Top News:


Chartbeat: Facebook traffic to 700 US news sites fell 40% from January 2023 to July 2024 to ~500M page views, as page views from Google Search grew 10% to 1.5B — Traffic from Google Discover now exceeds traffic from Google Search for some publishers, but what works there is a bit of a guessing game.
Discussion:
Annemarie Dooling on LinkedIn, Adweek and @laurahazardowen


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 and @pressgazette


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:
Press Gazette, The Guardian, Politico, Bloomberg, Associated Press, @strykermcguire, @jonnelledge, @rupertmyers, @warwickmansell, @davidfolkenflik, @noahkeate, @euanrellie, @hasanpatel, @danbarker, @carolineslocock, @brokenbottleboy, @gordonrayner, @gordonrayner, @freddiesayers and @dhothersall


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, HuffPost, Adweek, The Hill, Variety, @bsdtectr.bsky.social, @brianstelter, The Wrap, TVLine, The Hollywood Reporter, TVNewsCheck and Deadline


NBCUniversal appoints Joaquin Duro as executive VP of the sports division Telemundo Deportes, succeeding Eli Velazquez, who will depart at the end of the month — Duro succeeds Eli Velazquez, who will depart the company at the end of the month. — Telemundo is shaking up the leadership at its sports division, Telemundo Deportes.
Discussion:
The Wrap and Radio & Television …


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 …


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.
Discussion:
The Wrap, Engadget, Fortune, @michaelbishop.me, Washington Post, Quartz, @safety, @crumbler@threads.net, Digiday, Los Angeles Times, Mashable and @daithaigilbert, more at Techmeme »


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:
@carnage4life, @carnage4life, Search Engine Journal and TechRadar, more at Techmeme »


Q&A with NPR Media Correspondent David Folkenflik on the Olivia Nuzzi and RFK Jr. saga, Ben Smith's defense of Nuzzi and sexual relations with sources, and more — The longtime media reporter sounds off. … Johnson was hired there in 2013 by then-Editor in Chief Ben Smith …
Discussion:
@justinbaragona, @thatjakepc, @mattdpearce, @davidgross_man, @marisakabas2, @nikkimcr, @marisakabas2, @tessaduvall, @leah_sottile, @samwangphd, @davitydave, @youngvulgarian, @marisakabas2, @jokelley, @marisakabas2, @tbridis, @teachequitably1, @tattersking, @radfemme74 and Los Angeles Times


Mill Media plans to launch Glasgow-focused title The Bell on September 30 on Ghost, initially without a paywall, and release content three times per week — The new Glasgow-focused title from local newsletter start-up Mill Media will be named The Bell, Press Gazette can reveal.
Discussion:
@mlothianmclean, @mlothianmclean, @millmediauk, @theglasgowbell, @joshi, @mlothianmclean, @alistairkgrant and The Bell


Filing: OpenAI agrees to give representatives for authors suing the company access to review its training data to see if OpenAI used authors' copyrighted works — At a secure room in its San Francisco office, representatives for authors suing OpenAI will examine materials that were used to train its AI system.
Discussion:
Plagiarism Today, Advanced Television, Music Ally and TVNewsCheck, more at Techmeme »


The International Fund for Public Interest Media plans to raise $150M by mid-2025 to help independent media in 50 low- and mid-income countries over three years — - Of the 40 countries already eligible for funding, 30 will hold elections between 2026 and 2028, the fund notes in its investment thesis.
Discussion:
@sarafischer