Top News:
Thomas Barrabi / New York Post:
A former News Corp executive testifies in Google's ad antitrust trial that News Corp weighed switching from Google ad tools in 2017 but would have lost $9M — News Corp considered switching away from Google's advertising products in 2017 - but decided against it after determining it would cost …
Discussion:
AdExchanger, Reuters, Adweek, Marketing Brew, Mumbrella, The Verge, Yahoo Finance, MediaPost, New York Daily News, Digiday, New York Times, The Media Leader and Reuters
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Lauren Feiner / The Verge:
On second day of the US DOJ's antitrust trial focused on ads, a former News Corp exec testified as a government witness, saying Google held publishers “hostage” — Google's tool that lets publishers sell ad space on their websites is ubiquitous, but that's largely a testament …
Discussion:
MEDIANAMA, @vidushi_law, @vidushi_law, @vidushi_law, @vidushi_law, @vidushi_law, @vidushi_law, @vidushi_law, @adamkovac, New York Post, City A.M. and Adweek, more at Techmeme »
Wes Davis / The Verge:
ESPN's AI-generated articles recapping women's soccer games are bland and basic, failing to note key moments like one player's final game and emotional farewell — This weekend, ESPN began publishing AI-generated recaps of women's soccer games, with more sports to come.
Michael M. Grynbaum / New York Times:
How Linsey Davis and David Muir firmly pursued real-time fact-checking to build guardrails around Trump in the ABC News debate between Trump and Harris — Calmly and firmly, Linsey Davis and David Muir pursued the kind of real-time fact-checking missing from many previous debates.
Discussion:
The Wrap, Fox News, CNN, ABC News, Media Matters for America, New Republic, New York Times, Deadline, @brianstelter, TIME, @hughhewitt, @timalberta, @sarafischer, @get_status@threads.net, The Daily Beast, The Cut, @acyn, @newscentralcnn, @benjysarlin, NPR, The Hill, @mehdirhasan, Poynter, Columbia Journalism Review, @davidfolkenflik, @brianstelter, @billackman, The Federalist, Politico, Status, Forbes, UPI, @dicktofel, @brianstelter, @joolesplumm, @nhannahjones, @jvlast@threads.net, Newser, Barrett Media, @dylanbyers, @abughazalehkat, @kyleclark9news@threads.net, Vogue, @mistergeezy, @yashar, @jmflatham, @brianstelter, ABC7, @juliachanb, @acwardblueridge@threads.net, The Guardian, @cmclymer, @howardkurtz, Mediaite, Advocate, Vanity Fair, Los Angeles Times and C-SPAN.org
Sara Fischer / Axios:
The New York Times Tech Guild, which represents 600+ employees, votes to authorize a strike after over two years of stalled contract talks with NYT management — - The Wirecutter union held a five-day walkout over the Black Friday holiday weekend in 2021 and struck a deal with management days later.
Sara Fischer / Axios:
Veteran journalist Peter Kafka is reviving his old Recode Media podcast under a new name, Channels, starting September 11 with the Vox Media podcast network — - He also worked out an arrangement with Vox Media CEO Jim Bankoff where he'll own the podcast, giving him freedom and flexibility.
Discussion:
TVNewsCheck, Vox Media, @pkafka, @jakesherman, @cgates123, @sarafischer, @pkafka, @mossbergwalt@threads.net, Nieman Lab, @pkafka@threads.net, MediaPost and Talking Biz News
Thomas Baekdal / Baekdal:
Affiliate links are no longer an easy revenue source for news publishers, as Google downranks product recommendations from non-specialized outlets — This is an archived version of a Baekdal/Basic newsletter (it's free). It is sent out about once per week and features the latest articles …
Discussion:
@risj_oxford
Devin Coldewey / TechCrunch:
A group of Democratic senators asks the FTC and DOJ to probe whether AI tools that summarize online content like news may amount to anticompetitive practices — A group of Democratic senators is urging the FTC and Justice Department to investigate whether AI tools that summarize …
Discussion:
U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar, Axios, @leftcoastbabe, @shadowhaxor, Raptive and @bishplsok
Financial Times:
GB News and UnHerd owner Paul Marshall acquires The Spectator for £100M and plans to expand the magazine overseas; Spectator chair Andrew Neil resigns — Acquisition bolsters hedge fund boss's position as one of UK's most influential right-leaning media barons
Discussion:
Associated Press, @frasernelson, @afneil, Adweek, @arusbridger, @afneil, @semaforben, @rowandean, @ian_fraser, @peterjukes, @semaforben, @colinbraziertv, @nfmusic, @montie, @aphclarkson, @danwootton, @peterjukes, @aphclarkson, @jamesrbuk, @sangitamyska, @peterjukes, @jdportes, @mattwridley, @peterjukes, @notthatbigian, @lefoudubaron, @twlldun, @danielthomasldn, New York Times, Spectator, The Guardian, BBC, New Statesman, Press Gazette, Irish News, The Independent, The Spectator Australia, White \u0026 Case, Irish News, Bloomberg, Telegraph, Sky News, The Times, The i Paper, Bloomberg, London Evening Standard, Reuters and Guido Fawkes
Keith Campbell / Asheville Watchdog:
An interview with former Washington Post Editor Martin Baron on Jeff Bezos' purchase of the outlet, Trump's election in 2016, and his memoir, Collision of Power — Asheville Watchdog hosted a special free public event on Thursday, Sept. 5. Watchdog political reporter Tom Fiedler interviewed …
Discussion:
r/Journalism
Sara Fischer / Axios:
The Los Angeles Local News Initiative, which plans a nonprofit news org to support local newsrooms in LA, raised $15M from media leaders and philanthropists — - The research included input from 900 L.A. residents about gaps in community coverage, said Monica Lozano, the Initiative's board chair …
Lauren Johnson / Adweek:
Amazon says it is testing sponsored ads in chats with Rufus, its AI-powered shopping assistant, in the US — But ad buyers are cautious about the placements — Amazon is starting to plug ads into generative AI. — Sponsored ads—Amazon's core search ad format—could start appearing …
Discussion:
The Drum, Adam Epstein on LinkedIn and Jeremy Dodge on LinkedIn
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