Mediagazer: Reporters Without Borders sues X in France for “complicity in disseminating false information”, after X failed to block a fake video with RSF's logo (Liam Scott/Voice of America)

6:05 AM ET, November 15, 2024

Top News:

Reporters Without Borders sues X in France for “complicity in disseminating false information”, after X failed to block a fake video with RSF's logo — The press freedom group Reporters Without Borders on Thursday announced that it is suing the social media company X, accusing it of spreading disinformation.

Discussion: Reporters Without Borders, @shayne.bsky.social, @digiphile.bsky.social and Al Jazeera

Benjamin Mullin / New York Times:

The Onion, backed by some Sandy Hook families and Everytown for Gun Safety, buys Infowars in a bankruptcy auction, and plans a January 2025 relaunch as a parody — The satirical news site planned to turn Infowars into a parody of itself, mocking “weird internet personalities” who peddle conspiracy theories and health supplements.

Discussion: @realalexjones, The Onion, Washington Post, Associated Press, NPR, @maxwelltani, @oneunderscore__, The Boston Globe, @jaythurbershow@union.place, Cele|bitchy, Raw Story, @TheBreadmonkey@beige.party, Haojun S. on LinkedIn, FOX 35 Orlando, @sidereal@kolektiva.social, San Francisco Chronicle, @oneunderscore__, Inside Radio, PCMag, Capital Brief, The Barbed Wire, @colbyhall, Vanity Fair, @jamesrbuk, @jamesrbuk, @sherman4949, NBC News, @zimbalist, Perez Hilton, @brianstelter, @claireatki, TMZ.com, @brianstelter, @willguyatt, @sherman4949, @pbump, @oneunderscore__, @theonion, @daithaigilbert, @semaforben, @pkafka, New York Magazine, @benmullin, @hadas_gold, AV Club, Hollywood Life, Paula Maki on LinkedIn, @nazhamid@mastodon.social, @WeirdWriter@caneandable …, @MicheleV_AK@sfba.social, Inc.com, Alternet.org, @bencollins.bsky.social, Nieman Lab, @lisagetspolitik@union.place, Above the Law, Esquire, Al Jazeera, David Wyatt on LinkedIn, Lawyers, Guns & Money, New Republic, Le Monde, @bencollins.bsky.social, @everytown@threads.net, Fox Business, Benzinga, To the Contrary, Block Club Chicago, The Present Age, Mediaite, Engadget, @cyberlyra@hachyderm.io, I guess this is a …, Mashable, The Ankler, CNN, @bruno_j_navarro …, OMG.BLOG, @carkner@historians.social, @chris@mstdn.chrisalemany.ca, @Av8rdan@squawk …, @rufflejax@dice.camp, @johnlogic@sfba.social, @FuckElon@mastodon.social, @RPBook@historians.social, @beecycling@romancelandia.club, @BalooUriza@social.tulsa.ok.us, New York Post, Bloomberg, Newser, Fast Company, Houston Public Media, Fortune, The Information, Laurel Pinson on LinkedIn, The Daily Caller, UPI, Digby's Hullabaloo, Plain Dealer, Just Jared, Laura Seaton on LinkedIn, One America News Network, Breitbart, @yonetteajoseph@threads.net, Politico, @mick@cosocial.ca, @xtaldave@xtaldave.net, ME, Mother Jones, Financial Times, The Verge, Washington Examiner, RedState, USA Today, The Hill, The Guardian, Business Insider, TVNewsCheck, 6abc, ZeroHedge News, The Desk, @laurenthomanwrites …, The Hollywood Reporter, Axios, The Gateway Pundit, CBS News, @bencollins.bsky.social, The Wrap, Twin Cities, @web_martin@mastodon.social, Law & Crime, @vwampage@xoxo.zone, Variety, @bencollins.bsky.social, @bencollins.bsky.social, Status, Boing Boing, Rolling Stone, HuffPost, Barrett Media, RTÉ, Deadline, Not the Bee, Daring Fireball, New York Daily News, Consequence, The National Pulse, WHEC.com, Forbes, Daily Kos, Press Herald and Crooks and Liars

Matthew Keys / The Desk:

Disney said Disney+ Q4 ARPU in the US and Canada, down 1% QoQ to $7.70, was affected partly by new wholesale arrangements with some distributors — The Walt Disney Company's recent distribution agreements with Charter Communications and DirecTV impacted a key metric that analysts …

Discussion: The Verge, The Streamable, StreamTV Insider and Cord Cutters News

Todd Spangler / Variety:
Disney plans to add an ESPN “tile” to Disney+ for US subscribers on December 4, giving users access to some free ESPN content

Discussion: Barrett Media, @sherman4949, Awful Announcing, AdExchanger, Tv Technology and Deadline

Dade Hayes / Deadline:
Disney investor call: Bob Iger says 60% of all new Disney+ subscribers are for the ad tier, and in a hot-mic moment wonders if he should have said the detail

Discussion: Observer, Rameez Tase on LinkedIn, Marketplace, Adweek, The Wrap, IndieWire and Tubefilter

Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:

An interview with Telegraph Director of Technology Dylan Jacques on the goal of launching 12 significant uses of AI in the newsroom over 12 months — The Telegraph set out in March to launch 12 significant uses of AI in its newsroom over 12 months. — The tools include newsroom workflow aides …

Discussion: Acast Podcasts, TVNewsCheck and Editor and Publisher

Elizabeth Lopatto / The Verge:

Fake AI albums targeting real artists are flooding Spotify to profit from royalty fraud, abusing a distribution process effectively based on the honor system — How fake music targets real artists. … I first noticed something weird when a HEALTH album dropped on my Spotify new release radar.

