Mediagazer: Google launches News Showcase in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania; several publishers added a feature where Google pays for reader access to paywalled content (Marek Miller/The Keyword)

6:30 PM ET, June 18, 2024

Top News:

Mark Stenberg / Adweek:

Subscription platform Zuora is acquiring AI company Sub(x) to use AI to enhance paywall offerings for the news industry; Sub(x)'s 10 employees will join Zuora — EXCLUSIVE: With Sub(x), Zuora moves beyond propensity scoring to reinforcement learning — Subscription technology platform Zuora …

Discussion: Chris Scott on LinkedIn, @markstenberg3 and Zuora

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, @SteveThompson@mastodon.social and @daithaigilbert

Marek Miller / The Keyword:

Google launches News Showcase in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania; several publishers added a feature where Google pays for reader access to paywalled content — News and Publishing Partner Manager, Central and Eastern Europe — For more than two decades, Google has partnered with journalists …

Discussion: Neowin

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

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: Fox News, The Guardian, Axios, New Republic, CNN, Mediaite, The Wrap, @karaswisher@threads.net, The Daily Beast, @alexbruell, @sokane1@threads.net, @johnrobinson, @karaswisher@threads.net, @farhip, @hadas_gold, @karaswisher@threads.net, @johnmcquaid@threads.net and @kbode@threads.net

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

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, MediaPost and Havas

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Venu Sports, the Fox/WBD/Disney streaming venture, announces more hires, including Chief Business Officer Tim Connolly, who had led Apple TV+ subscriber growth — Key senior hires include chief business officer Tim Connolly, CTO Skarpi Hedinsson and CMO Brian Borkowski

Discussion: The Desk, Radio & Television …, The Wrap, Next TV, Deadline and Barrett Media

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 »

Sara Guaglione / Digiday:

Daily Mail plans to launch a dozen long-form shows on YouTube by the end of 2024, focusing on popular verticals including entertainment, sports, and the royals — In a bid to earn more ad revenue, Daily Mail is making a big push into long-form video with plans to debut a dozen shows on YouTube by the end of this year.

Discussion: The Media Leader, StreamTV Insider and Press Gazette

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

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’

Nic Newman / Reuters Institute:

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: Rutger Verhoeven on LinkedIn, 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 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

Archived Page Info:

This is a snapshot of Mediagazer at 6:30 PM ET, June 18, 2024.

View the current page or another snapshot:

Who's Hiring in Media?

Output Producer, CA — AP

China Markets Correspondent, Shanghai — Reuters

Senior Assignment Editor, DC — WaPo

Breaking News Editor, Tokyo — Bloomberg

Senior Correspondent - Wealth, NY — WSJ

Reporter - Ottawa Bureau — Globe & Mail

Local Government Reporter, IA — The Gazette

Research Director, CA — OCBJ

Immigration Enforcement Reporter — Documented

Presque Island Reporter, ME — Bangor Daily News

Contributing Parks Ed. - SW, CA — SFGATE

AI Content Editor, WA — Outlier

Legislative Reporter, TN — Daily Memphian

Editorial Assistant, Remote US — Launch Potato

Elon Musk Reporter, NY or CA — The Information

Government & Politics Editor, WA — Seattle Times

Business & GA Reporter. VT — VTDigger

Sports Reporter, WA — Everett Herald

Energy Reporter, TX — Houston Chronicle

Senior Reporter, SC — Island Packet

Trade & Climate Correspondent, DC — FT

Reporter, WI — Racine County Eye

Political Newsletter Writer, CO — The Lever

Jackson Reporter, MS — Verite

Music Editor, AZ — Phoenix New Times

Breaking News Reporter, NV — Las Vegas Sun

Fearless Reporter/Producer, IA — BPC

Reporter II - Technology, Remote — NPR

Editor, Remote US — Daily Kos

City Reporter, WA — Tacoma News Tribune

Executive Editor, OR — Lookout Local

Education & Budget Reporter, CA — Politico

Senior Writer/Editor, FL — Gulfshore Business

Media Editor, Remote — Axios

Add your company here

See Also:

Mediagazer: site main

Mediagazer River: reverse chronological Mediagazer

Mediagazer Mobile: for phones

Mediagazer Leaderboard: Mediagazer's top sources

Subscribe:

Mediagazer RSS feed

Mediagazer on X

Mediagazer on Mastodon

More News:

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ann Cooper / Nieman Reports:
A look at AP Corporate Archives, launched in 2003 to preserve the organization's history and since then expanded with initiatives like an oral history program

Discussion: Kate Ortega on LinkedIn and @niemanreports

James Thomas / Euronews:
Study: anonymous pro-Russian actors are barraging journalists in Europe with fake news, in an effort to overwhelm fact checkers and amplify fake narratives

Discussion: @heidireports and Check First

Earlier Picks:

Nilay Patel / The Verge:
Q&A with Tubi CEO Anjali Sud, who joined from Vimeo in September 2023, on the streaming industry, working within Fox, subscription fatigue, copyright, and more

Discussion: The Guardian, @reckless1280@threads.net, @hi.im.vijay@threads.net, @anjsud and r/television

Chris Roush / Talking Biz News:
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

Discussion: @katie_robertson, @natalieandrews, @gzuckerman, IAPE 1096, IAPE 1096 and MediaPost

Natalie Korach / The Wrap:
Sources: 25 unionized staffers at The Daily Beast took buyouts, equivalent to ~70% of the guild, including almost all of the outlet's senior staffers

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

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, @harrytlambert, Associated Press, @semaforben, @dankennedy_nu@threads.net, New York Times, New Republic, Newser, Poynter and @davidfolkenflik

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:

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple is working on a smart doorbell system with advanced facial recognition that can wirelessly connect and unlock third-party smart locks

Lee-Anne Mulholland / The Keyword:
Google files its proposed remedies in the DOJ's search antitrust lawsuit, including letting browser companies have multiple default agreements across platforms

Wall Street Journal:
Gina Raimondo says holding back China in the chips race is a “fool's errand”, and investment, more than export controls, will keep US ahead of Beijing

Sister Sites:

Techmeme
Top news and commentary for technology's leaders, from all around the web

memeorandum
What US political commentators are discussing online right now

WeSmirch
The top celebrity news from all around the web on a single page