Mediagazer: ISIS created two YouTube channels falsely branded as CNN and Al Jazeera channels in March; their videos stayed on YouTube for a month and a half before removal (David Gilbert/Wired)

4:00 PM ET, June 18, 2024

Top News:

RISJ's 2024 Digital News Report with a survey of 90K+: six platforms, like TikTok, reach 10%+ of respondents for news use, compared to just two a decade ago — This year's report comes at a time when around half the world's population have been going to the polls in national and regional elections …

Discussion: Nieman Lab, Reuters Institute, @andrewstroehlein …, Reuters Institute, Boing Boing, Media Voices, Diya Banerjee on LinkedIn, LatAm Journalism Review, Journalism.co.uk, Jacob Granger on LinkedIn, @jeffjarvis@mastodon.social, Press Gazette, WAN-IFRA, BBC and Reuters

Nic Newman / Press Gazette:
A look at news influencers in the US, the UK, and France: a majority are mainstream journalists in the UK, much higher YouTube use for news in the US, and more

Discussion: Reuters Institute

Brian Stelter / @brianstelter:

Email to staff: Jeff Bezos names and copies Will Lewis and says WaPo “needs to evolve” and has his “commitment on maintaining quality, ethics, and standards” — New: Jeff Bezos writes to newsroom leaders and says “the journalistic standards and ethics at The Post will not change.” [image]

Discussion: Axios, CNN, Mediaite, The Wrap, @sokane1@threads.net, The Daily Beast, @kbode@threads.net, @farhip, @johnmcquaid@threads.net, @karaswisher@threads.net, @karaswisher@threads.net, @johnrobinson, @karaswisher@threads.net, @hadas_gold and @alexbruell

Sara Fischer / Axios:

Forbes' lawyer demands that Perplexity AI remove articles sourced from Forbes, seeks assurances that Perplexity AI won't infringe on Forbes copyrights, and more — - The chatbot tried to give credibility to the Forbes story it presented by citing other “sourced” reports that were actually …

Discussion: @johnvoelcker

David Gilbert / Wired:

ISIS created two YouTube channels falsely branded as CNN and Al Jazeera channels in March; their videos stayed on YouTube for a month and a half before removal — One video focused on giving ISIS credit for a terror attack that Russian disinformation blamed on Ukraine.

Discussion: @paddydugganj and @daithaigilbert

Tony Plohetski / Austin American-Statesman:

Gannett's Austin American-Statesman names Courtney Sebesta executive editor; she began her career at the Statesman 22 years ago as an editorial assistant — Courtney Sebesta, a homegrown journalist who has risen from an entry-level newsroom position to top management at the Austin American-Statesman …

Discussion: Courtney Sebesta on LinkedIn and Austin Business Journal

Daniel Thomas / Financial Times:

French ad agency Havas plans to invest €400M in AI and data-led initiatives in the next four years, and prepares for a four-way breakup of parent Vivendi — French company launches AI strategy as it prepares to split from parent group Vivendi — Havas will invest €400mn …

Discussion: The Media Leader, Adweek, PRWeek, @havas, @davidclinchnews, Ad Age, Havas and MediaPost

Wall Street Journal:

Social media creators say earning a decent, reliable income is getting harder, as platforms pay less for popular posts and brands get pickier about partnerships — Platforms are paying less for popular posts, brands are pickier about partnerships and a possible TikTok ban looms

Discussion: @hoofnagle, Steve Severinghaus on LinkedIn, @albertfong98, Business Insider and r/technology, more at Techmeme »

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Netflix plans to open two permanent in-person experience venues, in Dallas and near Philadelphia, in 2025, a continuation of its previous pop-ups — They're not exactly theme parks, but the new Netflix Houses — to open next year in King of Prussia, Pa., and Dallas — will feature a wide array …

Discussion: Netflix Tudum, The Verge, Deadline, Quartz, @0xchalie, The Hollywood Reporter, The Wrap, Peter Csathy on LinkedIn and Media Play News

Ina Fried / Axios:

A NewsGuard study of 10 top chatbots, including from OpenAI, shows how often they repeat Russian disinfo and cite fugitive John Dougan's fake local news sites — - Entering 57 prompts into 10 leading chatbots, NewsGuard found they spread Russian disinformation narratives 32% of the time …

Discussion: Fox News and @pernillet@mastodon.online, more at Techmeme »

Lisa Du / Bloomberg:

Blackstone plans to buy Japanese digital comic provider Infocom in a ~$1.7B deal, in its biggest private equity transaction in Japan to date — - Offers to buy Japanese digital comic provider Infocom — Sees money-making opportunity stemming from original content

Discussion: Financial Times, Reuters, Reuters, Wall Street Journal, Blackstone and Teijin, more at Techmeme »

Daniel Hurst / The Guardian:

Australia complains to the Chinese embassy over efforts to block the view of Australian journalist Cheng Lei, who previously was detained in China, at an event — Anthony Albanese describes behaviour of officials at Parliament House during Chinese premier Li Qiang's visit as ‘clumsy’

Etan Vlessing / The Hollywood Reporter:

Fremantle and Pluto TV strike a global deal to launch 25 FAST channels across 13 countries, including the US, UK, Canada, Germany, Switzerland, Spain, and Italy — Pluto TV users will get 24/7 broadcasts of ‘Baywatch,’ 'Three's Company,' ‘Family Feud Classic’ and 'Let's Make a Deal' across 13 new global markets.

Discussion: The Streamable, The Wrap, Realscreen, Broadband TV News, Kyle Espinosa on LinkedIn, TVNewsCheck, Next TV, Advanced Television, Media Play News, WORLD SCREEN and NewscastStudio

David Folkenflik / @davidfolkenflik:

Former WaPo Senior Managing Editor Cameron Barr is now overseeing the paper's coverage of the controversies around CEO Will Lewis and next editor Rob Winnett — Update: Former WashPost Senior Managing Editor Cameron Barr is now overseeing the paper's coverage of the controversies besetting publisher Will Lewis and his pick as its next editor, Rob Winnett.

Harry Lambert / The Daily Beast:
A profile of The Washington Post CEO Will Lewis, once one of the UK's most feted journalists, and a look at the many compromises he's made in pursuit of power

Discussion: NPR, @davidfolkenflik, @mattizcoop, @brianstelter, @davidfolkenflik, CNN, @4seasonstl@threads.net, @benjaminmullin@threads.net, Associated Press, @harrytlambert, @semaforben, @dankennedy_nu@threads.net, Newser and Poynter

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Dow Jones and the union that represents journalists at WSJ, Barron's, and MarketWatch reach a tentative agreement on a four-year deal after a year of bargaining

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Discussion: @eshugerman, @justinbaragona, Poynter, @nataliekorach and @willsommer

Daniel Thomas / Financial Times:
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Aisha Malik / TechCrunch:
YouTube is testing Notes, an experimental crowdsourced tool to let users add context to videos, similar to X's Community Notes, on mobile in the US in English

From Techmeme:

New York Times:
Docs: OpenAI's monthly revenue hit $300M in August, up 1,700% since 2023 beginning; it expects ~$3.7B in 2024 sales but may lose ~$5B, and had 350M MAUs in June

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Eric Tucker / Associated Press:
The US DOJ charges three hackers employed by Iran's Revolutionary Guard for allegedly hacking Trump's presidential campaign and disseminating stolen info

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