Discussion: @jzellis, @js@podcastindex.social, Spotify and @waxy@xoxo.zone, more at Techmeme »

Jesse Whittock / Deadline:

Small to mid-sized US unscripted producers like Lucky 8 are looking overseas to find new business and co-producers as the US market contraction hits budgets — Last month at MIPCOM, many regulars at the Cannes TV market noticed more American accents on the Croisette than usual.

The Hollywood Reporter:

Disney expects to spend $24B on content in 2025, up from $23.4B in 2024, due to sports programming expenses rising after NFL rate increases and NBA contracts — Rate hikes at the NFL and NBA may mean that sports drive the slight spending increase, with the company reporting $23.4 billion for this past year.

Discussion: @philthepill.bsky.social

Manish Singh / TechCrunch:
Reliance and Disney complete their $8.5B Indian media merger, creating India's largest media group with $3.1B in annual revenue and 50M+ streaming subscribers

Discussion: Bloomberg, Financial Times, Times of India, Deadline, Reuters, Hindustan Times, The Wrap, The Hollywood Reporter and YourStory.com

Jennifer Maas / Variety:
In Q4, Disney added 4.4M Disney+ Core paid subscribers, reaching 120M in total, Disney+ Hotstar subscribers rose 1% YoY to 35.9M, and Hulu subscribers hit 52M

Discussion: Advanced Television, IndieWire and Awful Announcing

Robbie Whelan / Wall Street Journal:
Disney reports Q4 revenue up 6% YoY to $22.6B, TV network revenue down 6% YoY to $2.5B, and a $321M DTC streaming profit, up from a $387M loss in Q4 2023

Discussion: @pkafka, @jtoonkel, RetailWire, @brianstelter, The Walt Disney Company, @thetranscript_, Orlando Sentinel, Sam Gillmer on LinkedIn, Theme Park Insider, Dylan Jones on LinkedIn, Bloomberg, Financial Times, Los Angeles Times, Reuters, The Wrap, The Hollywood Reporter and Benzinga

Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:

YouTube: 45M+ people in the US watched election content on November 5; top livestreams were from Fox News, NBC News, LiveNOW, ABC News, and the PBD Podcast — The Google-owned video platform released data Thursday indicating that tens of millions of Americans decided to watch their election returns there.

Discussion: @youtubeinsider, @alexweprin, @youtubeinsider, TVNewsCheck, Fox News, Business Insider and Forbes

UnHerd:

Scientific American EIC Laura Helmuth is stepping down, following criticism for her social media posts suggesting Trump voters were racist, sexist, and fascist — The embattled Editor-in-Chief of Scientific American is leaving her role after her anti-Trump social media posts gained national attention.

Discussion: New York Post, @asherelbein.bsky.social, @janehu.bsky.social, @erinbiba.bsky.social, @andreapitzer.bsky.social, @ee1ss1.bsky.social, @irishwriterme.bsky.social, @sethfletcher.bsky.social, @salvagni.org, @erinbiba.bsky.social, @sanjanacurtis.bsky.social, Washington Post, @drmariannet.bsky.social, @rockdocgeoarch.bsky.social, The Post Millennial, KFOX-TV, @robinjp.bsky.social, @deborahb.bsky.social, @leebillings.bsky.social, @leahshaffer.bsky.social, @profphoebe.bsky.social, @starrevartan.bsky.social, @jimdaleywrites.bsky.social, @sciraven.bsky.social, Daily Mail, @self.agency, @philplait.bsky.social, @danfagin.bsky.social, @evanurquhart.bsky.social, @marynmck.bsky.social, @shannonstirone.bsky.social, @jetjocko.bsky.social, @alexwild.bsky.social, @laurahelmuth.bsky.social, @sarahmyhre.bsky.social, @pardoguerra.bsky.social and @laurahelmuth.bsky.social

Lachlan Cartwright / Columbia Journalism Review:

Just before the election, a Trump lawyer demanded $10B in damages from the NYT and Penguin Random House, part of a flurry of Trump's legal threats to media — Legal letter follows complaints aimed at CBS News, the Washington Post, and the Daily Beast. — The letter, addressed to lawyers …

Discussion: @lachcartwright

Emma Roth / The Verge:

TikTok adds Getty Images to its AI ad creation tool, Symphony Creative Studio, which lets advertisers use the images to make videos, create AI avatars, and more — TikTok will let advertisers pull in content from Getty Images when using the platform's AI ad creation tool.

Discussion: Digiday, Hürriyet Daily News, Reuters and TikTok For Business, more at Techmeme »

Dell Cameron / Wired:

The PRESS Act, shielding journalists from US government spying, stalls as Senate Democrats juggle legislative priorities before ceding control January 3 — The PRESS Act, which would protect journalists from government spying, enjoys broad bipartisan support and has passed the House …

Discussion: @freedomofpress, The Dispatch, @freedomofpress@newsie.social, @runwithskizzers.bsky.social, @petermiles.bsky.social, @wyden.senate.gov, @clarajeffery.bsky.social, @bubbaprog.ilovecitr.us, @wyden.senate.gov and @paul@oldfriends.live

Jess Weatherbed / The Verge:

Google plans to stop showing political ads to users in the EU in 2025 due to uncertainties around new transparency rules coming into effect in October 2025 — Google has announced it will stop showing political ads to users in the European Union next year due to uncertainties around the bloc's new transparency regulations.

Discussion: The Register, Engadget and The Keyword, more at Techmeme »