Top News:
Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
Disney officially launches its password-sharing crackdown, letting users add an “Extra Member” for $6.99/month for Disney+ Basic, or $9.99 for Disney+ Premium — The company rolled out what it is calling its paid sharing policy this week, letting users add a member outside their household …
Joshua Benton / Nieman Lab:
A look at Project 2025's plans for the news media, including defunding NPR, PBS, and other public broadcasters and removing restrictions on media ownership — From defunding NPR and PBS to kicking reporters out of the White House, it's an array of conservative priorities and Trumpian retreads.
Discussion:
Tong Li on LinkedIn, @johnastoehr, @newsjennifer, @laurengbarton, @jillgeisler, @froomkin and @jbenton
Adi Robertson / The Verge:
Mark Zuckerberg says Meta will likely strike “certain partnerships” for AI training content, but some publishers may be overestimating their content's value — 'If they demanded that we don't use their content, then we just wouldn't use their content.'
Dave Collins / Associated Press:
A US bankruptcy judge says he will approve an auction of Alex Jones' Infowars and its assets in November 2024 to help Jones pay $1B+ to Sandy Hook families — Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones ' Infowars media platform and its assets will be sold off piece by piece in auctions this fall …
Vittoria Elliott / Wired:
X releases its first transparency report since Elon Musk took over; X took action on 2,361 accounts over hateful content in H1 2024, down from 1M in H2 2021 — In the first half of 2024, the report says, X received nearly 67 million reports of hateful conduct, and took action on more than 2,000 accounts.
Gordon Rayner / Telegraph:
The Spectator appoints ex-UK cabinet minister Michael Gove as editor, starting on October 8, after its takeover by GB News co-owner Sir Paul Marshall — Former Cabinet minister will take over from Fraser Nelson on Oct 8 - three months after standing down as MP
Discussion:
New Statesman, Financial Times, @strykermcguire, @jonnelledge, @rupertmyers, Press Gazette, @warwickmansell, @davidfolkenflik, The Guardian, @noahkeate, Associated Press, @euanrellie, @hasanpatel, Bloomberg, @danbarker, @carolineslocock, @brokenbottleboy, @gordonrayner, @gordonrayner, Politico, @freddiesayers and @dhothersall
Sareen Habeshian / Axios:
Univision says Harris and Trump will appear at separate town halls in front of a Spanish-speaking audience in October, moderated by journalist Enrique Acevedo — - “There are more than 36 million Hispanics eligible to vote in the U.S., making them the largest minority in the country …
Discussion:
TelevisaUnivision, @bsdtectr.bsky.social, @brianstelter, HuffPost, The Hill, Variety, Adweek, The Wrap, TVLine, The Hollywood Reporter, TVNewsCheck and Deadline
Natasha Lennard / The Intercept:
CNN's Jake Tapper and Dana Bash accused Rep. Rashida Tlaib of antisemitism and doubled down after the source of a statement attributed to Tlaib corrected them — In the last three days, CNN hosts Jake Tapper and Dana Bash have performed a masterclass in journalistic malpractice — better described in this case as “lying.”
New York Times:
How NBC News, CNN, Fox News, and others are preparing for election day, with contingency plans to push back against misinformation and cover legal reviews — Here's how they're preparing to make calls in a very tight race — and ensure that viewers and readers believe them.
Discussion:
Media Matters for America, TMZ.com, @benmullin and @benmullin
Ernesto Van der Sar / TorrentFreak:
A US district court judge grants a judgment against LibGen for copyright infringement, ordering it to pay $30M and requiring the disabling of LibGen domains — A New York federal court has ordered the operators of shadow library LibGen to pay $30 million in copyright infringement damages.
Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch:
Automattic sends a cease-and-desist letter to WP Engine, alleging unauthorized use of the WordPress trademark, after WP Engine sent a C&D letter on September 23 — The brouhaha in the WordPress community looks likely to escalate into a legal battle around trademarks.
Discussion:
One Man & His Blog, @carnage4life, @carnage4life, Search Engine Journal and TechRadar, more at Techmeme »
Financial Times:
Sources: Bari Weiss' The Free Press raised about $15M at a ~$100M valuation; Bari Weiss posted an article this week that said the outlet had 800,000+ readers — The fundraise values Bari Weiss's venture at $100mn — US media start-up The Free Press has raised a further round of funding from investors …
Discussion:
@ivanlevingston, @pressgazette and @jayhawkjeff.bsky.social