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 …
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Reuters, AdExchanger, 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 Day 2 of the US DOJ's antitrust trial focused on ads, a former News Corp executive testifying as a government witness said 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:
Digiday, @vidushi_law, @vidushi_law, @vidushi_law, @vidushi_law, @vidushi_law, @vidushi_law, @vidushi_law, @adamkovac, MEDIANAMA, New York Post and City A.M., more at Techmeme »
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:
ABC News, Fast Company, The Wrap, CNN, Fox News, New York Post, Wall Street Journal, Media Matters for America, Axios, New Republic, The Spectator Australia, Newsbusters, GQ, New York Times, Deadline, @davidgura, @acyn, @brianstelter, @hughhewitt, @timalberta, @davidfolkenflik, @brianstelter, @sarafischer, @get_status@threads.net, TIME, Politico, Status, The Daily Beast, NPR, Poynter, The Cut, Barrett Media, @dicktofel, The Hill, @brianstelter, @joolesplumm, The Federalist, @newscentralcnn, Forbes, @nhannahjones, @jvlast@threads.net, Newser, @dylanbyers, Columbia Journalism Review, @abughazalehkat, @kyleclark9news@threads.net, UPI, Vogue, @mistergeezy, @mehdirhasan, @benjysarlin, @yashar, @jmflatham, @brianstelter, @juliachanb, @billackman, @acwardblueridge@threads.net, The Guardian, @cmclymer, @howardkurtz, Mediaite, Advocate, Vanity Fair, Los Angeles Times and C-SPAN.org
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.
Sara Fischer / Axios:
The NYT tech guild of 600+ staff, the largest US union of tech workers with bargaining rights, authorizes a strike after over two years of talks and no contract — - The Wirecutter union held a five-day walkout over the Black Friday holiday weekend in 2021 and struck a deal with management days later.
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
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
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, @leftcoastbabe, @shadowhaxor, @bishplsok, Raptive and Axios
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
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 …
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The Drum, Adam Epstein on LinkedIn and Jeremy Dodge on LinkedIn
Wendy Davis / MediaPost:
A US district judge blocks Utah from enforcing the Minor Protection in Social Media Act, set to take effect on October 1, saying the law likely violates the 1A — A federal judge has blocked Utah from enforcing a new law that would have restricted social media platforms' ability to serve content to minors under 18.
Discussion:
Reuters, The Verge, Utah Political Watch, @keir_lamont, Bloomberg Law and KSL-TV, more at Techmeme »
Mark Sweney / The Guardian:
Pact: UK TV production sector revenue fell by £392M to £3.61B in 2023; the amount spent on commissioning programs by UK broadcasters fell from £1.99B to £1.78B — Revenue plunges as cash-strapped broadcasters spend less on commissioning amid ad slump and shift to streaming
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WORLD SCREEN, C21Media, Broadcast, Pact, Deadline, Broadband TV News and Daily Mail