Top News:
Eric Newcomer / Newcomer:
Eric Newcomer, founder of the Newcomer newsletter on startups and VCs, marks its four-year anniversary and says he expects $1M in profit on $2M in 2024 revenue — Newcomer is on track to generate more than $1 million in profit on more than $2 million in revenue this year.
Discussion:
@scottnover, @ericnewcomer, @jaycodon, @jamescham, @sqs and @ericnewcomer
Sarah Rumpf / Mediaite:
Nicole Shanahan, ex-wife of Google's Sergey Brin and a rising MAGA star, allegedly offered WaPo reporters writing a profile piece on her $500K to reveal sources — Nicole Shanahan has been “tapping a vast divorce settlement” from Google co-founder Sergey Brin to launch herself …
Cade Metz / New York Times:
Suchir Balaji, who spent four years at OpenAI, says OpenAI's use of copyrighted data broke the law and failed to meet fair use criteria; he left in August 2024 — Suchir Balaji spent nearly four years as an artificial intelligence researcher at OpenAI. Among other projects …
Clarissa Ward / CNN:
CNN Chief International Correspondent Clarissa Ward describes being held captive by a militia in North Darfur in Sudan for 48 hours — North Darfur, Sudan CNN — “La tasweer! La tasweer!” ("Don't film! Don't film!") the general shouted, his eyes flashing with anger, his jaw clenched as he stormed towards us.
Discussion:
Fox News, One America News Network, New York Post, @Nonilex@masto.ai, Politico, The Wrap, @_hudsonc, @clarissaward, @saskiadekkers and Deadline
Jasper Ward / Reuters:
A US federal grand jury indicts Venezuelan TV network owner Raul Gorrin Belisario in an alleged $1.2B scheme to launder funds from Venezuela's energy company — The U.S. Justice Department said on Wednesday that a Venezuelan television news network owner was charged in an alleged $1.2 billion money laundering scheme.
Discussion:
US Department of Justice
David Folkenflik / NPR:
A look at what Donald Trump says he will do to the media if elected, including jailing reporters, investigating TV networks, and taking their licenses away — Former President Donald Trump often basks in the glow of press attention. Just as often, he trashes the press and threatens journalists.
Discussion:
@kimdozier, @mollyjongfast, @zaleskiluke, @jillgeisler, @davidfolkenflik, Raw Story and The Federalist
Nick Lewis / Committee to Protect Journalists:
Interviews with journalists, advocates, and others in the country of Georgia on the stakes for independent media in upcoming elections, press reform, and more — On October 26, Georgia heads into what is widely viewed as its most critical election since independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.
Discussion:
Reuters, Atlantic Council, New York Times and Civil Georgia
Alicja Ptak / Notes From Poland:
Poland launches an antitrust probe into Meta for limiting visibility of Facebook posts linking to Polish media; Meta cited legal doubts over a new copyright law — Poland's Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) has launched an investigation into Meta, the owner of Facebook …
Discussion:
@uokikgovpl
Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
Google open sources SynthID Text, which lets developers watermark and detect text generated by AI models, available under the Apache 2.0 license — Google is making SynthID Text, its technology that lets developers watermark and detect text generated by generative AI models, generally available.
Discussion:
The Drum, The Verge, @nxthompson, MIT Technology Review and Digital Trends, more at Techmeme »
Jacky Wong / Wall Street Journal:
Jefferies says the anime market in North America has grown from $1.6B in 2018 to $4B in 2024, as once-niche anime is shaping up as Japan's next big export — As Japanese animation and comics go global, opportunities abound for investors — Move over, Marvel. The next blockbuster entertainment franchise might come from Japan.
Discussion:
Douglas Montgomery on LinkedIn and Semafor
Bron Maher / Press Gazette:
Bloomberg Media says it added 200K subscriptions in the past four months, and launches a magazine-style Weekend Edition led by ex-Quartz EIC Katherine Bell — Bloomberg Media says it has added 200,000 subscriptions in the last four months as part of a growth plan that also saw it launch a new …
Brian Steinberg / Variety:
Yahoo News partners with McAfee to utilize its deepfake image detection tech to identify pictures and photos that may have been generated or altered by AI — Yahoo News is bringing in a partner to help keep misinformation at bay. — The news-distribution giant, the holder …