFact, Politico, Associated Press, ICIJ, CBS News, The Sun, Radio Free Europe/Radio … and Foreign Policy

Todd Spangler / Variety:
Disney, Fox, and WBD unveil the name of their sports streaming venture: Venu Sports, whose debut is planned for fall 2024

The Marshall Project:
Marshall Project Editor-in-Chief Susan Chira, who joined from the New York Times in 2019, plans to step down in early 2025

Discussion: @benmullin, @dicktofel and MediaPost

Jonathan Randles / Bloomberg:
Court hearing: an MLB lawyer says Diamond's dispute with Comcast is harming its teams, fans, and jeopardizing Diamond's plan to restructure and exit bankruptcy

Discussion: Front Office Sports, The Desk, The Streamable, New York Times, Sports Business Journal, Sportico and Reuters

Financial Times:
A look at the competing Paramount bids from David Ellison's Skydance, backed by RedBird and KKR, and Apollo and Sony, a fight over surviving the streaming era

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, The Hollywood Reporter, Christopher Grimes on LinkedIn and @tanarrowz

From Techmeme:

Kif Leswing / CNBC:
Tech stocks fall in late trading after President Trump announced new tariffs: Amazon drops as much as ~6%, Meta ~5%, Nvidia ~6%, Alphabet ~3%, and Microsoft ~3%

New York Times:
Sources: Amazon has put in a bid to acquire all of TikTok, but various parties involved do not appear to be taking it seriously, ahead of the April 5 deadline

Jay Peters / The Verge:
Nintendo shares Switch 2 details: a 7.9", 120fps, 1080p display, 4K at 60fps when docked, a custom Nvidia processor, 256GB of storage, and a new Pro Controller

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